Meet Mandy Volpe | Owner of Children’s Boutique: Piggy Jo’s

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mandy Volpe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mandy, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
When I approached my husband about opening a children’s boutique, he reminded me quickly that we had three kids under the age of 5. While this would deter most people, for me, it made me consider balance and what I wanted my kids to learn. Every day I want my kids to know that I love them dearly and I believe I can still have passions to stay happy and show good work ethic. My kids are growing up as “shop babies” and I want them to learn things like balancing greeting customers, sweeping floors, and choosing products that customers will find wonder in purchasing for their friends and families. My kids take pride in customers being in the store or my phone “chirping” when a sale is made. While owning and running a store is important, they also see me at their gymnastics events, the occasional school lunch, or field trips. Sometimes we have to take care of some things at the store, but we do it as a family, and then head to the park afterwards. It’s not about OR, it’s about AND. I like that I can have a supportive family AND a thriving store. I like that I can work AND run the shuttle service to gymnastics.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
our children’s boutique, piggy jo’s is one of a kind. We wanted a shopping destination for locals and surrounding areas to be able to shop for presents for the children in their lives while also having an experience that leaves them excited. We want Piggy Jo’s to be welcoming to parents, grand parents, children event aunts and uncles who may not have their own children but want help with choosing the perfect surprise for the kids in their lives. We want to educate our guests so that they can feel confident in their purchases. At Piggy Jo’s we want you to experience a world of wonder through our customer experience, our displays, and the curated clothing and toys we offer. We are only a year and a half into this boutique journey, however we love that our guests come in or have found us via Instagram and decide to visit. They want to experience our store simply because they have seen a picture or story online. When we are curating our store’s collection of clothes and toys, we think through your kids activities, where you may be wearing the clothes, or what celebration they will need the outfits. This helps us to curate what Piggy Jo’s Children’s Boutique has become known for.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If a friend is visiting, they will probably have kids or my kids are tagging along so here are a few of the things we will do.

Friday night is pizza and a movie night. We typically watch a movie and order pizza from Italian Pie in Buford.
Saturday morning is a visit to one of the local parks like EE Robinson for the splash pad or Sim’s lake to walk around the lake. Then donuts at JJ’s across from Kroger in Suwanee.
Saturday’s we typically are doing spending time outside or visiting Piggy Jo’s to see all of the new arrivals from the week.
Suwanee Town center has a cool vibe for playing and running around. We love the amphitheater to pretend to put on a show or dance.
Saturday night we would probably have a babysitter come so we could head out and get dinner at Over the Top Burger Bar, Bare Bone’s or somewhere on main street Buford.
Sunday we would take them to church so that their kids could have fun learning about Jesus. A Sunday afternoon nap follows.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have had many mentors in my life who have shown me what it looks like to set goals, strive for creating something new, and balancing family. Before creating our children’s boutique, I had great conversations with other female leaders to gain advise and insight on running a business and a family. What would it look like if a part time employee needed to call out. What would I do if that coincided with one of my kid’s extracurriculars? That encouraged me to make sure I had systems in place to handle those issues but also balance my family well.

They also challenged me with consistency to make sure that if we set hours for our store, we are open those hours and it doesn’t waiver. We want to be consistent for our guests so that they can count on us to be open when we say we will, so that they can quickly grab what they need or have a shopping day.

Website: www.piggyjos.com

Instagram: PiggyJos

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shoppiggyjos