Testimonial from a Sewing Boss in Massachusetts
It feels a little funny to toot my own horn like this, but I was just tickled when I received this testimonial from Nyla Dubois who started Seamsters Local in Marblehead MA a little over a year ago. We’ve been working together to get her sewing business going for the last year and here is what she had to say about her experience working together!
“Having that brilliant idea to make money, doing something you love, while balancing your personal life all too often remains an idea or becomes a poorly executed one. Working with Megan, Hipstitch Academy, and having access to the community of “sewing bosses” literally took my idea and turned it into a business!”
“I’m not embarrassed to say teaching sewing wasn’t my idea. I came upon it while scouring the internet for ideas of what a mother of 3 could do to earn money with her hobby that was scalable as the kids started becoming more independent. I came upon teaching sewing. The idea was immediately intriguing but kind of scary because I have never taught anything before and I don’t really consider myself a sewing expert. But with a little research I realized how many successful studio owners were self taught so I figured I could probably do it. Then my fear quickly became how to narrow the field…what to teach, who to teach it to etc. All in all those are powerful fears that can overwhelm most entrepreneurs and keep them from taking action. So when I found Hipstitch academy I immediately felt a sense of relief. Not only did Megan offer REALLY easy to follow curriculum, tutorials and marketing materials at a very reasonable price but there was also a community of real people just like me already doing it! I remember watching past skype talk video recordings in bed at night with a growing sense of “I can do this!” and sometimes the familiar sound of pitter patter toddler feet in the background of a sewing boss interview which really made me think “I can TOTALLY do this”
“But what really took me from zero to hero in just a year was a LOT of hard work on my part coupled with guidance and support from Megan. Starting is one thing…growing is another. Both are hard in different ways. Once you get rolling and feeling like “I’m in the groove, I got this!” the problems change and you are faced with things like having employees, scheduling, project management, work/life balance, a studio space, and other dramas. All good things but also areas where mistakes can be costly.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I make PLENTY of mistakes and I value them because I consider it collecting data. If we don’t do things wrong how do we know when we are doing it right? But there is vast wisdom in leaning in to the ones who have come before us who have tread the same waters. Megan doesn’t tell me how to run my business because our businesses aren’t the same but she does tell me where she has been and what obstacles she’s had to overcome. It’s THE most valuable resource! AND THERE’S MORE! She’s put together a whole community of sewing bosses who all have different business and business models but again the wealth of experience is invaluable. I have added in areas of my business and consolidated in others, tried new things I never thought of because they were tested by other sewing studio owners…likewise I have thrown my own ideas out there and they were well received and tried by others… What could be more empowering!”
“Working with Megan and having access to the Hipstitch Academy community and blog is like having a whole business building department in your organization. I can say hands down I could not have reached $50,000 in revenue my first year without this resource. What it came down to is time. I have so much going on in my life I don’t have a lot of time to try too many things to see what works. The only way I could achieve what I have so far was to be really thoughtful about what I did and then be motivated to TAKE ACTION! Having Megan there to say, “I tried ____, and my results were _____” is a huge time saver. Planning and talking things out first is important! But the second part is putting those well thought out plans into action. Again, when I overthink things Megan has been there to say “Just do it! Doesn’t have to be perfect. Just grab some campers and get it started!”…or whatever the issue may be. She is truthful yet kind, able to find the humor in things, relatable, and full of humility. We laugh at ourselves and the situations we face as sewing studio owners and its just really nice to have someone who gets it.”
“If you’re wondering whether or not you should give working with Megan a try I can only speak from my own experience. It was THE best value to jumpstart my business. For under $500, with hard work and guidance you can start a viable business that grows quickly. The more you teach the better your sewing skills get, the more respect you garner, the more students you get. The projects I bought from Hipstitch I still use every week and will continue to do so because they are so well done. My staff loves them because the tutorials are thorough and tested training materials. I heard over and over from day one how professional my tiny operation was and I proudly let people know I had a coach and ahe took the time to develop and share her amazing curriculum ? …the reaction always was “that’s smart!”. I agree. It’s always smart to have support.”
If you’re wondering how we can work together too, check this out.
