Hello,

My name is Leslie Neilson and I am one of the owners of bali living imports.  By far the question I get asked the most is, "How did you get started importing from Bali???"  The quick answer is; I have an Uncle who lives in Bali and I got interested in importing by visiting him.  The long answer follows:

I have a B.S. degree in Microbiology and Public Health from Michigan State University, which I received in 1991.  I worked in a laboratory as a Scientist at a place called MBI International near Lansing, Michigan for a little over 12 years.  I had a wonderful job, with great benefits, 6 weeks paid vacation and a couple of really understanding bosses who encouraged me to follow my dream of importing part time.  All that being said, I still found myself thinking about my next buying trip as soon as I was back in the lab.

I met my husband, Paul Nicholls, two weeks before my first "big" buying trip in March of 1998.  I told him all about my aspirations of importing and although I thought he was really nice (and cute!), I was really too busy to date him, let alone get into a relationship.  He was very persistent though and even called me a couple of times while I was in Bali and the result of his persistence?  We celebrated our 7 year anniversary this past July, have a two beautiful sons, Jagger - born 11/15/02 & Keller - born 2/29/07 (Putu & Made respectively when we are in Bali :-). 

Anyway, my husband (boyfriend at the time) had spent his entire career in sales and went on my second buying trip with me in November of 1998.  He got to witness first hand the potential of going directly to the people who make the items I was buying versus going to gift shows where many times you end up buying the same stuff your competitors are offering.
 
So began our first store, Bali & Beyond, featuring distinctive gifts and uncommon accessories.  Less than two weeks after our wedding on July 8th, 2000, we opened our doors in Boyne City, Michigan at a small off the beaten path location on July 21st.  We spent our "honeymoon" setting up the store...not exactly the dream vacation we had planned for Australia, but we had to act while the opportunity was available!  

As with everything that has to do with my ambition to be a successful importer, luck continued to come my way.  In September of 2000, the perfect building in the downtown area became available and after a quick walk through I made an offer on the spot.  We quickly moved Bali & Beyond to the new, larger location and were back in business.  

In 2004 during my buying trip, after visiting one of my favorite stores on Bali, my Uncle asked me what it was I really dreamed of buying and selling in my store.  He could sense I was losing my enthusiasm for the local handicrafts and was curious as to why I always visited the upscale furniture and accessory stores, but never bought anything from them for my store.  My answer was, "I really want to buy and sell furniture and home accessories, but my store is too small".  He got me to see it wasn't my store which was too small, but rather my thinking.  I chose to reinvent myself during that buying trip and when I came back moved Bali & Beyond (don't even get my husband started on how many times we have actually moved the store!) to it's original location and opened up bali living imports, featuring extraordinary furnishings for exceptional living. 

The rest is a work in progress with new inspiration happening every time we travel to Bali! :-) 

Thanks for reading my story.  We look forward to meeting you someday.

All the best,
Leslie & Paul