FAMILY STYLE Mom of

family style Mother of three and founder of personalized jewelry brand Tiny Tags Melissa Clayton pours her heart into creating treasured heirlooms

MINI | We’re thrilled to have you in our fall issue! Let’s dive right into your life as a mom. What is a typical day in your life right now for you?

MELISSA CLAYTON | I get up at 6 am to have my morning coffee and enjoy a few minutes of quiet time before the boys get up at 7 am. They eat, grab their lunch, and are out the door by 7:30 am. I’m in the office by 8 am and a typical day is a mix of meetings, ranging from marketing to product development, to website improvements. I like to be home by 4 pm so I can see the boys before they go to football practice and I make sure they have something to eat. It doesn’t matter how old they get, I still want to make sure they are fed! Then, I’ll start dinner and my husband Mike and I will take Molly, our little pup, for a walk. Normally, we eat dinner as a family but right now it is football season, so the boys have practice till 7 pm and when they get home, they shower, eat, and work on their homework, so having dinner as a family is not easy.

MINI | What do you think is the greatest challenge of motherhood?

MELISSA CLAYTON | Right now, it’s letting go. My boys are 16, 15, and 13 years old, and they have their own lives. My two oldest are in high school so they have friends that drive and that adds a whole layer of anxiety. You can become crazy with worry, but I realize that I have to trust that they will wear their seat belt, trust they go where they say they are going, and accept that I can’t control their every move anymore.

MINI | What has surprised you most about motherhood thus far?

MELISSA CLAYTON | How much I love my children and how much every mother loves their child. It is the most powerful love on earth. Every day, at Tiny Tags, we are reminded of this love and the incredible gift of a child. We hear stories that make us stop and cry just wishing we could ease another mother’s pain. When you work here, you can’t help but feel and realize how precious a child is every day.

MINI | You have three boys! What is most important to you in raising your children?

MELISSA CLAYTON | I am constantly reminding my boys that how they make someone feel matters more than goals and grades. They are all into sports and have had it pretty easy from a social standpoint, so I want them to reach out to kids that might need a hand.

MINI | How many kids did you see yourself with growing up?

MELISSA CLAYTON | I don’t recall ever dreaming about getting married or becoming a mother!

MINI | Let’s talk about Tiny Tags! How did your brand come to be?

MELISSA CLAYTON | The Tiny Tags brand you see today evolved over time. A real “Aha” moment came when I joined an entrepreneur group about eight years ago. During a breakout session, I was asked about my why statement. Why did I care so much about Tiny Tags? At first, my answer was simple: I loved designing beautiful jewelry. However, the group pushed back, and started asking me more questions, specifically about my mother. I shared that I grew up with my dad and that I lost my mom three months after my first son was born due to complications from alcoholism. While I never questioned my mother’s love for me, she did struggle to show up

over the years. It was then that I started to wonder if my real why statement was more about my need to feel loved by my own mother. Was Tiny Tags an expression of a mother’s love for her child? After all, what a beautiful expression of love for a mother to wear her child’s name on a necklace. All of these thoughts and questions have formed what Tiny Tags is today, a brand committed to celebrating the precious gift of a child and the journey of motherhood.

MINI | You also now work with your husband! Can you tell us a bit about that transition and how you two work together?

MELISSA CLAYTON | I convinced my husband, Mike, to quit his corporate job five years ago and join Tiny Tags to manage operations and finance so I could focus on the creative side of things, which ended up being a game changer for the business. We are opposites. I am fast paced, enthusiastic, and I make decisions quickly. Mike is analytical, process oriented, and patient, which is why I think we work well together. Next year, we will celebrate 20 years of marriage and I feel grateful that we have grown closer over the years. I’m blessed to have Mike by my side on this journey.

MINI | What has been your most important lesson you’ve learned in business thus far?

MELISSA CLAYTON | That it is OK to go slowly. I have grown Tiny Tags at my own pace and I treasure the freedom that it has afforded me.

MINI | What has been your proudest career moment to date?

MELISSA CLAYTON | Hands down, seeing Meryl Streep wearing the Tiny Tags 14K gold Circle Pendant. Most people don’t know she has four children, and she wore our necklace in three photoshoots, which was a run around your kitchen moment!

MINI | As the founder of Tiny Tags, what helps you to juggle motherhood and career?

MELISSA CLAYTON | I am very fortunate to live in a small town, in a wonderful neighborhood, in Massachusetts. If I need help with the boys, I have an amazing village to lean on. I have never been afraid to ask for help if I need it.

MINI | What excites you most about the future of your business? Where do you hope to take Tiny Tags in the coming months, years?

MELISSA CLAYTON | There is so much to be excited about from new products to new collaborations! We are currently working with 3x Paralympic Medalist and NY Times best-selling author Amy Purdy on a bespoke jewelry collection that I am so excited about. I have admired Amy ever since I first heard her speak at Oprah’s Live Your Best Life Tour years ago, so to be working with her is surreal. Additionally, we launched in Nordstrom last year and we hope to grow this partnership more in the future.

MINI | If you could give your kids one piece of advice, what would it be?

MELISSA CLAYTON | Joy is an inside job. It is plain and simple but hard for all of us to remember. MELISSA ON THE CLOCK

KIDS BOOK Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney ($11; amazon.com)

KIDS MOVIE “Bee Movie.”

GUILTY PLEASURE

“Eberjey pajamas.”

NOW WATCHING “The Morning Show and Impractical Jokers.”

NOW PLAYING “Zac Brown.”

KIDS SHOPS “Nike outlets.”

COFFEE ORDER “I make Starbucks coffee at home.”

FAVE RESTAURANT “Woods Hill Table.” 24 Commonwealth Ave, Concord MA