Meet Katrina Waardenburg and Jacque De Raadt of My Graceful Rose in Laveen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katrina Waardenburg and Jacque De Raadt.

Katrina and Jacque, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Were a mother (Jacque) and daughter (Katrina) who, that back in 2016, we’re looking for a way to make an income from home doing something we enjoyed. We both loved using our creativity in our different areas; for Jacque it was sewing, and for Katrina, it was painting. We knew about Etsy as a way to sell your handmade goods and decided to open a shop together. Katrina lives here in Phoenix, while Jacque lives in Central California, and it is a way to keep us connected. We’ve grown a lot over the years, adding many new items and making customer service a priority. Our shop has now become a way for Katrina to be a stay at home mom and Jacque to have an additional income. We have just hit 1,000 sales and are excited to continue growing!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t always been an easy road, as it is difficult to know what products are going to sell well. It takes a lot of trial and error, and sometimes disappointment. We have learned that not everything will sell as expected, and we have to take it in and learn from that to improve. We’ve also learned to play off of our strengths and create more of what our customers have loved previously. We are constantly trying to improve or update what is doing well and continue to learn.

Please tell us about your business.
We sell handmade goods on Etsy. We have a variety of items, ranging from handsewn and quilted fabric items, to hand painted signs, ornaments, and more. Jacque specializes in all the fabric items and makes things such as table runners, aprons, pencil holders and more. Katrina does freehand painting on reclaimed wood, which she purchases from a local supplier. One of the best sellers in our shop is the custom hand-painted reclaimed wood signs, where our customers get to choose the reclaimed wood piece, the font, the wording and paint color. Our table runners are another big hit and have many different designs.

We are most proud of how happy our customers are with the products that they purchase from us, and that they enjoy the things that we put our heart and soul into. We are also proud of our customer service and how we go above and beyond to be sure our customers are happy with their purchases.

I think part of what sets us apart from others is that we are always willing to take custom requests and go the extra step for customers. It may make things more challenging or time-consuming, but we love to make our customers happy. Another thing that sets us apart from others is that we offer quite a few faith-based items, which is very important to our business.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
For Katrina, she learned that for listing a completely new product, to only start with a couple of designs and give it time to see how well they start to sell. That way you aren’t putting too much of your time and money into a product that doesn’t sell.

Jacque has learned that for fabric items, it is important to be sure that you are prepared with the correct fabric and amount, to not be caught unprepared in case a store no longer carries a specific fabric. She is sure to check that she has the correct amount of fabric in stock for each item.

Contact Info:

• Website: mygracefulrose.etsy.com
• Email: mygracefulrose@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/mygracefulrose/
• Facebook: facebook.com/mygracefulrose/

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