Leigh Houston is a stay-at-home mom to two young kids. She started her business, little pink posies, when she got the itch to start doing something for myself after the birth of her daughter. I was an attorney in my pre-kids life, so there was always a part of me that missed my career and the independence that came with it. Add the fact that I have always wanted to have a creative business, and the concept of little pink posies was born. I started designing my hair clips because my daughter was born with a full head of hair and I needed something to keep it all out of her eyes. I read an article about making hair clips and started experimenting with my own designs. Almost a year and many prototypes and designs later, and my posy hair clips came to fruition. My posy girl dolls came a bit later. It was partly in response to the lead-based paint recalls of toys, but mostly out of frustration with the fact that the toys we see everyday just don't seem special. You can get a doll, but there are a million of them out there exactly like the one you're buying. As a mom, I had these issues in the back of my mind when I was watching my son playing with a vintage Little People set passed down from my husband (a houseboat set from back in the dark ages when the figures were made of wood). That's when I had that "a-ha" moment and thought about making my own handmade wooden dolls. Drawing on images that I had admired of vintage clothespin dolls, I came up with the design for my little posy girls.
I find inspiration everywhere, but my kids are the greatest inspiration of all. One example that comes to mind... my kids and I love to read, and the other day we were reading "Corduroy." It came to me... why not paint a little girl with her own separate little bear in overalls? So that night, I experimented and painted little bears in overalls. Just having kids gives me new ideas all the time.
Leigh's best selling item is the posy girl pendant, little handpainted wooden doll pendants that are designed and painted just for the little girl who will be wearing it. I absolutely love thinking about the fact that there are little girls out there wearing their own little doll pendant and nobody else in the world has one just like hers. There are so many stories that make me smile about my business that it's hard to choose favorites. I've designed items for many a flower girl, and I am so flattered and thrilled that my items are pictured in couples' wedding photo albums all over the world. I've also had the pleasure of receiving numerous customer appreciation photos, and they always make me smile. There is one in particular that comes to mind... the girl is just so thrilled to have received her pendant and her happiness is just so apparent - it is just the highest form of flattery.
What are Leigh's plans for the future? I have so many ideas for new lines that I don't even know where to start! But my ultimate goal is to develop this into a long-term business. I'd love to still be doing this in 10 years.
Visit www.littlepinkposies.etsy.com. New Jersey
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