the latest in-studio & on-location MO, IL and beyond
This adorable little gal had a birthday this week so in honor of her big day I thought I’d share a few from her session on the blog! Jason wanted a fun session to show his little gal she’ll always be daddy’s little girl even though she’s growing like a weed. They were both so sweet and so fun to photograph. I know the album Jason chose is going to be something very special for her for years to come.
It’s time to feature yet another amazing small business right here in Decatur, IL: Sound Check Music! I was introduced to Sound Check a couple months ago when an assignment for Thrive Entertainment Guide called for me to get my hands on some music equipment. I posed the question to my facebook friends/fans to find out who they recommended and Sound Check and their staff received raving recommendations and I can see why. Everyone I encountered at Sound Check was helpful, polite, professional and inviting. I felt right at home and was very well taken care of and was honestly blown away by the selection they offer.
The Details: Bill Cunningham, Owners at SoundCheck Music Center | In Business: 25 Years
Hours: Monday – Friday 10:00-6:00, Saturday 10:00-5:00, Closed Sunday | Location: 1481 W King St, Decatur, IL 62552 | Phone: (217) 422-4455
Tell us about your business… What do you do? We offer Decatur area musicians a wide variety of services including sales, service, rentals & lessons. Our Showroom has a large selection of items including: Guitars (Electric & Classical), Drums, Amps, Keyboards, Digital Pianos, Band Instruments, Pro Audio & Video Recording Equipment, Software, Lighting, Sheet Music, & much more. Private lessons are our specialty with comfortable waiting areas for parents!
What makes your business unique/special? We are family owned and care about each and every customer that comes through our doors.
That care is absolutely felt when you walk through the doors at SoundCheck. Every time I walked in I was greeted with a smile, welcomed and helped promptly. They provided GREAT customer service even when I wasn’t purchasing a thing!
What item/service on your menu or in your shop do you just LOVE and think everyone needs? Keyboards! We are the largest keyboard dealer for miles and we are a one-stop shop for musicians. We teach, sell and care for the musicians of Central Illinois.
In what way have you gone above/beyond in the past for a customer? As a store we have tried our best to always put our customers first. This means making home visits for sales to making sure that a customer is happy with the service from SoundCheck. I remember times some of our associates have come in after hours for customers so that they are able to buy a cable for a gig.
What tool/equipment/or other vendor could you not imagine doing business without? Why? We have a great relationship with some of the leading manufacturers in the industry but one of our favorites is Craig from the Music People. He assists us day in and day out with a large list of different companies. He is a great friend and a great mentor for us and we would not know where we would be without Craig.
What other local business do you just LOVE? Why? The Brass Horn in Downtown Decatur, we try to have the same mind set on customer service.
Introduce us to your STAFF…
Bill Cunningham, Owner
Adam Cunningham, Bass Instructor/Sales Associate
Alex Kidd, Sales Associate
John Patrick, Sales Associate
Tyler Bethard, Sales Associate
Graig Statsitcky, Drum Instructor
Terry Ledbetter, Guitar Instructor/ Sales Associate
Gay McCoy, Voice/Piano Instructor
Kristi Crawford, Violin Instructor
Alex Manfredo, Commercial Voice
What are you passionate about outside of your business?
SoundCheck would not be successful if it was not for our extreme Christian beliefs. We are a Christian store and many of our employees are passionate about a church in the central Illinois area.
Describe your PERFECT day…
My perfect day starts when a new musician comes in our store and decides to begin a new instrument. This means taking lessons from one of our highly trained instructor and picking out the instrument of their dreams. I love these days because it is a day where we have discovered a new customer and most importantly we found a new musician. At SoundCheck we are developing our customers to be successful musicians. This could range from playing on the big stage to learning to have fun and be a musician!
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS: If you’d like to have your business featured on the SJP blog please visit the following link to download the information/questionnaire form which you can email back to mail@sjanephotography.com. We are now booking for 2014 features and showcase one business each month. Your feature includes FREE 20 minute location shoot by Sarah Jane Photography, blog and facebook feature and web images to use on your online spaces (facebook/website/etc). Our business features are now also being published monthly at www.redecatur.com!
