Meet Alana Morrone

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alana Morrone a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alana, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

My work ethic comes from an internal desire to be able to say “I earned this” and “I worked for this”. No one can take credit for what I have built or created – be it my business, my family, my home, my education -because I did it myself. I also believe in commitment. If I say yes to something, I do it full force with all I got.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a wife, mom of 4 (a 8 yo, and 19, 17, 15 yo step kids) and fur mama. We have a super busy lifestyle between sports and activities and are constantly driving back and forth across town and beyond!

In addition, I teach 4th grade math in NYC to students of varying capabilities!! I love what I do. It is rewarding but extremely mentally and emotionally demanding.

I needed something to do to slow myself down and decompress from the craziness of my days. I found crafting to fill my need. My products were well received and with some encouragement from a few friends, I launched a small business!

My small business – Write Style Gifts is a mix of practical and fun – unique pens designed to fit your style and interests with an extremely wide variety of items. And as I have grown, so has my products offerings. I now bead wine stoppers, bottle openers, bookmarks, keychains, lanyards, cup charms, cookie scribes and so much more!

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

First, trust yourself to take a risk. Have the confidence to do soemthing new!
Second, start small. Take on what you can and learn when to stop.
Third, stay true to you and your audience. Just because something seems like a good idea or someone has an interest, doesn’t mean it fits your vision.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

My number one obstacle is time management. Being that I have a full time job and a family full of obligations, it is challenging to actually attend to my business – creating product, advertising, updating listings, accounting, interacting with customers and taking orders. I set scheduled times throughout the week to make sure that I devote time to my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://writestylegifts.etsy.com
• Instagram: @writestylegifts
• Facebook: @Write Style Gifts