Spreading Optimism Through LDS Home Decor
Posted: August 14, 2018 | Author: Kayla Centeno | Read Time: 2 minutes
Fellow marketing majors and best friends, Samantha Amor and Camille Forbes, center their life around their religion, family, and inspiring others.
When faced with the task of coming up with a gift for her mother-in-law, Samantha had the idea of taking a wooden cut out of an LDS temple and making it into a clock for a genuine, heartfelt gift. The clock was well received and the experience of making something planted the seed for a larger business idea.
Knowing hardly anything about running a business, Samantha and Camille decided they wanted to take on the challenge of starting their own business.
SUU was the perfect environment to turn their dream into a reality. The two friends started taking business classes and had very encouraging professors that have guided them along the way.
Professor Michael Kroff introduced them to digital and social media best practices, Professor Joshua Price taught them pricing and economic lessons and Professor Tyler Stillman guided them on the principles of successful entrepreneurship.
Samantha and Camille now co-own, Our Home Divine, where they create LDS home decor including their original unique wooden LDS temple clocks. Beyond their actual products, Our Home Divine has a mission of encouraging optimism in people’s daily routine, beautifying people’s homes and inspiring people to continually branch upward.
The two are most proud of their Instagram following. While most company Instagram accounts have about a 5% engagement rate from their followers, Our Home Devine has 40% engagement. They are successful on this platform because they feature their customer photos and share positive posts instead of only posting about their products
“#CreateOptimism is the hashtag we created and use for all of our pictures,” said Camille. “Our followers tag us in their pictures at the temple and use our hashtag on their posts and it makes us so happy. Yes we are a company that sells clocks, but we can be so much more than that. Seeing the positive influence we have on social media has inspired us to work harder to grow our business and encourages us to keep spreading optimism through our products.”
Camille and Samantha don’t know where they’d be if it wasn't for the resources they had at SUU. Between 90 second pitch contests, entrepreneurship speaker series, classes, and the constant support and advice they received from professors, they had the tools they needed to be become successful business owners.
The Entrepreneurship Program at SUU promotes transformative educational experiences and financial well-being through new venture creation. The program connects students with business mentors, hosts monthly networking events, and provides necessary support and counseling services in finance, partner facilitation, marketing, legal and human resources. Students of all majors interested in starting a business can join the Entrepreneurship Club or contact Tyler Stillman at tylerstillman@suu.edu.
This article was published more than 5 years ago and might contain outdated information or broken links. As a result, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Tags: Entrepreneurship Student School of Business
