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

Hi Brandi , thanks for joining us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

As a business owner & introvert, I’m not big on pushing sales on people. When I go into a store, I want to be greeted, maybe tell me if there’s something new or on sale. Then let me shop in peace. I don’t want to be that annoying salesperson to my friends/family trying to force a sale.

I post what’s new or happening w/ my shop. If they choose to support great. No pressure. I prefer organic sales. They turn into repeat customers that aren’t guilt tripped into buying something they’re not interested in.

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.

Hello! My name is Brandi Silver. I am a Product Development Associate for an Apparel Company by day. Nights & weekends, I’m the owner of my small business, Pin & Proper.

Pin & Proper started while I was trying to navigate the grieving process of losing my father. My father’s passing hit me like a ton of bricks and I was grasping at anything to keep busy to block out those dreadful quiet moments. During that time, I started collecting enamel
pins. I was looking for one pin in particular, a Tupac Shakur Keep Ya Head Up enamel pin. That pin had significance because both me and my dad were Tupac fans. Also on the way to his funeral service, “Keep Ya Head Up” came on the radio. I felt like it was a little sign from my dad.

After scouring the internet for weeks and not finding anything I decided to do some research.
My degree in Fashion Merchandising & Design from NC A&T (Aggie Pride!) and 10 plus years of experience within the fashion industry helped me take the leap. I designed my own pin in Adobe Illustrator, I vetted some manufacturers, figured out the cost and MOQ (minimum order quantity), picked the Pantone colors, chose the metal and type of pin and I communicated with the manufacturer overseas. Most things that I do within my career in the fashion industry.

The MOQ was 100 pins. I only needed 1 but no one is going to set up a pin die for 1 pin. So I jumped into this 100 percent. I had no idea if I could sell 1 pin let alone 99 pins. I started an Etsy page and decided that I should add the greeting cards I used to hand make as filler for the page. Except instead of hand making cards I create them digitally and have them printed.

Needless to say, the Tupac pin was a hit. I decided to focus my business around popular culture but mainly give a nod to Hip Hop & R&B. Music and moments that I love! My Etsy page has almost 10,000 sales. I’ve been featured on Buzz Feed, Pop Sugar, Greensboro Made, YES! Weekly, WXII12 News & Target’s Lab X Black History Month Virtual Showcase. I never imagined any of this! I simply wanted something to serve as a reminder to keep going while grieving. Oh and to sell 99 pins. Now there’s over 200 products in my shop.

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

As I mentioned before, Pin & Proper was a creative outlet in addition to my full time job. 6 months before the COVID-19 Pandemic my position at my full time job in the apparel industry was eliminated. I was crushed! I had to pivot. So many decisions. Should I go back to school? Pursue a different career? Move?

All I had was my severance, savings & this creative outlet. 4 months into being laid off I was discouraged. I’d applied to several jobs with no luck. I really started questioning everything. With no significant income coming in I was worried. Then here comes the Pandemic. I knew my business was doomed for sure. Everyone was losing their jobs. There was this scary virus out there and people were dying. No one needed a pin or a greeting card. Let’s be honest, groceries and toilet paper were scarce. My products didn’t necessarily fall into the essentials list. Imagine if I’d gotten a job during the time right before the pandemic? I’d be in the same predicament. Jobless and probably in another city or state away from my family during these scary times. Hindsight is 20/20.

By the summer of 2020 I was still unemployed but my business exploded! I was unemployed for over a year and a half. My small business sustained and took care of me during all of that time. I was able to thrive in my business during the pandemic and for that I’m forever grateful!

Has your business ever had a near-death moment? Would you mind sharing the story?

Close call… January/February 2020 I decided to offer a previously exclusive pin to anyone that crossed within that sorority chapter. Because it was such a wide range of people, I decided to offer a pre-order. That way I wouldn’t be stuck with excess of a customized pin.

In the almost 3 years of my business I’d never done a pre-order. I’d always invested my money, had the pins manufactured and posted them on the site and I hoped for the best.

Being unemployed, I didn’t want to take that risk. So I did the leg work to determine manufacturing time around Chinese New Year, estimated shipping, presented the design to the sorority members and set up a pre-order.

I was thorough! I provided a timeline for everything! Everything but COVID. Because at the time that pre-orders were made COVID was not an issue. My manufacturer had mandatory shut downs. We initially thought 2 weeks. It turned into several weeks. When they were finally able to return to work there was a backlog which added to the delay. That meant I had to contact every single pre-order (over 100 people) and communicate what was happening and offer the option to refund them.

Thankfully everyone was understanding and supportive! I didn’t have to refund anyone. The pins arrived and there wasn’t any defects. That could’ve surely tanked my business or had me stuck with massive inventory of a custom pin.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PAPERbyBrandi
• Instagram: @pin_and_proper

Image Credits
Brandi Silver Still Shots Photography Kendra Knight Photo