Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca Sansone.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
If you’re wondering what a liberal arts history degree, account management for libraries/bookstores/students looking to resell books, selling payroll to small businesses, managing customer experience for restaurants’ fry oil management, launching a product that cleans commercial kitchen exhaust systems, leading e-commerce promotions for furniture/home goods, and an MBA have in common – it’s all the of the required experience to owning The Mustache Cat (maybe I’m not a harsh enough judge).
In all seriousness though, the road of experiences (professional and academic) that have led me to The Mustache Cat were all incredibly important to give me the knowledge and confidence to start my own business. The history degree fostered my love of stories and old stuff. The sales/account management helped me understand how important customer experience is to a successful business. The product launch role allowed me to run a small business within a big business and learn that no matter your ‘title’ you do what it takes as a team to win (including midnight restaurant visits and lobbying to change fire code). The e-commerce role provided first hand views into the importance of data in decision making, how to sell home goods effectively, and how to leverage a team to effectively scale ideas/projects. The Masters in Business brought it all together – giving me just enough knowledge to be ‘dangerous’ and know when I need to call in the professionals (accounting has never been my friend).
Like a good vintage piece, it’s all about the story. Though on paper my experience may seem a bit random, each move was made with intention to add knowledge/learnings and do more of what I love – building things that didn’t exist before and innovating processes/teams/products. Keeping the long term goal of owning my own business in mind as I made each move helped me feel as confident as possible about officially taking the leap (don’t know that I could ever feel 100% confident) to pursuing small business ownership.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I recently acquired a road sign (now hanging in the shop) that says “Bumps Ahead” and feels like a perfect portrayal of how I feel about this wild journey of launching The Mustache Cat. I absolutely expect to continue to run into the bumps, to have fabulous wins, and to fail (with the goal to fail as fast as possible). I also try to remind myself that it’s okay not to have all the answers, but that can be challenging! The biggest learnings I’ve had to date: commercial real estate is a completely different beast than residential, proactive dealings with city officials are way better than reactive, a good vendor partnership should be cherished, faking it until you have it figured out is totally cool, and to say yes and accept the help that friends/family/partners offer (this was advice from a friend who owns her own business early on and I am SO thankful for it).
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Based in Saint Paul, The Mustache Cat is a local home goods shop, specializing in curated vintage and modern products that help you tell your story through home decor. We partner with you to provide unique and bold home goods that can be mixed with your current style to make adding some interest to your space fun and approachable.
We take pride in differentiating ourselves through our ever-changing inventory and our modern take on vintage – the option to swap items you’ve purchased for something new.
The modern products featured in the shop are from women makers or woman-owned businesses, and shop owner, Rebecca curates the vintage products – lots of love for women in business!
We offer what we call a “modern take on vintage” which comes to life as a swap program. Rather than decor collecting dust in a closet or going to a landfill, once a piece has lived its life at your home, bring any item you purchased from us back within a year and we’ll give you store credit (credit varies based on time since original purchase). We’ll help that piece find its next home and you’ll get funds to pick out your new favorite item!
What are your plans for the future?
We are excited to learn more about our customers – what they love, how often they hope to swap out their decor, and what kind of pieces they like to buy together. Leveraging this feedback, we plan to offer smarter recommendations on what products go together based on your style/color scheme/budget and a home decor subscription service with the option to rent a vignette or space in your home and return when you’re ready for something fresh.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.themustachecat.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/themustachecat.home
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/themustachecat
Image Credits
The Divine Group + Kylie
Christian Creative
