How it Started

Leslie here, Lindsey's sister, guest blogger.

One day on the phone, Lindsey mentioned butterhorns. Those mouth-watering homemade crescent dinner rolls that Mom used to bake, all flaked with butter, so light and warm and old-fashioned delicious. And maybe Lin mentioned the flour sack towels that Mom used to cover them with while they rose, or maybe that image just popped in my mind, I don't remember. But such is the mystery by which ideas are born.

Because the next thing you know I was designing a logo:

(I meant for this logo to evoke the colorful ribbon that would become the Lindsey Towel signature. It took my  husband to point the connection between this logo concept, the four Ls, and "The Four Ls," which in our family means the four sisters, Lee, Laurie, Leslie, and Lindsey. It was something subconscious, but now that I think about it, was probably an expression of the closeness I feel with them all. Makes me love this logo even more!)

and preparing a concept pitch (click to see the bigger version):

I sent it all to her, and her wheels started turning, and she realized it was something she really could start slowly, grow slowly, on the weekends, from home, without leaving her job (soon to be referred to as her "day job") or having huge start-up capital. It started to sound, in fact, even a little bit fun. And....guess what....

MIKEY LIKES IT!!

She said, yes, let's go for it! 

We started brainstorming names and ideas, nixed the word "absorbent," (sounds like...well, never mind), started crunching numbers, thinking about packaging options....and then she rolled up her sleeves and got to work (over her precious weekend).


With pocket change, essentially, she bought one packet of towels from a big box store to get a prototype started, a bit of ribbon, two new bobbins and some thread, got some advice on doing corners and great supplies donated by her mother-in-law, and got down to business. She logged her purchases, tracked her expenses, and threaded up the machine. And these---I was so excited to see----were her first two Lindsey Towels:

Cute, huh!!

Then she told her sister-in-law Carol about them, who had just been invited to a wedding shower, and Lin called me to say she had her first order! She got busy with a new, color-coordinated ribbon set, and four new towels were born:

Even cuter!

She went back to the mill--er, I mean day job, and worked a long week, had two short nights in a row and so slept in Saturday morning ready to get the towels packaged for the wedding shower. She called to double check what  time the shower was to start. 10:00!! (It was 9:00, and she had just rolled out of bed.) And though the towels were sewn, they weren't wrapped, which would require some experimenting, being the first set ever!

Necessity being the mother of invention, she jumped ahead of the process and printed out the (very rough) draft of an insert card that was in progress (it doesn't look so rough here because online everything looks good---but in print---very fuzzy still and "placeholder" stock photos that were lo-res and not yet purchased):

Because, see, my sister is brave and pragmatic and brilliant, even with sleep in her eyes. (Well, her creative husband Stan might have contributed to this particular morning's brilliance.) She put the whole set in a beautiful little vase for a new kind of kitchen bouquet! Great shower gift!

"Signed, sealed , and delivered." And here it is, for the record, her first sale! (Not all sets include a nice vase, mind you!)

This is cropped.  I mischievously first put up the whole shot, which showed her in her PJs, with her hair....uh...'askew"....and her "just got out of bed look." Which is not the best look for business. But though the temptation was strong, my conscience got the better of me and so I cropped the original to leave just the important parts----the smile, the sparkle in her eye, and the crisp legal tender. How's that for sisterly love!

No framing that puppy! She went right down and bought some new towels. That's the entrepreneurial spirit!


So the snowball has begun to roll. And I am telling you this story partly because we're feeling our sisterly oats, but mostly because I know you will want to know about.... 

Click to see the larger version.

a Pre-Sale Event of the Summer. Everyone can use these good old-fashioned towels--there's a reason they've been around since flour really did come in cotton sacks---they're useful and now beautiful too. To get Lindsey Towels off the ground she needs to buy the towels and ribbon wholesale, which means in BULK orders, which means you gotta have funds.

In case you're so stoked that you're tempted to make an out-and-out donation, DO resist. Because you will have a chance for that later, when we post her business idea on kickstarter.com, a place for artists and other nice people to raise funds for their creative projects. Then we'll need everyone's donations (which can can be as low as $1) to make THAT goal, and your donation will have more oomph in that context. For now, you just get some darn good little towels that last a long time in exchange for two ten-dollar bills. For ordering information,  write her at lindseytowels ("at" her gmail.com account).


And coming soon---a website and more on this blog. You can hold your breath....it's almost that close! (Not really! Breathe! Now!)


Love!
Leslie