Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of South Charlotte.
Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Little Pumpkin Decorators-Pumpkin Passion Meets Motherhood
When motherhood and career ambitions clash, something has to give—but what if it didn't have to? This eye-opening conversation introduces us to Ashley Bunn and Christine Davies, two mothers who rejected the false choice between professional fulfillment and family life by creating Little Pumpkin Decorators, a seasonal porch styling business in Charlotte's Waxhaw area.
After years in demanding corporate environments where pregnancy announcements were met with questions about return dates and children's events created workplace tension, both women made bold exits. Ashley left a decade-long medical sales career when juggling work and three children became unsustainable. Christine departed corporate banking searching for something more compatible with motherhood. Their chance encounter at their daughters' dance studio—where the simple mention of pumpkin decorating sparked immediate recognition of a shared vision—launched an entrepreneurial adventure that transformed both their lives.
What makes their business truly revolutionary isn't just their stunning seasonal displays, but how they've structured everything around family life. They've created a marketplace where other mothers can work as freelance designers on their own schedules, bringing their children along or working during school hours. Even their business meetings happen at playgrounds where their children can be present. Through their four different styling packages—from vibrant fall colors to classic seasonal arrangements—they're not just decorating porches; they're modeling a new kind of work-life integration where mothers don't have to choose between their creative ambitions and their children. As Ashley poignantly shares, the business has "brought a lot of peace and joy, which I was missing." Check out their work on Instagram @littlepumpkindecorators or visit littlepumpkindecorators.com to learn more about how they're redefining entrepreneurship one pumpkin-adorned porch at a time.
Little Pumpkin Decorators
Christine Davies & Ashley Bunn
Charlotte, NC
(704) 840-3017
decorators@littlepumpkindecorators.com
littlepumpkindecorators.com
Hi everyone and welcome to the show. I'm Regina Leak, your host, and today we are excited to introduce you to an amazing local business right here in the community. I'm here in Charlotte and this is all about their journey, their brand and what sets them apart. Today I'm talking with the owners of Little Pumpkin Decorators, based in South Charlotte Waxhaw area, and this is we're speaking to Ashley Bunn and Christine Davies, the co-owners. Welcome.
Speaker 2:Thank you, we're excited to be here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when I first heard the name Little Pumpkin Decorators I'm like what is this? Can one of you share a little bit about an overall scope of what you do?
Speaker 2:share a little bit about an overall scope of what you do. Ashley, you want to take that Sure. So we currently are porch styling homes, businesses, events in Charlotte with pumpkins, pumpkins and lots of pumpkins, and our kids help with us as well, so they're part of the process.
Speaker 1:That's cool. I noticed on your website your two local moms that left corporate world to start this. So let's start with tell us a little bit about each of y'all and what. How did you get together to come up with this idea?
Speaker 3:What inspired you? Okay, I'll jump in. So I left corporate banking in October of last year and Ashley and I have come in and out of each other's lives since our little our oldest girls were little and they were at a Montessori together. So we were sitting at dance and her daughter had mentioned that she was decorating porches with pumpkins and I had been researching business ideas for cause I'm just like a busybody and love to have something to do and be outside and I had been researching a business opportunity with decorating porches with pumpkins. And when her daughter said that we were sitting outside the dance studio, I just like lit up and was like, oh my gosh, we've got to do this together. That's it.
Speaker 3:Yes, it was like, oh my God. I listened to this entrepreneur podcast and he talked about a lady doing this in Dallas and it just like I was like this is it, this is. I love being outside, I love making things look great and fall is like my favorite time of year. And it just kind of all came together for me. And when she, when her daughter Elle, mentioned that, I just lit up and then Little Pumpkin Decorators was born.
Speaker 1:Ashley, how old is your daughter when this all happened? Nine, oh, wow, yeah, she. She probably wants a commission, right? So tell us about your background, ashley.
Speaker 2:My background is medical sales, so I've been in sales for about 20 years and the previous role I was at I was in for 10 years and it was in aesthetics and it was a great job and I was very thankful and blessed. But I just couldn't balance working and having three kids. It just got to the point where, um, it just it wasn't working.
Speaker 2:So I decided to just quit, um, until my youngest starts kindergarten and then you know just kind of see what happens and, um, you know, having time on my hands and I've always decorated our house with an unbelievable amount of pumpkins for like a decade.
Speaker 2:I take my kids to like Simpsons pumpkins and they just we take out wheelbarrows and they just load them, and I don't stop them and they just keep going and then our car is packed with pumpkins and we get home and we all decorate them, decorate the porch with the pumpkins, and they absolutely love it and it's just something that we've always done. So I had a couple friends ask me to do their porch because they know, you know, I had some time on my hands, so then I started there and then my daughter mentioned to christine hey, my mom is like all we do is go to the pumpkin patch now and get pumpkins and my kids love it, they love it. So it's like fun and, just like Christine, I love being outside and I love. I've always had a love for decorating. I've always decorated really big for every season, every event. My, my mom had a home decor store and so I grew up working there, um, so I've just kind of been a part of my life.
Speaker 1:What's the biggest pumpkin y'all have ever used in a decoration?
Speaker 2:I mean, those things can be ginormous yeah, I think the last one was like 75 pounds, did you have?
