Today we’d like to introduce you to Cait (Caitlin) Plourde.
Hi Cait (Caitlin), it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
Hi! I am Cait Plourde, the owner of Simply Plourde Co., and I created our family’s first business, plus a small side hustle with our baby girl in mind. Once our daughter was born, she clicked a switch in our lives. My husband and I wanted to show her that you can achieve your dreams with hard work, determination, a little fun, and a lot of love!
As a little girl, I grew up watching my mother create scrapbooks, being an active vendor at craft fair after craft fair, and constantly bringing crafts to the table. She would make all these little activities and books that were small joys in my childhood. The creativity unfolding before my eyes as a child interested me more and more. As I grew up, I always created flyers, posters, and worksheets, which soon helped me as a memory care director and as an adult. And this is also where more creativity began to flow as working with seniors; we were constantly doing activities and engaging in art. I loved creating online documents, invitations, task sheets, coloring pages, and more!
But my story starts back in 2021.
I packed up my life in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with my 6-month-old pup, Jax, and moved to the Space Coast area to be my grandmother’s caretaker before her passing. During that time, I was blessed to have met and fallen in love with my husband, Dustin. After caring and loving on my grandmother for three months, she passed away in March 2021. Shortly after, we married and added another little pup, Jade, to our family! After a year and a half of being a family of three, we were ready to bring a little life into the world!
March of 2022 would quickly surprise us–Dustin and I found out we were pregnant! I was working in the pharmacy during this time, so we discussed ideas on creating a small business to allow me to stay home while making some income for our family alongside his director position. We messed with ideas of digital design templates, creating jewelry, selling antiques, and many more options, but nothing ever stuck out to me. Because of this and some unforeseen health issues during pregnancy, we put the idea of a business on hold. Fast forward to October 2022, when we had the most beautiful baby girl! Our baby girl came three and a half weeks early, filling our hearts with abundant love. Her birth truly kickstarted the process of this business. We had just a strong desire to show our children that you can be successful at home while serving your family and having fun too!
Throughout my postpartum time, I dove into figuring out different ways to start a business, ways to promote around town, and how I would do it all with 2 pups and a newborn! I had yet to gain experience with starting a business. But, I did have a background in various management positions, a heart for creativity, a passion for working, and with the support system I had— I could reach for what I wanted!
Our business officially opened as an Etsy shop in January 2023, named Plourde Prints. I created and sold digital greeting cards, worksheets, word puzzles, and custom invitations! This was the first of many steps to where we are today!
Plourde Prints was thriving. We had 18 sales in the first 2 weeks!! I was creating during the day between household duties and during the nights when our baby girl was up feeding or needed extra support to fall asleep. I couldn’t have been happier, yet I still felt unsatisfied with my work. I soon realized that to thrive, I needed to be hands-on in our business–to create, educate, communicate with our community, encourage, and learn from other women-owned businesses. Soon after realizing needing more, I decided to dive into the world of silicone-beaded creations, and this time I was so lost! There were so many more logistical pieces that came with having an actual product, and now because of having a physical product, I felt a need for a rebrand of our business as we weren’t just prints anymore!
Plourde Prints came to be Simply Plourde Co. on February 26, 2021, with a new logo and announcing our new products being keychains! Our logo is dedicated to our daughter– having both October birth flowers; Marigolds, and Cosmos; which represent the month we were blessed with her. Since she was born on Halloween, we incorporated some spookier colors, too; purple and orange! Simply Plourde Co. was open on Etsy selling beaded keychains and would soon switch to Square. We were getting orders from Washington State to Georgia! Shipping my creations out to such sweet people across the country was a great feeling! We also were doing vendor events and loved the ways Square made it possible to take payments!
Soon after the rebrand, I decided to start sharing my love and passion for Young Living essential oils and their products. I could keep my family and pets safe at home while cleaning and earn a paycheck from sharing what I use in our everyday lives. I was using these products in our home daily, weekly, heck, and sometimes hourly, and I know there is a need for everyone to know about these natural tools. I took the leap of faith, and Young Living has blessed our business and family in many ways. Those blessed ways include, within the first month of the money made with Young Living, purchasing a $300 supply order, having a community of successful, loving men & women around you, and cabinets full of nontoxic cleaning products & natural first aid! From April to July, Young Living’s paycheck has paid for our most business necessities! How cool?!
