Buffalo Boss Babe: Katie Thurber
Today’s Buffalo Boss Babes feature is Katie Banky Girl Creations! Katie is a local apparel maker of all thefunny mom things! She is the home of the original Chaos Coordnator & because kids wine glass (HAHAHa) - We chatted with Katie about tees, branding and life.
@bankygirlcreations on FB, IG, Pinterest
What made you start or brought you where you are today ? Tell us your Story. What makes you a Buffalo Boss Babe?
When I had my first baby, I decided to quit my sales career to be a stay at home mom. After about 8 months or so, I really started to miss working and wanted to find a side hustle. I am a huge tea nerd, so I was thrilled when I found a company that combined my love for tea and my love for sales, and I soon became a consultant selling loose leaf tea. (Yes, that's a real thing!) I was always looking for fun mugs to use, so I decided to make my own, and started selling them on Etsy. One mug turned into two, then I added wine glasses, then t-shirts, totes, tumblers, sweats, and my business (very unexpectedly) just kind of took off from there!! It's been so much fun!
What does being a Buffalo Boss Babe mean to you?
I am so honored to be nominated as a Buffalo Boss Babe. I admire all of the other entrepreneurs that have been featured and hope to continue to create fun things for Buffalonians to enjoy :)
Who are your favorite people to follow ?
Oh, there are so many! I follow my friends to see pictures of their cute kids, local businesses and restaurants, bloggers, celebrities, and I love a good meme account! Actually, I love all of them. Especially parenting memes!
What are your favorite things to do in the area ? Buffalo and greater WNY
I'm from the Lewiston/Youngstown area, so I love to visit there, especially in the summertime because it's so beautiful! We love checking out new restaurants downtown any chance we get, and going to Bills and Sabres games a few times a year.
Tell us about your favorite collaboration or dream collaborations ?
I don't know if I have a dream collaboration...but I do love to collaborate with other small businesses and bloggers. It's so much fun and always a great learning experience!
If you could have coffee with anyone in the world who would it be?
Larry David, for sure. He's hilarious! And maybe Ellen. And Beyonce.
What are your hopes, dreams, goals. Big or small?
Professionally: I love my little business and just want to watch it grow. I'm currently working on it part time while I stay at home with my kids, but hope to do it full time when they are all in school. My house is exploding with inventory, so I would love to be able to move into a warehouse at some point, maybe with a little retail front for local shoppers! I'd like to sell my products in more stores, and possibly even add some boutique items to my shop as well. I donate a portion of my sales to Oshei and would love to increase those donations, or find more ways to help in the future! Personally: I want to watch my kids grow up into amazing people! I want to be there for all of their big and little moments. I'd like to travel with my husband, and just spend more quality time with friends and family.
Tell us about your family?
My husband's name is John and he's pretty awesome. He's been so supportive of my business since day one! I have three beautiful kids (ages 5, 3, and almost 1) who are the inspiration behind most of my products, especially my Because Kids and Yes I Know I Look Tired lines! We live in the Clarence area and really just love hanging at home. I have a pretty big family that mostly lives in the WNY area, including my parents, all four of my grandparents, three brothers and lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins!
FEEL GOOD FAVORITES
Food:
Buffalo pizza of course, and donuts from Paula's. The best!
Color:
I am the most boring person when it comes to color. So, black, grey, greige, white, and whatever the weird green color is on my website.
Super Power:
Multitasking. I'm doing about ten things right now!
Animal :
Dogs. We have a pup named Stella that I adopted about ten years ago :)
Season of the year:
FALL. I wish it were fall year round! But I will say that Buffalo summers are pretty amazing too.
Favorite thing about Buffalo:
The food and the people and the Bills and the character of our city
Be sure to follow along with katie on social @bankygirlcreations on FB, IG, Pinterest and follow along with all the new shirts she comes up with!
Until next time!
xoxo Carrie
