Donna Pepper may not live in Champaign-Urbana, but most people don’t even realize it, as her commitment to the community is tried-and-true. Donna’s boundless energy as the creator of the area’s largest children’s consignment event, the twice-yearly One Week Boutique, is beyond compare. Raised in Urbana, Pepper is a graduate of Parkland College and the University of Illinois. Her husband, Cam, is a former UI football player, and the couple has two children.
Q: How did you come up with the idea for OWB?
When my husband’s job took us to Tulsa, Oklahoma all my neighbors told me about this sale and that I HAD TO GO TO! Someone gave me a pre-sale pass so I went but didn’t know you couldn’t take kids so my husband ran over from work and let me shop. Turns out he knew one of the owners through his job. She and I became fast friends, and still are today. I was astounded at the entire process. Having a degree in Special Events, my ideas started flowing and my brain never stopped. I knew Champaign-Urbana needed this so we jumped in.
Q: Your whole family has gotten involved with the sale. How has that unfolded?
When we wanted to open the business, my parents fronted the money for it and I had the sale know-how. That is how the partnership began. My mom and I had both worked with Special Event/Meeting planning so it was a natural for us. From there my mom, husband and I would run the sale while my dad would go to Tulsa and stay with my son, then later our daughter when she started school. My dad is still Super Nanny and takes care of the kids every time I’m gone for a sale. Usually I have to be gone 10 days from setup to tear down so having him at home is the only way we can do this. For many years, my husband, my parents and I were the set up & tear-down crew but thankfully we have awesome volunteers that do that now– HOORAY! My kids have grown up in this business and are a helpful part of it as well. They were 3 (Sloane) and 9 (Taybor) when we opened OWB in 2004. Sloane would come with me to C-U for every sale until she started kindergarten. She began checking consignors in at the second sale because I color coded the passes therefore she knew exactly what to pass out to who. Our son has always loved being the one to help moms out to their car by carrying the large items. He sees a pregnant lady coming to check out and he’s off! Both of the kids have learned a lot of skills from growing up in this business including (for a teenager and pre-teen) that you don’t have an iPod cord hanging out of your ear and you don’t have your cell phone out to text when customers are present. It sounds silly almost, but those are some of the lessons that have been hardest to teach them. They also have pitched in by counting and bundling thousands of hangers, laminating signs, stamping consignor checks and more. They know a lot of work goes into the sale since I work from home until sale week, but they also see the rewards of great relationships and seeing happy, grateful customers.
Q: How has the OWB evolved over time?
Wow. To think what OWB was the first time we opened and remembering how I stressed over whether or not anyone would show up to the fact that we now have people selling pre-sale passes on Craigslist and lines of 400 to get in the door is mind-boggling! We definitely have let the customers show us what they want and what helps them. We actually didn’t turn a profit for many years because we grew so fast we had to keep adding equipment and expanding our technology which adds up fast. When we began I actually kept a piece of paper on my desk and manually assigned consignor numbers one by one via email. For consignor totals we separated each consignor’s tags into her own pile then ran a calculator tape (twice) to get her total. I shake my head when I think about this now! Now we have automated registration and we have bar-coded tags that scan at checkout. Following the sale, the program totals everyone’s earnings and I check it over. From management’s standpoint, going to bar-coded tagging has been our biggest accomplishment. I used to fly back to Tulsa with huge duffle bags of handwritten tags–Willard’s airport security knew me and always asked how the sale was after my bags showed up on the screen with 15,000 index cards inside!
Q: A community has developed around the sale. Was that something you expected or has it surprised you?
Yes, “community” is a good word. Sometimes we joke that it’s more like a “cult”, LOL! I had NO idea that would happen with this sale, but to me that is the very best part of it. I can’t begin to put into words how important our OWB staff and consignors have become to our family. Not only have they been the reason for the sale’s success but we’ve created lifelong friendships, witnessed joyous pregnancies and even endured some very sad losses together. Many of these friendships have impacted our lives forever. I also love hearing about how so many moms meet each other while volunteering at the sale then plan play dates with one another. It’s a great way to meet others with kids the same age as yours. I have always approached owning this sale (and the one we owned in Oklahoma) as though it belongs to the consignors and my mom and I are just here to steer it. I hope that that comes through, even when someone might get frustrated at changes or new processes or the fact that there are so many guidelines—just know, it’s always done to make it better for everyone.
Q: What do you see in OWB’s future?
A generous donor that wants to provide us with a huge, awesome building with great lighting and tons of parking! That would be a dream come true, but part of why I want a place we can count on to use is because I have tons of ideas of things we could offer the community but since we always have to wait until the last minute to set our location, it prevents us from working on all the other cool things we could do. Not having a space or dates until six to eight weeks ahead of time makes it difficult to bring in any speakers such as parenting experts, health awareness advocates, etc. I really want OWB to be not just a place to find great deals on kids items but a place that the community knows they can come to make their family healthier; be it financially, mentally, physically and more.
Q: You are deeply rooted in Champaign. When are you moving back? 🙂
HAHAHAHA! I am deeply rooted in Champaign-Urbana, no doubt about that. My parents were both born and raised here. We moved back when I was 10 and I graduated from Urbana High, Parkland then University of Illinois. After getting married Cam and I lived in C-U for a few years then left for grad school and followed the jobs after that. Sometimes I think people I’ve known since high school, still think I live in town though I haven’t lived here since 1996. This is home to me. My husband came here to play football in college and it quickly became his home too (that’s what you get when you marry a “townie”). We love these cities and it’s people. We also love the experience of living in different places. The town we live in now has many reminders of C-U. My parents live here, Illini sports are here and some of our and our children’s best friends are here so we always come back, sale time or not.
Q: What advice do you have for other women/moms who want to start their own businesses?
For women in general starting their own business I would say be sure you have everything mapped out the way you envision it when you start, but just as importantly make sure you are flexible as it grows. For moms specifically, I would say make sure you have the support of your significant other and dependable child care. Nothing can kill a business or an idea quicker than the constant battle of getting the time to work the business, or in some cases the jealousy a new business can create. It truly is like having a baby and though it’s possible to do it on your own, it has numerous obstacles that you will encounter. Having a strong support system of partner, parents and friends it very important. And don’t forget to be able to laugh at yourself.
Editor’s note: One Week Boutique is a sponsor of chambanamoms.com
Tell us: do you have any tips for shopping at OWB? We want to hear them!