C'ville Entremom

In my opinion, it is impossible to have too many accessories.  My addiction just grew ten-fold when I stumbled upon local accessory guru, Mindy Goodall of Ivan & Mary. Mindy mixes bold colors and intricate patterns to create unique and exciting accessories for women, children and pets.  Her specialties are belts (for adults & kids), tote bags, reversible headbands, dog collars and leashes.  Ivan & Mary belts are a must see!  Mindy uses great scroll, floral and zinnia prints on her women’s reversible belts.  For children’s belts, Mindy uses heavy duty cotton webbing with the highest quality jacquard ribbon sewn on top.  Mindy utilizes top fabric designers like Anna Maria Horner, Joel Dewberry and Amy Butler to make her totes.  They are perfect for bridesmaid’s gifts or even everyday shoppers.

Mindy’s grandmother (Mary) and mother taught her how to sew when she was in elementary school.  This began her life-long passion for creating and designing.  Mindy learned to sew on a $5 sewing machine that her mother bought at a sale from her childhood elementary school.  When she was in her 20’s, Mindy’s mother gave the machine to her and it is the same machine that she uses today!  How’s that for COGS??  Mindy, a former consulting executive, began Ivan & Mary (named for her grandparents) when she found a void in the market (sound familiar Entremoms??)  When Mindy was pregnant with her first child, she wanted a cool diaper bag and couldn’t find the perfect style, so she made one.  All of her Mommy friends loved them and another C’Ville business was born.  Ivan & Mary officially began 2.5 years ago.

So, how does Mindy juggle 3 kids and accessorizing Charlottesville?  Mindy only takes as many orders as she can handle at one time.  The nature of her business is such that she can sew or design while the kids (Grant – 6, Molly – 4, Fisher – 2) are sleeping or playing.  It works well for her and she has never needed childcare (Wow!!).  Mindy believes that it is good for her children to see her work and not always rely on her for entertainment.  Her children are more creative when they make up their own games.

Mindy has no “official” marketing for Ivan and Mary, but does several blog giveaways and has been featured on several blogs: Charlottesville Wedding Blog, Style Me Pretty and Cool Mom Picks.  She has just begun looking into Search Engine Marketing by utilizing keywords and hopes that will expand some business opportunities for her.

If you’d like to learn more about Ivan & Mary, you can visit the website (www.ivanandmary.com) or the Etsy store.  Ivan and Mary goods can also be found locally in Charlottesville at Novel, Petit Bebe and Sammy Snacks.  Products range from $10 to $40.

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 5:11 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.