About a month ago, Jad approached me with an idea. He was really excited about this idea, and had spent a lot of time thinking about it, researching it, and watching sales pitches on it. After all this, and praying about it, he felt he should involve me in the idea.
I admit that at first I was hurt that he hadn’t involved me earlier, but it was just his style to study it out before wasting my time. Anyway, after he started showing me some things, I slowly started warming up to the idea. And before we knew it, it was a month later.
This past month has involved hours of training videos, hours of brainstorming, and hours of building up this idea. Many more hours have been spent editing, with more and more ideas flowing forth each day.
What am I talking about? I am talking about a new business – an online store.
It may not sound that exciting at first, but when you think about the fact that Jad and I CREATED it ourselves – that we spent so much time carefully choosing a website name, crafting a logo, finding our passion, and finding our why for it all, it really is.
Jad has been the graphic designer for our site (i.e. logo, slides, business cards, etc.), and has been more of a behind-the-scenes player, while I have been the one crafting all the verbiage, setting up our email and social media pages, building the store, adding the products, editing everything, etc. It may look like I have done more, but Jad was a rock star at picking up the slack around the house – taking the kids to dance, cleaning, cooking, etc. I couldn’t have done any of it without him.
It has been a labor of love – a very stressful labor of love. Our free time the last month has been mostly devoted to the store, especially in the last two weeks. I have sat at the computer until I thought my eyes would burn, but today, we can both truly say that we are proud of what we have built. We are at peace, and we are excited. It will be hard work, but it will also be fun and beneficial.
When we were thinking of what were passionate about, we realized that FAMILY is our passion. We know that family should bring us incomprehensible joy, but also recognize that that joy can be overshadowed by heavy stress and messes. So, our site was built with families in mind. We truly want to provide items that will make YOUR life easier, more comfortable, more convenient, and more enjoyable, so you can spend more time on what matters most with WHO matters most.
Our website name is PB and Apple Jelly. Some of you will get the Apple Jelly part of it, but for those of you who don’t know, when Jad and I got married, a friend I worked with said that my new last name (Al-Bjaly), sounded like Apple Jelly. I never forgot that, and have had an email address for years with the prefix mrsapplejelly. It has become kind of our trademark. And then we thought about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. What are they like? Well, they are a sweet, easy, convenient, comfort food that brings a smile to those who enjoy them. We thought it would make a good logo. What do you think?
We recognize that we don’t know everything about what makes a family’s life easier, more comfortable, etc., so we are ALWAYS willing to hear your ideas. We would love to have them. Email us any time at support@pbandapplejelly.com, and we will do our very best to add your suggestions to our site. We will even recognize you for it!
So, this is our new adventure. We are business owners. It is a passion Jad has always had, and something that I have tried before, but haven’t felt nearly as passionate about as I do now. This time it is OUR business that WE created TOGETHER.
Our website is www.pbandapplejelly.com. Please visit it and give us your feedback. Buy something if you like! We want to hear what your favorite products are.
Also, we are going to be doing contests on our Instagram and Facebook pages for the rest of this week, and would love it if you would drop by! We will be doing promotions often, as well as adding new products, and really, just being there to share about our life, and hear about yours. I hope we get to know each other better through this avenue.
Our social media pages are: instagram.com/pbandapplejelly and https://www.facebook.com/pbandapplejelly
Thank you for any and all support you are willing to give us as we are just starting out, and over the years. A small business is nothing without its valued customers, and we promise to always treat you well!
*Update: Jad and I made a video on 10/5/17 to highlight what we do to show true service and loyalty to our customers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRLpv7hbLY8