Ardean Miller-Marbley kept the secret for almost an entire year, and when she saw it come to fruition, she couldn’t help but let a few tears out.
“I cried. Literally my exact words were, ‘Oh … this is my mom and dad,’” Miller-Marbley said, her voice breaking.
A lot of people will see her mother and father now, as Kenneth and Doreen Miller are models featured on displays at Sam’s Clubs across the United States. The displays promote Miller-Marbley’s gift-wrapping business Mah Melanin.
For Miller-Marbley, it was less a business milestone and more a giving of thanks to a mother and father who she said have sacrificed so much for their children.
“I watched them work so hard,” the New Sarpy native said. “And I’ve always wanted to put them up on a pedestal and give them their flowers to let them know I appreciate everything they have done, all the struggles and sacrifices they have made for myself and my sisters to have a good life. And I just thought, what better way to honor them than by putting them on the display.”
In December of last year, Miller-Marbley had her parents participate in a photo shoot, though they did not know that one of those photos would be used for the display.
“We reached out to Sam’s headquarters and asked if they would back us with this, and they said ‘Absolutely,’” Miller-Marbley said.
The reveal came early last month at Sam’s Club in Kenner. Miller-Marbley’s parents accompanied her to this year’s launch event, which included a gift wrap challenge for customers. The display was unveiled and Miller-Marbley got to tell the attendees what her parents mean to her – and, of course, in the process letting her parents know as well.
“They cried, I cried … there was not a dry eye in sight,” Miller-Marbley said. “It was so hard to keep the secret. Now, people are walking up to them and telling them they saw them on the display.
“I just saw (the display) and thought, this is beautiful. This is everything I hoped it would be. And they’re on a platform they deserve to be on. My dad doesn’t cry, but he couldn’t hold it in.”
There are actually quite a few locals who will recognize either or both when they come across the display. Kenneth Miller spent 30 years working for St. Charles Parish, while Doreen Miller works in the St. Charles Parish school system.
“It’s like my mom said, ‘Wow, look at us – a custodian and a parish worker. And here we are,’” Miller-Marbley said.
Her mother also recently had the perfect opportunity showcase it.
“Someone they said they had been trying to find this wrapping paper and they showed her, and she said, ‘that’s my daughter’s wrapping paper,’” Miller-Marbley said. “She pulled up the display to show her and said, ‘This is me, right here’ and put her and my dad on the display … it’s been kind of amazing seeing other people giving them love, telling them they saw them.”
Miller-Marbley said she watched her mother and father push through adversity and fatigue, year after year, for their children.
“I know they were tired, and they kept pushing,” said Miller-Marbley. “They didn’t give up because they had their kids and they wanted to give us the best life possible. And that’s always inspired me to push. I knew their blood lived in me and that I had that strength to tap into, that strength they had. It’s one of the things that kept me going. To be able to honor them, it made me feel on top of the world.”
She remembers her father driving her mother to work each day on a moped.
“She worked at the airport and he’d drive her on that moped, making sure she got there,” said Miller-Marbley.
Miller-Marbley created Mah Melanin with a desire to offer products that beautifully and accurately represent melanated people. Her line of products includes home décor, apparel, totes, blankets and more. Her Santa gift wrap features an African American Santa named Ken after several beloved men in her family, including her father. She also has a Mrs. Claus character, which was created in honor of her mother.
The business, which Miller-Marbley calls the realization of a dream, continues expanding. This Friday at AMC Theater in Elmwood, Mah Melanin will collaborate with the film Unexpected Christmas for a red carpet event that includes a cast member Q&A.
