We recently connected with Crystal Mercado and have shared our conversation below.

Crystal, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today

If I was starting over, I think I would simply start sooner. Having my own business is something that I had been wanting to do for a long time and I just wish that I hadn’t doubted myself for so long and had just launched it sooner. Otherwise, there is not a lot that I would change. I’m a strong believer that things happen the way they do for a reason.

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

My name is Crystal and I own Apparel to Dye For. We make bleach and tie dye apparel and accessories. I officially launched my business in March of 2021 but it was something I had thought about for far longer. As a college student, I did a lot of thrifting and loved upcycling. I started bleaching tees to wear to games and didn’t really give it much thought until the pandemic happened. During the pandemic when tie dye was super trendy on tiktok, I had a white sweatshirt that I loved but it had a stain on it that wouldn’t come out so I decided to learn how to tie dye and from there I started tie dyeing anything white I could find. Eventually I had friends who were interested in the things I was doing whether it was a tie dye item or a thrifted bleached item. At the time I was working retail and just doing it for fun but I decided to come up with a name and lauched our instagram and eventually worked with a graphic deisgner to come up with a logo to launch our website. I started out just thrifting and upcycling through the bleach and tie dye processes. Eventually, I got a cricut and took it to the next level and made my own unique designs. We got involved in pop ups and started growing our clientele. We’ve grown so much over last year and a half and it has been the most insane journey but I’m so grateful for it. I eventually started working a wfh job and without this creative outlet I probably would have gone crazy. I am also just so grateful for everyone who has ever supported my small business and my friends and family who have been there since the beginning. I do have to also give a shout-out to my significant other who has been there for me every step of the journey and helps me set up and take down at every pop up. He has truly been my number one supporter through it all. I’m really proud of what we have created thus far. Even though I carry a lot of my own designs now we still carry a large selection of thrifted items because that is where we started and even though we aren’t always able to be sustainable in every aspect, we want to at least have this part of our business in which we upcycle and give new life to things that would otherwise be thrown out. Something I’m also really proud of is creating mental health related apparel or even just sharing about mental health on our social media. As someone who struggles deeply with mental health issues, I’ve been trying to use my small business as a safe space for others. Just really grateful for what I have created for myself and for others. This business is my baby and it’s been everything I could ever want and more.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My main form of social media for my business has been instagram. I think it is one of the easiest to start out with. I really pride myself in my instagram layout. I’ve worked hard on really curating my posts and making sure that when you look at our page you’ll know what our brand is. Personally, I know if a brand is for me if I go to their social media and I can tell what the vibe is. It’s important for it to really showcase the personality of your brand. I use canva to create cute little graphics using our brand colors to create more of a cohesive feed and I think that has helped a lot. People enjoy seeing things other than product, and they enjoy seeing graphics they relate to. Understanding the algorithms is also important but even I still struggle with that as they are always changing. My advice is always just launch now, adjust later. Just start posting and adjust things as you go as you’re finding your groove.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I am actually currently at this moment in a pivotal point. I recently became unemployed from my corporate job and I am trying to figure out my next move. In an ideal world I would run my business full time but my business is not quite at that point yet. I have been really enjoying the time off that I have had and using it to focus on my business. My job was taking a toll on my mental health and I feel like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I am actively looking for the right opportunity but until I find that I’m really just pouring into my business and have so many new and exciting things that I am working on. Sometimes in life you need a reset and that is currently where I am at.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://appareltodyefor.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/shopappareltodyefor?utm_medium=copy_link
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopappareltodyefor/

Image Credits
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