Today we’d like to introduce you to Marie Elaine Quiray.
Marie Elaine, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My story is a great combination of both my parents, which I love and attribute to them. A little bit of background, I grew up in Seattle where both my parents worked as chemical engineers in addition to having a family business. For several years, my siblings and I would help my dad manage the business and it’s something that was very much a part of my childhood. On the other hand, my maternal grandmother has always sewn and sold clothing all throughout her life and ended up teaching my mom how to sew as well. As a child, I loved staying at my grandmother’s house and hearing the sewing machine at work. She eventually taught me to sew by hand, and I embraced this skill ever since. Little did I know, growing up with these memories would contribute to my story today.
I have been living in Houston for seven years now with my husband and kids. Ever since I became a stay at home mom, I was always trying to find my “niche” and open up some type of small shop/business to help provide for my family, but I didn’t know with what. I wanted to find something I enjoyed doing that could also potentially be profitable. I’ve tried canvas painting, felt doll making, decorated letters, party planning… but nothing stuck.
One day I bought a princess pillow doll for my daughter, and thought it was so cute! I loved the concept of it and wished there was a saint version of it for her namesake (all my children are named after Catholic saints). I explored the idea of creating saint pillow dolls and Catholic baby swaddles because I never saw much of them (or at all) on the market and personally wanted them for my own kids. It was initially a trial and error project (just like the other endeavors that I’ve explored before), especially since I was not much of an artist, or let alone knew how to sew perfectly. I found resources to teach myself how to make the saint pillow dolls and baby swaddles to bring my ideas to life. I was pregnant in my last trimester with my 4th child when my business started in the fall of 2018 and I have not turned back since! Having both the business and sewing background that I had, it was perfect knowing that it has come full circle as my business was established.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I first started, it was really exciting and I couldn’t believe I was able to bring my ideas to life. However, I wasn’t totally pleased or confident with my work or the outcome of my products. I definitely am not a pro at drawing or sewing. It took a lot of practice and figuring out to finally master the art of sketching, sewing, and assembling the pillow dolls and the swaddles that I make. Eventually, it became natural and the process has become a routine. There are still moments when I mess up or the machine stops working, but I just learn to adjust and fix the issues even if it takes me longer to finish.
In addition, finding time and balancing work and family life is a challenge at times, but it’s something I have learned to manage and deal with. I have four young children five years old and younger, so finding time to “work” isn’t always easy. Yet we somehow manage, through God’s grace, to make it work and still find ways to create memories with our family and the business nonetheless.
Blessed Friends Forever – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Blessed Friends Forever is a small Catholic shop that creates original saint designs and transforms them into saint pillow dolls and baby swaddles. They are the perfect BFFs for every occasion – pray, play, sleep, and cuddle!
The idea of the name Blessed Friends Forever comes from the saying, “best friends forever,” but instead of ordinary “best” friends, we refer to the saints as our “blessed” friends instead.
Each product is hand drawn, hand made, sewn, and assembled with my own hands. As I carefully create each product, I ask for the intercession of the saint I am making and also pray for the person who will be receiving it. Since my business name is “Blessed” Friends Forever, I hope and pray each product I make also blesses the ones who are receiving it.
Our saint pillow dolls are our main product that we sell. Although they are most popular with children, they are also suitable for adults and all individuals alike! Lots of children love the idea of having their saint friends beside them as a means of comfort. It also teaches them who these saints are to help deepen their faith in Christ. Our saint pillow dolls give children the opportunity to learn about these individuals who they can pray and play with. The pillow dolls also come with a free prayer card, which allows people to really pray with and to their saint BFFs. I cherish the growth and understanding people get when purchasing our products and ultimately falling more in love with the saints and the Catholic faith.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I’ve had several proud moments with my business, but these stick out the most. The first being the response I received when I announced my shop publicly. I chose not to disclose my identity or share with others my business when I first started because I didn’t know if it would be successful or not. When I started to get positive feedback from strangers, I announced it to everyone I knew and did not expect all the excitement, love, and support.
Secondly, I was also able to help raise funds for a campaign called #ProjectMiracle2019. I had all sale proceeds go towards this campaign for two weeks and I was very proud of all the support and the amount we were able to donate towards this cause that is near and dear to me.
And lastly, I recently had the opportunity to be a vendor at a women’s conference with CFCFFL Handmaids and I enjoyed every bit of it! I used to vendor with my dad growing up when we had our family business, so doing this with my family was very natural to me. I’m looking forward to bringing my business to other events in the future and being able to reach out to others in person since my shop is mainly based online. My family has been blessed to be called to this ministry and I feel honored to bring Christ and the communion of saints to other people in this special way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/blessedfriends4ever
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blessedfriendsforever/
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