OUR STORY

OUR STORY

Sister Babyz started long before there was ever a storefront -- and definitely before I ever imagined it becoming what it is today.

Looking back, I was around buying, selling, creating, and working with customers long before Sister Babyz ever existed. My grandmother and great-aunt both did craft shows, my grandmother would hand paint jogging suits to sell. As a little girl, I used to "play store" with my grandmother's bath and body works products, setting everything up like I had my own little shop. My great-aunt , who lived with us growing up, took me along to flea markets and taught me how to count back change when I was about 10 years old. She would buy t-shirts on Harry Hines for $5 and sell them for $15. I would go with her to buy and pick out shirts then travel around helping her sell them. I didn't know it then, but I was learning some of the same things I would eventually use every day in my own business.

I had a really good job that I unexpectedly lost, and suddenly I had to figure out what came next. My dream was always to become a cosmetologist. I grew up in my grandmother's barber shop and with my mom doing nails & hair. This was my opportunity to enroll in cosmetology school. My plan was to go to school during the week and do vendor shows on the weekends to make money and get myself through school.

Around that same time I had started making jewelry for myself simply because I enjoyed it. People began asking me where I got my pieces, when I told them I made them, they started asking if I could make them some pieces. Little by little, I began making more, carrying it around with me, and selling jewelry out of the trunk of my little 2 door Honda civic. I would pop up at anyone's house or job, wherever people asked me to come or would let me, I would go! 

I found most of my festivals and craft shows in the early stages by calling every Chamber of Commerce in every surrounding town within a 2 hour drive. 

I wasn't dreaming of building a brand or even opening a single store. I was simply trying to survive and get myself through life & school. 

The name Sister Babyz had actually been part of my story long before the business ever existed. When I was born, my older brother was adamant that I was not his "baby sister." Anytime someone would ask him about his new baby sister, he would correct them. "That's my Sister Baby." My family thought it was cute, and the nickname stuck, so years later when I needed a business name for my little jewelry making side gig Sister Babyz it was! 

My brother passed away 5 years ago, many years after Sister Babyz was established.  Today, the name means even more to me and people still walk thru the doors and call me Sister Baby! What began as a childhood nickname is now a part of him I get to carry with me every single day.

The very first place I ever sat up to sell my jewelry was our small town's first farmers market. The booth space was $20, I didn't sell a single thing that day - but I did get one lead.

A lady stopped by my booth and asked if I could make some bracelets for her to give as teacher gifts. I gave her my information, but when I never heard back, I assumed she had changed her mind. About a week later, I happened to run into her at the tanning salon. She had lost my contact info. and still wanted the bracelets - but she needed them the next day. I went home right away, made the bracelets and brought them back to town for her.

It wasn't a huge sale. But it was a start.

 I then went on to do our hometown fall festival where I did amazing. I was selling necklaces as fast as I could make them. I sat in my booth all weekend and made necklace after necklace. I spent many years as a little girl at that same fall festival in my grandmother and great-aunts vendor booth.

As I continued making jewelry and doing shows, an opportunity came up to open a small storefront in Sulphur Springs. The building was about 700 sq. ft., the rent was $350/month, no deposit, no contract or lease minimum or anything. Taking that leap meant withdrawing from cosmetology school and betting on something I had never planned on turning into a career.

My mentality was pretty simple: If this doesn't work, I'll sell everything, go back to doing shows on the weekends, and enroll in school again.

I painted the store myself and raided family members storage buildings for furniture to use for store displays. I had antique dressers I refurbished and painted. I didn't have a lot of money to spend to fill the store so I needed to save everywhere I possibly could.

Three years after opening my first store, I moved down the road a little ways to where the flagship store still remains to this day. I quadrupled my size, then eventually took over the 2 spaces next to us as well. I opened a second location in Commerce, TX, sold it around 2014. I then opened a location in Royse City, TX, and in 2019 opened our Paris, TX store. In 2019 I owned 3 store fronts at one time. 

Also, in 2019 Sister Babyz was named Small Business of the Year in Sulphur Springs.

In 2020, I sold the Royse City location and began focusing the business in a new direction. Today, Sister Babyz has two brick-and-mortar stores in Sulphur Springs and Paris, Texas, along with our warehouse that houses our online inventory and supports our growing     e-commerce business.

What began as something I was doing to make money while I figured out the next chapter of my life ended up becoming the next chapter.

Through every version of Sister Babyz, there has been one thing I have always wanted the store to be:

A place with something for everyone.

I never wanted Sister Babyz to be a boutique that catered to only one age, one style, or one small niche. My goal has always been for a grandmother, mom, daughter, and granddaughter to be able to shop together and each find something they love.

From clothing and shoes to jewelry, handbags, hats, and accessories, I want us to be able to dress generations of women for all occasions head to toe, all under one roof.

Styles change. Trends change. The business has certainly changed over the years. But that part of my vision never has. 

A lot of my style, inspiration, and determination comes from my Mimi, who raised me. Everyone knows her as Mimi, and still to this day, at 80 years old, she is the most adorable fashionista! My aunt Judy, Mimi's twin also had a huge impact in raising me and has worked in the SBZ warehouse for 10+ years.

Years into starting Sister Babyz I became a mom, and that gave everything I had built an entirely new meaning. I knew at a very young age I would be an independent woman and stand on my own two feet. That has been extremely important to me that I pass that down to both my daughters. They have grown up watching me work hard, build, struggle, figure things out, and keep going. I didn't come from money or an easy background. I was raised largely by my grandmother, with a dad who struggled with alcoholism and a mom who struggled with drug addiction. But I was also surrounded by women who knew how to work, make something out of what they had, and keep going. I knew early on that I wanted something different for my own life-- and especially for my girls. I wanted them to see first hand that your circumstances don't have to determine your future. I want them to know they can be independent, build a life for themselves, overcome hard seasons, and more than anything that where you come from never has to limit where you can go.

I'm incredibly grateful for every customer who has walked through our doors, placed an order online, told a friend about us, shared one of our posts, or supported Sister 
Babyz along the way.

What started with handmade jewelry, the trunk of my car, a childhood nickname, and a farmers market where I didn't sell a single thing has grown into more than I ever imagined or dreamed when I was simply trying to figure out how to get myself through life and school at 18 years old.

Eighteen years later, I'm in tears as I write this and think back to where it all began. I am forever grateful I took the chance and know God has carried me every step of the way, every tear, late nights, endless hours during the Holidays away from my family and all things in between. 

I will leave y 'all with my favorite quote:

"Nothing Good Comes From Easy"

--Maci

Founder, Sister Babyz