We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amy Nutt Bouvier a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Amy, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
As a child, I was very sure of myself. I was a star student who wanted to make everyone laugh and was full of personality. I didn’t know anything different than just being myself. Once I got to middle school, I began to tame who I was in order to fit in more with the crowd. I tried to dull the shiny parts of me so I wouldn’t stand out and over time, I lost touch with myself. Fast forward a couple years after college and business school, and I’m barely making it through my days as a Senior Finance Manager at a Fortune 50 company. I had no passion for what I was doing, but continued to tell myself that work isn’t supposed to be fun. I was going through the motions but still searching for that little girl who knew exactly who she was.
One day while scrolling on Instagram, I saw an open model call for a local boutique’s photoshoot. It stopped me in my tracks as I thought about what it might be like to try it out. I was so nervous but signed up before I could change my mind. I thought at the very least, I would be able to meet a few new girls my age. And I was right about that, because everyone was so kind and welcomed me in with open arms as a newcomer to modeling. As I began to watch the other girls, I was amazed. They held themselves with so much confidence, and were so talented and beautiful. When it was my turn to jump in, I felt a little awkward and unsure of myself, but just kept going. By the end of the shoot in my final look, I loosened up in front on the camera and just started having fun. When we wrapped up the shoot I was absolutely glowing. I had so much fun with the girls, and was so proud of myself for trying something new. I wasn’t expecting it to feel so rewarding to push myself out of my comfort zone. That feeling was great enough on its own, but when the photos came back, I was in complete shock. A confident, beautiful woman looked back at me, and I found myself staring at my screen to absorb that it was really me.
After that, something finally clicked in my brain that told me to just go a little easier on this person looking back at me. I had been at war with myself for so long, and I knew I owed myself a truce. It was such an empowering moment and I decided I would commit to treating myself with the kindness, patience, and gentleness that I would show a friend. This new practice of self-compassion is one I took very seriously, and it led me to trying a multitude of new things: from more photo shoots and joining a women’s golf league, to eventually leaving my very draining finance job in pursuit of my passions in fashion and fitness. Days after my resignation as a Senior Finance Manager, I began training as an indoor cycling instructor and working as a Sales Manager in the boutique I modeled for. After a year with the boutique, I decided it was time to take another leap and make something of my own. I proudly launched my business, Ormond Gifts, on October 1st, 2023, and continue to instruct and manage at my indoor cycling studio. Building confidence takes time and is a practice I constantly work on, but I believe I owe it to myself to continue bettering myself and live as authentically as I possibly can.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
It all started at my childhood home on Ormond Road in Louisville, Kentucky, where I first fell in love with creating handmade gifts. A story my family loves to tell about me is how one Christmas Eve when I was about 7 or 8, I spent the entire day making custom place cards for each of my family members for dinner that evening. I meticulously cut up green, red, gold, and silver ribbons to create unique designs for each person, and drew their names in my best handwriting. I remember I was so pleased with my work and was so excited to show my family. We used the place cards at Christmas Eve dinner for years, until I got to middle school and found it “totally uncool”. But to me, that’s the core of who I am. I love to make people feel special, and I love to use my creative abilities to craft unique gifts that speak to the recipient.
Incorporating my love of styling and fashion into this business only made sense. After honing in on my own personal style in the last few years, I have seen firsthand how feeling good in your clothes brings game-changing confidence. Although I can’t make garments myself (yet..!), I offer affordable, versatile, and on-trend staples in my shop that you can’t wait to give or get for yourself! At Ormond Gifts, you’ll find elevated essentials to refresh your capsule wardrobe, like trendy loungewear pieces, staple sweaters, unique tops and more. Additionally, our customized accessories are some of our best sellers! Choose from our selection of clear stadium bags and cosmetic pouches, and then add your name or initials for a personal touch. You can choose the size, color, and font of your sticker to create a look that truly feels like YOU! These also make the perfect gift for the girl on the go, a bride-to-be and her bridesmaids, or a new mom with a lot of new things to organize!
As Ormond Gifts grows in 2024, I am excited to expand our custom offerings into bridal/bachelorette packages with sweatshirts, t-shirts, canvas totes, champagne flutes, and more! You can view my design gallery (https://ormondgifts.com/pages/gallery) to see DIYs from my own wedding, along with other design work I have done. After looking around, fill out a FREE Design Inquiry form linked on the Gallery page to get started. Although I am partial to weddings, I would love to help design a project for any occasion: birthday, family or couples trip, sorority initiation, and more! You can follow along on Instagram to see how we grow @shopormond and shop with us now at ormondgifts.com!
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
The three most important skills I developed in my journey to launching my business were my creativity, work ethic, and fearlessness. I believe that every person is creative and possesses creative potential, it’s just a matter of getting in tune to that side of you. I’ve always felt a strong sense of creativity, but I never believed that it was something I could use to build my career or become my own boss. I used to view autonomy as an added pressure, but now I see it as an opportunity for my creative freedom to come through. Practice using your voice and attuning yourself to your own perspective, and your creative muscles will keep getting stronger.
Hard work is just as important as creative vision. I was working three jobs and planning my wedding when getting this business off the ground. There will never be a perfect time, and you may have to get up at 4 or stay up until 2 to get it done, but small chunks of consistent work will add up over time. Don’t wait for the day that you have 8 straight hours to work on your business plan, because it will never come. Get really good at finding 20-30 minute slots in your day where you can take care of one task that has been looming, and you will see progress accumulate. With that, I am someone who struggles to relax because I always feel that I can and should be doing more, but I know that rest is vital to developing quality work and getting inspired again. When I use breaks intentionally, it helps me detach from the guilt I tend to feel when taking them. This takes practice and constant balance, but is something I find to be helpful in structuring my days.
A sense of fearlessness is an essential component to taking the final leap in any big decision, but especially in starting a business. I’m a big believer in: feel the fear and do it anyway. The possibility of failure will always be there, but you will never know until you try. I wrestled with the decision to start my own business for a long time before I finally said yes to myself. The tipping point for me was having a realization that I would regret NOT trying it for the rest of my life. I could almost hear my future self as this bitter person who always said: “I almost started my own store once, but it never would have worked.” I knew I didn’t want to be that person, and instead would rather be able to say, “I used to run my own business, but it didn’t pan out.” Now being in the weeds of ownership, my perspective has changed once more and I have even more fearlessness in me than when I started. I am a fighter that wants to protect the road I have paved so far, and am not going to give up easily when we face challenges. I can’t predict the future, but right now I would do anything to keep this business alive, and that feels so empowering.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
My biggest challenge in the first quarter of owning my business has been overcoming my perfectionist tendencies and setting realistic expectations for myself. I want every detail to be meticulously planned, which can be beneficial, but not at the cost of my time. I have learned that time is my most valuable resource and so I want to master time management. Sometimes setting a certain amount of time to complete a task helps me, and I often complete what I set out to do in the time I allotted (Parkinson’s Law, anyone?). My goal for the coming year is to put in consistent effort when working on my business, even when I may feel it’s not perfect. I want to avoid sporadic bursts of work, and instead chip away at my larger goals by showing up every day in small ways. To me, this is about constantly reprioritizing and being honest with myself about my capacity. When I can do those two things effectively, I know I set myself up for success.
Contact Info:
- Website: ormondgifts.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/shopormond?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-nutt/
- Other: Email us at shopormond@gmail.com
Image Credits
Olivia Dalton – Madison Media Agency
