A Mom of Many Hats: Dainty Ashley's Mai Toralba-Danganan

Dainty Ashley, the online business owned by mompreneur Mai Toralba-Danganan, is just one year old but it's already earning a name as a provider of “heartmade” dainty hair trinkets and bows for babies, little girls and even the girls at heart.

More than just hair accessories, Dainty Ashley's products include handmade hair bows, hair clips, ponytails, headbands, elastic headbands for babies, barefoot sandals, flower headbands, personalized hair bow and clip organizers, maternity sash products, fancy dresses and accessories and more.

Every little girl is beautiful
Mommy Mai says that the Dainty Ashley mantra is "every little girl is beautiful”. She says, “With the stylish hair accessories that we offer, our humble goal is to be able to accentuate every little girl’s natural beauty."   

Mai says the love for hair accessories started because of her daughter Ashley. "She is generally a happy baby who loves smiling for the camera, and the hair trinkets make her look all the more adorable. That prompted me to look for hair accessories that are stylish, unique and, most importantly, safe and comfy for baby’s head," Mai shares.

"Sadly, there isn’t much variety of baby headbands in our local malls and boutiques. The sizing also isn't customized so sometimes they don’t give a perfect fit to the baby’s head - they’re either too loose or too tight," Mai adds.

The ones she found on international online shopping sites were exactly what she wanted, but the prices and shipping fees were too steep.

"During that time, I also discovered several local online shops featuring baby hair accessories, which are owned and run by mompreneurs," Mai says. "I got inspired and did my own research for tutorials and suppliers of craft materials. I once got hooked on digital scrapbooking so arts and crafting is something that has been in my system for quite some time."

Eventually, Mai started making Ashley’s “kikay” stuff until it grew to a huge collection. "The feeling was so rewarding because not only was I able to save a huge chunk of money, but there was also satisfaction in seeing my daughter wearing our own `heartmade' creations," she says. "That’s when my husband and friends suggested that I make it into a business. Their kids were my first ever satisfied `dainty' customers and models and the next thing I knew, Dainty Ashley was born."

Click "View slideshow' to see some of Dainty Ashley's hair bows and trinkets!

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Your past can prepare you for your future
Mai believes her education and work experience became a great asset to her business. "Having a business degree (BS Commerce Major in Business Administration at UST) is definitely a plus to my business because I’m able to apply the things and skills I learned in college about Entrepreneurship, Marketing and all those business-related stuff," she shares.  

"I also used to work in a corporate setting before I got pregnant with my firstborn. I was a bank teller, did cashiering duties in a telecoms company, among others," Mai adds. "The Customer Service skills I’ve acquired over the years have become useful as I interact with our buyers, suppliers and business partners."

A fulltime mom with many "hats"
When Mai's first child, Asher, was born five years ago, she opted to resign from her job. "At the time, I was already blogging, which I still do now in between crafting hair trinkets. "So yes, I basically have three home jobs: 1.) being a mommy and home manager, 2.) blogger and 3.) an artisan of hair accessories."

Dainty Ashley: "Heartmade" from Mai's home to yours
For now, Mai's home serves as her office and craft area. "We’re home-based for now but it’s my ultimate dream to expand and have a really huge craft room and, of course, have my own boutique shop or perhaps become a distributor to baby boutiques in the near future," she divulges.

Mai believes that their products are special because they make a conscious effort to procure quality, unique and cost-effective materials. "Most of our materials like silk flowers, fabric trims, elastic bands, feather pads, etc. come from abroad and we usually source them in limited quantities so the hair trinkets we come up with are not something you commonly see in malls and even among local online hair bow sellers," she explains.  "Our hair accessories are handmade and we customize them according to the client’s preference, specifically the size of the elastics for baby headbands. We can also apply the designs on other accessories like a hard headband, alligator clips, pony tails, or even barefoot sandals to achieve 100% customer satisfaction."

Mai also continuously researches and thinks of innovative and new products that would help Dainty Ashley achieve its mission. "We periodically come up with new collections depending on the season or occasion. Just like shoes, I also believe that a girl can never have too many bows.”