Download the information here:https://www.dropbox.com/s/urr7zdkh64szon7/MarketingBusinessFeatures.doc
It’s SMALL BUSINESS FEATURE time! This month, I’m so excited to bring you one of Decatur’s finest florists, The Secret Garden. Lori & Michael are so much fun and are really big supporters of growth and development in our area (which y’all know I love). That’s actually how I reconnected with these two in time to bring you their feature this month; we ran into each other at Millikin’s Micro Business Roundtable event last month and with the cold weather out I figured they would be the perfect business to feature in March so we can get a little reminder of the spring beauty that is just around the corner! Well, enough from me, let’s hear from Lori!
DON’T MISS THIS DEAL JUST FOR SJP READERS: MENTION “SJP” FOR 10% OFF YOUR PURCHASE IN MARCH!
The Details: Lori & Michael Barrett , Owners/Operators at The Secret Garden | In Business: 25 Years, Lori & Michael purchased the business in January 2010.
Hours: Monday – Thursday 8:30 – 5:00, Friday 8:30 – 6:00, Saturday 9:00 – 2:00, Closed Sunday | Location: 1215 E. Pershing Rd. | Phone: 217-875-9038
Tell us about your business… What do you do? We make people smile! The Secret Garden is unique in its variety of gifts and offerings. We carry an array of Fresh Flowers, Permanent Botanicals, Green and Blooming Plants, Collectibles, Gifts, Balloons, Tasty Treats, and so much more. You never know what you will find when you come into the Secret Garden. We delivery all of the items we sell to Decatur and the surrounding areas.
Can I just stop to say I LOVE the first sentence of Lori’s reply ‘We make people smile!” She goes on to tell you how they do that, but their focus is truly to make you smile and what better business model is there?!?
We are also a full service wedding and event florist. Offering full wedding set up, tear down, rental, and on trend designs. For brides on a budget we offer package deals that cover all of their floral needs but help with keeping the costs low. For the DIY bride we offer bulk flowers. We order, inspect, and process the flowers for the Bride. Then they pick up the flowers and create their own wedding flowers.
What makes your business unique/special? We have 3 Illinois Certified Florists and 1 certified balloonist on Staff at The Secret Garden. This is a certification offered by the Illinois State Florist Association. After completing a series of courses and tests in design, care and handling, wedding and event work, funeral arrangements, and basic business skills the certificate is awarded. Our balloonist attended classes at Burton and Burton in Georgia. She studied techniques, trends, and tips to create balloon arches, sculptures, and more. Her ribbon can be seen on stage at Come Together Lets Walk in June.
What item or service on your menu or in your shop do you just LOVE and think everyone needs? Flowers of course! If everyone had flowers on their table in the morning or on their desk at work the world would be a happier place. You would not believe the power of a flower. It can comfort the grieving, give hope to the sick, fill a bride with joy, celebrate a moment in time, and make even the gloomiest of days bright.
“You would not believe the power of a flower.” – Lori
What is the coolest thing you’ve ever had a client do for you? Bring their friends! We are always honored when folks come in and show off our store. They walk around like a tour guide and tell their friends how much they love our stuff. It’s humbling knowing that people love what we do as much as we do.
Amen sister! It really is an amazing feeling to have someone love your work as much as you do and love it enough to share it with friends and family.
What tool/equipment/or other vendor could you not imagine doing business without? Why? Our coolers! Our coolers are essential in keeping our flowers fresh and long lasting. When one goes down it always makes for a long day. Without our coolers we could not do what we do.
What other local business do you just LOVE? Why? Oh wow, this is a tough one. We work with so many it would be impossible to decide. We have partnered with local bakers, photographers, dress shops, and so much more. We believe that supporting small business is the best way to give back to the community. (You all know I agree 100% with that!)
