Marie Tillman was, like all of us, a busy mom who wanted to spend more time with her five children—and less time running errands. One of her major challenges? Finding high-quality, beautiful clothing for her kids (now 17, 16, 14, 7 and 5). In 2014, she decided to fill the void she saw in the market by a clothing subscription service. She combined her son’s name Mac, with the name he would have been called had he been a girl, Mia–and Mac & Mia was born.
Marie’s last name—Tillman—may sound familiar. In 2004, she was thrust into the public eye when her first husband, former Arizona Cardinal Pat Tillman, was killed in action in Afghanistan. To cope with her loss, Marie started a nonprofit veteran’s organization in the education space, creating scholarships for service members and spouses. Marie says the experience gave her solace—and other skills that benefit her as a business owner, including building a team, defining a mission, fundraising (which relates to sales), marketing, etc.
“It was a great experience to give back to people during a difficult time in my life and it also taught me a ton about how to do a great deal with limited resources,” says Marie. “I think in general the experience of losing someone at an early time in my life gave me a new perspective, and it made me think a lot about the impact I wanted to have in the world, and jump on opportunities as you see them.” Currently, opportunity is knocking, with Mac & Mia rapidly gaining a following nationwide, leading the company to search for stylists to come on board.
“The team of stylists is the heart and soul of our business,” explains Marie, adding that it’s the passion the stylists have for helping clients that is at the heart of Mac & Mia. “It’s a relationship they have with our customers that makes the experience so special. It’s really been amazing to see that team grow and provide those opportunities for these women that allows them to balance family and work,” says Marie. Here’s what else you should know about this fantastic mom-founded business, and this unique, flexible career opportunity
What can people expect when they order?
Mac and Mia is like shopping your neighborhood store right from your home. Our merchandise team is amazing and gives our customers that sense of discovery. They’re constantly looking for new brands to bring to our customers, with the highest level of style, quality and value.
What separates Mac & Mia from other subscription services?
Our intention is to have a boutique or neighborhood store feel. A lot of our brands are founded by moms who saw a need in the market and the fact that we can support them is really cool. The biggest difference is that each box is hand collected for that particular kid and the way we’re able to do that is the relationship the stylist creates with the family. Most of our communication is by text.
Wow, that is a great feature—text is usually the easiest way for moms who don’t have time to open a laptop. So who is the ideal candidate for this position?
It’s someone who likes styling but it’s also someone who enjoys relationship building. If someone is likely to strike up a conversation with strangers or try to problem solve for them, are good listeners, and like making people’s lives easier, they will likely be a good fit.
What types of backgrounds do your stylists have?
It’s interesting—they’re all over the place. There isn’t a consistent background. It is, however, primarily women who have decided to take a little bit of a break from a career, but want to be involved with something while balancing family and work.
Sounds like a great opportunity for moms. So what is next for Mac & Mia?
Our priority is really growing our team with women from around the country, and we’re also looking to expand into categories beyond clothes, into shoes, accessories and more.
To learn more about becoming a stylist for Mac & Mia, click here.
This post is sponsored by Mac & Mia.
This story originally appeared on The Local Moms Network.