Simply Plourde Co. started taking off around town; we were making custom keychains left and right, and soon we had our products in a local store! Indialantic Coffee was the first shop to display our products; from there, we kept going! From March to July, we made over 100 customized keychains through inquiries and expanded into 6 more shops around the Space Coast Area. We are thankful for our partnerships with these seven businesses; Indialantic Coffee, Viera Tanning Lounge, Chilly Spoons Frozen Yogurt, Texaco Beachside Gas Station, Jacqueline’s Bakery, and The Sweet Heartist. As our business grows, I am so excited for the future.
Please talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned. Looking back, it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect.
A smooth road? I wouldn’t say smooth on the personal side of things but not bumpy on the business side. The face of the business had a bit of a tougher time with personal challenges that needed to be overcome. Starting two businesses wasn’t easy in the middle of postpartum, and it was my husband’s time to return to work. We did halt the business before because of pregnancy complications, but I decided I couldn’t let anything else stop myself and us this time. I needed to push myself out of the comfort zone of my postpartum anxiety and depression.
Postpartum anxiety and depression doesn’t always occur within the first three months of birth. PPD can creep up anytime during the first year. And my diagnosis of PPD was 5 months after giving birth to our baby girl, and it wasn’t easy for me. I blamed myself for c-section complications and continuously had a negative outlook on every daily habit.
I wasn’t happy with myself, but I knew deep down creating this business would help somehow, and so did my husband. Thanks to Dustin, he encouraged me, researched with me, and, most of all, stood by to help with the craziness while I created and continue to create our small family-owned business. While Dustin has been a great partner in this all, I wouldn’t have been sane without being able to go back and forth for advice and vent sessions with close friends and family, the community of men and women I have met through Young Living as well as Local Brevard County. These women and men had brought light to business opportunities and friendships when they had no clue it was needed.
We’ve been impressed with Simply Plourde Co., but for folks who might need to be more familiar, what can you share about what you do and what sets you apart?
As a small family-owned business, Simply Plourde Co. has a mission to create fun & exciting beaded products that bring joy to your everyday life. While Dustin does all organizing and accounting, Cait gets to do all the designing and creating! We have many beaded products, such as beaded keychains, beaded writing pens, beaded wine stoppers, beaded lanyards, and beaded wristlets—with more coming in the fall!
Our beads are for everyone; baby, mom, dad, grandma, uncle, best friend, or even your boss! We have beaded charm options that range from fruit and cookies to margaritas and tacos, sea creatures to farm animals, country singers to adult content, and more. All our color bead options are constantly changing and allow us to be unique in never making the same patterned product.
What sets us apart is the drive to make these products so personalized! All are customizable! I strive not to make two alike only if ordered that way. I want everyone to have their unique keychain or pen to brighten their day! If someone wants a keychain for every holiday, they deserve one for every holiday, and we will be sure to do that!! If someone wants a line of all pink “GIRLBOSS” pens, we will do all we can to get those pink pens writing their way! Please always feel free to talk to us about what you want; we will do our best to accommodate what we have or get to ordering more! The creativity of this small business is beyond fun! Plus, not only am I bringing joy into others’ lives, but by doing this, it brings joy into mine!
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I have learned through all of this is there is always light at the end of the tunnel, even if you have to dig for it. No matter the battles or how far down you fall, there is always light, and sometimes that light has to be made by you! It won’t be easy or and maybe at times it won’t feel hard, but if you know in your heart it’s what you want for you or for your family— I can promise you, it will be worth it. It’s the best thing you could do, the best way to chase your dreams– It will all come to be. So keep digging for the light even if you want to make it yourself!
Pricing:
- Beaded Keychains: $9.00 (Starting Sept 2023)
- Beaded Pens w/ 1 ink refill: $7.00 (Starting Sept 2023)
- Beaded Wine Stoppers: $12.50 (Starting Sept 2023)
- Beaded Lanyards: $12.00 (Starting Sept 2023)
- Beaded Wristlets: $15.00 (Starting Sept 2023)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://simplyplourdeco.square.site/
- Instagram: @simplyplourdeco
- Facebook: @plourdeprints
- Other: https://www.youngliving.com/us/en/referral/4521051 and https://g.co/kgs/maFAAh
Image Credits
B&W photo taken by Jackie Shay Photography, Greenery Background Photos taken by Cait Plourde, Other Five photos taken by Kristina Tracy Photography
