Meet Allyn

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Allyn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Allyn below.

Allyn, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

Before starting my business I worked in Sales for 12 years. I experienced rejection on a daily basis, fumbled my sales pitches, but I persisted through the embarrassment and discomfort. Learning how to sell a product to a stranger is intimidating and uncomfortable, but I stuck with it and continued to improve. Those experiences build a mental toughness that stays with you and builds resilience. Because of those experiences, I’m comfortable talking to all types of people and enjoy the challenge of selling and promoting my business.

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?

Porch Perfect NC is a seasonal design and decor business. I offer pumpkin porch delivery and design as well as holiday decor and design. I am a stay at home mom of 3 young kids living in Apex, NC and started my business after reading an article about a porch pumpkin business out of Dallas, TX. I have always wanted to start my own business and enjoyed decorating my own home, so this seemed like the perfect fit. I could start this business without having to give up time with my young children. I started by decorating my own porch with pumpkins and shared the photos on social media. From there I started to design my friend’s porches and they shared photos on social media to local mom groups. My business grew from there–I would purchase all different types of pumpkins from local farms, deliver them to the customer and create a beautiful design for their porch. I always had one or two of my kids with me and they would play outside while I worked. I would decorate a porch in the morning after preschool drop off, then another after naptime and finish in time to pick up my kids from school.

As my business picked up, I started getting messages and requests for Christmas decorating services. Once I wrapped up my pumpkin decorating season, I went straight into designing holiday porches. I would work with each homeowner to pick out wreaths, garland, ribbon, trees, lights, etc. it was all custom designed and each bow was tied by hand.

I am now preparing for my second porch pumpkin decorating season and hope to double my business from last year. I have a new website PorchPerfectNC.com where customers can place orders and learn about each service and the process. I’m starting earlier year—taking orders starting in August. I have also planned collaborations with local family photographers to decorate their fall family photo sessions. I love connecting and working with other local business owners and have learned so much from them. Lastly, I plan to add corporate/local business holiday designs in addition to residential. I had several businesses reach out wanting their office or entry to feel festive stand out. Im looking forward to adding that vertical this season.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Creativity, social media, and working your existing network

Although the idea for this business was not original, as I had read about a porch business in Dallas, I knew I would be able to put my own twist on it. I think using bits a pieces of an existing idea is a great way to build a business. There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel, so learn as much as you can from your fellow business owners and then find a way to separate yourself, stand out, and make it your own.

My advice to other business owners would be to work your network and not be afraid to ask them for help promoting your business. What’s the worst that can happen? They say no? Then you ask the next person.

When I first started I would decorate my friend’s porches and ask them to post pictures to social media to help grow my business. I imagine some people would feel uncomfortable asking friends to post on Facebook or Instagram–especially if they weren’t active on those sites, but I knew it would be the most effective way to grow my customer base.

I asked my friends to share my Instagram stories to their accounts to help increase my numbers and views. I know I would happily share and promote another friends business, so I didn’t hesitate to ask for support. If I had decorated someone’s porch I always followed up and sent photos and videos of their porch. I would ask them to post about it and even send a write up to make it as easy as possible.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I would love to continue to collaborate with other local businesses—realtors, party planners, photographers, any one that wants to achieve that Pinterest look for a home they are selling, a party they are decorating/planning, or a photographer that would love a seasonal design as a backdrop for their sessions. You can connect with me by email, DM on Instagram or contact me through my website.
@porchperfectnc
[email protected]
PorchPerfectNC.com

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Deanna Decker
Glynnis Christensen

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Leadership Development
Where does your self-discipline come from?

One of the most essential skills for unlocking our potential is self-discipline. We asked some

Productivity
Tactics & Strategies for Keeping Your Creativity Strong

With the rapid improvements in AI, it’s more important than ever to keep your creativity

Productivity
Working hard in 2025: Keeping Work Ethic Alive

While the media might often make it seem like hard work is dead and that