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Business & Tech

Entrepreneur Follows Mom's Example, Brings the Party Online

From polka-dot plates to stripey straws, Jessie Senese's Internet party store has given her reason to celebrate.

If she couldn’t be the online promoter of pretty party products, Frankfort resident Jessie Senese would be an FBI agent. This from a woman who says she literally squeals with joy when she opens a new box of product, such as striped paper straws or polka-dot cupcake liners.

“I can’t help it,” Senese said. “They’re such fun, happy things.”

Senese grew up influenced by her mother’s entrepreneurial, beauty-loving spirit: “This is my mom’s life, too."

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“She owns two stores in the Mall of America (a prom gown shop and a special occasion dress shop) plus has a full-time job as an executive vice president of a communications firm that does corporate events. She also founded and owned the wedding chapel at the Mall of America,” Senese said.

Having grown up surrounded by pretty things and having worked on and off for her mother for years, Senese is loving her life at the moment and the exponential success that shopsweetlulu.com is having.

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“It’s really growing so fast,” she said of her online party styling products business, which is an evolution of a company she started 10 years ago when her oldest daughter, Olivia, was born.

Senese said she spent hours and hours back then, hunting for the right, simple elements that she could customize for her daughter’s first birthday party. After finally finding what she needed, Senese thought she could save other people the time and trouble and created a business to fill the niche.

“I got as far as getting all the merchandise, and I made a paper catalog because 10 years ago there were no blogs,” Senese said.

But she was a new mom, recently transplanted from the city to the suburbs with no local friends, and her extended family lived out of state.

“I had this beautiful catalog but no one to give it to,” she said. So the business went nowhere.

A few years later, however, Senese tried again, starting a party-planning business with a friend, but the friend soon relocated to St. Louis, ending any forward momentum. Then about five years ago, Senese entered the virtual world with a blog called sweetjessie.com. Here she shared her love for all things vintage and handcrafted, and readers responded.

“Through the blog, I learned about social media and networking," Senese said. "I learned about blog etiquette. I refined my photography and graphic design skills. It’s all helped me to do what I’m doing now."

Which is selling charming, whimsical, fanciful and unique party styling products designed to help the buyer create the perfect event. Her items have been featured in the online version of Real Simple, along with Martha Stewart's  Dreamers into Doers column (featuring women entrepreneurs). Senese also said she has several other national media inquiries in the works.

Even though she’s now dealing with a lot of administrative business tasks, Senese is still able to feed her creative side.

“I am creating every day,” she said. “I love the photo styling. I love finding different color combinations and putting things together.”

"I never had any doubt that some day I'd own my own business," Senese added. “I love working! This is fun for me!”

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