Meet our 100th Affiliate Lorraine & Gus Gustavis with Yard Love Lake St. Louis
What did you do before starting your Yard Love business or what do you do along with your business?
I was an independent soft skill training consultant before I retired early to care for my mom.
Do you work your business full time or part time?
This is my part-time business but I’m hoping it will grow into full-time!
What’s the best part of owning your Yard Love business so far?
The best part for us is the excitement that someone gets from the service. I heard about Yard Love from my daughter, who lives in Columbia and had met Carrie. My daughter told me about Carrie’s business, and I had her send me more information. I joined a zoom call and we decided to become affiliates!
What is your favorite trick of the trade that’s made your job easier so far?
It’s not our trick of the trade, but when Carrie told us about bending stakes, it was like a dream and made some letters so much easier to stake! My husband wondered why he didn’t think of that!
What is your favorite graphic?
My favorite graphic is the sunglass emoji. So cool!
Have you ever been caught-in-the-act of setting up a surprise greeting for someone? Tell us about it.
We weren’t caught-in-the-act, but we saw some window curtains moving quite a bit at the home of our first setup!
Have you had a special response from someone about their sign or an extra special sign you’ve done for someone? If so, tell us about it.
Our special response was from our first job. When we went to pick the sign up the next day, they had written, “Thank you Yard Love” with chalk in front of the sign. We still smile about that!
What is one idea that helped you grow your business?
We are so new at this business, but along with my daughter’s help getting us set up on social media, we recently joined our local Chamber of Commerce. We an official ribbon cutting. We hope this may be extremely helpful in growing our business in our community.
What was the hardest thing to get used to when you first started? How did you adjust?
The hardest thing to get used to is the varying ground conditions! We are quickly learning that we never know what we will encounter. We are still learning to adjust and make it happen!
What advice would you provide to someone getting started?
I would offer the advice of having fun and keeping in mind that this is making memories for someone. Hopefully good memories! This is a meaningful service to those looking to do special for their loved ones. The time spent on placing a sign can be long sometimes, but the end result is often worth it.
Tell us something that people may not know about you.
I am a pretty serious person, and this Yard Love business has helped me to relax (after the job is done) and have more fun, making someone smile! After all, we are in the smile-making business!
Tell us about your family.
I am very blessed to have a precious family. My daughter, son-in-law (I call him my son), and granddaughters all live in Columbia and they are very community engaged. My husband is very engaged in our new Yard Love business, and our other daughter and grandsons live in South Carolina and are equally excited about our new venture. Being a grandma is the best!!!
