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

Amy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I started Cottage Indus-tree Designs about 20 years ago. I loved the idea of having a small business that I could manage myself, create all of the product, but still have the ability to hire a few people from time to time. I thought of the term “cottage industry” and how that described my goals of owning a small business. I made the slight name change from “industry” to “indus-tree” to incorporate the idea of starting from the ground up…as a real tree grows. The first products I created were the start my small business…the roots of Cottage Indus-tree, you could say. I have continued to “branch” out to create and sell many different products, but all with the same vintage theme as the items that started it all.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

As a daughter of antique dealers, I have always had and interest and an eye for antique and vintage items that have character. I spent countless hours shopping with my parents, attending antique shows and learning how to find the “diamond in the rough”. Before I started my small business I enjoyed my “finds” in my own home through decorating. Fast forward to my late 20’s, I became a teacher. I had always enjoyed having a pleasant and organized classroom and found that clipboards helped corral the lists that all teachers create! The idea of making those brown clipboards a bit more attractive was appealing. I began to investigate ways to adhere vintage papers (mostly vintage wallpapers) to both sides of the clipboards…and I was off and running. I added a pen clip to the tops of each board and tied a ribbon for a bit of added flair. They were an instant hit. I was featured in Country Living Magazine, Paula Deen’s magazine, as well as Southern Living. What a dream it was to be in the limelight!

Since those days, I have created many more products that involve the use of vintage papers: vintage books, maps, sheet music and tons of vintage wallpapers! As a teacher, I am very focused on my students, but love spending my days off hunting for vintage “finds” and taking them to my studio and creating the next project!

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I sell through two platforms: Etsy and Shopify. I have used both for years, but I carry the majority of my inventory on Shopify. When I first started my business I feel like it was easier to be “found”. There was nowhere near the competition that there is today. I also didn’t see anyone else creating what I was. That has changed a lot over the years. It’s easy to get lost in the shuffle and the game seems to be changing every day. I love my website with Shopify, and they offer lots of templates and layouts. It’s easy to manage (add product, remove product, edit descriptions and review reports). Etsy has been great, too. Etsy’s search capabilities make it a bit easier to be seen, but they do charge by the listing. Shopify does not, however there are monthly fees. Pros and cons to each.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

Years ago, when I was just starting out, I took a chance and mailed off a few of my clipboards to New York: offices of Country Living Magazine and Country Home Magazine. My husband raised an eye at my attempt to be “discovered”, but I went ahead with it. Those magazines always featured antique and vintage items for decorating and use in homes. “What would it hurt? I can’t say I didn’t try!”, I thought. Within two weeks I heard back from Country Living. After a few phone calls, they requested more samples of my work and there I was. I was featured in their November issue (the year and month I turned 40…what a great birthday gift, right?)! Paula Deen’s magazine reached our to request product for one of their upcoming issues soon after. The following year I thought I’d give it another “go”, so I mailed off a few items to Southern Living Magazine…and it worked. Managing the creating and sales during those times was exciting. There were many long days and nights balancing small business work with teaching, but hiring a few close friends at that time helped! Such fun!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cottageindustree.com
• Instagram: cottageindustree
• Facebook: Cottage Industree
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/CottageIndustreeLLC