Life & Work with Allyn Brennan of Apex

Today we’d like to introduce you to Allyn Brennan

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have been a stay at home mom since my third child was born 3 years ago. Before that I had worked in various sales roles (ergonomic office furniture, lead generation, IT consulting). I have always loved design and would decorate my home as a hobby. Over the last year or so I felt the urge to start something of my own, some kind of passion project. With my children being so young, (3, 4, and 6) I knew it would have to be flexible and allow me to bring them along. On September 30th I read an article about a porch pumpkin concierge business in Dallas and thought to myself “I could definitely do that.” It seemed like the perfect fit for my family–I could bring my kids with me to decorate other porches and still have them home in time for naps and carpool. The next day I went to the farm and bought about 30 pumpkins to decorate the stairs on my porch. I came up with the business name “Porch Perfect NC”, then posted pictures of my porch on Instagram on October 2nd. I reached out to my mom meetup group and asked if I could decorate some of their porches and take photos to post to social media. I created my first ever reel on October 4th and continued to post pictures and videos of my pumpkin designs. One of my friends posted a picture of her newly designed porch to our local Raleigh Moms Group on Facebook and messages started flying in! I started posting every day sharing reels of each porch to my instagram and my business continued to grow from there. I realized there were plenty of people that wanted a certain look, but didn’t have the time or desire to go to the farm, haul 30 pumpkins, and then go home and put together a design. I would schedule a porch in the morning and bring my 3 year old, then pick up my 4 year old from preschool and decorate another porch in the afternoon. I was a little nervous about how people would react to my children coming along and playing in their yards while I worked on their porch, but everyone was so supportive and loved seeing them with me. I realized that the majority of my customers were busy moms and they were happy to support another mom and her small business. I made connections with local farms to buy the pumpkins in bulk and stored them in my garage. I offered 3 design packages based on volume: small, medium, and large and offered disposal at the end of the season. I connected with another mom and local farm owner that was happy to take all of the pumpkins at the end of the season to feed their animals. By the end of October I had done 28 porches. I started getting requests for holiday porch designs, so on November 13th I designed my first holiday porch and posted it to my Instagram and started receiving more and more requests. I still can’t believe I started this business less than 2 months ago. It has been so much fun to work on something new and creative each day without having to give up time with my young kids.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Finding enough pumpkins! Hauling as many as I could fit into my minivan and then loading and unloading them each day. Anticipating how many pumpkins I would need in a given week was difficult to forecast. Making connections with local farms to pre order in bulk next year will make things much easier. It was also physically demanding–these pumpkins are heavy and I couldn’t always park close to the porch. Sometimes I had to haul them one or two at a time from my car to their porch.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I offer seasonal porch design services including pumpkin concierge and holiday porch design. I design, deliver, and install for each project. I think my drive and work ethic set me apart from others–once I decide to do something I am completely focused on making it happen. I also think I have an eye for what people like–and it is not necessarily the same as what I would like. It would be easy to use the same pumpkins or the same christmas decor on each porch, but each house is unique and each design should highlight those differences. I am most proud of the connections I made within my community–local small business owners, farms, photographers, influencers. I have an entire new network I never would have had without social media and community support.

What do you like and dislike about the city?
My family moved to Apex from the Washington, D.C. Area in 2020. Raleigh has some of the nicest people I have ever met! I love how family centric our community is. As of now, I have no complaints! Traffic is light, weather is lovely, and the people are wonderful.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/porchperfectnc/profilecard/?igsh=M3BsdGczeXk4aDky
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567523696466&mibextid=LQQJ4d