Former Lakeville sisters developed business skills together at Dakota County Fair

BY JOSEPH PALMERSHEIM - SUN NEWSPAPERS

Heidi Panelli of Fridley and Gretchen Fleener of Bloomington have two successful businesses. Through the Internet, the sisters - who once reached out to the crowds passing by their fair stand - are now reaching out to the world, and the world seems to be reaching back.

Panelli's business, BusyBodies (www.ibusybodies.com), specializes in depicting stick figures in a variety of careers and activities. There are 160 designs to choose from on the site, ranging from a stick figure with a chef's hat and a cookie sheet that states "I bake," to a stick holding a Bible and vestal garments stating, "I preach!" The stick figures have their genesis in the designs that Panelli airbrushed onto T-shirts at the Dakota County Fair and Valley Fair in Shakopee.

"The stick figure is universal," Panelli, 29, said. "They have no gender. Plus, people like them and they were easy to paint. They're kind of timeless."

Fleener, 27, is a profession face-painter and runs Paintertainment (www.paintertainment.com). In addition to being available for hire to do parties, carnivals, corporate events and festivals, she is publishing her first book, which will be available online later this summer. "Face Painting: A Complete Step-By-Step Guide," will come packaged with a paint palette and several brushes, giving the buyer an opportunity to learn from Fleener's 10 years of experience.

"Most of the people who come to my Web site come for free face painting designs," Fleener said. "Selling the book wouldn't be competition, because no one else was hired."

The former Brandt sisters moved to Lakeville when Fleener was in seventh grade and Panelli was in ninth grade. During high school, Panelli saw posters advertising a need for employees at Valley Fair. She called the number, and soon, she was behind the counter at a booth specializing in airbrushing T-shirts.

"That's where I learned how to airbrush," Panelli said. "I was lucky to work with talented people."

Later, Panelli got her sister a job at Valley Fair doing face-painting. Fleener did that for a summer, and then applied to do it at Camp Snoopy in the Mall of America.

In summer 1998, the sisters had a booth at the Dakota County Fair. They sold T-shirts and offered face-painting.

It was a family affair; their mother wrote a letter and got them into the fair; their father constructed the booth they worked out from; and their brother cashiered.

"I knew what to expect - heat and crowds - only this time, it was mine," Panelli said.

For seven days, the sisters worked together, getting to know the people working next to them and also spending time sampling the array of tasty treats. The fair also proved to be a gathering ground for many people they would have otherwise never met.

"We'd meet really unique people," Fleener said. "We'd have bald guys come up and get eyes painted on the back of their heads. We also painted carnies for free corn dogs."

It was the only year they worked together at the fair, but it was an eye-opener.

"For Busy Bodies, the fair is what got me started," Panelli said. "It was a mini test market. I don't think I would have pursued this had I not done the Dakota County Fair."

Fleener agreed that experience was beneficial.

"I learned I could do it on my own and work for myself," she said. "The fair is what launched me into business. It's not scary when you're trying for a week and it's just the fair."

The sisters' businesses seem to be based around expansion.

In addition to Fleener's book, Panelli has another online store called MilkMommy.com that takes a humorous take a new motherhood - something she understands as the mother of an 8-month-old daughter, Lucia. The benefit of having extra income from Panelli's online businesses allows her to work from home.

Both women work with CafePress.com, which provides them with an online store to sell their materials and the ability to order one custom item at a time, rather than getting a whole box of things that might not sell.

"It's called 'print on demand,'" Panelli said. "It means that after people place their orders, the shirt is printed - there's no mass printing involved. There's even an option to get them done overnight - which is something that I could have never done out of my home."

The sisters both have regular jobs when they aren't working with their online businesses. Fleener works with the Best Buy Corp. in Richfield, designing displays for stores. Panelli works at Trend Enterprises, where she helps design educational materials.

Although 1998 was the only year that the sisters worked together, Fleener has been doing it every year since, and her face-painting booth can be found on the south side of the fair near the Exhibit Hall South (Building 22).

The fair starts Aug. 7, and ends Aug. 13.

Scrapbooking.com
June, 2003

BusyBodies Unique Apparel & Gifts

BusyBodies Unique Apparel & Gifts is a new online store that sells T-shirts, mugs, caps and other fun gift items featuring a silly cartoon stick person doing all sorts of hobbies. We have just introduced a new line of scrapbooking gifts to the Interests & Hobbies section. The BusyBodies simple, yet definitive designs appeal to a wide audience and make great gifts for nearly anyone on your shopping list. Now scrapbookers, too, can display their passion for scrapbooking by wearing a BusyBodies "I Scrapbook." shirt.

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BusyBodies began in 1998 when I was airbrushing T-shirts at the ValleyFair amusement park to earn money during college. A combination of my artistic ability, skills with the airbrush, graphic design training, and experience with drawing the public in caricature cartoons all helped to bring about what is now known as BusyBodies. More information about the BusyBodies story can be found on the website in the Shopkeeper Bio section.

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