Today we’d like to introduce you to Mandi Woodard.
Mandi, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Growing up in a small town in Alabama, I stayed busy playing all the sports and being a part of various school clubs. I had a big family and many friends, so things really weren’t ever boring. Socializing was really all I knew. From an early age, I wanted to own a business and make a positive impact on the world. The closest thing I knew to someone owning their own business were MLM situations. From MaryKay to Body by Vi and a few in between, I was sold the dream I wanted. Grow your own team and make your own money while helping others. I would try my hardest to get people excited about what I was doing and the “opportunity” before them. I learned quickly this wasn’t my path.
In 2005, in my junior and senior years of high school, my world was flipped upside down. I fell in love at 17 and planned out my entire life with someone. That same year my someone was diagnosed with Leukemia and lost his battle all in the same year. Everything I had planned for myself now looked very different. Who I was in the mirror looked very different. My mother battled with addiction, depression, and substance abuse for the majority of my life, which luckily taught me all about serenity and resilience. I knew I was going to have to turn this pain into energy to figure out what was next. After a year of feeling like I was deteriorating, I sought and found help in a local counselor. She was tough and made me work for my smile.
A year later, I started college at Jacksonville State University as a new person and with a clean slate. I was equipped with tools to battle my anxiety and depression and was determined to keep going. Inspired by what helped me, I decided to major in Social Work and start my path to becoming a private practicing counselor. The coursework taught me so much about myself and what trauma does to our brains and how to help others on their journey. In a little over four years, I graduated with a Bachelor’s in Social Work. I landed a position right out of college as a house manager at a group home for adult developmentally disabled clients. After my first year working in my field, I realized Alabama wasn’t where I was going to develop into what or who I wanted to be. A cousin of mine had a great nanny job and because of my long list of experience with kids and different family dynamics, I decided to look for a professional nanny position in Georgia. I moved to Georgia six years ago from Alabama for a family I continue to work for as needed. I picked up other private child care jobs to fill my time. When I wasn’t working in the households of my nanny fams, I found myself digging deep in personal development. I hired a personal trainer and enjoyed life one day at a time. I never had felt better. I found myself being asked by so many if I could be their nanny or help them find a nanny. I decided to start a nanny placement agency for my network and I started interviewing candidates. After six months, I found only two people out of all the interviews I felt I could trust in the positions. I decided this wasn’t my path either.
In 2017 my younger sister asked me to be her Maid of Honor, deeming me responsible for a memorable bachelorette party. After deciding on a ladies’ night-in, I remembered back to all my favorite celebrations growing up being sleepovers. There was just something about having your favorite people in one room all being their truest self. I began my endless hour search on Pinterest for the perfect Gossip Girl-inspired luxurious sleepover ideas. I started finding the MOST ADORABLE sleepover set-ups with tents and throw pillows, lights, and sparkles all in other countries. I did my due diligence of searching high and low for the possibility of someone local doing these types of events. I found no one. I knew right then I would be starting a sleepover company. I knew I could bring the idea here and make it great.
I called my dad about the decision and even though I found out later that he was very unsure if someone was going to pay for a sleepover or not, he reminded me of my abilities to sell, organize and network could get me a long way in event management. Using my people skills I fearlessly reached out to a similar company in the United Kingdom and gathered some information on how to make some tents. I went to the local hardware store and purchased items needed. With the help of a friend with a drill, I soon had six sleepover tents. After hearing of the new venture my long time best friend felt inspired and went all in and decided to sew us tent covers. Now I had a team and six homemade tents. We decided together that dreams really can come true.
After what seems like forever, it was decided Sleepovers & Co. would be the name. I knew in my heart this trend would be rising quickly and when people searched, I wanted them to find us, & Co. was added to the name for the other events I knew the company would quickly evolve into. The beautiful watercolor logo you see was developed with an amazing designer on Etsy by making a few minor changes to an already created clipart. As I developed the bones of the business, I reflected on the birthday celebrations I had, attended, and planned. I remembered the sleepover my grandparents threw me at their house when I was seven complete with a fort, being silly stringed by my brother, and playing dress-up and how my sweet 16 was a sleepover. I don’t remember any present from any birthday, but what I do remember is how I made best friends in moments at sleepovers when someone felt comfortable enough to tell me a secret and how the sleepover my grandparents gifted me ended up getting me back to sleep after almost every nightmare from then on.
