Introducing Hannah

Founder • Designer • Dreamer • The Heart Behind Marnie & Me

Sometimes the most important people in your business walk through the door when you least expect them.

For us, one of those people was Hannah, founder of Marnie & Me.

Our story began in our very first shop in Cardigan, when Hannah came through the door with a problem she hoped we might be able to solve.

At the time, she was personalising accessory pouches with individual alphabet patches, painstakingly gluing every letter into place by hand. Her business was growing, the orders were coming in, and she needed to find a better — and considerably faster — way of doing things.

She wondered if we could sew the patches on for her.

It seemed like a relatively simple question.

Little did either of us know what it was about to start.

From Alphabet Patches to Something Completely Her Own

It quickly became apparent that simply sewing patches wasn't going to be the answer.

Hannah had ideas. Lots of them.

And once we started talking about what could be done rather than simply solving the problem in front of us, Marnie & Me began to evolve.

Together we started experimenting with embroidery and print, developing ways of personalising her products that would be faster, more durable and, most importantly, unmistakably Marnie & Me.

Before long, we had developed her own distinctive leopard-print lettering, created especially for printing onto her pouches, alongside her own embroidery style.

And Hannah asked us a question that we still smile about now:

“Can you keep up with my sales?”

Boy, did she mean it.

Things moved quickly.

Really quickly.

Hannah began having bags and pouches custom made specifically for Marnie & Me, ready for us to add the embroidery and printed details we had developed together.

Pouches became bags.

Bags became clothing.

Then came accessories, luggage and an ever-growing stream of new ideas.

And somewhere amongst all of that, two businesses began growing side by side.

Made for Marnie

There is an especially lovely story behind the name.

Marnie & Me is named after Hannah's adorable daughter, Marnie.

Perhaps that's why there has always been so much heart behind the brand.

Hannah doesn't simply choose products and put names onto them. She has a genuine passion for creating pieces that feel personal, playful and individual.

We have spent countless hours together adjusting designs by the tiniest amounts, changing fonts, testing ideas, moving artwork and trying something just one more time because neither of us is prepared to settle for “that'll do.”

Some of those design sessions have continued late into the night — and occasionally well into the early hours of the following morning — working on whatever the next Marnie & Me idea happens to be.

Because when Hannah has an idea, there's every chance we're going to find a way to make it happen.

Truly Personal

Today, the products we create together are a world away from those first hand-glued alphabet patches.

Many of the bags and pouches are now made specifically for Marnie & Me before coming to us to be decorated with the custom print and embroidery we've developed together.

That means we're able to create something that isn't simply personalised.

It's genuinely theirs.

From distinctive embroidery to statement leopard-print lettering, clothing, accessories and luggage, every new addition is developed with the same attention to detail that began at the very start.

And behind every finished product are conversations, samples, experiments, occasional failures, plenty of laughter and an enormous amount of care.

More Than Business

There is another part of this story that I couldn't write without including.

Somewhere along the way, Hannah stopped being simply a customer.

She became family.

Since that first meeting in our little Cardigan shop, we've seen each other almost daily. What began as a working relationship became a friendship that I treasure enormously.

We've celebrated the little business wins together. We've worried together. We've cried together. We've stayed up far too late designing together.

And these days, seeing Hannah generally begins with a hug.

She is one of the most loving, hardworking and fearless people I could have wished to meet. She has a huge heart, an endless supply of ideas and a determination that has continually inspired me.

But perhaps one of the greatest things Hannah has given me has nothing to do with an embroidery machine or a printing press.

She taught me to value my own worth.

She has believed in what I do, valued the work behind it and helped me see the value in my own business in a way that has genuinely changed me.

And in return, I've had the privilege of watching an idea involving some little alphabet patches grow into the wonderful brand that is Marnie & Me today.

We may be two separate businesses, but there is a little piece of each of us woven through the journey we've shared.

And we're nowhere near finished yet.

It started with a pouch, some alphabet patches and a simple question.

What followed was Marnie & Me — and a friendship neither of us could ever have planned.