We recently connected with Leigh Metcalf and have shared our conversation below.
Leigh, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Covid has brought about so many changes – has your business model changed?
Before Covid we were an in person sewing studio and fabric shop located in a really touristy location with great foot traffic. The majority of our sales at the time were coming from in-person classes. When I saw Covid looming, I knew I’d need to do something different to move classes online. We started offering virtual classes but I wanted to do something more for my customers, which are really my community, beyond the one off class. I wanted a way to “be together” online in a bigger way so I created an online membership on a platform called Mighty Networks. Shortly after opening the doors to my online membership, I was so happy to see people interacting, learning with and from each other in this always on space.
Unlike my physical sewing studio and shop, where I (or an employee) had to actually be there for anything to be happening, I could see the actual magic coming to life when you bring your community together in an online membership. Not only were they interacting and gaining value from each other, but there were members in many parts of the world, two of them, based in Australia even had an in person meet up once to meet each other!
And of course one of the other great benefits of creating an online membership, if it’s a paid membership, is the recurring revenue it can generate for a business, which in uncertain times can be a life saver.
Leigh, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I didn’t learn to sew until I was in my 30s and didn’t learn to sew clothes until a few years after that, but when I did, it felt like magic! At the time I was living in London (though I am American) and I was writing part time for craft and lifestyle magazines. I have always been creative and part of a crafty family but sewing was an interest that came to me a bit later. In London there were many wonderful places to buy fabrics and to take sewing classes. I loved browsing those shops and learning at many of them.
When I moved back to Atlanta, Georgia to live near family again, there were no interesting, unique sewing studios that focused on teaching garment sewing. I brainstormed ideas for opening my own and eventually did just that. I didn’t do much market research other than asking a few notable people in the craft industry here what they thought and I just went for it.
We were very busy from the start and though our first location was small, we had a great turn out for our classes and gained many regulars coming for our products. After one year in that first location, I moved to a much larger space in a tourist destination. It was wonderful to see others experience the magic of sewing and the empowerment people felt from sewing their own clothes with their very own two hands!
Customers come to us for many reasons, some just for the pure interest in learning to sew, some for learning to sew clothes specifically because they want to choose silhouettes or fabrics that interest them or reveal their unique style, some because they want to have more sustainable practices in their lives and others because they want clothes to fit them the way they want them to fit. So there are many reasons to learn to sew your own clothes and when people complete their garments in our classes, you can see the pride in their smile, which I call and “I made this!” smile–there’s nothing quite like having someone compliment your outfit and you say, “thanks I made it!” So while on the surface of things we teach people how to sew their own clothes, what’s really happening is a deeper empowerment and confidence that springs from learning these valuable skills.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I love business books! Before starting my business, the thought of reading any business book was the equivalent of hearing fingernails screech across a chalkboard. I was more interested in daydreaming and planning for the stuff I planned to sell and the classes I planned to have. But just before signing the lease on my first location, I got bit by the “learn about business” bug listening to How I Built This, a show on NPR. It was the first episode with Sara Blakeley, founder of Spanx. I have listened to that one episode probably 50 times at least and the main takeway for me (among many in that one episode) is she had NO idea what she was doing and she did it. When you’re first getting started it’s easy to talk yourself out of things–with thoughts swirling saying, “I have no idea what I’m doing!” But when you hear real lessons and real stories from folks who have done it, you can truly see that nobody knows what they’re doing until they just do it.
So NPRs How I Built this is one favorite business resource but I have a few favorite books that I wish I had read before I started my business. After listening to a few episodes of How I Built This and Googling a lot of random business questions, I reluctantly picked up a few business books but realized quickly, to my surprise, that found myself glued to them like a romance novel. A few of those favorites are Reengineering Retail by Doug Stephens, great for anyone with a physical retail shop. It helps you to see the value and importance of making your retail space an engaging experience. Seth Godin’s Tribes, which focuses on building your tribe, your true fans, and why it matters, Anything You Want by Derek Sivers, which is packed with nuggets of wisdom in many areas and is a super quick read, Profit First by Mike Michalowicz is great if you feel your business is a cash eating monster, as the author describes it, that you need to get a handle on. Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller, which helps you communicate your marketing messages clearly. I also love his 5 minute marketing makeover, which is a 3 part mini video series on his website. It’s excellent for reevaluating and clarifying the message on your website. Robbie Kellman Baxter’s The Forever Transaction is great for anyone who wants to create some kind of subscription model and The Business of Belonging by David Spinks is great for anyone who is wanting to build a community centered brand. I also love Russel Brunson’s Expert Secrets, Traffic Secrets and Dot Com Secrets. If you have any interest in a funnels and the customer journey, they are good ones to read. Lastly, Atomic Habits by James Clear is just an all around excellent book for anyone to build better habits in work and life. Those are a few of my must read favorites!
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The best source of new customers is current customers. So many times people share with me that they are taking a class because a friend took one and recommended it! Good old fashioned word of mouth has been one of the best ways for me to gain new customers.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.topstitchatl.com and www.topstitchatl-classes.com
- Instagram: @topstitchatl
- Facebook: Topstitch Studio and Lounge
Image Credits
I didn’t add any other photos because the only photos I have right now that look good are older and of my last location! I don’t like the one I added of people sewing but I had to add something to continue on the form. I have a new studio space but someone ran their car into the front of it and bashed it and I don’t have any great ones of the inside right now, so I’m not sure what other photos to add right now. Older ones seem disingenuous since my studio no longer looks like that. if you definitely need more photos I can take a few of the front if you can touch up where a car hit it.