Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Allison Hartgraves . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Allison , appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Being homeschooled, my middle and high school life revolved around two things: horses and sewing. I discovered a love and talent for sewing as a teenager, but the class projects never really went beyond potholders and pillowcases. Still, I discovered that as much as I loved sewing, I loved making projects for other people, being able to create something based on their interests such as a pillowcase in their favorite color or with their favorite animal on it.

Horses were the other main focus in my life. In third grade, my parents purchased for me an untrained, 18-month-old paint horse named Thunder. Thunder and I would go on to train and partake in multiple dressage shows going as far as competing in Lexington, Kentucky. I never really thought of any way to bring both my love for horses and sewing together at first.

In 2012, I discovered on YouTube that someone had made their own plush of Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon (my favorite movie at the time). Looking for a new sewing challenge and excited that one could actually make stuffed animals, I had to try it! While proud of my first Toothless plush, it was a bit crude compared to the next one I made which I entered in both a local and state craft fair winning first prize at both. I made a couple of other plushies and soft sculptures in high school, but it all eventually went on pause to make time for college.

I went on to earn a BFA in Theatre Design and Technology with a focus on costume design initially thinking that was what I wanted to pursue as a career but eventually fell out of interest with working with large theatre companies and realized that I enjoyed working one on one with individual clients better. It was in my later years of college that I started to regain my passion for plush making and wanted to make it more than just a side hobby.

My parents were actually who suggested the idea of doing custom horses. I knew that custom stuffed animals made to look like your pet or animal companion was nothing new. There were already companies and small businesses making stuffed animal look-a-likes of pets, some of which were also doing horses. However, as I looked at a lot of these sites, it appeared to me that their artistic strength was in their cats and dogs. I didn’t fault them for this as there are a lot more dog and cat owners then there are horse owners in the general public, but as I looked at the horses produced by many of these companies, I wasn’t all that impressed in their quality and appearance and told myself that I could do it better.

I wasn’t able to actually put my idea into practice until late 2021 due to getting a full-time job after graduation, Covid and later getting married. I entered pattern prototyping with a goal of creating a horse plush that was cuddle friendly but also easy for me to customize based on a specific horse’s colors and markings. Creating a custom pattern for a plush is a very long and tedious process that requires multiple tests and re-dos. It took six months and seven different tests to get a result that I was ready to use with my own horse, Thunder.

My plush version of Thunder was finished and posted on social media July of 2022 and was met with lots of positive feedback and few commission requests. During the remainder of the summer, I wanted to do some pre-made plushies to help me get more familiar with my pattern and get something ready to sell. With Autumn approaching, I made three Halloween themed unicorns that I dubbed: Candicorns which again, received positive feedback.

I originally came up for the business name in college when trying to think of a name for my portfolio site as I wasn’t ready to commit to a costume design portfolio with my name attached. It only felt natural that the Thunderstorm Creations name be used for my plush business where my own horse was the first plush made. Thunder’s full registered name is Ace’s Thunderstorm so that’s where it came from.

While I was still intimidated by the idea of doing someone else’s horse rather than my own, I took my first custom commission in September and finished it in October, a beautiful paint horse named Cheyanne who had sadly passed on and the rider’s mom was getting the plush as a surprise. I knew my target audience for this business idea was going to be the equestrian communities and having been an active equestrian in school, I still had a lot of those connections on social media. While commission requests were slow at first, as I created more plushies and posted them online, it began to gain more attention. My riding coach commissioned a plush of her FEI Hanoverian from me and it wasn’t long after that other riders at her barn were wanting one!

It’s all still a big learning process for me. I’m constantly fine tuning the pattern to either make it better or fit a certain horse’s body type or occupation. While the bulk of my work is custom commissions, I also plan on doing more original designs to test new things and improve my craft. It’s a lot of work but I genuinely love what I do and can’t wait to see where this takes me in the future!

Allison , 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 am a plush and soft sculpture artist whose work mainly focuses on all things horsey! Plush is a formal name for what we think of as a stuffed animal toy like we had as a kid. Only, instead of just a generic stuffed horse that your best friend and lots of other people probably also had, I custom create a plush horse made to look like someone’s actual horse. When selected for commission, the client sends me photographs of their horse and I create a one-of-a-kind custom stuffed horse, as I see it, in the photos.

I started making plushies as a side hobby in middle school after seeing someone on YouTube make a plush of Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon (my favorite movie at the time) and I had to try it for myself! While my first one wasn’t anything short of spectacular, my second one went on to win first prize at both local and state craft fairs! I was also an avid equestrian throughout my school years, competing with both my own horse, Thunder as well as others at various competitions in my home state of Texas.

