As a supporter of Shop Small I think it is pretty cool to support amazing families. This week I am spotlighting one of my faves, ELE STORY.
I love these beautiful dresses for Kenzie and she has been wearing them for years. I also love this adorable Mommy and Me, set, it is something that I can wear with or without Kenzie to match and look stylish and cute! How sweet is this pic? With our fur baby, Jackson. 
Here is more on this amazing family and their story. Meet the family behind ELE STORY. Be sure to read up on this amazing store and head to their website and use my code BEVERLEYM15 for 15% off your entire purchase from now until JULY 17th!
My husband and I started Ele Story in 2013. We had just welcomed our daughter, who was 18m old at the time. Like a lot of women, becoming a mother changed me, made me rethink my life, shift my focus and my priorities. I had been a costume designer in Los Angeles before moving up to the San Francisco bay area, when my mother suddenly became ill with cancer and passed away. Losing her, my biggest cheerleader and believer in my artistic abilities, was devastating. I felt lost and unsure about myself at the time.
After the move up north, I immediately shifted careers and landed my dream job at Pixar Animation Studios, first assisting an art director, then managing artists, technical directors, and the film production pipeline. It was a really great change of pace for me and I loved the people I met there. I learned a ton. But several years in, especially after my daughter was born, I was craving a change and an opportunity to be more creative again. I started a handmade bag etsy shop, and was creating constantly to fill that void.
During this time, my husband was in between jobs, and one night, he shared that he believed in me and wanted to help me realize my dream of having my own clothing line (which I had probably mentioned to him during our college days, when it didn’t hurt to dream big). We had zero experience in the fashion industry, and he literally took the two pieces of clothing I had sewn for our daughter and ventured out into the unknown. In short six months, Ele Story was born and we took our first Spring 2013 collection to New York’s ENK trade show and started this crazy, incredible adventure.
WHAT DOES BEING A SMALL SHOP MEAN TO YOU?
Being a small shop to me means first and foremost, quality, and uniqueness of design. I feel as if sky is the limit as I design and create for Ele Story, and producing locally here in San Francisco also means being able to be responsible and ethical in our sourcing and producing of our clothes. We have a great relationship with our seamstresses and other vendors because we are all mom and pop shops we help each other out. It’s like working with family and I love having those relationships with people. Probably an immediate second to quality and uniqueness is our ability to serve our customers and provide them with the best possible customer experience. I am so proud of our team of women who help manage so many aspects of our business, from managing cutting and sewing, to customer support, to quality checking and shipping our products. I could not have asked for a better team to represent Ele Story.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PRODUCT YOU SELL?
This is a tough one — I really truly love everything we make! If I had to choose, I think I would have to say I love our newest collection of Mommy and Me — the Starlets and Stripes (seriously sometimes my favorite part of what I do is coming up with cheesy names for our products ha!) dress/blouse for mama, and matching dress for girl, and a bow tie for boy!
This was a dream of mine from the conception of Ele Story and is very dear to my heart. I had always wanted to dress like my own mother, who had a great sense of style and was always so elegant. She did not wear much make up, but her clothing was always impeccable. When I became a mother to June, she was always wanting to dress like me too — so I knew that someday I would create outfits for Mother and child. We are so excited to once again have Beverley Mitchell support our shop and model a coordinating outfit with her little girl Kenzie and boy Hutton.
We have the greatest appreciation for our customers — the moms, dads, grandparents, aunties and uncles who continue to return to purchase from us as their littles grow up. They send us pictures year after year of their little ones in Ele Story, and it has been the best feeling in the world. We love growing with you, and without your support, we would not still be here, keeping the dream alive and making our garments ethically and responsibly in San Francisco. 
