We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrea Heath. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrea below.

Hi Andrea, thanks for joining us today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

If I could go back in time, say to my 20s, I wish I would have attended a fashion school, tailoring academy or maybe just a tailor apprenticeship.

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

I have always admired the “Old School” western tailors of the past. Think Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors, Nathan Turk and Manuel Cueves (who by the way I’ve met who is still in business!). I’m also married to a musician, Jim Heath, aka the “Reverend Horton Heat. We’ve been together for 29 years and I’ve witnessed a lot of great rock and roll moments, met great talented musicians with amazing stage outfits! That inspired me to start designing and creating some pieces for myself. I’m currently putting myself through a crash course in couture suit making….lots of pad stitiching and trial and error going on in my studio space right now. I am completely self taught and it can be pretty frustrating sometimes but I’m always trying to grow and learn.

During the winter of 2020, I reached into my savings and put $2500 down on an antique Singer embroidery machine from England. It took about a year to master the machine and my embroidery business really took off after that. It’s been a great addition to my western creations. That’s when I finally came up with a name for my business, Chained In Texas.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I spent almost 14 years in retail advertising at JCPenney. I ended up retiring from the corporate world to spend more time raising our two daughters. Leaving that job was what I needed to push myself into being more creative and growing and learning a new craft which made me a happier person.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

When I started the embroidery business, I didn’t fully expect it to grow so quickly. I soon realized the crossover abilities of chainstitching. I’ve since gone on to make many art pieces, bowling shirts, car club jackets, custom patches, etc.

Contact Info:

• Website: chainedintexas.com
• Instagram: @chainedintexas
• Facebook: Chained In Texas

Image Credits
Jeff Stephens