How it all began....

I felt this was a great place to tell our story.  It all began in February of 2017! My best friend, Shyla introduced me to Lularoe.  I began searching for consultants that were near me and found someone that I connected with.  By March, I had filled out my paperwork and submitted it to the company.  Then I waited what felt like an eternity to onboard. I got that call in June of 2017, I was filled with not only excitement but I was wondering what I had just got myself into.  My husband, Chris never doubted me and even gave me $12,000 to start this new venture.  This was never supposed to replace my job but it was supposed to give me something fun to do. I did well and even quit my full time job 2 months later.  By December, I had started to realize that Lularoe just wasn't the right fit for me anymore so I started looking into something else and that's when I found Amelia James.  I loved the owners vision, the clothing - I loved it all.  I sold all of my Lularoe inventory and moved on to Amelia James in January 2018.  Everything was going well until August, I realized that I needed an out. Working from home is wonderful but it can have its struggles as well.  Most days, I felt like the walls were closing in.  I knew that I couldn't leave something that I grew to levels that I never thought were possible in a short amount of time.  I had a team, my sales were great and I loved what I was doing but I needed a day job, I needed interaction.  I landed a job at a local Law Firm in August of 2018 and I fell in love with the job and my bosses (I have two).  While working at the Law Firm, I continued to run Amelia James.  Unfortunately, by May of 2019, Amelia James was on its way out.  I was upset because I had built something great and now it was gone.  Well I thought it was gone but......  I took some time to reflect and really dive deep to see what my next step would be.  After a few months, I had decided that I wanted to create something that was mine, I no longer wanted to be tied to a direct sales clothing business and I wanted to offer more affordable clothing and accessories so Zen LIly was born in August of 2019.  I dived right in and since then, I have grown to levels that I never thought were possible.  Its been challenging because I still work full time but I have loads of help.  My youngest son does 85% of my shipping, my mother in law inspects every single piece of clothing that comes into this house and my husband helps whenever he can.  In 2020, we have tripled our sales for the year which is an amazing accomplishment.  We will be hitting 2021 harder than ever and making changes to hit our goals.  We aren't your normal boutique - I don't have a brick and mortar location, I don't do lives, I don't do silly dances, you wont see many videos from me, I'm just me and it's working.  We have created a community of amazing women in our Facebook group, we lift each other up, we empower one another and we've built friendships - that was my main goal when I created Zen Lily.  I'm proud of what we have done and I'm excited to see how much farther we can take this little business.  

Thank you for being here. Thank you for your support. Because of you, you have helped make my dream of owning a small business possible. 

Love and hugs,

Tammy