Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Carissa Smith. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Carissa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

The craziest situation that happened to me and my business is going viral while still making my product on a small handmade scale. Since we are a made-to-order business, going viral is both amazing and challenging. We were getting hundreds of orders every day while making our patches on a one-needle hobby embroidery machine and manually changing out each color. My patches range from 3-16 colors each, and when the machine finishes with one color, the machine stops, and you have to manually change the thread to the next color. Additionally, after making these patches one color at a time, we hand-cut out every single patch. Before we bought our 60-needle commercial embroidery machine, my husband and I worked 13-18 hours, 7 days a week, for months to avoid getting behind on orders. Obviously, this is not a sustainable business model or way to live, even if you enjoy the work. At this point, I had already purchased my commercial embroidery machine but was waiting on the delivery, which took 1 month.

The other crazy thing on top of staying viral and getting hundreds of orders every day was that the commercial embroidery machine was late. It ended up delivering on my sister-in-law’s wedding day, which we were in. As it was being forklifted off the truck that morning, it almost fell off the edge. My husband ran over to stop the man driving the forklift, which saved it from going off the edge. Safe to say, it was a very stressful morning! The next day, our family came over, and we spent the entire afternoon trying to figure out how to get this 1,000-pound machine off the crate and into our house. After we took the front door off our house, a piece of wood, a car jack, and a really smart Uncle eventually got the machine off the crate and into the house. The next two days were spent learning how to run our new machine. Thanks to this machine, we made and hand-cut out 4,000 patches in two weeks and officially caught up on our orders. We learned what true endurance meant and that you can learn and do anything with hard work and little sleep!

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

My embroidery business started as a result of going through the most difficult time in my life. In January 2020, I had to quit my professional job due to a mysterious illness that started manifesting itself after I got married in August 2019. I was bedridden, hospitalized, and later diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis. This condition is an (on paper) incurable bladder disease and chronic pain condition. I was at my lowest point, in pain, and with little hope of living a normal life again. Thankfully, I had the wonderful support of my husband, Josh, who cared for me and went out to buy me all the art supplies I asked for. My love for sewing started as a young child. I would sew anything and everything…doll clothes, stuffed animals, bookmarks, and even clothes for myself. My Polish grandma was patient enough to teach me the simplicity of hand-sewn crafts, like cross-stitching and embroidery. While spending months bedridden, I was bored out of my mind. Usually, I am nonstop, energetic, and very active, so you can see why watching TV and scrolling social media got old fast. I used this time to learn how to hand-embroider and started creating hand-embroidered wall art just for myself. My loving family encouraged me to put it out there online and see what happens, so I opened up my Etsy shop in August 2020, not really thinking it would become anything. Some of my friends were my first two sales and to my surprise, 2 months later, I had an Etsy bestseller, and my embroidery wall art went viral on Etsy. My business officially started, and I started wholesaling to boutiques and cute plant shops.

I sprained my wrists because I was hand-embroidering all day and all night. Because of this, I decided to replicate my hand-embroidered art with embroidery machines. I bought my first single-needle embroidery machine in 2021 and had three more by the end of 2022, just to keep up with orders. In 2023, I transitioned from my three hobby embroidery machines to a three-head, 60-needle commercial machine. During all of these transitions, I started making patches and accepting custom embroidery orders. My patches were inspired by my favorite songs and musicians and were used to make concert outfits. Because of The Eras Tour, my Taylor Swift-inspired patches went viral since so many people were going all out on making their concert outfits. My patches were at almost every show across 21 different countries, and even one of the Eras Tour backup dancers has a Carissaofthesea patched denim jacket.

While I still make our original designs and patches, and I create my own original products (found on carissaofthesea.com), my business transitioned into a custom embroidery shop and wholesale vendor. Whether you’re looking for branded corporate apparel, promotional merchandise, uniforms, or even personalized gifts, we have the expertise and capability to fulfill your needs. We provide services to a wide range of customers. From business corporations to family members hand-making Christmas presents, we truly enjoy the versatility of custom embroidery and will provide our services to anyone! To learn more, check out our custom embroidery site: https://embroideryandpatches.com/

The hobby I learned in the worst moments of my life became my career and my dream come true. Once I was diagnosed with my condition, my naturopathic doctor and I tried many natural remedies since there was no found cure in the Western medical world. Five years later, I am a walking miracle and live 99% pain-free. I believe God used the wisdom from my doctor and those natural remedies to heal my chronic condition. I live to tell this story that God is real and turned my painful, impossible, hopeless situation into a real dream come true. Of course, any business has ups and downs, a lot of hard work, and unknowns, but I want you to know that our embroidery is founded on hope. To our past, current, and future customers, thank you for your support and orders! I couldn’t do it without you.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My reputation in the embroidery industry is built off my customer’s honest opinions, feedback, and real reviews. I have over 1,800 five-star reviews that share the incredible quality of my products and their great experience working with me. I believe having great customer service and a high level of communication helped build my great reputation. I want to know everything my customers want to share with me about what they’re creating with my patches or what they’re using my custom embroidery services for. I want to know the stories behind their projects or what business their custom uniforms will be used in. I have a bachelor’s degree in communications from Grand Canyon University, which I know set me up for success in having a business with impeccable communication and care for my customers. When customers see I am a real person talking to them and making their custom embroidery in Phoenix, AZ (and not outsourcing it overseas), they feel at ease and know they can trust me!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I started my business hand-making and selling embroidery wall art. My embroidery wall art was popular for two years, and then I was searching for the next new thing I could create. In January 2022, my wall art orders stopped, and I almost gave up on my business. It wasn’t fun anymore since I felt pressure to create something to sell. If you’re an artist, you know that this is an oxymoron. Your art should come from your need to create, not your need to make a profit. Since I truly didn’t want to give up on my business, I learned something new that I could both create and sell. This was a major pivot since I was used to creating wall decorations. I wanted to make something I could sell for a lower price so people didn’t have to think twice about buying something for $10 or less. In June of 2022, I started making patches! It was a challenge to learn how to make, and I kept breaking my one embroidery machine in the process. Once I learned, patches completely transformed my business into what it is today. Patches are still the most popular thing I make. I make hundreds a day!

Contact Info:

• Website: Retail shop: https://carissaofthesea.com/ Custom embroidery shop: https://embroideryandpatches.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embroideryandpatches/?hl=en
• Other: Etsy shop: https://carissaofthesea.etsy.com

  If you’re interested in custom embroidery, please fill out our contact form here: https://embroideryandpatches.com/contact/

  You can also email me directly at [email protected].