Brady Zizzo at this year’s RVA 25 awards ceremony, where Annie Mae & Wes was honored as one of the fastest-growing companies in the region.
Brady Zizzo has a hard time sitting still.
It’s a trait that serves her well as a working mom of three, but it’s also what helped spark the creation of her company, Annie Mae & Wes, which much to her surprise has become one of the fastest-growing businesses in the region in its 10th year.
From its small workshop off Patterson Avenue in western Henrico, Annie Mae & Wes makes and sells bows – specifically hair bows for cheerleaders.
Its 16 employees churn out 500-700 bows a day on average, and they are sold online for around $15 apiece, depending on the level of customization and adornment.
That pace has led to around $800,000 in annual revenue, a figure that Zizzo said is a pleasant shock to her system.
“How can you not be surprised? It’s just bows,” said Zizzo. “But at the same time, I’ve never gone a year not turning down business. That’s what’s shocking to me and it weirdly stresses me out…the market is enormous.”
The company’s bows are customized for different cheerleading teams from its shop on Patterson Avenue.
A Collegiate School and University of Richmond graduate, Zizzo grew up in an entrepreneurial family. Her mother owned several Sylvan Learning Center franchises in Richmond. Her late father owned the Dollhouse Shop on Patterson Avenue.
After graduating from UR with an economics degree, Zizzo worked stints at Capital One and CarMax, before going to work for her mother. Then, in 2013, she had her second child and decided to be a stay-at-home mom.
“I did that for probably three to four business days,” she said. “Then I said, ‘I should figure out something to do while the kids are napping.’”
She said she had it in her head that she was going to make something and initially thought about a clothing line and making dresses by hand.
But she soon learned that dresses were a lot of work and weren’t very profitable.
Then a friend of hers whose daughters were into cheerleading gave her an idea: “She said, ‘You should figure out how to make these bows because they’re really popular and really expensive. Only a few moms sell them,’” Zizzo recalled.
She did some research, learned the trends of the cheerleader bow market and found out what the materials would cost.
“I said, ‘This is immediately profitable,’” Zizzo said. “I was never interested in some concept where I have to go get funding and take a bet on someone else’s work.
“My initial investment was maybe $250. I told my husband the first year, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if I made $1,000?’ It really just all started as kind of a joke.”
Zizzo said she can customize a bow in nearly anyway imaginable.
Zizzo started off making one-off bows and selling them through Etsy. She quickly learned to do embroidery and monogramming for the bows and after a few months got her first team order from the United Kingdom.
Then it took off.
Annie Mae & Wes’s bows have since been purchased from all over the world, including Mexico, Canada and Australia.
“I got to the point where I couldn’t make everything myself so I started hiring people,” Zizzo said. “Then I got to where I had too many people working in my house so I got a space.”
Now the company has outgrown its cramped space and has recently signed a lease for extra square footage in the same building.
Zizzo, 39, said she continues to be driven by a few simple rules.
First is to make a profit.
“I just follow this profit-first mentality,” she said. “I don’t do anything unless I think it’s going to be quickly profitable.”
Zizzo at her shop, where she’s in the process of adding extra square footage.
Second is to treat her employees well, pay them well and provide them with upward momentum.
And third – while profit is her goal – she’s driven mainly to earn enough to pay for Collegiate School tuition for her kids, ages 13, 10 and 7.
“All I need to do is make enough money for tuition,” she said. “First, I’m a mom, then a wife and then I have this weird company.”
The company is named after her first two kids and she initially thought up the name for the clothing line that never quite materialized.
“I thought I was going to have a children’s clothing company and I wanted something gender neutral and cute,” she said.
Ironically, none of her kids are into cheerleading (though it’s worth mentioning that her husband was a varsity cheerleader at Virginia Tech).
“Oddly enough my daughter could not care less about bows,” she said. “Her friends think it’s really cool.”
