How can an online business show 'service with a smile'?
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Well, you'll have to ask Indifferent Avocado owner Kristie Harris who has it all worked out.
The Dubbo local was recently announced as a finalist in the Service with a Smile category for the 2023 SJ Shooter Rhino Awards.
Ms Harris told the Daily Liberal it always came back to how she liked to be treated as a customer.
![Indifferent Avocado designer and owner Kristie Harris. Picture supplied Indifferent Avocado designer and owner Kristie Harris. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/37qTRiw9gHRe7AczHzCfjaK/b31284c6-cabc-4138-94f7-3d6d97900f82.jpg/r0_0_1800_1200_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I want to feel special, appreciated and recognised as an individual- not a number. That's what my customers receive," she said.
"Although I'm not a retail store, my customers receive 'service with a smile' through their interactions with me, the way their purchases are presented upon arrival and I write notes for each customer in their orders.
"That's service with a smile for Indifferent Avocado."
Since 2018, Ms Harris, the owner, designer and maker of Indifferent Avocado has been creating bold, bright and unique pieces of wearable art.
When Ms Harris received her nomination at the finalist night on Friday, September 22, she said she felt "humbled".
"I know I have a wonderful customer base but it blew my mind that everyone pulled together to vote and get the finalist spot over the line," she said.
What started out as a hobby - making items for herself before taking them to the Dubbo markets as well as to surrounding towns, it wasn't long before her brand took off.
"I left my full time corporate job in 2022 and I now send worldwide and am an internationally recognised brand," she said.
But the grind never stops for the business owner.
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"I never have enough hands - ever," she said.
"We are so busy, constantly, I've always got new designs and products in the pipeline and new customers that find Indifferent Avocado."
When asked about Indifferent Avocado's best selling product, Ms Harris said it couldn't be said in a newspaper but it was products that are for recreational purposes.
As for her favourite item, it's the 'Glamour Puss'.
"It will always have a special place in my heart, it was the first design I did that really made me 'blow up' and go international," she said.
But running an international business can't be done alone and Ms Harris has a tribe of people supporting her business endeavour.
She wanted to thank her mother, brothers and sister in law for believing in her "all those years ago" when she first started Indifferent Avocado and for continuing to back her.
"I need to thank my girlfriends for helping at the drop of a hat and listening to my sometimes ridiculous ideas," she said.
"My son, Oscar for his patience and the cheer squad he is and of course my partner, Chris who helps hold me together."
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