This is a tale of good things
happening when I wasn’t ready. I
don’t want to say timing was bad,
because is there ever a bad time
for good things to happen?
If you keep up with the adventures of my daughter,
Ella, and myself as her chaperone through life as a child
actress, you may have heard or seen her commercial
alongside Major League Baseball legend Derek Jeter
for American Family Insurance. It’s not a typical
commercial.
She didn’t audition for it, they called us — a
connection made through Ella’s participation in the
Brevard Children’s Business Fair. Her being cast had
nothing to do with her acting career. There were no
scripts, it was organic conversation between a child and
the surefit Baseball Hall of Fame future inductee.
It’s also not typical because while the company being
advertised is an insurance company, it’s also advertising
Ella’s Ella Bella Beads. So, how much do companies pay
for advertising? In kid terms, let’s say LOTS and leave it
at that. An unfathomable amount to a lemonade standstyle
activity started by a then 4-year-old who felt her
dolls needed to accessorize.
And what happens when you get invited to share the
story of how your little biz gives money back locally to
The Children’s Hunger Project and it’s seen on TV and
heard on the radio all over the U.S. and Canada?
People are moved and reach out wanting to order
Ella Bella Beads and support the mission. So many.
Private messages on Facebook and Instagram. Emails,
comments on YouTube. Comments on posts and
individual photos.
I’m not complaining. After all, we created social media
pages and a website and shared photos of our creations.
UNTIL we had to leave our supplies behind and head to
California for a few months for Ella to shoot her sitcom,
United We Fall (coming to ABC in the spring). That just
so happens to be when the commercial ramped up. We
were in Los Angeles. Beads were in Florida.
We returned from LA with customers backed up
beyond what Ella and I could handle. So we hired
our first help. Our friend Sophie has been a godsend
helping us work through client communication.
I thought I removed a link to an order form from our
old website. But I left a few hyperlinked words behind.
People Googled and found the old website with the
linked order form. (Love resourceful people!) We
discovered a beautifully large number of orders waiting
in a spreadsheet we thought was dormant.
I saw inquiries coming in while we were away, but I was
paralyzed. After the hiatus, I’m glad I was smart enough
to bring in help. As a creative person facing a growing
business, it was time for reinforcements.
Grateful for the support. It feels good to make
something from nothing and see it grow.
- Lee Nessel
JAN. 2020 VOL. 17
EverythingBrevard.com
PUBLISHER
Tracy K. Stroderd
MANAGING EDITOR
Lee Nessel
ART DIRECTOR
Caley Curchy
ADVERTISING
Tracy Kohlstedt
Tracy K. Stroderd
ADMINISTRATIVE
Stefanie Chrisman
DISTRIBUTION
Taylor Lee-Ann
EVENTS
Trish Murphy
VIDEO
Sean Blake
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Christina Stuart
CONTRIBUTORS
Michael Ayers
Anne Conroy-Baiter
Kevin Chancellor
Karyn Cole
Marcia Gaedcke
Steven R. Hicks, Ed.D.
Jennifer Johnson
Larry Johnston
Laurie Knisley
Kristina Kitsopoulos
Piper Makepeace
Betsy Markle
Lee Nessel
Katie Parsons
Nancy Peltonen
Avery Plavin
Mark Sexton
Jennifer Sugarman
Cynthia Thomas
Kristin Woodling
TO CONTRIBUTE
Please send any announcements, images,
press releases and article submissions
too: Tracy@EverythingBrevard.com and
event submissions should be directed to
Taylor@EverythingBrevard.com. Please
provide 2-3 months’ advance notice when
requesting coverage.
com
print magazine and the website are
strictly copyrighted and all rights are
reserved. Duplication or reproduction
in part is prohibited without permission
-
thingBrevard.com. We cannot accept
errors. Listings or advertisements do not
constitute an endorsement. Opinions
expressed in this magazine are not
MEMBER OF THE
FOLLOWING COMMUNITY
ORGANIZATIONS:
/IWantMyEllaBellaBeads
@ellabellabeads
A NOTE editor
FROM THE
WHEN
CUSTOMERS
fall out
of the sky
Learn
More:
010 // EVERYTHINGBREVARD.com
/EverythingBrevard.com
/thingBrevard.com
/EVERYTHINGBREVARD.com
link
link