Then, I remembered a particular little boy I nannied and for his 7th birthday, his party was held at an arcade type place. We had worked very hard that year on him being more comfortable making friends and socializing and was quite impressed with his particular amount of people he decided to invite. I remember during and after the event feeling very unsure if he made any memories during his party. The children ran around, mostly not together and in the end it was all about who had the most tickets and could get the best prize. Everything came together full-circle in my brain. It is vital to have positive, healthy relationships to live a fulfilled life. Friendships are good for school-aged children’s self-esteem. When you grow up with good friends, you feel like you belong and develop important life skills such as getting along with others, dealing with conflicts, and sorting problems.
Developing these skills early makes it less likely one will have social and emotional issues later on. Having playdates and sleepovers outside of school are great opportunities for kids to find who they have similarities with. Celebrating at home gives you opportunities to meet your children’s friends, observe their personalities and manners, and guide your children in the ways of hosting. In a disconnected world full of way too much loneliness, I wanted to create safe and unique spaces where real-life connections can be made. I declared the mission to be friendships and memories. We will turn timeless traditions into magical experiences. I had a feeling the news would travel fast and so with the help of a local web designer and not one single picture of what I had to offer, our Wix website launched in early 2018 full of stock photos. With a website up and running, I began spreading the word through social media outlets, Instagram, and Facebook and waited on the phone to ring or the email to ding.
To prepare I set up a trial sleepover for a little girl I used to babysit in Alabama for her 10th birthday and the girls had a blast! Everyone wanted their own sleepover for their birthday. I had my first opportunity to improve my new craft. A few months later our inbox had its first inquiry. An emoji-inspired sleepover for five girls in Decatur. There was no turning back now. With our first 5-star review and word starting to travel we began to see inquiry after inquiry for our Magical Sleepover Experience.
Since sleepovers are predominantly on the weekend, I knew I needed to be more in control of my schedule. So, in January 2018, I traded my full-time nanny life into a full-time position in the corporate world. I knew I would be able to determine the amount of money I would be making and hours I would be working freeing up more time to work on the business. In 2018, the first full year we averaged about 1-2 sleepovers a month. I began networking with local women-owned businesses who were inspired by our mission enough to support where they could. I took every piece of kindness and advice to heart and set off to make everyone proud and to make a difference. In 2019 we had some sleepovers for some Atlanta-native child actors, a bachelorette party, sorority reunion, adult sleepovers, and began working with party planners as their sleepover vendor. We have developed some signature themes such as our pastel watercolor “brand” theme Friendship & Memories, our dreamy Cloud 9, Our neon, Let’s Glow Together, and our 100% Magical Mermicorn, an under the sea oasis. We of course offer the favorited themes of Mermaid, Unicorn, Marvel-Inspired, Fairy Princess, and more totaling 50 or more customizations and their variations. And we aren’t finished.
Summer 2019 came with a fog. Business was moving great and I was ALWAYS working. Friends of mine were stepping up to work for Sleepovers & Co. by assisting with set-ups and tear-downs, and most importantly, constantly reminding me of my greatness and to just keep going. We truly became a friendship-based business. I noticed things got a little overwhelming and I decided I needed a change of scenery. My schedule consisted of getting two nanny kids ready in the morning and taking them to day camp for a family, 8-5 in the corporate world, and an evening nanny job until 8:30 pm most evenings. I made the conscious decision in July 2019 to leave my full-time gig and become a full-time entrepreneur. The freedom of working for myself and creating the flow of my days while having the option to change it at any moment was the exact thing I was working for. I did it. I made my own way. Then the words started flashing in my brain. What now?
