From BIG things little things grow…

March 11, 2016 1 Comment

Let’s be honest life is scary - unfortunately there is no such thing as a life map to help guide you through and there are certainly no signs that tell you what the easy route is or just how hard the “rough roads” really are.  So when you sit back and think it’s actually very easy to stay in your comfort zone and coast along, take each day as it comes and...survive.  

Just over two years ago we decided to go “off road”, take a detour away from the safety of nine to five and challenge ourselves.  It was time to stop surviving and take a huge passionate leap of faith.

Starting and growing a business isn’t easy -if it was we’d all do it!  There are so many things that you need to take into account and it can be overwhelming.  Usually you start with passion and a great idea...which is awesome, however you now need to be EVERYTHING...all the people that you saw each day at desks...the receptionist, the accountant, the marketer...THE CLEANER..the buck literally stops with you!!  

If you’ve read our about us section you’ll know we are a small team...two sisters with a big dream - one with a fashion degree the other with an extensive knowledge of real estate - both really useful when you want to start an ecommerce business...NOT!  We had to learn the ropes, make many mistakes, learn quickly and make good friends.  It’s taken us a while to understand our customers, to really get to know what you want and provide a service that we are proud of.  

For us looking back as we write this it’s clear just how far we’ve come.  We now have a wide range of suppliers that we consider family, a small support team and a few office dogs to boot!

So what’s the point of this post you may ask...well it’s to share with you all what we define as a moment of true success and recognition.  A moment that changed our lives and made us realise that all the hard work, all the late nights, all the tantrums and dummy spits have been 100% worth it…

Let us take you back to mid December, to a day that started just like any other.  Picture if you will an office full of scruffy top knots, post it notes, cups of strong coffee and a dog snoring loudly to the beats of Fox FM’s RnB Friday’s.    

In the corner there’s Jess procrastinating over page layouts and flat lays, Mel yelling at Jess for procrastinating over aforementioned layouts and the marketing monkey (me) tearing hair out over said procrastination and yelling... *PING* email arrives in inbox.  Mel is first to open and does a double take.  Jess reads email and casually carriers on procrastinating, marketing monkey looks open mouthed with disbelief at Jess’ lack of excitement.  

The email that sat in our inbox was from Harpo Productions...now I’m sure our followers and customers are a little more switched on than our fearless leader Jess (and with a little help from the competition today you all know where I’m going with this)...the email was from Oprah Winfrey’s Executive Assistant asking if we could help Oprah celebrate the arrival of a very special little bundle of joy by putting together an exclusive gift package!  

I can’t lie it was at this point there was lots of high pitched screaming, jumping around, and general girly high fives (we all missed each others hands) - we couldn’t believe it - Oprah...like THE Oprah had placed an order...not in our wildest dreams could we have thought of that.  

It was time to get to work - Jess (who had now clocked on to the whole Harpo/Oprah semordnilap) stepped up and starting working with Oprah’s team to get a better understanding of the requirements and expectations and Mel was in control of stock - the what’s what and what’s hot of the newborn world.

With everything co-ordinated and confirmed from three different shores we were finally ready to go...and it turned out that the lucky recipient only lived moments from Bebe Designs HQ (what are the chances huh!)  So on a hot sunny December morning the team filled the car with gifts and set off to meet a very special little man.

Now don’t get me wrong, we’ve hand delivered many gifts in our time but this one was different, so many questions...were they expecting us...did they know what was coming...were they even home!?  After a nervous shoulder shrug and an exchange of looks we reach out, knocked on the front door and waited…

We were so happy to find the whole family home, it was such a pleasure to meet both mum and dad who were completely besotted with beautiful baby Stevie who was fast asleep and blissfully unaware of anything that was going on.

It was so great to learn that Sarah (Stevie’s gorgeous mum) had received the tickets to Oprah’s show here in Melbourne as a gift from her beautiful mum, Mary.  The only concern...Sarah was 40 weeks pregnant at that time and due at any moment.  After a few conversations about labour and how long it would take should waters break that day (eep) it was decided that Oprah was a GO!

So, baby Stevie - who had yet to make an appearance - was given a cuddle from Oprah, and a little something to welcome him to the world.  This in itself is such a lovely thought and one that will mean so much to his family for the rest of their lives.  

And for us...this really was a dream come true.  Through a selfless and thoughtful act Oprah changed more than one person’s life that day.  Her and her team made a choice.  One that brought joy to a new family and one that made a small business very happy.  She could have chosen anyone that day but picked us and we are ecstatic that she did - thank you just isn’t a big enough word!

“Do the one thing you think you cannot do.  Fail at it.  Try again.  Do better the second time.  The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire.  This is your moment.  Own it.” - Oprah Winfrey

Love and hugs
The Team @ Bebe Designs
xo

 

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