On finding balance
Being a mom with many hats can be challenging and Mai says she survives with the help of the people around her. "Honestly, being a fulltime mom to a preschooler and a clingy toddler while running Dainty Ashley and having other online work is definitely not easy," she shares.  

"I’m fortunate that we have an angel helper with us who assists me with the household chores and in babysitting; and a supportive husband who is ready to extend a hand whenever he’s home," Mai says.

"I personally give my kids a bath, bring them to and fetch them from school, prepare their food, help Asher with his homework, and put the little one to sleep during the day. When all that is done, that’s the only time I can sit down at my craft table, which also serves as my ‘me' time," Mai says. Mai has also been exclusively breastfeeding Ashley for 18 months now.

Mai believes that taking care of one's self is very important, especially when you're a mom. "Unless it's very necessary, I don’t work late at night so I can rest after a whole day of hard work. I always keep in mind that it’s okay to strive to be a `Super Mom' - balancing work and mommy duties - BUT NOT at the expense of my health," she says.   

"In order for me to take care of my family, I must take care of myself, too. I try to get enough sleep, eat on time, and pamper myself once in a while. While they strive to meet the clients’ expectations, “family is still above everything else," Mai explains.  "Thankfully, I’ve got the most understanding clients."  

Mai doesn’t have a strict timeline or daily schedule that she follows to the hour (because it just won’t work) but she tries to manage her time by jotting down on a planner all the things she needs to accomplish for Dainty Ashley and for her other online work on a daily basis.  

"I stay away from distractions so I could focus on what urgently needs to be done.  This is also the reason why Dainty Ashley requires 3 to 7 production days and very seldom do I accept rush orders since Dainty Ashley is just a one-woman-team (for now)," she says. "The long production days don’t mean we’re slow but we just don’t want to sacrifice the quality of the hair accessories," Mai explains.

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On reaping the rewards
On the financial aspect of her online business, Mai says since Dainty Ashley is relatively new, she can’t say yet that they’ve already recovered the initial capital they shelled out. "Also, considering that we source most of our materials from abroad and our products are handmade, we still try to keep the prices as affordable as possible to our clientele," she explains further.

"Sometimes, people fail to realize that handmade products are priced a little bit steeper (versus factory or mass-produced ones) because of the labor, time and artistic skills involved in designing a particular product. Thus, the profit isn’t that much," Mai says.  "It’s paying well, yes, but it’s not something that will let you get your ROI (return of investment) in a few months' time. But seeing all the happy, satisfied cute little girls donning our heartmade hair trinkets gives me a different high."

Mai adds that one of the greatest things Dainty Ashley has given her is the lesson of being socially responsible and helping out less fortunate kids. "A portion of our Dainty Pearls collection’s sales go to Project P.E.A.R.L.S. (http://www.projectpearls.org), a non-profit organization that helps the poor kids of Ulingan (charcoal factories) in Tondo," she humbly shares.

Tips for aspiring mompreneurs
Mai doesn’t claim to be an expert on mompreneurship as she’s still in the process of learning, but here are some lessons she’s learned so far:

1. When thinking of a business or an opportunity to venture into, think about what skills you have and the things that interest you the most. You can start by looking at your hobbies or the things that you enjoy doing. As my favorite line goes, “When you do a job you love, it won’t feel like work at all.”  

2. Being a mompreneur or a work-at-home mom (WAHM) isn’t easy since, in reality, you’re holding two “jobs.”  Learn to prioritize and manage your time effectively.  

3. Choose your battles. Do not stress yourself with things that aren’t worth stressing about like your child’s tantrums, irate clients, etc. Negative vibes just drain your energy.

4. Take advantage of the Internet.  Research, get ideas and expand your network through the Internet. There are so many tools on the Internet that can help you start (and grow) a business. Also, by joining online support groups for WAHMs, you’ll not only learn about the different experiences of fellow mompreneurs but it will also keep you encouraged and motivated when things get rough and too stressful.

For more information on Dainty Ashley, visit their website or Like their Facebook page.

Photos from Dainty Ashley's Facebook page