Introduce us to your STAFF…
Carol ~ Shop manager and an Illinois Certified Professional Florist. Carol has worked at the shop for 15 years.
Sheryl ~ She is a Certified Balloonist and lead designer. Sheryl has worked at The Secret Garden for 20 years! Certified Balloonist?!?! My job is fun, but that sounds awesome! How on earth could you have a bad day as a certified balloonist?!?
The Amy’s ~ Amy H ~ Amy calls herself “lead grunt” she works for major holidays and some Saturdays. She does it all, phone, delivery, and some designing.
Amy G – Our newest staff member – She loves to spread smiles by delivering flowers. She is in training for a sales position and may someday become a designer.
Tell us about YOU… WHY did you choose to do what you do? Michael and I stumbled into this opportunity and fell in love with flowers. We enjoy working together and seeing our vision take shape.
When did you know you wanted to go into this business? We both worked for corporations in the past. In the evenings we would discuss our day and see the mistakes that big companies make. Not valuing their employees, poor planning, unrealistic goals. We always felt that if we went out on our own we could do things differently and become successful.
What are you passionate about outside of your business? Our kids! We have 3 and they keep us busy when we are not at work. Our “eldest” is in 10th grade at MacArthur, the “middle one” is 6th grade at Dennis and our “Boy” is in 3rd grade, also at Dennis.
Describe your PERFECT day… When you are surrounded by flowers it’s hard not to have good days just about every day. I think we will see a PERFECT day when we retire. We will be able to look back on our business, see the impact on other people’s lives, and know that we did what we set out to do… make people smile!
Well there you have it, a great look inside the shop of The Secret Garden. I highly suggest you make it a point to stop in and see them very soon! As you can see their store is beautiful. One of my favorite parts is the open view of the design area where while you’re browsing you can watch new designs and custom orders being made by these very skilled designers.
You’ll also want to like The Secret Garden Page on Facebook where you can get in on some amazing deals like their $5 Fridays, Birthday celebrations and Name Days!
SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS: If you’d like to have your business featured on the SJP blog please visit the following link to download the information/questionnaire form which you can email back to mail@sjanephotography.com. We are now booking for 2014 features and showcase one business each month. Your feature includes FREE 20 minute location shoot by Sarah Jane Photography, blog and facebook feature and web images to use on your online spaces (facebook/website/etc). Our business features are now also being published monthly at www.redecatur.com!
Download the information here:https://www.dropbox.com/s/urr7zdkh64szon7/MarketingBusinessFeatures.doc
Say hello to Amanda & Chad! They are ENGAGED (whoohoo)!!!! I’m so excited about their fall 2014 wedding, and honored to be a part of their big day. Amanda and I hit it off right away and I was thrilled when they decided I was the photographer for them. It was a gorgeous day so we decided to hang out around Allerton Park for their session (just like for Kiersten’s senior session that I posted yesterday).
I love that locations like Allerton offer so much variety that you can have countless sessions there without producing images that look exactly the same. Decatur is full of gorgeous areas to photograph from the parks and lake areas to the downtown city scape and even grungy back alleys, the possibilities are endless.
Be sure to head over to the Sarah Jane Photography facebook page to see more images from Amanda & Chad’s engagement session and check out their personal gallery where you can show them some love and LIKE their images to help them earn more posts.
Aren’t these two adorable?!? Ashley enjoys photography too and we first met the first time I was invited to teach at the Decatur Camera Club. The Club is an awesome group of photography enthusiasts and I was excited to be able to work with Ashley for our fall family mini sessions this year!
Fall did come a little late this year but we were able to capture a little of the golden yellow on these trees for this early fall session and, of course, we had to include their gorgeous pup too! These two have now welcomed a beautiful baby boy into their family, congratulations to you both!
Head on over to the Sarah Jane Photography Facebook Page and check out their image gallery to show this family some love and give them some LIKES! And be sure to keep an eye out for our fall family mini sessions coming up in early fall 2014!
