The Pouchee Story
It
was Christmas, 2004. At our usual Christmas Eve family celebration I
opened the gift from my oldest son. It was a great, trendy shoulder bag
which I loved but knew I would never use. There were no pockets, just
one, big, empty bag. I had to have my pockets. I would normally spend
days looking for just the right organizer purse with all the right
compartments. Of course once I organized it I would certainly never
switch purses, no matter how bad it looked with my outfit. It was just
way too much trouble.
“If only I had a way to stay organized and change purses,” I
thought. The search was on. I looked in stores and websites but found
nothing that satisfied me. The pouchee® idea was born.
Looking back, I am amazed at the tide of events that have swept me into
a sea of commerce and industry. I must give all the credit to God,
however for this incredible journey I have been on. People often ask me
if I am not just proud as punch for the success that pouchee® has
experienced. “Me, No!” I generally respond. “I’m not in charge here.”
God has taken every weakness I have (well, maybe not every weakness)
and used it for His glory. Never have I had a creative idea, nor did I
even want one. Not once did I dream of owning my own business. God,
however must have decided I needed a little advancement out of my
comfort zone. I remember the day well. I was discussing my “idea” for a
purse organizer with a friend, who forwarded me to her daughter who
introduced me to a purse designer who gave me the name of her
manufacturer and the next thing I knew I had 2000 pouchees® coming in
from China…and that was the easy part. Once they were here what was I
to do with them? I can tell you right now that I did not get the sales
gene in my family. Just the thought of going to a store and trying to
sell pouchees® scared me to death. I just knew that if they didn’t like
them I would run out of the store crying. “Why am I doing this,” I
thought. “I could be home, ironing, cleaning toilets…I’m way too old
for this stress.” Anything sounded better than facing the ominous store
owner. Trembling and praying, however, I made my first sales call and
by the grace of God they liked my pouchees®, and so did the next store
and the next. For the first three months I had a 100% success record.
Everyone loved the pouchees®, bought them, and most were re-ordering
frequently. OK, so by now there have been a few stores that didn’t see
the value in an adorable, practical purse organizer that keeps you
organized while allowing you to change purses, diaper bags, pool bags
etc. as quickly as going to your closet, but now I have enough
confidence in pouchee® that if they don’t want them, I just walk away
thinking, “that’s too bad, you’d sell a lot of them.”
So, here I am 60+ years old, marketing, selling, shipping and still
having a ball, organizing women, one purse at a time. What a great
life!!!
See more at: pouchee.com