I entered college to earn a BFA in theatre design and technology with a focus in costume design initially thinking that’s what I wanted to pursue as a career. While I loved the research, design and creation aspects, I found in my later years that I enjoyed working one on one with individual clients rather than large creative teams and theatre companies. I also missed making plushies.

My parents were actually who suggested the idea of making plushies based off actual horses. I knew that the idea was nothing new. There were already a handful of companies and small businesses making plush look-a-likes of people’s pets, including horses. However, as I looked at the sites of several of these companies, it appeared to me that the main strength was in their cats and dogs. I don’t fault them for this as there are a lot more dog and cat owners out there than there are horses, but I wasn’t all that impressed in how their horses looked and as someone who had experience working with both plushies and horses, I knew I could do better.

The pattern prototyping didn’t officially begin until late 2021. mainly due to graduation, Covid, getting a full-time job and getting married. Once started, it took me eight times to get a result I was happy enough to start working with. My goal was to create a pattern that I could easily customize to a specific horse’s colors and markings, but at the same time was snuggle inviting! In July of 2022, I completed a plush of my own horse, Thunder, and posted him on my design page where he received lots of positive feedback and a few requests for when I’d be taking commissions. I wanted a bit more practice with my pattern before taking on an actual commission. With Autumn approaching, I made three Halloween themed unicorns dubbed Candicorns as premade originals that I could sell.

While the idea of recreating someone else’s horse other than my own still intimidated me, I accepted my first commission in September of that year and finished in October. A beautiful paint horse named Cheyanne, who had sadly passed on and the rider’s mother was ordering the plush as a surprise gift for her. Things began to move forward from there. I created my riding coach’s FEI Hanoverian next and soon other riders from her stable were requesting a commission!

I genuinely love what I do! I’m now able to combine my love of sewing and plush making with my love for all things horsey! I’ve met many amazing people (and their horses!) and heard so many great stories. Every horse commission I receive is special and unique to me regardless of the horse’s occupation or breed. I’m very detail oriented so I’m always careful to make sure I get the colors and markings correct in every single commission. I also love being able to work one-on-one with the clients to make sure I’m doing their equine friend justice. I also hope to research, design and create some unique original plushies to make available. Occasionally, I’ll make something non-horsey to give myself a break and keep myself interested in the craft. It’s been a journey thus far, but I’m excited to see where this whole endeavor takes me in the future!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

While this might seem contradictory to the question, one of the biggest things to unlearn is that this is a constant learning process. There will never be a moment when you’re suddenly an expert in your trade and then you’re ready to start making a name for yourself. If we keep waiting until we have that Aha! moment, we’re going to be waiting our whole lives. In all the plush projects I’ve made, I’m always asking myself, “what did I love about this plush?” and “what can I do to make the next one even better?” Even when I’m away from the worktable, I’ll find or discover ways that I can practice and experiment with and it might not even come from places I would have previously expected. Sure, I follow and learn from other plush and soft sculpture artists, but I have also learned so much from other sources. Just as a few examples: I learned the tips and tricks for working with faux fur from watching fur suit makers, hand sewing techniques from historical costumers and currently learning how to make synthetic hair wefts from doll customizers. It’s understanding that this process is a marathon and not a sprint. It’s learning to enjoy the process as well as the end result. If just getting an end result is all I’m after, then I’m just setting myself up for disappointment and disillusionment in my trade which I believe would reflect in the final product. To try and summarize, running a personal business that depends on one’s own unique craft is a life-long journey, not a crash course. It’s being willing to learn new things and enjoy the process, not just the end result.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

My approach for finding clientele started with knowing who my target audience was going to be and understanding that it wasn’t going to be the norm in the craft. Most custom plush artists tend to create characters from video games, movies, anime and so forth. Plush horses weren’t going to be as alluring to that particular crowd, but I knew that it would be to the equestrian community. In my case, I already had been an active equestrian in school and still had a lot of great friends and connections there. Many of whom already knew that I had made some impressive plush work before and liked the idea of having a custom plush of their own horse. Clients tend to want to work with merchants they know or those who are recommended by friends or family. As I began producing more work, and as my client’s began sharing their finished plushies, word began to spread to those I had never met. Since my clients are horse people, I ask them in my quote form to tell me all about their horse. Not only does this allow me to understand the horse so that I can better recreate him or her into a plush, but this gives me a good conversation starter with new clients. Horse people love to talk about their horses, and as an equine lover myself, it gives us something to connect over. What I didn’t want was to just be a website where you pay at checkout and a package appears on the door in a few weeks. As stated in my backstory, I want to be able to create a one-on-one relationship with the clients. I think building these relationships are how you’re going to get loyal clients who want to continue working with you and would recommend you to others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thunderstormcreations.weebly.com/
• Instagram: tstorm_creations
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057558484922&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
Allison Hartgraves, Thunderstorm Creations