Just when you have given up on going out with 5 different bags to hold everything, the Yazzy Bag by Yasmena has finally come along.  The Yasmena is the brainchild of Emily Blumenthal, who like other women, became frustrated with struggling with keeping her essentials fashionably consolidated.  It was over over years ago when the idea came to mind for a little bag to hold onto when you go out when she had a DJ boyfriend at the time and was getting her MBA and working for a now defunct magazine.  "It just hit me like a ton of bricks" says Blumenthal after watching women do the "ceremonial dance" around their bags.  "I just knew there was a hole in the market to try something new, even if I wasn't trained in design."

The Yasmena was made primarily out of beads and then I moved on to leather.  I knew though I wanted to make them to also be affordable and therefore have them made in other materials like faux leather and nylon for the Yazzy Bag version.  The nylon has actually been our most popular.  My continued inspiration is to try and make lives for the woman on-the-go easier since I am still part of my target audience.  The silhouettes are still built for that customer in the wallet-wristlet fusion that some call the palm purse or a version of the "pouchette."

When I had started I was desperately looking for a creative outlet.  I had already tried a few small business ideas that really never came to fruition.  However, once this little bag idea was born, I took advantage of my business school colleagues and had all of my market research done for me.  It was quite scary though.  Especially since after I walked my first tradeshow to see how much people put into their handbag lines.  I knew that it couldn't be just a hobby if I wanted to be part of that crowd.

My worst experience in this process by far has been with my second patternmaker.  I was going to leave for tradeshow in London and he promised me to have my samples finished.  As any small business person knows, the smaller the quantity, the lower you are on the totem pole for any sort of production - this is not different.  Up until 3 weeks before, I begged and pleaded and he promised they would be done.  The day of, I stopped by on my lunch hour (because I was still working) and he had not even started - but still, he promised.  Come 5 pm, I left work early to go there so I could collect my samples and then go home and get my suitcase - still he hadn't started. I had a panic attack in his studio and we had lovely "exchange of words" to which I said I wasn't leaving until my samples were done.  Fortunately, I couldn't understand what language he was calling me names in because I sat in a chair in front of his door, called my mom to get my suitcase, begged her to drive me to the airport and got on the last flight out at 11:45 pm.  I knew at that moment - I was in and there was no turning back.

With all of that said though, with the horrific experiences, there is no comparison to making a product that you see people use or emails you receive where people say that your product has made their life easier.  My life has always needed more solution products so if my little bag could do that for someone else - it has all been worth it in the end.