Jackson-Area Woman Finds Success Restoring Stuffed Animals
Stuffed animals are more than just something for kids to snuggle up with or your pets to tear apart. Often times there is a lot of sentimental meaning to them which is why this Spring Arbor mom turned fixing them up into a business!
According to the Fluff Stuffed Animal Restoration website, how the business really took off for Danielle Allore-Taylor was a mix of childhood memories, job loss due to the pandemic, and a little help from TikTok that made her skills go viral.
Danielle said that as a child her mother used to always, lovingly, fix her stuffed animals and as she got older she started doing it for herself, her friends and her own child. It was more of a hobby for her but when the pandemic hit and she lost her job she wanted to find ways to supplement her income and tried spreading the word about her stuffed animal restoration skills on Facebook.
Though it was off to a slow start, Danielle shared that she finally got a request from a woman in Indiana. She then made a video of the project and shared it to TikTok where it "blew up" and garnered millions of likes and shares, national news outlet attention and from there, business was booming.
Now, this Jackson-area woman has taken the opportunity for such a creative business to thrive and run with it!
Danielle even recently, as shared by CBS Detroit, was featured on the Drew Barrymore Show to share her story and a little bit about the businesses' "scholarship" program for people who want a stuffed animal restoration but may not be able to afford it.
Oh, and Drew "America's Sweetheart" Barrymore also gifted Danielle a $5,000 gift card to JoAnn stores!
Out of all the negativity that came out of 2020, it is awesome to see how creative people were in getting through it all. If anything, the pandemic has taught us a lot about how you can truly make a living out of the things you love.
I think it also has made us all re-evaluate what an idea of a "typical" work schedule looks like. Many jobs can be done from home and can be a lot more free-flowing and comfortable than the "stuffy" structure we are used to.
Commentaries aside, it you have some stuffed animals that can use a little sprucing up...we know a gal!
Interested in more Michigan woman who are getting creative and making the best of things? Check out what this teacher does to make distance-learning more of an adventure:
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