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

Alright, Anne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

“Creating” was a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Whereas some kids grow up loving a sport, I grew up with my hands covered in paint, glue, and glitter. When I was 13, I received my first sewing machine and quickly discovered I could make money from the products I created. I sewed purses for friends, participated in countless craft shows, and even established an Etsy shop selling beach glass necklaces, bridesmaid purses, canvas crossbody bags, and ribbon headbands. If I could paint, sew, glue, or craft it, I would put it on my Etsy store to sell! It was rewarding to bring a concept to life through the creation of products that brought other people joy. When it came time to attend college, I chose to continue pursuing this passion for creating by studying fashion and entrepreneurship. Without really knowing what the word “entrepreneur” meant (or how to spell it!), I packed up my sewing machine and took the next steps in my journey: a journey that led to my current venture, Anne Cate. I always loved to keep a bit of home with me while I was away at college. Excited to move into my dorm and decorate my new home away from home, I designed and created decorative pillows with three city skylines (New York City, Cleveland, and Chicago) that were meaningful to me, not knowing the potential of this product. After many compliments and requests for the pillows, I tested them out in the same youthful Etsy store that I had had since I was thirteen. Three months later, a national retailer, American Greetings, contacted me, expressing interest in wholesaling the pillows. This moment was an incredible step in realizing my dream of being an entrepreneur. I came to the realization that these skyline products are unique and meaningful, and that this idea could be a foundation for my future.

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

Anne Cate is a Made in America accessories brand and manufacturer specializing in skyline silhouette purses and other simple accessories. Founded in 2016, the Anne Cate skyline collection, which now features over 100 hand-designed skylines, animates your adventures of cities around the world.
We proudly sew every Anne Cate product ourselves at our manufacturing studio in Cleveland, Ohio. Quality and community are most important to us, which is why each product is created using locally and domestically sourced, high-quality materials.

At Anne Cate, we strive to craft simple and affordable accessories of high quality and value that hold meaning for each customer.

To our customers, our products are more than just a purse or a pillow; they tell a story that is unique to each person. Whether it is a place we visit, a place we leave, or a place we come home to, your story is captured with an Anne Cate.

Finding a meaningful gift for the person who has everything has never been easier – It’s an Anne Cate!

Our mission is: “To craft simplistic accessories of high quality and value that convey meaning and tell a story unique to each customer.” What makes us different is that we proudly sew every Anne Cate product ourselves at our manufacturing studio in Cleveland, Ohio. It has been a pleasure to grow this business enough to provide careers for local women. Quality and community are most important to us, which is why each product is created using locally and domestically sourced, high-quality materials. On top of that, our products are more than just a purse or a pillow; they tell a story that is unique to each person. Creating products that bring joy to my customers is the best part of my job!

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Creating a strong Anne Cate “brand” has led to our most successful form of advertising: word of mouth! Although our eye-catching products are easy conversation starters, we have also worked hard to create the best customer experience possible through our packaging, our website, and our customer service. When an Anne Cate is seen out and about, our customers sell our products for us – because of the great experience they had and the uniqueness of the product. We have the best customers in the world and we truly could not run Anne Cate without them.

Do you have any stories of times when you almost missed payroll or any other near death experiences for your business?

The last few years have been a period of incredible growth for Anne Cate. In addition to the opening of our manufacturing studio in January 2019 and the hiring of full-time staff, Anne Cate began growing on a national level.

With this growth came many new challenges: hiring and managing employees older than me, managing an ever-changing cash flow in order to fund large purchase orders, showcasing at my first wholesale trade show after months of planning a booth and forgetting to pack a drill required to build the booth, and investing in marketing efforts that did not convert, COVID….the list could go on, but each step backward was followed by multiple steps forward. I began to focus on learning from my mistakes, viewing every opportunity, success or failure, as a lesson to grow my business. At the end of this year, I made a “waste list,” a list of all the things I invested in that did not convert. My “waste list” is hanging up in my office as a reminder of the mistakes I made, the lessons I learned, and the challenges I overcame.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.annecate.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annecate
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/annecate
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneskoch/