My name is Rachel (but everyone calls me Rae Rae)! I grew up in my family's furniture store in New Jersey, and I am not exaggerating when I say I have been learning this industry since I was a teenager. My parents first opened the doors to their store in 1989 using their wedding money, and by the time I was in high school, they had me working weekends... not on the sales floor yet, just behind the scenes: writing up orders, filing paperwork & shadowing the sales team (AKA my Uncle).  It wasn't glamorous, but it taught me exactly how the business worked from the inside out.  Over time I graduated from backup support to an actual salesperson. And not to toot my own horn but... I was good at it. Not because I was pushy, but because I genuinely knew every single product we carried and I actually cared about helping families find the right fit.

After graduating from Rutgers University and a little post-college sabbatical in Costa Rica I spent several years in Colorado working as a Nanny & an Infant Care Specialist. I wasn't as present in my family's business during that time, but I was immersing myself deeply into the world of new parenthood: the exhaustion, the overwhelm, the joy, the endless decisions. I even enrolled in certification courses in Lamaze Childbirth Education and also became a DONA-Certified Postpartum Doula to better educate myself on all things babies & parents.  Although I wasn't working on the retail end of things, that chapter of my life taught me something that nooo amount of sales training ever could: I understand what new parents are actually going through. On a physical and spiritual level. The beautiful emotional weight of it all. The desire to get everything right. The way a nursery isn't just a room... it's the first place your baby will ever know! This experience naturally turned me into an educator moreso than your average salesman (ehemm... saleswoman.).

When I moved back to New Jersey in 2020 (Asbury Park to be specific) and rejoined the family biz, the pandemic hit just a few months later. We were actually considered an essential business though (because babies don't stop being born during a pandemic, and there were more being born than ever if you catch my drift), but for a while I was working remotely... this time running our website's live chat feature from my teeny tiny studio apartment.  I'll never forget the messages I got from customers who were genuinely surprised that a real human was on the other end. Not a bot. Not AI. Just me. That reaction told me everything I needed to know about what was missing in the online furniture shopping experience: a real person who actually knows what they're talking about and actually wants to help.  That became my mission.

When a customer would walk into my family's showroom or when they land on this website and have a chat with me... I don't lead with a price tag. The first thing I love to ask is: do you have a Pinterest board?  Because here's what I've learned: a nursery is usually the first room a couple gets to fully design together. They've been searching for inspo online. On Instagram & TikTok & Pinterest. They have a vision. My job is simply to meet them inside that vision and help them build it... not to push whatever has the best margin.

As I deepened into my role managing the sales of my parent's store, over the years I also started making custom mood boards for customers who were torn between options and trying my hand at interior decorating. I'd take their desired wall color, their flooring, their theme (whether that be boho, mermaids, Winnie the Pooh, Airplanes, whatever) and I'd pop in photos of the cribs they were considering so they could actually see it all come together. Almost every single time, the decision became so much easier because they did not have to second-guess themselves.  And if you're a visual person like me, it helps you feel sooo much more confident about your first big furniture purchase! So this is the kind of help I want to bring to this website. I don't want this to be just another catalog nor some corny online sales pitch. I just want to be a real person helping you figure out what's actually right for your baby's new room (if you need it)!