Nancy Creed hails from a hard-working, blue collar, western Pennsylvania steel town. In her words, it’s a “put your head down and go” kind of place. So, she did. She went to the University of Pittsburgh for her bachelor’s degree and later to Bowling Green State in Ohio for a master’s degree – both in communications.
Not wanting to place her children in day care, Nancy chose to be a stay at home mom. While she wouldn’t trade away a minute of it, this creative lady felt called to something more. Two years before moving to the New River Valley in 1993, she joined Mary Kay, advancing to senior sales director. She earned five career cars, including the coveted pink Cadillac.
“I loved being self-employed and working from home,” she says. “I was able to combine the sales training offered through Mary Kay with my background in communications to build a large organization and client base. Tapping into my creative side, I designed gift baskets for the holidays.”
Nancy changed direction in 2004, stepping into the hospitality field and working most of the last 10 years in sales for Hilton properties in the New River Valley. Interacting with corporate clients was rewarding, but she longed for the entrepreneurial challenges and having a business at home. Combining her communications skills with sales expertise and creative endeavors, Nancy Creed started The Orange Bandana, a home-based gift basket business. She designs and sells a variety of innovative, themed, gift baskets from her website and especially enjoys assisting corporate clients with their gift giving needs.
For her signature mark, she tucks an orange bandana into every basket. They say that the best reason to carry a handkerchief is to give it away, and she wants each basket recipient to have one. You can read the story of The Orange Bandana at www.orangebandanagifts.com.
