Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Trieu.
Linda, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Prior to having my son in October of 2015, I was a full-time senior litigation paralegal for over 12 years. Maternity leave from my firm was four months long and it was the most time I had off in over 12 years. Other than sleeping and eating my new baby boy was a breeze compared to the grown litigators I worked with. During this time I found myself doing a lot of shopping for fun and unique baby items for my son. It’s not always easy to find unique items for a boy in a market that is flooded with pink and fun pretty things for girls. I realized with a long four months off I might have gone bankrupt at the rate of shopping I was at so I started to explore craft and fabric shops and started to make smaller items myself for him.
I began with bandana bibs, bunny ear teethers, and slouchy beanies and eventually thought it would be a great idea to make these items for other babies too at a higher quality for a lower price on Etsy. In March 2016 I opened Three Hearts Apparel and began working on my lines of product and in May my Etsy site was up and running. By then I was back at work and it was busy enough between being a new mom and a paralegal I didn’t find a whole lot of time to dedicate to the business. By end of the year, I decided to try out some outdoor local makers markets such as The Market at Sawyer Yards and the Galveston Island Markets. That was the beginning of my brain brewing new ideas of what could possibly be of this business.
As we moved into the holidays I felt more and more momentum as my products were moving. When I began this business I figured it would be a fun project for myself and a friend at work who had two little ones as well to do together. It was clear midway through the year that it would not work out as we could never seem to balance our personal lives and business priorities together. So in February 2017 when I was laid off as a paralegal I decided to buy her shares out of the company and see if I could make it work on my own full time. Since then we have expanded our focus on chewable, fun, modern teething accessories for baby and mommy all handmade in our Heights production studio.
From February 2017 until December 2017, Three Hearts moved out of my spare bedroom into 4 studios at the Aurora Art Studios, 129 Aurora Street, Houston, Texas 77008. We have gone from a one women show to now having three full-time employees, a micro-boutique, and 72 wholesale accounts across the country. We have maintained in our growth the highest quality and handmade unique modern baby accessories. We continue to try and push the envelope to design and make new toys and accessories that not only focus on its modern aesthetics but also its functionality and ease of use for parents and fun for babies.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It has been such an amazing but hard journey to where we are today. The hardest to overcome is having the self-confidence to believe in my own creativity as well as the ability to operate a business. It was very evident in me when things began to go south between my business partner in 2016. I realized that our levels of dedication to the business was just not at the same place.
The hardest part is how this business tore apart our friendship. I still look back and see that as a major loss and that we were never able to really work things out. At the same time, this experience made me understand and realize my own capabilities and challenge me to excel even further. I realize that I am a very creative and driven and just needed the venue to really explore.
Being a mom, maker, and businesswomen has come with its challenges when it comes to time management. I thought initially by making Three Hearts my full-time employment I would have much more time to spend at home with family and my son in particular. It has not always been as easy as the idea of it. Managing a business and staying on top of all of the demands to stay relevant in the business requires so much more time and energy than a regular 9-5.
As Three Hearts continue to grow I am still learning the balance between work and home.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Three Hearts Apparel – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Three Hearts has grown to be a Texas powerhouse for modern teething accessories for babies and mommies. We hand make our pacifier/toy clips, mommy chewelry, teething rattles, and teethers. All of our products are made free from BPA, lead, cadmium, phthalates, PVC, and latex, non-toxic, food-grade silicone.
All of our products are easy to clean since silicone will not absorb odor or support the growth of mold, fungus, or bacteria. The wood used is natural eco wood beads and beech wood that is untreated to avoid allergens and sensitivities. All of our silicone teethers are freezable between 35-45 mins. Freezing the toys give an ice pack soothing sensation to babies when their gums are sore from teething. These toys are also top shelf safe in your dishwasher.
In late 2017, Three Hearts began designing our own silicone teethers including our most notable the state of Texas teether. We offer the teether today in 7 colors and also have since added Louisiana and the toaster oven pastry. We continue to work on new designs both in our signature teething rattles which include the mix of our beech wood teether and silicone beads as well as silicone freezable toys.
We are proud to be a Houston Heights-based company that still maintains the handmade aspect of our products regardless of our rapid growth.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Three Hearts looking down the road would love to be one of the major brands of teething products for babies across the country. We currently are in 72 stores throughout the Midwest and in the south. We hope that by first quarter 2019 we will be in over 200 stores. We continue to work on designing new and innovative teething toys that will not only make baby happy but also parents a peace of mind with a safe and easy to care for the product.
Contact Info:
- Address: 129 Aurora Street Houston, Texas 77008
- Website: www.threeheartsapparel.com
- Phone: (832) 844-9190
- Email: salesthreehearts@gmail.com
- Instagram: threeheartsapparel
- Facebook: three-hearts-apparel
- Twitter: threeheartsapp
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/three-hearts-apparel-houston
Image Credit:
Alexandra Gonzales, Ashley Cardoza, Wanjun Zhang, Eden Dagan
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