Brady Zizzo at this year’s RVA 25 awards ceremony, where Annie Mae & Wes was honored as one of the fastest-growing companies in the region.
Brady Zizzo has a hard time sitting still.
It’s a trait that serves her well as a working mom of three, but it’s also what helped spark the creation of her company, Annie Mae & Wes, which much to her surprise has become one of the fastest-growing businesses in the region in its 10th year.
From its small workshop off Patterson Avenue in western Henrico, Annie Mae & Wes makes and sells bows – specifically hair bows for cheerleaders.
Its 16 employees churn out 500-700 bows a day on average, and they are sold online for around $15 apiece, depending on the level of customization and adornment.
That pace has led to around $800,000 in annual revenue, a figure that Zizzo said is a pleasant shock to her system.
“How can you not be surprised? It’s just bows,” said Zizzo. “But at the same time, I’ve never gone a year not turning down business. That’s what’s shocking to me and it weirdly stresses me out…the market is enormous.”
The company’s bows are customized for different cheerleading teams from its shop on Patterson Avenue.
A Collegiate School and University of Richmond graduate, Zizzo grew up in an entrepreneurial family. Her mother owned several Sylvan Learning Center franchises in Richmond. Her late father owned the Dollhouse Shop on Patterson Avenue.
After graduating from UR with an economics degree, Zizzo worked stints at Capital One and CarMax, before going to work for her mother. Then, in 2013, she had her second child and decided to be a stay-at-home mom.
“I did that for probably three to four business days,” she said. “Then I said, ‘I should figure out something to do while the kids are napping.’”
She said she had it in her head that she was going to make something and initially thought about a clothing line and making dresses by hand.
But she soon learned that dresses were a lot of work and weren’t very profitable.
Then a friend of hers whose daughters were into cheerleading gave her an idea: “She said, ‘You should figure out how to make these bows because they’re really popular and really expensive. Only a few moms sell them,’” Zizzo recalled.
She did some research, learned the trends of the cheerleader bow market and found out what the materials would cost.
“I said, ‘This is immediately profitable,’” Zizzo said. “I was never interested in some concept where I have to go get funding and take a bet on someone else’s work.
“My initial investment was maybe $250. I told my husband the first year, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if I made $1,000?’ It really just all started as kind of a joke.”
Zizzo said she can customize a bow in nearly anyway imaginable.
Zizzo started off making one-off bows and selling them through Etsy. She quickly learned to do embroidery and monogramming for the bows and after a few months got her first team order from the United Kingdom.
Then it took off.
Annie Mae & Wes’s bows have since been purchased from all over the world, including Mexico, Canada and Australia.
“I got to the point where I couldn’t make everything myself so I started hiring people,” Zizzo said. “Then I got to where I had too many people working in my house so I got a space.”
Now the company has outgrown its cramped space and has recently signed a lease for extra square footage in the same building.
Zizzo, 39, said she continues to be driven by a few simple rules.
First is to make a profit.
“I just follow this profit-first mentality,” she said. “I don’t do anything unless I think it’s going to be quickly profitable.”
Zizzo at her shop, where she’s in the process of adding extra square footage.
Second is to treat her employees well, pay them well and provide them with upward momentum.
And third – while profit is her goal – she’s driven mainly to earn enough to pay for Collegiate School tuition for her kids, ages 13, 10 and 7.
“All I need to do is make enough money for tuition,” she said. “First, I’m a mom, then a wife and then I have this weird company.”
The company is named after her first two kids and she initially thought up the name for the clothing line that never quite materialized.
“I thought I was going to have a children’s clothing company and I wanted something gender neutral and cute,” she said.
Ironically, none of her kids are into cheerleading (though it’s worth mentioning that her husband was a varsity cheerleader at Virginia Tech).
“Oddly enough my daughter could not care less about bows,” she said. “Her friends think it’s really cool.”
Nicely done, Brady!
Great story!
What a great, positive story!