“Thinking outside the box, in our case, the shadowbox.”

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Susan Breitbart, owner and founder of Boxes with Attitude, has always been an artist at heart. She graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in interior design.

After enjoying a long and successful career as a licensed interior designer, she decided to retire and become a stay at home mom. Susan’s creative spirit never left her and it wasn’t long before she found a new passion.

Boxes with Attitude is a company that takes personal invitations from life’s milestones to create a timeless keepsake. Examples are weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, quinces, and baby announcement . She places the invitations in a shadowbox that is custom designed and hand painted to enhance the theme of the invitation or event. They are given as gifts to the people who are hosting the event from friends and relatives to memorialize their event forever!

MO: Can you share where the idea for Boxes with Attitude came from?

Susan: When my daughters reached Bat Mitzvah age, I was thinking about a way to display her invitation at the sign in table of our event. I designed a shadowbox to display her invitation, and the idea blossomed when friends asked if I would make the same box for their events.

MO: Can you talk about your creative process and where you draw your inspiration from?

Susan: I draw my inspiration from my background as an artist and an interior designer. I view the invitation inside the box, just like I would design a room. I look at the invitation and use the theme, and especially the color, to provide the basic design concept. From there, I use all sorts of fabrics, trims and embellishments, after I hand paint frame of the shadowbox with designs to match the feel of the invitation.

MO: Can you tell us a bit about your social media marketing strategy and what’s really worked for you so far?

Susan: I am just getting my feet wet with Social Media. I find that my creative instincts conflict with automation and technology. In other words, that’s just a fancy way of admitting that I am technology challenged. I don’t have the patience messing with computers. I have recently hired a Social Networking firm, the Beacon Group.

MO: What has been the biggest challenge of your entrepreneurial journey and how did you overcome it?

Susan: As an artist, I love the work, but don’t enjoy business promotion. Everyone tells me that most artists struggle with this demon. I am learning how to network, and trying out different marketing ideas. I have to learn to set aside just as much time for marketing as creative design.

MO: If you could create a box for anyone and for any event who and what would you choose?

Susan: LeBron James and Savannah Brinson

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Oprah and Steadman (if they ever get married)

Kim Kardashian (that should be good for 3 or 4 weddings)

MO: What’s the most exciting thing on the horizon for you personally or professionally?

Susan: Now that I’m on Social Media I’m looking forward to the doors that can open. I hope for the recognition that this can bring to the business. It wasn’t such a large part of business when I started, but my company is perfectly suited for it.