Check Out Eileen Schilly’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eileen Schilly. 

Hi Eileen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
If there are only 4 things you need to really get to know me it would be that… I am creative, I am family-oriented, I love fashion, and I’m obsessed with hockey. Ask anyone, haha, they will tell you the same thing. It’s ironic looking back at the start of my entrepreneur journey and seeing how all 4 of these traits have played a major role to get me to where I am today. 

Shortly after graduating from NC State, with a bachelor’s in art applications, I entered a t-shirt design contest with the Carolina Hurricanes. To my surprise, my design actually won the popular vote and my design ended up being used for the Hurricane’s giveaway shirts that entire season (2013). I am a diehard Hurricanes hockey fan so this will probably be go down as one of my proudest accomplishments. Little did I know that would be the very first of hundreds of t-shirt designs I would make in my life. 

I never had a clear direction that I wanted to take professionally. Shortly after graduating, I had the opportunity to start a job as a visual merchandiser with Belk. I had always loved trends and fashion, so it seemed like the perfect job to use my creativity and passion for fashion. I was fortunate to have bosses that saw my talent, but one, in particular, that saw potential in my business sense. He pushed me to learn the business in every aspect because it would only make me a better well-rounded employee. It was from that mentorship that I learned how to operate retail businesses and found confidence in my abilities. 

In 2014 I was faced with planning a bachelorette party for my sister. I could envision the perfect tanks for the event, however after hours, if not days, of online searching, and the event rapidly approaching, I gave up and decided to put my art degree to work. I used a low-budget at-home screen printing contraption (literally…. it was made of cardboard) and spent hours creating subpar tanks for the event (thank goodness I invested in better equipment later on haha) Even though they weren’t as good as I wanted, everyone loved them! My sister, Mara Carlton, saw the potential in making shirts and was the one who dove into learning how to make them professionally. Selling t-shirts on Etsy quickly became our side hustle. A year or so later I decided it was time to leave my retail management job and try to build something like she had been doing. 

My vision was to create a shop that I would have wanted to shop at when planning my sister’s bachelorette party. A place where I could find a large assortment of themes and customize them for the specific event. Also, to find a shop that was size-inclusive because I had always struggled finding clothing being plus size. It was from here that my company, Be Everthine, was created. Sales took off pretty quickly and I started seeing tremendous growth over the first 18 months. It helped that I was also newly engaged and had all things wedding on the brain. At this point, the shop was supporting me financially and I was happy with what I was doing and the level it was at. 

July 2017 my family’s life was kind of turned upside down after my father suffered a severe heart attack. This hit us all very hard for so many different reasons. After months in the hospital, he was healing but left unable to work. Aside from all the normal reactions, you would have in this type of situation… my instincts were pushing me to grow Be Everthine so that if my family needed help financially, I would have everything in place. 

Be Everthine turned from a side hustle to a family-run business, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Each family member contributes in different ways. I get to work side by side with my mother, brainstorm with my siblings, bounce business ideas off of my dad, and torture my husband with countless shipments of inventory hahah – kidding, kinda 😉 It still blows me away that I was able to turn a side hustle and a $250 gift into a business that is a top influencer in the bachelorette world. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not a smooth road by any means! But over time I’ve realized that most of our success actually comes as a result of the hard times. 

First bump was after my father’s heart attack. I had to take a break from selling in order to be with my family physically and mentally. But from this horrible situation came my drive to grow the company to more than just a one-girl show. 

2020 was obviously a hurdle. Sales definitely plummeted… for a few months for an example… in a month we had only done what we normally do in a week. It was terrifying. Since we had a lot of time on our hands, we started making masks. It wasn’t for profit, rather just to help when masks were so hard to come by. As masks became more available, we started to stop and refocus our attentions. Although it was a hurdle, we weren’t as badly hit as others. It was a real eye-opener for me personally. I really learned to count my blessings and be grateful and proud of what I had built and already accomplished by age 31. Many times, I give myself grieve for not being more successful or convince myself that I’m failing. 2020 proved me wrong. Yes, we had a dip in sales that hurt, but we rebounded in the 3rd quarter. 2020 also showed me the importance of supporting other small businesses. It’s been important to me to promote and work with others. 2021 has been our year of building partnerships with other vendors, and it’s been my favorite venture yet. We’re all in this together. We all have dreams, and we all want and deserve success. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We’re known for being ahead of trends, and even setting the trends in the bachelorette world. 

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Adaptability. In real life, I am a play by the rules and be on schedule kind of person. I don’t do well with personal curveballs. But somehow when it comes to the business, I’m able to think outside of the box, go with the punches, and make good out of a bad situation. I think if it weren’t for adaptability, I would still just be doing this as a side hustle. I wouldn’t have pushed through obstacles and made them work. 

Pricing:

• Clothing starts at $20
• Swimwear starts at $35
• Gifts and decor start at $5

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.beverthine.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/be_everthine
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/beverthine/
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BeEverthine