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Sharon Gaffney is a seasoned entrepreneur, and mother of two (read our interview with her about that). She is the type of small business owner who takes inventory of her surroundings, matches them with her personal gifts and passions, and then builds a business around them. As you'll learn in this interview, Sharon went to school for Interior Design, but started a website business, sold it, and is currently the co-founder of her next baby, Meeble Mail, the personalized email stationery computer app that is changing the face of your emails forever...
What inspired you to get started?
I fell in love with paper stationery the first moment I saw my mother's box of engraved stationery as a child. As I grew up, I had drawers full of personalized stationery and began saving invitations and holiday cards that I loved. As the Internet became my career - though I loved paper stationery - I realized that the majority of my communications were done by email. I looked around the Internet for the same style and sensibility I found in paper stationery for email and couldn't find it, so MeebleMail.com was born.
What was your background? Was it in what you were doing now?
My degree is in interior design, but I fell into working with the web in the mid-90s, first developing communities on AOL and then launching my own full-service web development firm in 1997. As my web development business grew, I began designing traditional print materials for my clients as well as their websites. Having a background in website development and graphic design enabled us to get started without huge start-up costs and has been a huge help in the growth of our business.
What challenge have you had to face that led to a big growth for your company?
We started out with email stationery and design partners that appealed to women ages 25 to 60ish. Over the past six months, we have brought on big name partners that appeal to a wider audience. We are now offering email skins & email stationery for the NBA, Star Trek and will be debuting more big name partners in the coming months - this allows us to reach a far greater audience.
What do you have going on in your business right now that you're excited about?
We're currently adding investors which is very exciting. I am really looking forward to working with the advisors and having their expertise at my fingertips! It also means we'll be adding to our team and I am very excited about the prospect of working with a larger group of people and the energy that will bring to MeebleMail!
We're currently adding investors which is very exciting. I am really looking forward to working with the advisors and having their expertise at my fingertips! It also means we'll be adding to our team and I am very excited about the prospect of working with a larger group of people and the energy that will bring to MeebleMail!
Where would you love to see your business in 5 years?
Our goal is to change the face of email from a bland white background to a stylish expression of the sender's personality - we hope in 5 years that no one sends a plain white email!
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