They Say that the Best Reason to Carry a Handkerchief is to Give it Away

Nancy Creed and David Creed

By Vickie Holt

Nancy Salem grew up in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, surrounded by mountain coal fields. Originally founded by eastern and western European immigrants, Johnstown was filled with people who had great work ethic. Everyone wanted to work in the steel mill because it was a job that could set a worker and their family up for life. Johnstown was a hard-working, blue-collar, western Pennsylvania steel town that was, at one time, known as an all-American friendly city. Even when Nancy was growing up, the city had a huge population, with everyone hustling and bustling.
After graduating from high school, Nancy attended the University of Pittsburgh. She had started college with her eye on a teaching career but changed her mind when placed into a pre-student-teaching exercise. After deciding that teaching was not for her, Nancy thought she might want a degree in communications. At the time, however, the University of Pittsburgh didn’t offer a communications degree, so she took courses in persuasion, rhetoric, conflict management, and organizational development. In the end, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in the equivalent of speech and communications.
After graduating, Nancy went to work as a corporate trainer with C&P Telephone company in Charleston, West Virginia. In 1982, however, the phone company broke apart into its separate sub-companies. 1982 was also the year Nancy married her first husband and moved to northwest Ohio for his job. She couldn’t get a transfer to the phone company there because that sub-company was no longer affiliated with C&P. So, Nancy returned to college. This time, she attended Bowling Green State University, where she was finally able to get her official master’s degree in Interpersonal and Corporate Communications.
Nancy also started a family at this time, giving birth to daughters Kate and Sarah. Not wanting to place her children in day care, Nancy chose to be a stay-at-home mom. While she wouldn’t trade away a minute of it, after the girls were older, this creative lady felt called to something more. All her life, Nancy had been a creative person. She loved crafting, making, painting, and creating beautiful things. She had a knack for taking something and making more of it.
In 1991, Nancy and her family lived in Salisbury, North Carolina where her husband worked for the Celanese Corporation. It was there that she ventured into the world of Mary Kay. Her creativity, along with her education in communications, allowed Nancy to become a quick success! She continued with Mary Kay, even after her husband got a transfer to Giles County in 1993. From her new home in the New River Valley, Nancy continued her Mary Kay success by advancing to Senior Sales Director. Furthermore, she earned five career cars, including the coveted pink Cadillac, which she still owns!
“I loved being self-employed and working from home,” she says. “I was able to combine the sales training offered through Mary Kay with my background in communications to build a large organization and client base.
(Left: Nancy Creed) Tapping into my creative side, I also designed gift baskets for the holidays.”
Nancy tells us she would even host special husband’s events where she would sell gifts to husbands that she knew her female clients wanted to have. To make the gift even more special, and to help the husbands out with presentation, she would sell these items arranged with her own gift designs.
Nancy was with Mary Kay for fifteen years, during which she and her first husband parted ways. In 2004, she felt it was time for a change. It was time to say goodbye to Mary Kay and start a whole new chapter in her life.
Though she would continue with Mary Kay for two more years, Nancy entered the world of hospitality in 2005. For the next ten years, Nancy held a variety of positions with Hilton Hotels in the New River Valley. Even here, however, Nancy had the opportunity to be creative. At the hotel, the director might order a gift from a local florist, then would ask Nancy to fix it up more creatively and attractively. Once the word was out, she got more and more requests to fix up gift-giving designs.
The same year Nancy started her career with Hilton, she also became Nancy Creed after marrying the wonderful David Creed. In addition to finding a new life partner, Nancy welcomed David’s daughter, Megan and his son, Aaron, into her family.
As the years went by, Nancy began feeling the time was right to reinvent herself once again. All the kids were growing up and starting their own families. Kate became Kate Cayne and moved to Colorado with her family. Sarah became Sarah Hall and is doing the same in Georgia. Megan, now Megan Hash, is in Pulaski with her family, and Aaron is in Christiansburg with his family.
Interacting with corporate clients had been rewarding, but now Nancy was feeling the entrepreneurial spirit. She wanted to explore the challenges of having a business at home – something that would combine her communications skills with her sales expertise and creative endeavors. Since she had created gift baskets and gift-giving designs throughout her careers with Mary Kay and with Hilton, Nancy Creed started The Orange Bandana, a home-based gift basket business. The name came from a sweet tradition in which David would carry different colored bandanas in his back pocket. It seemed that whenever Nancy needed it, it was always the orange one.
To prepare for this new chapter, Nancy became a Certified Gift Designer through the Gift Basket Association, now the Gift Designers Association. Launched in 2010, this organization has certified hundreds of gifting professionals who deserve to be recognized for their commitment to excellence. It’s a four-session training program held once a year. Learning includes information about the gifting business and how it has changed since 2010. The course also covers traditional gift baskets and new, modern design theories, followed by how to set up a business using the latest tools, supplies and technologies. Finally, the certification includes creating programs and communicating for ultimate success.
Armed with her certification, Nancy began her home-based business, designing and selling a variety of innovative and themed gift baskets and boxes. Over the years, she built an impressive catalog of corporate clients, as well many individuals. Her signature touch is that she tucks an orange bandana into every basket or box. They say that the best reason to carry a handkerchief is to give it away, and she wants each basket recipient to have one.
David Creed is Nancy’s biggest fan. He really encouraged her to do this, and even retired from his Electric Supply job and became her partner. She says she couldn’t do it without him. Especially what came next. After six years of being a home-based business, the Creeds thought they might experiment with retail by opening a store location. Nancy had experienced a huge boom in business during the lockdowns in 2020. Corporate clients would meet with her via Zoom then place their large orders for her to ship. Even individual clients were calling upon her services since they couldn’t visit their loved ones in person. The business had grown so much that she just couldn’t do it from home anymore.
In May of 2021, Nancy signed a lease for the storefront located at 446 Peppers Ferry Road, Northwest, in Christiansburg. After four months of preparation, The Orange Bandana opened its doors with a huge ribbon cutting on September 15.
Not only does the business location allow for foot traffic and on-site sales, but it also solves a limitation she had encountered when working out of her home. Some gift baskets and boxes come with wine or other spirits. Because of ABC laws, Nancy could only sell these designs if she shipped them. She could not hand deliver, and could not allow customers, even local ones, to pick up. With the store location, however, she was able to get an off-premises license that allowed her to sell gift arrangements that contain wine directly from the store.
At Orange Bandana, customers can purchase pre-created baskets and boxes, or individual items like candles. Customers can even gather a selection of individual items then have Nancy use them to build a custom gift box or basket.
The Orange Bandana focuses on local products, using twenty local vendors and even more suppliers from the surrounding region. All products are fresh and new.
Nancy especially loves assisting corporate clients with their gift giving needs. Corporations, as well as individuals, can view her designs and place orders online at www.TheOrangeBandana.com.
At this point in her life, Nancy loves creating gifts, and she just wanted to have something of her own. She also wanted the experience of running her own business and owning her own shop. With retirement in view at some point on the horizon, she hopes to continue success with the Orange Bandana designs, as well as the retail location, and she wants to grow her portfolio of corporate clients. Beyond that, Nancy is looking forward to travelling and visiting her daughters.