Speaker 1:to bring the men in or how did y'all handle? That.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm the muscle, she's the muscle.
Speaker 2:Yeah, she's very strong and I'm not, so I'm like Christine.
Speaker 1:Your client must have a very large porch A client must have a very large porch.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah, that one was particularly large, yeah.
Speaker 1:Where did you get your inspiration from for design? Does it just pop? You know when you're speaking with clients. Ashley, go ahead.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it does. It kind of just goes with their, their home. They they all have different homes, they all have different design um interests, and then they all kind of have a different story someone a porch for thanksgiving, someone a porch for their kids. So just kind of listening to their needs and putting it all together. That's why they all look so different.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what's the time of year the earliest you guys are ready to set porches up, because it's fall, halloween and Thanksgiving technically.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we're starting deliveries on the first day of fall, so that's September 22nd. We'll be starting to make you know pumpkin porches happen.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. So tell us a little bit about the process. I'm listening to this. Ooh, I'm really interested.
Speaker 3:So, we have four packages available, so they range in different sizes and then, based on kind of what Ashley was mentioning, like how our clients we've seen them have, like different, you know, desire for color palettes, things like that We've got like the vibrant fall which is all the colors like, ranging from yellows and greens and oranges, and you know, it really puts together the gourds and the pumpkins and makes a really traditional fall display. And then we've got our classic package, that is, the red, the white and the green. So, depending on your porch size, your budget and your artistic preference, we've kind of got everything available for you to choose from.
Speaker 1:That's a lot of fun. So I think there's something that sets you guys, makes you very unique, is that you guys use other mops to help you. Talk to us a little bit about that, Ashley.
Speaker 2:So something that Christine and I both really struggled with when we worked is it was like oh, that's great, you're a mom, you have kids. Like, oh, you're pregnant, when are you coming back to work. Or oh, you're going on maternity leave when are you going back to work. Or oh, your daughter has a dance competition.
Speaker 1:Like did you get that report in today?
Speaker 2:It's like oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:So, it was. It was just kind of, you know that was a challenge. So with this, like the kids can be a part of it. So if you're a mom and you want to do this on the side and you want to do it, um, you know, it's a short season, it's not a big commitment. It's a huge creative outlet that we found, like it's, it's so much fun, like the kids love it, and it's not a big commitment. You can still be a mom and and do this. You don't have to necessarily pick.
Speaker 3:Yeah and I think, too, right like the side hustle is such a big thing right now and we've got a lot of friends and like met a lot of ladies that are looking for a little way to contribute.
Speaker 3:You know it's the perfect time to save up for, like, a special Christmas present for their kids or a special trip that they want to go on, and so the way that we've structured our business allows us to hire freelancer designers, right, so they can, you know, depending on what their availability is, if the kids are at preschool and they've got a few hours, they want to go design a porch and make a hundred bucks, like you know we will enable that for them. It's part of us kind of bringing the pumpkin pie or sharing the pumpkin pie with the other moms, right, so we're creating a marketplace for them to have an opportunity to do something creative, do something fun. They can bring their kids, they can go when their kids are at school and then, you know it's, they can make their own schedule as well, depending on where the bookings are, what their availability looks like. They can kind of pick and choose. So we're really pleased to be able to offer that to other moms like us.
Speaker 1:Great idea. I have this vision of the kids running around happy and the moms are happy. That's a very, very cool model. Let's start with you, ashley. How has running this business, starting this business, changed your?
Speaker 2:life. It's brought a lot of like peace and joy, which I was missing. You know I was very, very money focused when I was in medical sales, so this is more peace and joy. So it is a lot of flexibility. You know, last week, I think, I had a call, we had a call with a magazine and something else that day and, like, my kids were, were with me and it was just so nice to not have to pick between the two. Um, and you know I talked like Christine and I will have business meetings and the kids will be playing at a playland area. So it's brought a lot of balance, which is what I was missing.
Speaker 1:I get that. How about you, Christine? How has this changed your life?
Speaker 3:I think it's really like the same right. I left the corporate world because it didn't serve me, it didn't serve my family, and the model that Ashley and I are building for this business is, you know, we complete we're. We're in the same place in life and we're doing it because it's fun, it's joyous and it makes us happy, like seeing a porch done and like our kids are running around putting that finishing little sprinkle on. We call the little pumpkins the sprinkle. It just is, it's the best, and that's that's what we need in this time in our life. And I mean, as you have seen, like Ashley and I are very driven, we're, we were very focused and I think we needed this kind of outlet that lets us be creative, lets us contribute to our family but, you know, brings us, brings us joy at the same time.
Speaker 1:Well, having business backgrounds makes it, I'm sure, very good for your clients, because you understand, you know they're your customers, so I love all of that. Well, before we wrap up, I want to tell our listeners this is part one of a series and we're going to, in each podcast, share a little bit more, go a little dive a little deeper into what they do, and let's end up this one with uh ashley, please tell our listeners how to find you guys, your website, your phone number and so on um.
Speaker 2:So you can find us on instagram little pumpkin decorators, or you can go to our website, wwwlittlepumpkindecorators. com. Um, and then our email is decorators at littlepumpkindecorators. com, and then our email is decorators at littlepumpkindecorators. com very good well today's been.
Speaker 1:This has been a blast and I look forward to our next get together. Thank you, ladies.