a little bit about me * April Sytsma-McCrumb
If someone would have told me that I'd have two retail stores, a wholesale paper design studio and a shopping website by my early thirties, I would never have believed them. I was planning on being a special education teacher and ended up graduating with that degree, but I got a little side tracked along the way.
It all started when I decided to rent a table for $8 at the local Ann Arbor Artisan Market to sell my handmade paper books, frames and cards. On a good Sunday afternoon I'd make $80 or so and that's all it took for me to catch the entrepreneurial bug.
Before long I started participating in local art and craft fairs and soon found out that I could make some decent money peddling my handmade wares. A few years of retail fairs led to doing wholesale trade shows and before I knew it my little paper business out grew our house.
(before I continue on, I must mention my 'then boyfriend' -now husband Steve has helped me tremendously along the way and if it wasn't for his support I wouldn't be where I'm at now)
We ended up renting a space where we produced the art wares in the back half and set up a small retail gift gallery in the front. As time passed, our wholesale accounts grew as well as the shoppers at our store so we expanded the retail space and moved our design studio to another location. With the success of our original shop we proceeded to open another location and online store.
And that's pretty much the last twelve years of my life in a nutshell. Needless to say I've been and continue to be a very busy girl but I couldn't have imagined a better way to live my life. I have been so blessed throughout this amazing journey and am grateful for all the incredible experiences I have been a part of and continue to encounter.
If you're at all interested in reading the long versions of this story, you can check them out at the following links:
