Leslie Neilson‘s Inspired Living

March 28, 2010

Leslie Neilson’s Inspired Living
By Kristi Kates
It was July of 2000 when former microbiologist-turned-importer and art
appreciator Leslie Neilson opened her first store, Bali and Beyond, in
Boyne City. Chock-full of beautifully-crafted mobiles, kites, wooden
carvings, and other treasures that Neilson found while on buying-trips
in Bali, the tiny shop in a back alley quickly became a local and
tourist favorite. For Neilson, it meant an equally quick expansion was
needed.
“Within two months, as fate would have it, the building we are
currently located in today (next to the Red Mesa Grill) became
available; I did a walk-through and made an offer to buy it on the
spot, much to the dismay of my new husband,” Neilson laughs.
As her business and travels grew, Neilson expanded the store to become
the more upscale Bali Living Imports, inspired in part by the uncle
she stayed with when visiting Bali.
“He noticed I spent all of my spare time in upscale boutiques and
furniture stores,” she explains, “so he asked me if that was what I
really wanted to be selling. It was, but I told him that my store was
too small; he said it wasn’t my store that was too small, but my
thinking. So, three weeks into a four-week buying trip, I canceled as
many orders as I could, and came up with the new name and concept. In
less than a week, I had developed a new logo and marketing materials,
and still had time to fill a 40-foot container with ‘extraordinary
accessories for exceptional living.’”
Several side projects later – including a mini Bali & Beyond secondary
store and a “Bali Living Gallery” to showcase one-of-a-kind Balinese
pieces – Neilson brought her focus back to her main store, which today
has evolved into her Inspired Living boutique.
Bali Inspired Living is the winner of two Express Reader’s Choice
awards for the Boyne/Charlevoix region, namely Best Store to Browse
and Best Store Staff. (“I feel like Sally Field at the Oscars - you
like me, you really like me!” Neilson says.)

NEW INSPIRATIONS
Although it still has its roots in Neilson’s Balinese experiences,
Inspired Living is quite a new direction for Neilson’s store, and one
that required her to take a few calculated risks.
“During one of my buying trips to Bali, I noticed some really cool
wall hangings that I had never seen before, and began having them made
with inspirational quotes in fabrics I hand-selected,” Neilson
explains. “These were the first ‘inspirational’ items I carried, and
it allowed me to begin carrying other inspirational lines I found in
the U.S. This was a difficult decision for me, as prior to this I’d
only carried items from Bali.”
Neilson experienced a little resistance from customers who didn’t like
the American products being infused into the formerly all-Balinese
store; but, true to her artistic instincts, Neilson pushed past her
store’s own boundaries, and continued carefully adding worthy items,
from luxurious candles to a wide range of high-quality teas, both of
which have proved to be hits.
“We currently carry over 120 teas, not to mention every super-cool tea
accessory I come across,” she enthuses.
The name-change to Inspired Living also gently paved the way for
Neilson to expand further on her initial Balinese inventory; she’s
recently added clothing, an organic line of goat’s milk bath products,
and Positively Green cards and books; and she’s taking in some local
stone artwork, paintings, and photography as well.
“All of the products from local artists have to tie into our theme of
‘energy, expression, evolution,’” she explains.

BALINESE EVOLUTION
Behind the changes in Neilson’s business are a wide variety of reasons
and logical steps - lessons that might be well taken by the many other
shop owners around the country who watch their businesses sadly fade
away each year.
“My family was growing, it was getting expensive to travel to Bali on
a regular basis and keep my inventory fresh, and the cost of buying an
entire year’s worth of inventory in one lump sum was not thrilling my
accountant,” Neilson explains, “plus, with unemployment at nearly 20%
in Michigan, people need reminders that life is still good. In the new
store we have items for as little as $1.00 - I am constantly reminding
people that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to show people you
care.”
Neilson also believes part of her success to date is because of her
marketing mentor, Bob Negen of WhizBang Training. His advice - which
includes the taglines “Givers Get!” and “Fall Out of Love with Your
Merchandise and in Love with Your Customers!” made sense to Neilson,
who says that she has the “absolute best customers in the world.”
“It is so tempting when you live in a resort town to get what you can
from customers, because, you know, you’ll never see them again,” she
muses, “but I look at each customer who walks through my doors as a
long-term relationship. People comment on how I am so positive all of
the time, and it is because I have all of these really cool people
coming into my store who have great positive energy.

BEST STORE, BEST STAFF
That positive energy extends to Neilson’s own personal life with her
husband, Paul, their kids and pets. But it was an approach to life
that had to be learned through her experiences.
“I haven’t always loved my store as much as I do now, and there have
actually been several times I thought about throwing in the towel,”
Neilson explains, “but I realized that if it was easy to have a
successful business, everyone would be doing it. In January 2009, I
had an epiphany when I came to work in the store and turned on the
lights - I thought to myself, ‘this is my job! I love it! How lucky am
I?’
Bali still holds a special place in Neilson’s heart, too, even though
the store has evolved into something other than her original concept.
“I feel like my current store has some of the influence from my early
travels to Bali, which makes it such a special place for me and my
family,” she explains.
Part of her in-store “family” are, of course, her staff - she cites
Jen Cousineau’s display work; Megan Stowe, who takes care of the
bamboo and helps maintain Inspired Living’s H.I.P. Club (the shop’s
preferred customer club for “Happy Inspired People”); and her husband
Paul, who “does everything else.”
“I love my employees, and the store would not be as successful as it
is without their personal touches,” Neilson says.

CONTINUED GROWTH
Neilson never stops being inspired by life and by her own goals for
her shop. In addition to the facade improvement grant she recently
received from the State of Michigan, in which she’s working with the
state’s Historic Preservation Society to upgrade the outer appearance
of the store, Neilson recently received her Feng Shui certification,
and is planning to soon offer monthly seminars on such topics as
Sustainable Agricultural, Feng Shui, Acupuncture, and Iridology.
And you’d best not expect to see anything “average” in her store any time soon.
“Eckhart Tolle wrote in his book, A New Earth, ‘As a civilization, we
have two choices; evolve or die,’” Neilson quotes, “although I, of
course, feel that the survival of our civilization is of more
importance than the survival of a retail store, I do feel the same way
about the retail environment. I try very hard to carry items you don’t
see everywhere, I feel this is a huge reason the store has become so
popular recently.”
Another reason might simply be the intriguing environment that Neilson
and her staff have created for the store - stepping into Inspired
Living immediately whisks the guest miles away from the bustling Boyne
City streets.
“Once customers come through the doors and smell all of our fantastic
smells, hear the water from our large fountain, listen to the cool
music, and feel the great energy. They can’t help be hooked on what we
are doing in the store,” Neilson smiles.

Inspired Living is located at 119 Water Street in downtown Boyne City,
right next to Red Mesa Grill; telephone 231-582-2663. Their newly
under-construction website may be found at www.baliinspiredliving.com.




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