Cheers to 5 Years!!!!!!

YellowHouse has always been a dream in my heart but my family & raising my 3 girls came first. I knew it would have to be at just the right time! 

I wanted a place to host local vendors, to sell locally made items, and a place women of all sizes & budgets would feel welcomed and included! A place that felt like home when you walked in the front door! 

In the summer of 2016 when our youngest daughter turned 16 and could drive herself around town we opened a small booth in Vintage Stables to see what would happen. We could not keep items in stock! We were convinced we were onto something! It was time to take a leap of faith!

I still remember sitting in my living room with all of my family talking about the pros and cons, the time and effort, and all that would be involved if we decided to open our doors. Without hesitation, all of them agreed it was a must!

In Oct 2016, after much design, shopping, tagging, arranging, and praying it was opening day! I was sure no one would come. After we joined in a circle to pray over this crazy journey we looked up to see people lined up down the sidewalk. It was a crazy busy day with record sales and only a few tops left flapping in the wind on the walls. That is when I knew God was up to something bigger than me! In 6 short months, we were buying a 4,700 square foot building and remodeling for our big move downtown!

"That's a crazy move" & "it's way too soon!" was heard 1,000 times but I also witnessed God open doors only He could open and so we walked through them.  Three months of remodeling, buying, buying, buying, moving, setting up and it was time for the Grand Opening! I am sure Mike and I stood outside and greeted people for 30 minutes as they poured through the doors! It was such a fun day and we were so well supported by our community and friends!

Fast forward and here we are getting ready to turn 5 Years Old!!!!

*In 5 years we have built a community of friends and supporters, bought and designed our mobile boutique, built an online store & built an app to make it easier to shop YellowHouse! 

*In 5 years we have launched a children's line, Kendra Scott, Brighton & a mens line. 

*For 5 years we have sponsored a young girl thru Miaisha named Benter and she is now in 5th grade!

*In 5 years we have helped build and grow our downtown shopping area by encouraging & helping other businesses move our way! It has changed downtown Sand Springs!

*In 5 years we have won: Sand Springs Choice award for Best Boutique and Best Women's clothing store in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. We also won a Nationwide award in 2019 for Best Store Front Boutique in Oklahoma and Runner up Online Boutique for Oklahoma. In 2021 YellowHouse won Best Boutique in the World in the Tulsa World newspaper. In 2017 YellowHouse was chosen Business of the Year by the Sand Springs Chamber of commerce & in 2018 I was chosen Business person of the year by the Sand Springs Chamber of Commerce.

Because of my business I have had the honor to serve on the Sand Springs Chamber Board and the Sand Springs Chamber Executive Board. I was given the opportunity to write the Sand Springs Chamber Small Business Incentive program that helps small businesses become a chamber member at a lower cost and increases as they grow. I also was given the opportunity to help start the incubator program the Chamber holds in their building which I was a large part in designing.

*In 5 years we have poured into our schools with the YellowHouse Scholarship we award each year, advertising for athletics, and supporting teachers and faculty.

*In 5 years we have had numerous opportunities to share our business and how Sand Springs is growing by being on Discover Oklahoma, Good Day Tulsa and many news segments over small business and things going on in our community.

YellowHouse reaches people all over the United States! Either from our news stories, our website & app, or our Friday morning lives. We have people that drive from other states to shop our store and  people who route their vacations so they can come through and see our store in person! So not only do they see our store but we encourage them to shop all the other great businesses downtown and around Sand Springs!

 *In 5 years we have survived a major flood that devastated so many of our shoppers who are our friends and family. We did a non profit t-shirt drive and raised $1,700 to donate to Sand Springs Community Services to help flood victims.

*In 5 years we have survived a global pandemic, being shut down for 6 weeks and being on limited capacity for months in store,  all while Mike and I were battling Covid ourselves. Our friends and family helped run our store while we were sick & our community of shoppers made sure we would come out stronger on the other side by shopping, buying gift cards, and calls and texts of encouragement. The plus side is that our online store grew over 200% percent last year and we only ended up with a 11% loss compared to the previous year!

*For 5 years we have celebrated ALL the holidays! We host "Guys Night" at Christmas & Valentines where we feed the guys and help them shop & wrap their gifts for them. We host Galentine's Day which is to celebrate women & friendships. We host YellowHouse Market Days that we hold during the Herbal Affair. We host Mothers Day events….Like Happy Llama Momma Days where we have a live Llama at the store for pics. We have a Tax free weekend for back to school, Our Birthday Bash which is always huge, Christmas Open House, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday & Grinch day! We give back by hosting other vendors trying to start up their own small businesses by letting them set up for FREE at YellowHouse during the holidays and during the Herbal Affair. It is a great exposure and experience for them and my shoppers love it too!

*For 5 years we have celebrated women who have lost weight or gained, all the precious new babies, weddings, birthdays, friendships and walked with many thru losses. As much as we love clothing and style nothing could replace the people. The people are why we show up day after day!

We are blessed and thankful in year 5 to be expanding and opening our own kids boutique YellowHouse Kids Boutique just around the corner. 

Thank you for the years of support and encouragement YellowHouse is nothing without YOU!