We were lucky to catch up with Leah Longueville recently and have shared our conversation below.

Leah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

For companies that are focused on sustainable / ethical fashion, it can be really tough to create quality goods while maintaining a reasonable price point. During the past year alone we’ve seen our cost of goods increase by almost 40%, specifically for apparel. While we’ve been forced to pass some of that on to the customer (which we absolutely hate), we’ve also focused on being more strategic when developing new products to ensure that we can maintain reasonable margins while still being considerate of our customers financial position. Examples include, incorporating more non-apparel items into the product mix – like mugs, tote bags, hair accessories – things our customers would appreciate but aren’t a major investment.

Leah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Leah Longueville, a mom of three living in the St. Louis area. I started my company, Polished Prints, four years ago after printing onesies for my daughter on the floor of my guest bedroom and selling them on Etsy. At the time I had just left my career in the non-profit world to do freelance graphic design full-time while raising our daughter. I wasn’t focused as much on creating a business, but moreso found a lot of joy in the creative process. I loved developing a brand without any pressure, designing product and making something I didn’t feel really existed in the world of baby goods – neutral baby clothes that had messages of kindness. It was also a way for me to take back some of my own identity in early motherhood – something I felt like I desperately needed in that season.

As I got more into this “side hustle” I started reaching out to content creators in the motherhood space on Instagram and trading product for imagery. Because of these women I was really able to capture the essence of the brand and showcase it online. Before I knew it the business had grown so much that we launched our own website and started wholesaling to small boutiques. We had media coverage in places like Pop Sugar and Cool Mom Picks and started to do in-person maker markets.

After the first year I started to outsource the printing to a small, non-toxic print shop who helped me create the consistent product I was looking for. I also hired my first employee – a friend who worked about 10 hours a week packing orders in our garage.

In 2019, I became pregnant with my second child and my family moved to the St. Louis area. We ended up buying a house with a detached garage and turned that into the “Polished Prints Warehouse.” In early 2020 we ended up adding our product to Faire and venturing into wholesale, all of which went live the week before the pandemic hit and the week I gave birth to my son. I didn’t except it to take off but, man, it really did.

During 2020 we watched our business triple in sales and our products expand into over 150 retail locations. Our DTC sales were also steady, as so many people found themselves wearing more casual clothes and appreciating the positive messages on our shirts during such a tough time. But, just like so many businesses, we started to get hit with supply chain issues. It became hard to find consistent product so we decided to manufacture our own. We worked with the Small Business Development center to secure funding and ended up purchasing half a years worth of product. The process took almost a year and was incredibly stressful, but knowing we were creating a product we were proud of was an incredible feeling. All of our clothing is made using Organic Cotton in a factory that provides its makers with fair and consistent wages, on-site childcare and medical assistance.

In the meantime we moved our operation out of the garage into a small warehouse, added on another staff member and started to grow Polished Prints into the brand we’ve envisioned – a women-owned company that creates products designed to empower others and genuinely spread good. We’ve expanded our product lines to focus on things we, as moms and women, wish were more available in the market. And we’re incredibly intentional about everything we do.

I think of all the things I would like to share with all of the readers is really that I have zero prior experience in any of this – production, product development, retail, e-commerce. But I was determined enough to learn, to ask questions and try new things. We’ve made a ton of mistakes, from ordering the wrong product to printing misspelled words on t-shirts, but we’ve also learned from them. I think so much of running a good business goes into believing in yourself, listening to your customers, and trusting that it will all work out even when it doesn’t go the way you wanted it to. We hope that intentionality and love shines through everything that comes out of our brand, and that you feel it when you buy it too.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think so much of it has to do with the intentionality we put into our products and the transparency along the way. We show us in front of our customers – whether on social media or in person – so they know and trust us. We’re aggressive with quality control and we lean into longer development timelines to ensure that our goods are in line with what our customers want. This has led to great customer relationships and a positive reputation.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

When we started manufacturing our own goods we knew we needed to submit a fairly large order to start. We worked with the Small Business Development Center to create a business plan and then worked with a bank to secure a line of credit. That alone gave us the opportunity to purchase our product and pay it off overtime.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.polishedprints.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/polishedprints