There are plenty of compelling reasons to want the flexibility which working from home and starting your own home-based business can offer. For one Yellowknife woman, this dream has become a reality.
Mrs. Laura Gavel started her business in 2016 when it was just a hobby. A hobby which now helps pay the household bills.
“I enjoy crafting, making signs, vinyl apparel and then personalizing it,” Gavel said.
The idea for her business was sparked when she was finding it difficult to locate kids apparel relating to the RCMP.
“My husband is an RCMP officer, so I was finding it hard to find kids apparel for with RCMP on it,” Gavel said. “It was all like American police or just generic police. So I wanted to make some RCMP apparel.”
This idea would lead Gavel to contact the RCMP Foundation.
“I became an officially licensed RCMP home crafter, which means I can sell RCMP licensed apparel,” Gavel said. “So it started out with that and I would give it to my friends and family that are RCMP affiliated.”
Gavel says her sister is a member and her husband is also a member of the RCMP which kept her really busy.
“They have two boys. So they have a lot of RCMP apparel that I’ve made them over the years,” Gavel said. “Then what started as apparel turned into non-RCMP apparel items and custom orders for kids birthdays and parties.”
Working from home is amazing Gavel says and gives her the freedom of being her own boss.
“I have a 15-month-old son so I’m able to come upstairs, put some toys in the corner of my office and I get to get my work done while also hanging out with him,” Gavel said. “So it’s been incredible and that was obviously a huge factor in starting my own business at home was that I could be home with him and still, you know, make a little money on the side for more craft items.”
Being a supportive RCMP wife involves a lot of moving, Gavel says, as RCMP members are regularly relocated to different communities.
“I first moved with my husband to Alberta. He’s from Cape Breton. And then we lived in northern Alberta, then southern Alberta. And then we moved to Fort resolution. And then we’ve been in Yellowknife since July,” Gavel said. “Yeah. So we move around a lot, but that’s another perk of working from home. I can just do it from anywhere as long as there’s a Canada Post. That’s my only prerequisite.”
Gavel has been busy this Fall creating an assortment of Christmas items, from Santa sacks to your favorite socks with interesting messages pressed onto the fabric which she uses a special heat press to create. If you’re looking for a great outfit idea to wear to that ugly Christmas sweater party, Elle Eh Design Shoppe has you covered with Christmas items available for purchase.
“I have sizes from preemie right up to adult sizes. So it’s kind of just whatever you want,” Gavel said. “I have ornaments, placemats and I do wine bags, socks, so it kind of just spiraled from there with lots of people making requests and you know, me figuring out how I can do it.”
If you would like to purchase products from this woman in business you can do so by contacting Gavel on social media.
“I’m on Etsy, I have a Facebook page and an Instagram so you can message me through there,” Gavel said. I have whatever you need and if I don’t, I can try to help you out.”
Elle Eh Design Shoppe, proudly made in Yellowknife.
Twitter.com/artcgreen
