We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marta Miller a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Marta , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers

I fully remember the very early days of COVID in March of 2020. I am not one to really watch the news much and the only reason I was super aware of the impacts of COVID was because my best friend was getting married March 7th and I had to cancel my trip because my in-laws, who were supposed to take care of my kids were too scared to fly. By the following Thursday March 12th, my sons teacher told me to grab his stuff because she thought school would close till after spring break. My husband and I worked from home Friday March 13th in our 927 square foot Santa Monica Townhouse with our 6 year old and 2 year old. That day went so well that later that night I booked a flight to Texas where I would have my amazing in-laws to lean on for support so I could focus on keeping Lefty Production Co. alive during a global pandemic. My husband and I naively packed for what we thought would be a two or three week vacation. I had no idea that when we got on that flight on March 15th 2020, that would be the end of our Santa Monica California chapter. The next few days my team and I were just dodging bullets. Clients were calling canceling their orders and begging us to refund them, the city shut our building down because it was considered an office building and we had to move out within 24 hours, and then I was told by my friend at the mayor’s office that without a letter from the government we could not continue to manufacture even though we had just relocated to a manufacturing facility. I was fully certain Lefty Production Co. would not make it through this pandemic. I felt like I was losing a limb. Lefty Production Co., is not just some job or business it is my baby. I was at the park with my kids licking my wounds and I got a random call on my cell phone from Kaiser Permanente. I rarely answer calls I do not know, but my husband was with me and gave me the look like maybe you should answer it. I did, and an amazing woman named Beth introduced herself and told me that they were desperate for masks. By the following Tuesday I had an order for half a million masks. Lefty Production Co. was saved, I just had to figure out how I would make them as I technically did not have a facility to even sew them at. But like all entrepreneurs I knew I could always figure out the details later, but first I needed to say yes to the opportunity.

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

I built Lefty Production Co. with my Co-Founder Emily Roiff, because we needed the services Lefty Production Co. would provide and couldn’t find them anywhere. Emily and I were both Left handed and the company was on the Left Coast, and we knew we would be successful if we just let our hearts navigate our business, as we were both appalled at how rude this industry was to us. I started a line in 2007 called Moody Mamas. I was a very young entrepreneur and found the industry impossible to navigate.

I had success with sales and marketing but my supply chain was always a nightmare both domestically and internationally.  Domestically we could not find a company that would give a young brand the time of day. Nobody would take us seriously unless our units were immediately in the thousands. A company like Lefty simply did not exist. We tried overseas and multiple overseas factories stole our money.  We also found that we would have to work with six small companies, each providing a single service, to
create one garment, which led to many quality issues and finger pointing, with nobody willing to take responsibility.

So we set out to create a client-friendly, high-service one-stop shop for apparel and accessories design, development and production. We guide new and established products through sketching and design, fabric and trim sourcing, labels and branding, pattern and sample making, duplicates, fittings, pattern revisions, marking and grading, cutting, production and packing. We also work with several large brands that want to develop or produce in the US.

In this industry, your designs and ideas won’t come to life without a supply chain that cares about your success.   Our clients’ success becomes our success, as we have helped so many clients grow from being nervous to place a 300 unit order to asking us to speed up for 3,000 units because their loyal fans are begging for more.  At the end of the day, my relationship with people is what matters the most to me.   I deeply care about everyone of my teammates and our clients.   Today, I am too busy helping other brands succeed and have put my desires of having my own brand on the back-burner.  Maybe one day I will circle back to my design roots,
but in the meantime, I am happy helping others build their dreams and brands and supporting all our creative employees, and that fuels my soul.

Let’s move on to buying businesses – can you talk to us about your experience with business acquisitions?

I bought Stitch Texas in February of 2022.  I knew in my heart and in my gut that I was meant to carry the baton of Stitch Texas.  In 2018, I was considering moving home to Texas from California. My family and I traveled to Texas during Thanksgiving that year, and my husband and I both visited Stitch Texas. I loved their company and I loved the people I met, but most importantly I loved the idea that one day I could move home and still run a fashion house.

Throughout the years, I kept in touch and worked with Stitch Texas on projects, as they focused primarily on product development but still needed production options for their clients.  In October of 2021, I had lunch with Angie, one of the Stitch Texas owners, as I had moved to Texas.  We compared notes on what it was like owning a fashion house, gave each other advice, and talked about the struggles COVID had placed on our businesses.  At that lunch, Angie told me about the new space Stitch Texas would move into.  A month later, after some soul searching, the owners decided to forgo another 5 plus year lease.

I immediately begged them to sell Stitch Texas to me. I didn’t ask anyone because I just knew I was meant to be aligned with Stitch Texas. I wanted to save the jobs and keep the family they built intact. Angie brought Jan into the conversation, who co-owned and ran the operations department of Stitch Texas. He is also the kind widower of Vesta, the pioneer who created Stitch Texas, and he loved the idea of keeping her legacy alive.

Stitch Texas is very similar to Lefty Production Co. They operate like a family and truly care about their clients and the projects they want to build. We agreed on a fair price, and I bought Stitch Texas. Jan told me that he did not want to overly lawyer the acquisition, and neither did I. I called my amazing cousins Jeffrey and Alan Robin and they helped me with the acquisition in such a way that it was not intimidating to either Jan or me, but still allowed us both to feel comfortable and protected.  I knew my family had my best interests at heart and I trusted the process.

Now, as the owner of Stitch Texas and working closely with the incredible team who loved Vesta so dearly, I’ve discovered that my goals were also her goals. She was a passionate believer in creating and maintaining jobs. She worked closely with the city of Austin and ACC’s Fashion Incubator development project. She was also a huge supporter of integrating technology into education and helped establish industry techniques and standards into ACC’s curriculum. I’ve been carrying that on with ACC and University of Texas’s fashion department, striving to bring their students to Stitch Texas to enable real life fashion careers within our community. We are also partnering with a national fabric representative to host an industry fabric trade show within our doors and make it accessible to the students, our clients, and the community at large. During our meetings, I found out that Vesta had previously partnered with the same rep to bring that trade show to Austin in the past, though never hosted within Stitch Texas. Every new discovery I learn about Vesta validates my decision to buy Stitch Texas, and continue to grow the fashion industry in this wonderful city of Austin Texas, which we proudly call home.

Any advice for managing a team?

I have really had to grow a lot personally as a leader.  In the beginning days of owning a company, I wanted my hands in everything.  I wanted to be cc’d on emails my employees wrote, I wanted to sign every check and negotiate every contract, and I wanted to navigate every project. I soon realized that I was the bottleneck of the company.  Having kids actually helped me as a leader a lot, because I was forced to delegate.  The more kids I had, the less hours I could dedicate to micromanaging and the more I had to entrust the people around me.  When I had my second child, I signed the checks from my hospital bed – I then realized I had to let go.  I am so thankful for the team that surrounds me.  They do not want to be micromanaged and I adore them so much that I do not want to disrespect them by hovering over their shoulders. Trusting and empowering them to do a great job gives them pride of ownership in their work, and allows me to work on the business instead of in the business. I believe in them and am amazed by their talents every day. Together we are a powerful team!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.leftyproductionco.com
• Instagram: stitchtexasco and leftyproductionco