SPOTTED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ATLANTIC
In 2019 we built and launched DIP Design Is Personal with exceptional stylish and affordable DIY products through Target. It seemed to be a perfect fit. But Target didn't really have a home improvement section in their stores. In one store, we were in the tire section. Their guests could never find us. So we decided to take it all online, and before we knew it, we were available online at Home Depot, Wayfair, Lowes, Amazon, Walmart, along with Target. We were this little tiny spec in the middle of a great wide ocean filled of thousands of other DIY products cheaper, and cheaper-looking than ours.
Then our sparkle was seen and I knew what we were building wasn't just debris.
When I heard The Atlantic emailed us wanting to talk to about Design Is Personal and our DIY products, a combination of shock, excitement, and disbelief washed over me, making my head foggy, my heart giddy. My feet lose touch with the ground. I won't lie. I broke out in a hormonal sweat.
The 163-year old magazine that started as an abolitionist newspaper, co-founded by one of my most beloved spiritual mentors, Ralph Waldo Emerson, wanted to ask about my company, and I couldn't wrap my head around it. In 2020 they had particularly become a bright beacon of light and inspiration. If you read my blog, A Statue, A Speech, and A Musical, you'll know why.
Like a foghorn in the midst of damp confusion I kept repeating "The" Atlantic? over and over again.
Is this for real? I asked my husband, Scott.
"Yep!" He grinned.
Amanda Mull was getting ready to write a piece on the nesting trend that up-ticked dramatically during the pandemic quarantine for the November 2020 issue. As noted in the article, post-pandemic Americans like herself spent more time inside their homes than ever before. Millions were inspired to dive into the DIY home products world as they found themselves asking questions like: What can I do to better my space? How can I feel useful? What can I do to feel a sense of control over my life?
Amanda came across my DIP peel and stick tile backsplashes while looking to update her kitchen tile, and our DIY experience and quality exceeded her expectations. She told me she felt our company had a distinct point-of-view. I told her she was absolutely was right. I created Design Is Personal with someone like her, and myself, in mind. These were "Honey-Don't-Worry-I Got-This" DIY products for women (and everyone else) easy to do themselves and finish in hours, without sacrificing quality or style.
The more we talked, the more she realized my company's distinction was 100% personal and this wasn't my first rodeo. When the interview was all said and done, I did a happy dance and thanked my lucky stars. I never imagined myself quoted in The Atlantic, let alone my entrepreneurial journey a touchstone in one of its articles.
May this article be a spark of light and inspiration for you. Like Amanda said, if you're going to be inside you might as well be the inside you want!
A motto I've lived by all my life.
From the article: "Gretchen Schauffler had been through this before. In 2008, she and her husband were running a business called Devine Color, which she started by selling customized paint shades to her Portland, Oregon, interior-design clients out of the trunk of her car. The couple was in the midst of selling the brand to Sherwin-Williams, she told me, when the economy collapsed, and with it, all talk of a deal. "The market crashed, and we were buried," Schauffler said. Homes were being foreclosed upon, not freshly repainted....."
Enjoy the full article below — G