We were lucky to catch up with Mavis Stevens recently and have shared our conversation below.
Mavis, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
When I was 15, I had an opportunity to participate in the local craft show. After 3 months of crossing t’s and dotting I’s the day finally came. As my Daddy drove through the gate of the grounds, I said to myself “whatever it takes, this is going to be my life”.
Sounds profound, yet simple, right? But try telling that to your career councilor in the 11th grade. I think I would have gotten a less puzzling reaction if I said I was going to build a castle on Mars!!
My commitment to making my living as an artist was bigger than me so it never occurred to me to do anything else!
Making a very long story short. The Universe always provided me with a means to sell my work. About 13ish years ago a network for presenting any idea was born, Facebook, in all its glory! Then Etsy, followed by other platforms including Comment Sold. Comment Sold allows me to talk directly to my customers all over the world in real time! A concept unimaginable at the time my Daddy and I drove onto the grounds of my first festival!
And guess what else is happening?!! A book!! LAST CHANCE TRAILER PARK is home for a group of characters that are a combination of people I met growing up as an artist, in trailer parks. I created them in my fiber art studio over many years.
Now that 47 years have passed since my commitment to making my living as an artist, grateful, in awe, humbled that the Universe chose me, I am!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Very early on I realized I needed a niche. I really wanted to be known for something. It seemed important to be known for something! I chose fiber, primarily yarn. Yarn comes in many delicious colors and is soft and warm. I was taught the basics of knitting at the age of 9. My first stitches were learned the night Neal Armstrong landed on the moon. “One small step for man, one giant leap for Mavis!”
In the early ‘80’s I came upon a sewing machine that did a faux-like rug hooking stitch. The inventor of that machine was never able to get it off the ground and I have the only one in existence.
As time has passed, I have come up with these characters that have morphed into residents of LAST CHANCE TRAILER PARK., which is a combination of people I’ve known growing up in trailer parks. As I mentioned earlier, a book about this place is my latest project!
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
As of recently, it’s become evident that the demand for my work has greatly outweighed anything I could ever produce by myself. So along with the LAST CHANCE TRAILER PARK book, I’m creating a stationary line.
By Creating one illustration, having it photographed then printed on a variety of items, has allowed me to tell my story to more people, as well as increasing my business!
I have watched several business similar to mine do the same thing. I am honored beyond words they have been willing to share resources with me. I hope sometimes I can do the same for other people.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
Keeping in touch with clients is second nature to me. They have naturally been more like family than clients.
I still send hand written thank you notes through the good ‘ole US Mail! This is old-as-the-hills and works wonders to create connection as well as increasing business.
Contact Info:
- Website: MissMavisFunHouse.com
- Instagram: @missmavisfunhouse
- Facebook: Facebook.com/MissMavisFunHouse
- Other: Tic Tok @missmavisfunhouse