Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsey Bessing.
Hi Lindsey, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hi! I am Lindsey, I am 31 and a mom of three in Jacksonville. By day, I am a Business and Finance Manager for Emergency and Trauma Services at UF Health downtown. By night, I own a small shop that offers a variety of children’s gifts, and then I am a mom all the time.
I started what evolved into Ruby & Co after being a single mom, working two jobs, and just feeling like I didn’t have a creative outlet or control over my finances. I wanted to stop just punching clocks but actually do something that involved passion. I am a survivor of domestic violence and was previously married to an addict, so I was left to clean up a big financial mess and raise babies. I also used Ruby & Co profit to help propel my education and everything I made was used to pay for classes and books for my Master’s degree. Now, I am happily married and we had our baby girl, Ruby which is why the business evolved into Ruby & Co.
Ruby & Co is a small-scale, artisanal children’s goods shop run by a mother-daughter team that offers customers a place to find unique, modern, and safe children’s accessories. While on maternity leave with my third baby, I was overwhelmed with expensive teethers, pacifiers, and dinnerware items that were in bright neon colors. So, I set out to make, design, and offer products that are modern in color and style, safe for your babies and mine, and super affordable.
Everything we sell we also use so rest assured they are the safest on the market!
Aside from quality and affordability, we really work hard to provide a variety of items, good customer service, and fast shipping. It is safe to say that no matter what you are looking for, Ruby & Co has something for everyone to buy and love.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, with my main job, I have had to do intense professional development and have struggled at times trying to balance motherhood, especially when I was a single mother and working full-time. I always felt like I was pushing it with taking time off for illnesses or school events etc., my mental health was neglected for many years because I just had no time to even think of myself.
When I started my small business, I have faced a variety of issues from lack of support to lack of money, and then when I felt like I finally found my groove, covid hit, and then it was lack of resources, extreme shipping delays, etc. I try to just roll with whatever comes my way. My life personally and professionally has been a constant knockdown, get-up swinging so I am accustomed to coming out the other side no matter what.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am definitely a full plate mom. I honestly do not know how to function without three jobs, multiple sports and activities for the kids, home repairs, work projects, and family crises all at the same time. As far as work, I think I have made a good reputation for myself in the healthcare business realm, as a business manager and a member of leadership for several years and my tenure at UF Health for over 12 years, I am known for getting things done, my tenacity, and my passion for those we serve and treat here.
In my small business community, I think I am known as a mom who is just trying to deliver safe and aesthetically pleasing products to those who have babies and toddlers. My shop is locally asked to do events all the time, everyone loves to buy for babies and new mamas. We have the best gifts!
As just a person, friend, woman, etc. I am known by many as someone who is just always doing something. I don’t know how to sit down and I am always involved in things, Many find it admirable, but sometimes it is exhausting. I link staying busy and distracted to my traumatic past. If I sit down, I might get depressed, but if I am busy, I don’t have time to think of the things that haunt me.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I am obviously not qualified to offer advice but I will say that, if you’re a mom, definitely find a way to take care of yourself. I became a mom at 19 and I had no idea what to do and guess what, I am 31 now with three kids and I still have no idea what to do.
But, I do know now that I can’t pour from an empty cup and I did for a long time at a large cost. Rest, use support if you have it, and while our jobs are important, supporting your family is important, the most important work is that of our babes. I forget that sometimes, so this is a reminder for myself too.
Contact Info:
- Email: rubyandcohelp@gmail.com
- Website: www.rubyandco.shop
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/rubyandcoshop
- Facebook: facebook/com/rubyandcoshop
