I was inspired to write my Guest post series on a whim about people that give me faith, hope and encouragement.
These folks are regular people that have overcome an obstacle, illness, a successful small business or just some spark that ignited my own!
This Maven of Vinyl has blossomed what seems overnight and she has an amazing small business as well as battling Chronic Illness that hasn't stopped her from becoming successful. I hope you enjoy learning more about Amanda Carvelli!
"I started doing my t-shirt business during a time family distress when my
Aunt was struggling with Pulmonary Fibrosis. I saw how much my cousin, her
daughter, was being affected by her health deteriorating and decided to make
her a T shirt, of all things, to help encourage her to keep fighting."
"I designed it all on my own and had a local lady friend of mine actually cut the vinyl and give it to me, then using my hand iron at the kitchen table pressed it on to a shirt and hand delivered it to my cousin and aunt in the hospital. My Aunt smiled so big, as did my cousin and other family members, and for a minute we were able to forget about how hard my aunt was struggling. I thought if this little gesture could bring this much joy to them, imagine how much joy I could bring to others that are needing personalized and customized items. I’ve been in business a whole year now since the end of January 2016!"
She states,"Running a small business from home is an investment in both
time and money. The plus side is I get to stay at home with my kiddo and work
on my own time. I don’t expect to become a millionaire, but it does allow
me to make a little extra spending cash."
I asked her, what she felt was her greatest regret? She honestly replied; "Getting caught up in addictions. I treated my pain as an excuse to use heavy drugs since the prescription drugs didn’t take the pain away."
When asked what the best part of her job was, she said, "Being able to make my own hours, work from home and having my handsome son model cute shirts for me!"
She says, the best thing exciting about in her life right now is,"Being a MOM! It’s all I have ever wanted to be. My son helps me to forget I’m in pain and makes me smile just about every minute of every day."
These folks are regular people that have overcome an obstacle, illness, a successful small business or just some spark that ignited my own!
This Maven of Vinyl has blossomed what seems overnight and she has an amazing small business as well as battling Chronic Illness that hasn't stopped her from becoming successful. I hope you enjoy learning more about Amanda Carvelli!
She describes herself as; "A 34 year old stay at home mama of 1 (for now), married
going on 9 years this March. My husband and I have been together since I was 15
years old, off and on.I have Rheumatoid Arthritis which leaves me with chronic
pain and unable to work a regular 9-5 job."
"I designed it all on my own and had a local lady friend of mine actually cut the vinyl and give it to me, then using my hand iron at the kitchen table pressed it on to a shirt and hand delivered it to my cousin and aunt in the hospital. My Aunt smiled so big, as did my cousin and other family members, and for a minute we were able to forget about how hard my aunt was struggling. I thought if this little gesture could bring this much joy to them, imagine how much joy I could bring to others that are needing personalized and customized items. I’ve been in business a whole year now since the end of January 2016!"
I asked her, "How have you overcome the challenges of working with a 2
year old running around?" She replied,"My home office is also my sons playroom so when I work, he’s
usually in there hanging out too. On big orders, I sometimes call in
reinforcements, my dad, or wait until my Husbands home to get work done."
A lesson she has learned along the way;
A lesson she has learned along the way;
"Don’t sell yourself short and my time is definitely worth
something. I sometimes tend to under charge people."
She feels her greatest success is,having repeat customers and personal recommendations. That’s
how you know you’ve made it! She added; "My favorite story is when I was at the Dr with my mom, my
dad, and my son the other day. We all take off our jackets and notice we are
all wearing t-shirts that I made! The nurse commented on them all and asked
where we got them, says she loves them and asked for my business card! It felt
amazing!"
I asked her, what she felt was her greatest regret? She honestly replied; "Getting caught up in addictions. I treated my pain as an excuse to use heavy drugs since the prescription drugs didn’t take the pain away."
When asked what the best part of her job was, she said, "Being able to make my own hours, work from home and having my handsome son model cute shirts for me!"
She says, the best thing exciting about in her life right now is,"Being a MOM! It’s all I have ever wanted to be. My son helps me to forget I’m in pain and makes me smile just about every minute of every day."
If she could go back and tell her 17 year old self she would tell her to;
"Tell myself to SLOW DOWN!! I was in such a hurry to grow up and be a
grown up at that age. I would’ve kept a closer relationship with God instead of
with the local bar keeps, would’ve JUST SAID NO to many temptations."
Amanda describes herself in 3 words as: Wife, Mom, and Badass! (She is my middle Sister in life so I know that last one is TRUE!)
What will you find this amazing Guru doing on a typical 9:00 weekday evening?
She says, "This is a good question…By 9 I’m snuggled up in bed with my
little one, watching reruns of 2 Broke Girls, nodding in and out of sleep."
There are several big Causes that she is passionate about are: Finding cures for Rheumatoid Disease, and Infertility. She has struggled with Infertility for a time (That will be another Guest post in the future! Keep an eye out!) A few more that she holds near and dear are Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness as well as
Breast Cancer Awareness.
There are several big Causes that she is passionate about are: Finding cures for Rheumatoid Disease, and Infertility. She has struggled with Infertility for a time (That will be another Guest post in the future! Keep an eye out!) A few more that she holds near and dear are Pulmonary Fibrosis Awareness as well as
If you are interested in contacting Amanda for orders of customized Shirts, Mugs and gobs of other one of a kind items she is working on getting an Etsy shop going but can be reached by Facebook at Crafty Cow Custom Creations, by
email at craftycowcustomcreations@yahoo.com , by phone at 708-224-8595, and by
carrier pigeon, BIG CHEESY GRIN.
