Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alexis Shea. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alexis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
I’d like to think both my marriage and learning how to crochet were meant to be as my husband’s last name is Shea, it just fell right into my lap… CroShea Co. When I had decided on the name, I looked on social media to see if that handle was already taken and luckily, it was not!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Alexis. I own a small crochet business. I first started getting into crochet in 2018, I was an on call flight attendant with a lot of spare time. I had been wanting to learn how to crochet for a long time, my great grandmother crocheted a lot and I have some things that she made. When I was a kid, I was interested in all her makes. It has been something I was really meaning to get around to learning. Like I said, I was an on call flight attendant with lots of spare time… during that time, I started struggling harder with my anxiety so between the two of those things, I finally decided to learn how to crochet so I bought some yarn and hooks and went right to YouTube, which is how I learned!
I started by making something easy, a blanket for my cats. After that, I learned how to make scarves and beanies pretty quickly. It wasn’t too long after that, that I discovered how much I loved making amigurumi (crocheted stuffed toy) and that became my specialty really quickly. I was making stuff for fun for quite a while and then my husband, Tanner, suggested I start a business. I didn’t really come around to the idea until he started showing his coworkers all the things as I was making and his coworkers wanted to purchase my items for their girlfriends. The rest is history!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
CroShea Co. really picked up during Covid. I wasn’t working a whole lot during that time as the pandemic took a lot away from the aviation industry (eventually leading to me being furloughed). I had a lot of time to crochet and really grow my business. I was actually making more money through crocheting than I was through flying.
In December of 2020, Tanner unexpectedly passed away. It put a huge pause on my life. I stopped crocheting for quite some time, really just wanted to quit my business. As time passed and I started my healing journey, I began to crochet again, one of the first things I made was an “Emotional Support Blob” which was the creation that came about during dark time for me. After Tanner had died, I was dealing with my grief, but I was also diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety. I wanted to make something cute that would bring just a little joy for people dealing with the same things. When I first started making my blobs, I had people who purchased them, share their stories with me… like people who bought them for a family member dealing with cancer, stuff like that and it really made me feel good to be able to make something that people could hold onto during hard times.
I’m glad I took a break, rather than quitting.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
I honestly think just having a real and authentic connection with my customers. Even before I lost Tanner, I built friendships with my customers, Covid was obviously a dark time for everyone… a lot of the stuff I made prior to my own dark time, helped bring just a little bit of light into peoples lives.
It’s funny because you know, there’s something about cute stuffed animals, there’s this demographic of adults who are just big collectors. Like when Squishmallow got really popular, that was around the time I had started crocheting and making my stuffed animals. I tried to make as many unique items as possible so it kind of set me apart from some of the other stuff out there.
But back to my original point… the things I make, the things people buy from me, they share their stories of how their blobs or other “emotional support” pals have brought them just a little bit of joy during times when they really needed it. I think it’s helped making something with more intention and being able to connect with people on a deeper level.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://crosheaco.bigcartel.com
- Instagram: @crosheaco
- Twitter: @crosheaco
