Because each product we create has been made to order, we do not accept returns, exchanges, or order cancellations on any of our products.
If your product is defective, has an incorrect spelling, or you are not pleased with your item, please let us know with 2 days of delivery. We want every experience with Simple & Sentimental to exceed your expectations, and we want to ensure you receive excellent products!
Our staff comes together as a team to fulfill your orders in our NC workshop! Read more on the story of how we got here below.
In the fall of 2016, I was a freshman at East Carolina University majoring in Interior Design. I had a hobby of calligraphy and crafting, but I never thought my passion would become a business.
I made gifts for friends and family with my crafty skills and decided to make an Etsy shop called “TDHDesign” in December of 2016. The shop sold vinyl decals with my lettering on them.
I would make and ship orders from my dorm room with the help of my now-husband, Nick. There were storage bins in my dorm closet filled with supplies and machines stores under my bed to make it all happen. Needless to say I'm lucky I had an understanding roomie when I needed to crank out orders on the floor in our room!
As people found out about my new business I quickly became known as “sticker girl” around campus, selling my decals in front of the Dowdy Student Store at ECU.
By May my Etsy shop TDHDesign had 500 sales. Over the summer of 2017, I continued to expand the business's product line. When I decided to start selling more than just decals, my first thought was gift boxes. I designed and launched “Bridesmaid Proposal Boxes” in June that summer and they took off. I saw the numbers and knew I was on the something. I called ECU and changed my major from interior design to business that same month and decided to pursue the business as a long-term career.
Come Fall of 2017, Nick and I were back at ECU, and while walking on campus saw a sign for the Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge. The Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge (PEC) is ECU's signature business pitch competition, kind of like Shark Tank. We didn’t know anything about how to pitch our business, but we decided to enter anyway. On the day of the first round of the competition, TDHDesign became Simple & Sentimental.
In February of 2018, Simple & Sentimental walked away with 1st place and seed capital to invest in the business. The craziest part- the night before the final round, I had entered another pitch competition to practice for the Pirate Challenge the following night. I won first place in that competition too, taking home another first place win less than 24 hours before the PEC.
Over the course of 24 hours, Simple & Sentimental received over $18,000 to kickstart the business.
In April of 2018, the winnings were used to sign a lease on a new office space in an incubator in Greenville and hire our first 3 employees. One month later we expanded the office to keep up with orders. Engagement boxes and gifts became a staple for S&S. Christmas season came along before we knew it, and the volume was more than we could have ever imagined.
In early 2019 the S&S team moved into our first office outside of the business incubator and hired our first full-time employee. At the time we had 4 part-time employees, 1 full-time employee, and Nick and myself. Nick and I were students at ECU at the time. It's crazy to think we had to skip class to go to our own ribbon cutting!
In 2022, we moved into (and renovated!) the building we still run our business out of today! I am so thankful for this space and what has come out of it. Since our big move, we were able to launch Radiate Prints, a screen printing and embroidery division of S&S, and scale Simple & Sentimental operations even more.
In September 2023, I received a handful of pocket-sized Gospel of John books at my C12 meeting. I felt the Lord put it on my heart to include one of them in every package I sent out. Simple & Sentimental makes great gifts, but nothing in comparison to the incredible gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
It's definitely not everyone's thing, and we get some bad reviews online because of it. Isaiah 55:11 tells us that God's word will not return void. If one person encounters Jesus because they received His word in their package, I believe it's all worth it.
If you want to talk about faith and why we include Gospels in our packages, please reach out to me directly!
Now, we run the company as a family! Today, Simple & Sentimental is known online for our personalized gifts, most notably our cake decorations, Christmas ornaments. You can find us on several e-commerce platforms, but our website is my favorite!
My purpose and identity are in Christ, and that includes this business too. He was gracious enough to give me this opportunity to build and run S&S, minister to employees and customers along the way, and use my hands (and lots of equipment!) to create beautiful gifts for people all over the world.
I hope my story encourages you to always persevere and have faith. This path was not an easy one, but nothing worth doing every comes easily.
