Today we’d like to introduce you to Judi Swirbalus and Marissa Lazor.
Judi and Marissa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We are two working mothers with very active lifestyles, who have been friends and neighbors for many years. Trying to be more efficient while juggling the needs of work and family, we quickly adopted the fashionable large handbags and totes in order to carry all our essentials and technology. With this came disorganization and chaos in our handbags! We struggled to find cell phones, keys, and sunglasses at the bottom of these cavernous bags. Even with these frustrations, we loved our roomy totes, which led to the idea to design a purse organizer. Our stylish organizer slips inside your handbag or tote and is large enough to accommodate everything a modern woman needs to be efficient.
We recently added other purse accessories to our collections, all designed to help organize an active woman. We created the brand name PurseAmie, partially derived from the French word “friend,” to describe our product line and the special friendship we share.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to finally launching our brand in November 2016 was a two year odyssey filled with hours of hard work and moments of laughter and frustration. We have had to learn about branding, manufacturing, shipping, marketing, sales, etc since our professional backgrounds are in finance and medicine. Two primary obstacles were trying to locally source the fabrics as well as the manufacturing. Unfortunately, the fabrics used in this type of product are no longer manufactured in the USA, forcing us to seek out overseas suppliers. Similarly, the manufacturers we met with in the US were cost prohibitive and would have required us to eliminate many of the details that make our products special.
We then spent time interviewing manufacturers overseas via Skype. These issues lengthened our process significantly; for example, we had samples made by several foreign manufacturers that were not adequate quality for our designer brand. We also spent quite a bit of time researching the shipping process and subsequently, interviewing shipping companies. Probably the most significant obstacle was underestimating the length of time it took from placing an order with an overseas manufacturer to actually receiving the products in Westwood, MA.
Please tell us about PurseAmie.
We created the brand name PurseAmie, which means “purse friend” in French and describes our collections of purse organizers and accessories. Our goal was to create products to help keep active women organized and efficient. Our PurseAmie organizers and accessories accommodate everything a modern woman needs to lead a versatile lifestyle. Our organizers will save a woman time when switching handbags as she travels from the office to the gym or from a sporting field to a night out on the town. The inserts and accessories will also keep the interior of a purse looking new.
Our attention to detail including the design, the fabrics, and the hardware sets us apart from the purse inserts already on the market. Our products are fashionable for a high end Louis Vuitton bag or a working woman’s briefcase. For example, our wristlet change purse can be carried separately when only a few essentials are needed.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
We both come from large Italian families in New England. Judi’s favorite memory is living in a middle class neighborhood with all her aunts and uncles residing on the same few streets. Marissa’s favorite memory is eating Sunday afternoon pasta dinners with both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.purseamie.com
- Phone: 781-223-8841
- Email: purseamie@gmail.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/purseamie
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PurseAmie
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