We recently connected with Caitie Ginn and have shared our conversation below.

Caitie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

After about a year and a half in and in an increasingly competitive market of vintage and resale, we decided to add a new element to our shop. We wanted to add a little something special that you don’t see everyday. We loved selling items we had sourced and curated because the rush you get when someone loves your creation so much that they are willing to give you their hard earned money. Well, that’s one of the best feelings an artist can have.

Caitie being the natural at sewing, had a great idea to incorporate embroidery to give new life to pre-loved garments and consciously contribute to slow fashion. Turning our combined passions of embroidery and locally sourced, used and vintage clothing into unique, one-of-a-kind pieces was our move. As the idea grew and more research was done into machine embroidery the more options there were.

It did not take long to realize the possibilities of embroidery. This brings us to where we are today, an embroidery studio.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As husband and wife our shared taste for oddities brought us to local venues in search of art, music, and (naturally) clothes. Back in 2019 when we bought our first house we started looking to buy vintage home decor to fill our newly purchased home. We absolutely fell in love with estate sales. It reminded us of growing up going to garage sales with friends and family which is a favorite pastime of ours.

We decided that we wanted to start our own booth and sale some of the treasures we had found. At the time Lola’s in Fort Worth, Texas was hosting a the Rock N’ Roll Rummage sale every month. We decided to get a booth and share our love for vintage.

Both of us have grown up with a creative side to us and enjoy creating together. We both work hard to design and bring our ideas to life. I believe it shows in our work and for some of our repeat and loyal customers, they are able to tell a difference in the pieces we create. We call ourselves an embroidery studio, as that encompasses all the ways we can be creative.

Being a brand who’s main focus is repurposing and re-cycling we don’t always have many of the same items on our shelves and our creative style goes through seasons. Without fail, someone coming through our booth at a show will ask “Do you have this in another size?” The answer is almost always, “No.” When it comes to our garments, we truly do try to create one-of-a-kind pieces. However, we occasionally will repeat a design or have multiple accessories but chances are, it won’t be for long. In doing so, we are trying to convey the importance of keeping an item. An item you loved so, that you paid for it. An item, like no other, that is only yours. Not the same garment that you and 10 other people can buy in the same day. Treat it is as unique, take care of it. We hope to contribute to slow fashion and give our clients a reason to appreciate pre-loved pieces and see the importance of re-cycling materials in today’s world.

Our inspiration comes from all over. Trips we’ve taken, the loved ones in our life, pop culture and currents and beyond. We take our ideas, draw them out, digitize, design and stitch out. Some pieces have more creative processes than others. We offer a wide range of items from clothing, keychains, bandanas, jewelry and framed artwork, it really depends on what day you catch us. On the other hand we love creating custom pieces as well, sometimes it’s fun to mold another’s idea, with permission of course!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

For myself, Caitie, hands down would be having a previous business fail. I still have the business and I keep holding on to that tiny thread because I just don’t have it in me to give up all the way. The older I have gotten the more determined I have become and I hate throwing in the towel.

Years ago I started a small business that promoted body positivity. I had never owned a business and didn’t even have an associates degree. I just started googling and learned a lot of hard lessons along the way. I was a lot younger, not great with social media and my market budget was a solid $0.

Even after all this time, I was still scared to give it another try, but I love embroidery and I love creating. I always tell myself that if I love and desire it enough I can have a successful business. Which I must clarify – is not making a bunch of money, but rather for my creativity to be appreciated that it can make me a living, doing what I love and enjoy.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I always wonder about this with other small business owners as I see them roll into loading zones at the monthly markets we do. Some have really nice trailers, utility vehicles, generators, branded tents, outdoor A/C units in the summer and heaters in the winter. I my head I know that all of those things and others like it are expensive because as a small business owner, I’ve shopped too!

I know some are private about money or shy, maybe embarrassed. For us it’s no secret. Every dollar that goes into our business is out of our pocket. Its money we’ve saved or made having a garage sale. It’s hard but we keep going because we love creating. We don’t have thousands of dollars laying around, we make an average living but Lonestar Galaxy is important to us and it makes us happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lonestargalaxytx.com
• Instagram: lonestargalaxytx
• Facebook: lonestargalaxytx
• Other: TikTok: lonestargalaxytx