Laid-off Channahon woman finds entrepreneurial success

CHANNAHON – This year, Channahon resident Whitney Surane is anticipating earning $20,000 from Madly Wish, the baby bedding home business she began two years ago.

In the past two months alone, Surane's products were accepted on consignment at Kooky Kids Shop on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and Surane was part of the feature article "10 Crafty Chicago Moms You Need to Know," published online at Red Tricycle.

But in January 2012, after adding baby number four to her family and getting laid off from a property management job, she hadn’t any plans for starting a home business. She simply announced to her mother, Jean Danie of California, “Let’s make a quilt.”

At the time, neither could quilt, but they could sew, a skill Danie had taught Surane when she was a girl. So Surane did some research online about quilt-making and studied some photos.

Then, without any quilting tools or cutting boards – just cardboard templates to cut out flannel squares – Surane and Danie made a rag quilt, which Surane used to cover the infant carrier when she took her son to preschool.

Buoyed by compliments from onlookers, Surane assembled more quilts. By February 2012, she had made four quilts, as well as some pillowcase dresses and hair accessories for girls. Surane used those items to open an online store at madlywish.etsy.com.

The name – Madly Wish – was inspired by her children’s names: Madeleine, 9; Lyla, 7; Canon, 4; Rhyan, 2; and Cade, 1.

That May, Surane attended her first craft show and sold nothing. She did a few more shows. Nothing sold. Surane studied venues to determine the best fit for her products and kept attending shows, 27 in all that year. Her homework paid off. Soon she was taking custom orders.

“That’s what got the ball rolling for me,” Surane said. “That’s what really boosted my sales.”

In 2013, armed with knowledge and experience, Surane let the other products go and focused on baby bedding only. She added crib sets (bumpers, valances, skirts), scaled back the craft fairs, set a goal of getting 100 items up on Etsy, and then started a blog at http://blog.madlywish.com and taught herself search engine optimization.

Surane also had another baby.

Around this time, she also realized her low prices – $45 to $65 for her quilts – didn’t account for her labor, which could be eight hours or more, or the cost of shipping.

“I had no clue about pricing,” Surane said. “I was losing money.”

By the end of 2013 and after some dramatic price changes, Surane had an $8,000 profit.

With an expanding business, the dining room table was a poor studio. So she started a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $5,000 needed to remodel a section of her basement.

The campaign runs until Sept. 22. To contribute, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/142567264/madly-wish-project-swetsy-shop.

Although Surane is always working – in the mornings when her husband, Chris Surane, a Cook County sheriff on the night shift, comes home from work; during naptime; and even slipping away during mealtimes to check email – it beats the 14-hour days away from her family that she logged when she was employed.

The actual sewing is a small part of Madly Wish, about 10 hours a week, Surane said. The rest of her time is devoted to marketing. Nevertheless, Surane’s career goal is not fame and fortune, but a desire to – one day – treat her family to a Disney cruise.

Overall, Surane’s satisfaction cannot be measured in dollars and cents.

“It’s so easy for moms to think that we have to give and be everything to everyone. It’s so easy to lose ourselves in all that,” Surane said. “I was so angry about being pregnant and laid off, and it turned out to be the best thing ever. This [Madly Wish] is just for me. The bonus is providing for my family in some small way. And that’s a great thing for me as a mom with five kids.”

KNOW MORE

For more information, email Whitney Surane at whitney@madlywish.com or visit www.madlywish.com.