We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda Woade. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda below.
Amanda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us a story about a time you failed?
I would say the biggest failure I’ve experienced is what made me shift to creating catnip pasta toys – the failure of my stuffed toy business.
So when I reached a breaking point of the questions, and the low sales, and everything else that came with a business doing so-so, I sat down and tried to think about what I could do that was more “macaroni” themed. And then it hit me – I love cats, maybe a ravioli? Then I made one, loved it, made a few more, and brought them to my next event. They sold out so quickly and I knew that it was the turning point of my business.
It was through this failure, however, that I had already tried and tested and learned many things about owning and running a handmade business. I had a crash course in selling at markets, designing a business card, building brand awareness, producing items for sale, pricing, and so much more. While failing is never fun, I am really proud of myself for starting somewhere and learning to find what I want out of my business for myself.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Amanda Woade and I am the creator of Enriched Macaroni Products. I make fake food for real cats – catnip-stuffed toys shaped like pasta that you recognize. I use only high quality catnip to ensure your cats go crazy for these counterfeit carbs. I handmake each toy in my Chapel Hill, North Carolina studio, but I started my business in Philadelphia 10 years ago.
I love parody and retro styles and I work to present my cat toys in a way that will make you do a double take. I hope when you get your cat toys home, it makes you chuckle to see your cat rolling with their tortellini or batting around their spaghetti and meatball wand toy.
I have been a cat lover and a crafter my whole life, and I find that this business is a perfect blend of the two. I love sharing photos from my customers of their cats enjoying all the toys I create.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Last year, I gave myself a challenge of a new year’s resolution: at least one in-person market per month all year. I moved to North Carolina but I’m still learning where everything is and where I best fit in. So I thought it would be great to see different places and get my name out there. My best source of customers has definitely been in-person sales, so I wanted to put myself out there and find new customers and markets where I my products would find a great foothold. Some markets went better than others, but it was really lovely and refreshing to see whole new areas, meet all kinds of people, and make even more happy cats across the state.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
I sell on my own website currently. I started by selling on Etsy, as it has a really low barrier to entry and a large market. But over time, I found Etsy’s fee structure was cutting too deeply into my sales and I moved to my own website. While having my own website is a larger cost, the freedom I have to create a look that fits my brand better than Etsy would allow is really pivotal for me. I have a flat monthly fee and credit card processing fees and no surprise other charges. I use Shopify as my web solution and it also has a lot of really great plugins and integrations, including into Faire which I use for wholesale sales.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://enrichedmacaroniproducts.com
- Instagram: @enrichedmacaronis
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/EnrichedMacaroniProducts