Stephanie from Zimbali Boutique { Independent Interview }

Next up in my series of interviews with independent retailers is Stephanie from Zimbali Boutique.

Stephanie creates one of a kind floral headbands. She is more than just a lady with a glue gun. All of her flowers are created from scratch by hand. She makes some truly lovely and unique designs. You can check out her work on Facebook and on Etsy, and you can read more about her right here…

Tell me a bit about yourself. What did you do prior to this?

I’ve been married for 7 years to my wonderful husband, Laurence, and we moved to Canada from South Africa almost 3 years ago now. I am Canadian by birth, but grew up in South Africa (my parents are missionaries there, and still live there). I’ve always loved the idea of starting up a small business, but I never imagined that it would be a “crafty” one! Zimbali Boutique sort of evolved into existence during my maternity leave. Having a baby girl makes you want to accessorize her, and so I started playing around with different ideas. Before long, friends were “placing orders” and I needed to look at doing this on a slightly bigger scale. My maternity leave ends in two weeks, actually, and I go back to my “day job” with TD Canada Trust – for the time being. I have a fantastic arrangement with TD, in that I have a home office and am able to work very flexible hours. I would love to grow my business to the point that I can resign my job (I love my job at TD, but just love being a stay at home mommy so much more). The next few months will be very telling in terms of how much I can take on while working full time!

Where are you from originally? Where were you born?

I was actually born in Burlington! At the age of 5, my family moved to South Africa and I spent all my school years there, with occasional visits back to Canada. At 17, I moved back to Canada for a few years, to work and study. My husband (who was a childhood friend) came out to visit on a couple of occasions, and over a few years our romance blossomed. He proposed to me, and I moved back to South Africa to marry him. We lived there for 4 years together before making the decision to immigrate.

Tell me a bit about your baby girl. How old is she now?

Our precious little girl is almost 11 months old – how time flies!! Her name is Erica Haven Selah Murray, but we call her Haven. Erica was a dear family name to the Murrays (my husband’s grandmother who passed away several years ago). Haven is spunky, fun, joyful and occasionally mischievous. Watching her little personality develop is just such fun for us. We feel so privileged and humbled to be entrusted with the care of a little soul. Needless to say, we want more kids! Not sure just how many more, yet!

Where does the name Zimbali come from?

Zimbali comes from the Zulu word meaning many flowers, or valley of flowers. Mbali is actually a girl’s name in South Africa, meaning flower. I deliberated for such a long time over what to call my little venture, before settling on this name. I love it’s exotic sound and it’s obviously descriptive of what you’ll find in my shop!

What’s it like working with professional photographers?

I really love working with photographers. Initially, I wanted to focus on just the local London market and perhaps Southwestern Ontario, but I’ve come to realize that there is a wide opportunity out there for marketing my accessories beyond just the borders of Canada, and even beyond the U.S. I am trying to position myself as a boutique that doesn’t strictly cater to photographers by offering only props. I want to offer something for everyone – from fancy to casual, from affordable to luxe… in some ways this makes it difficult to market to photographers because they may be looking for a boutique that has carved a niche for itself in the photography prop shop industry… but it is important to me that I am selling my headbands to other moms, to aunts and grandmas as gifts, to friends as shower gifts, etc. My relationships with local photographers is becoming more and more firmly established. I think they love to buy local, and they love the fact that they can call me up with a special request and they know that I will create something special for them. Photographers in London and surrounding area have also been so generous to me and helpful – HRM Photography Inc, One-12 Photography, and Simply Said Photography – in particular. It’s awesome to tie in marketing ideas with photography as well, and I’m working on some collaborations with photography studios to help get my name out there more!

What do you prefer, making your own designs out of the blue, or doing custom work?

I have to say that I prefer making my own designs from scratch. Then I know it is something I will like! If I am given very specific instructions, I will follow them to the letter and you may love the result (which makes me happy!)… but it wouldn’t be my taste, per se. All of my original designs, I truly love!

What’s your work style? Are you creating things while Haven is playing at your feet, or is it strictly a naptime/night-time venture?

It’s a little bit of both actually! I obviously seize the naptime opportunities and after bedtime, but there are times when she is quite content to play and have mama chatter with her from across the room while I do my thing. If I have a deadline or a big order to fill, her dad takes her for an hour or so while I get it all done. Because I’m working with lots of beads, pearls, hot glue, etc, it’s not always ideal for her to be cruising around near me while I work!

I know you just recently opened an Etsy store… What do you think of it so far?

I think it is going well, although I am not sure exactly how to measure success! Many of my fans seem to appreciate the fact that I am now on Etsy… it is a trusted marketplace for handmade wares, so this has encouraged people who otherwise would not have bought from me to do so. I am still learning the ins and outs of my Etsy store, but one of the neat features is that it allows me to see how many views each of my listings has received. This is valuable information as it likely correlates with which of my designs are most popular to prospective buyers.

Any other interesting plans for the future?

I am planning a “Princess in the Park” event with a fabulous children’s photographer from Tillsonburg (Simply Said Photography). Parents will have an opportunity to sign up their little girls for a mini photo session (first come first served). A custom made headband will be included in the mini session for each little girl. There will be a draw for a free tutu, cupcakes, balloons, music… a proper little tea party fit for a princess. We are looking forward to this event! Other than that, there are no future plans aside from continuing to create floral hair lovelies, and juggle my busy schedule especially once I return to my day job!

Good luck with heading back to your “day job” Stephanie. I hope you are able to find a comfortable balance between it, motherhood and Zimbali Boutique. And I hope you continue to make floral lovelies for a long time to come. That Princess in the Park event sounds like a ton of fun. I wish it was a little closer to home, I would so be there!

Questions for Stephanie? I’m sure she’s still lurking around and might be willing to answer. Suggestions for what I should ask next time? What sort of things would you like to learn about the people behind some of these cool independent stores? Anyone in particular you’d like to hear from?

EDIT: Unfortunately Zimbali Boutique has closed down. I removed any links to her storefront from this post.

		Hi, I'm Deanna, a Canadian mom with two young girls, who loves to share our adventures through the everyday.
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