We were lucky to catch up with Brittany Shillingford recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brittany, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

In the spring and summer of 2019 things started really taking off in my business, I was sewing everything myself to order and quickly realized I needed some help to keep up with the orders. 300 orders came in in one day and I was bombarded with work. I enlisted the help of anyone who was willing. My husband, MIL, mom, brother in law and even friends and acquaintances. I needed all the extra hands I could get. While none of these people could sew, they could all turn headbands right side out which was a huge time consuming task, as well as iron the headbands, I used their help for a few months before completing all the spring the summer orders and eventually seeking help through a small batch manufacturer.

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?

I started my business in the spring of 2013. I was in grad school getting my masters in mental health counseling. I thought it would be a fun side project. I always loved being creative and making things, since I was little and it was really fun to create products that people would wear. I started out having no idea how to sew and taught myself about 6 months into business. I was juggling going to school, working at a yoga studio and practicing yoga there, and being a nanny. I was constantly running around and most days I was unable to style my hair in between yoga and the rest of my day. I started creating headbands that worked for me. Ones that did not slip off or give you headaches. I realized I wasn’t the only one who struggled to find comfortable headbands and my business began to grow. 6 years until my business, with my masters and license in mental health counseling, I quit my job as a therapist to run my business full time. It was never something I had ever planned or imagined myself doing, but it just felt right at the time. There have been a lot of changes in my life and in my business in the last 3 years, but I feel so lucky to be able to do something I love for work. I feel so proud to have been able to purchase a house with my husband and support our growing family. It has not been easy and there were times and I am sure will be times in the future where I feel like I could give up, but sticking with it and learning how to grow and change is essential for having a business.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

When I started out I taught myself how to sew and hand made every item to order. Once I realized that wasn’t sustainable I decided to look for a local small batch manufacturer. I use the site makers row as suggested by another small business owner. I messaged and chatted with several companies. I only met with one in person and felt like it would be a good fit. We started with having samples made and once I received them and knew they were up to my standards we moved forward with the first production. Through the last 3 years working with them there has been some hiccups. Several mistakes and issues have happened, leading me to learn how to communicate and solve those issues with them. Not being in control of making your own product can be tough because as a business you need to make sure your product is how you want it to be. But it is such a weight off your plate to have someone else do the manufacturing. My advice for someone would be to set some rules and parameters up front so you know what to do in the event there are mistakes or issues.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My number one tip for building an audience is to be yourself. People will purchase from you because of you, more than because of your product. I know people can purchase headbands elsewhere, but they buy them from me because of me. Show people who they are buying from. Don’t shy away from sharing your values as a person and therefore a company. Donate to causes you believe it, share your personal life. Let people in because you are a person and ultimately they are supporting you when they buy from you. People want to know who they are supporting so show them!

Contact Info:

• Website: Bizzybcrafts.com
• Instagram: Bizzybcrafts
• Facebook: Bizzybcrafts

Image Credits
James Chang Photo Hannah Leigh Photo