Market Test-Little Miracles-Our Story-#3

Now that the stories were being written, my next step was to find an existing doll to use for the market test and design outfits that would coordinate with the story lines of the books. Even from that early stage I was very interested in finding a doll that was made in America. I searched, but it didn’t take long to come to the conclusion that no dolls are made here anymore. (You can read more about my search for an American manufacturer on our website under Made in America.) I ended up getting permission from one of the toy companies I contacted to purchase their 18 inch dolls and repackage and resell them just for the market test. That alone felt like a miracle!

My friend, Shane Hodges, who later became my business partner, put me in touch with a local seamstress. My oldest daughter and I shopped for patterns and material, and before I knew it the two characters I had dreamed up began to take shape.

Fast forward to May 2014. I had been granted permission to display and sell my dolls at a week long event for the market test. The first few days of the event were some of the most stressful I have ever had. It’s hard to explain the emotional roller coaster you experience when you put yourself out there like that. But, by Wednesday evening, all twenty dolls had been sold and I was walking on air! I had my answer – this was something that girls (and their parents and grandparents) were interested in! I had no idea how I was going to proceed, but I knew I would find a way. A quote by Martin Luther King Jr. really resonated with me through this process. He said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” Each step that had gotten me to this point had been taken almost blindly. God provided the next step in the staircase at just the right time throughout the previous two years. The next step God was about to build is one of the greatest miracles of this Girls of Faith journey. I’ll tell you about it next month. 🙂

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”