About me

Personalized Pacifiers about me

Well I don’t know about you but I find it really difficult to write something about myself. I thought long and hard on how to present myself to all of you, first I thought I should be very professional and start with all my credentials like where I graduated from college (University of South Florida) with which degree I had (Business Marketing BS), and a list of my previous careers (Realtor, Bookkeeper, Hooters Girl (OMG did I just say that?)) I endured before I finally ended up with an online store and wholesale distribution company of Pacifiers. But then I thought “That’s boring”, who cares about that, who wants to read crap like that??? My conclusion is to be myself, sarcastic, funny, and REAL so here goes….

The truth is I got married to my wonderful husband who by the grace of God loves me so much, so much in fact that I stopped working when we moved to Las Vegas together, because what the heck was I supposed to do out here in the desert? I had a flourishing career in Real Estate in Florida where I lived, I was buying Investment properties, selling houses, moving on up to be honest! So back to the point I was not working out here in Vegas (he was of course, that’s why we moved silly!) and I was just loving it, looking for a new house, buying new furniture, discovering new places to go, making new friends then BAM I was pregnant… OMG what was I going to do, we weren’t married yet, I wasn’t ready, I was having the time of my life doing nothing!.

Ok, Ok, OK, after the initial shock of finding out I was pregnant I was really excited!.

We were going to have a baby! Think of the NEW things I could shop for! That kept me busy for a few months, buying cute new things I have never shopped for before and then the day came that I had the new house furnished, the baby’s room was complete, and here I was only 5 months pregnant! I will tell you this I have never been so bored in my life, it sounds like a dream life above huh? Well yes it was for a few months then reality set in I was pregnant and getting huge, my husband was working all the time, I had nothing to do but sit home and miss my friends in Florida, miss my Mom, Dad, and sisters, my husband forbid me to spend another dime or we would be broke as a joke… I started to go crazy, the friends I had met when I first moved to Las Vegas were not pregnant and our friendships never got the chance to blossom so I was alone, so alone, and so bored. Did mention I was getting very fat!

4 months of misery I will never forget for the rest of life, 4 months of being pregnant, bored and alone, changed my life forever… Here’s how… I was so happy when my 1st son Theis (Pronounced TICE) was born I was finally not alone or bored in fact I was needed and wanted and TIRED! No one told me having a baby was sooooooo much work. After 6 months I decided that I was ready to work again, I was not raised or ever aspired to be a housewife (not that there is anything wrong with that) it just wasn’t me.. I was going to get my Real Estate license in Nevada and find some work part time while I studied, this would give me sense of self, a sense of being a contributor to the house, my husband would be proud, my son would be proud of his mama…. So did it, I signed him up for day care at a local place. Daycare gave me mixed feelings, I would finally be able to become an independent woman on her career path, but at the same time I felt scared of someone taking care of MY baby, would they pick him up when he cries, or kiss him on the head if he bumped it? Daycare ended up being a blessing in disguise. They taught him things I never knew, experimented with some foods I was SURE he would never eat, gave me helpful hints on teething, soothing, napping.etc.. They were so clean and careful not to spread germs they even wrote his name on his pacifier with a black Sharpie! They were smart, and I was thankful…

But wait, I thought, wouldn’t it be cool to have pacifiers with your kids name on them, instead of writing it? I told my husband the great idea I had; he thought it would be cool too… Why don’t we do it ourselves? Make cool pacifiers with a way to PERMENANTLY put your baby’s name on their pacifier seemed like an ingenious idea, why hadn’t anyone thought of that here in the US before, it’s almost like a no-brainer… And the rest is like a whirlwind, we found a great manufacture in Germany they make top quality pacifiers some for major pacifier companies and us. We figured out a way to permanently engrave babies names, had the pacifiers tested for safety and we were all set.

Our website went live in 2006, our company gave some pacifiers to celebrities, also we created a Diamond Version for Brad Pitt and Angelia Joile 1st baby Shiloh which is now dubbed the WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE PACIFIER at a whopping $17,000.00. We were on the map! Orders were coming in, people were going crazy, news stations were calling us for interviews, magazines were featuring us in articles, TV shows were airing our pacifier everywhere… Bow the heck did this all happen?? Like I said it was a no brainer, why would you put your kids name on their pacifier, we do it on t-shirts, bracelets, bibs, hats etc.. It was a good idea….

So you’re probably wondering well what else? Well I did end up getting my Real Estate license, I am still a normal person, I work every day (weekends I try not to work), I control every aspect of the business, sales, accounting, online orders, wholesale accounts, ordering, customer service, tradeshows, etc.. I can’t lie though I do have a few very special employees including my sister Amanda who moved to Las Vegas to be with me and a few other great girls whose work is so much appreciated. Of course there is my husband he is so awesome, smart, annoying, smart, patient, annoying, and a very big help! Without him none of this would be possible, he is a genius when it comes to online marketing, R&D, and he is very creative. These things I could not live without since I am very much the opposite, he is my other half. I love him that annoying son-of-a-gun!

By the way we are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary in April 2009, as well as the arrival of our second son, Diesel (yes like the fuel)… That’s about it!.

Thank’s to all of you, from all of us at Personalized Pacifiers!

Danielle Riiber