In the last quarter of 2019, I found myself in a spiral of referrals in the business world. Every person who saw or heard of us told us it was the most amazing thing and they had never heard of anything like it before. In the last quarter of 2019, I hired an accountant and a business consultant to help us get organized and make a plan for growth in 2020. I am a woman with a big vision and that takes a lot of organization. I realized there was another opportunity for growth and hired a Virtual Assistant. We had a growing team! Together, we implemented operations, finished projects, started new ones, and set a goal for nine sleepovers a month in 2020.
In January 2020, Sleepovers & Co. finished the month with eight parties, 100% growth from December. In February, we finished with 12 parties. And March was projected to make the most memories yet before the COVID-19 outbreak. As restrictions are being lifted we are eager to get back to celebrating! We are looking to build more relationships within the industry and learn more about how we can make a positive impact.
Whether you are celebrating a birthday, bride, mother to be, or anniversary, getting together with your favorite girl gang or simply want to see the look on all their faces. Sleepovers & Co. guarantees you an Instagram-worthy event. Over the next few months, Sleepovers & Co. will be launching our brand new website, introducing our Luxury Picnics, Bella Tent events, and a party planner discount! In the future, we are looking to host some of our own Sleepovers & Co. presents events here in Atlanta, learn more about fundraising, and open up in new locations. Personally, I have been working on launching a podcast where I will sit down with women who have decided who or what they were about and they are going all-in called She.Dentifies. I look forward to women’s retreats, helping new businesses and growing relationships with as many boss ladies of Atlanta I can.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The story to where we are today reads beautifully, really. However, it has certainly not always been rainbows and unicorns. Being an entrepreneur has been quite a bumpy road. I am constantly running into old stories about myself and having to rewrite them in order to grow into my new role. Also, being your own boss is a roller coaster of emotions. I think it’s referred to as Imposter Syndrome. One minute you have it all figured out and the next you can’t believe what you have done.
Some other things I have run into are dishonest people. I advise new business owners to keep their guard up. If someone is looking for a way, they will turn your heart-based business into the perfect opportunity to get over on you. Another struggle I have is being my own worst critic. I am sure I am not alone, but I believe it is necessary as a business owner to be eager to work on personal development. The more we learn about what it takes the more capable we become of accomplishing any goal. The more tools we have in our pocket to push past the moments of feeling not good enough the better equipped you will be to lead a team and help others do the same. The important thing is to stay focused, remember to have fun, and don’t let anything stand in your way.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Sleepovers & Co. specializes in luxurious sleepovers and events. We are on a mission to inspire healthy friendships and create magical memories with each event. We are known for our A-frame tents and how we can transform your living room into a theme come true. The best part is the next day when we return to pack it all away, leaving only memories to last a lifetime. We customize each theme to the personality of the guest of honor or organization as well as creating our own signature themes such as our Friendship & Memories, a pastel watercolor dream, or On Cloud 9, a fan favorite, our neon Let’s Glow Together, and to name one more our 100% Magical Mermicorn theme. We have traveled two hours in just about every direction from Roswell, GA.
I am most proud of the company because not only did it start from an idea and grow before my eyes, but I also created something that inspires others to do the same. I didn’t let self-doubt, arising problems, money or bad days get in the way of the dream to build a platform for positive change.
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
The proudest moment of my career so far is and will continue to be when you get that text from the parents late after set-up with the newest reaction video and the guest of honor has tears of joy, or simply thanking us for helping make their children’s birthday so special. And nothing can top when the guest of honor stops to give us a hug and say thank you because they had the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!
What are parents saying? Children go to sleep at a decent time because of their individual space. Friendships really are being strengthened. Unforgettable experience. Easy, Stress-Free. The sleepover made them a HERO. Moms love answering the door for clean-up in their pajamas and coffee in hand!
Pricing:
- Magical Sleepover Experience for 6, $629 + tax (varies by guest count)
- Luxury Picnics for 6 guests, starting at $300
- Bella Tent Experience, starting at $500
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sleepoversandco.com
- Phone: 2564546786
- Email: info@sleepoversandco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleepoversandco.atl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SLEEPOVERSANDCO/
- Twitter: @sleepoversandco
Image Credit:
Madison King
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