We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cassandra Allen – Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Cassandra thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Initially, I started my business as an online store that featured my handcrafted designs which are crocheted knitted and felted handbags, Bags By CAB.
When I decided to open a retail store, I knew that I needed to represent fiber enthusiast, and handcrafters, but as well as minority females. I wanted to be able to be an example to show them how you can be successful with opening your own brick and mortar. And, help those who need assistance along the way.
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?
I am a retired litigation paralegal, who worked for trial lawyers for over 33 years. I decided one day to completely quit my job because I was under tremendous amount of stress, and became very ill. During this time, I picked up my crochet hook and yarn that I had stored away in my closet from back when I was a teenager, 16 years old to be exact.
I immediately was so relaxed, and able to just refocus my life and was able to figure out exactly what I wanted to do on a professional career level. During the time of my illness, I really needed some headspace just to regroup. Although now I am completely healed, during that time I was extremely ill, and while under the guidance of my specialist doctor, and my family assisting me with daily care, I found that I was able to “create”.
The calmness that yarn and crocheting provide to me are beyond any words that I can explain or Express. I just know that I have the ability to think clearer, and relax, and just basically refresh. My creativity skills and abilities and juices just flow while I’m designing and working with yarn!
I decided to not go back to work full time as a litigation paralegal, and to pursue my passion with yarn! During that time I only worked part-time in the legal profession, and opened a yarn kiosk at a shopping mall which then turned into a brick-and-mortar shortly thereafter. The yarn became an immediate attraction to all people who were fiber enthusiasts. Women, men, and children who love yarn were just excited! I knew at that time that I needed to open my brick and mortar yarn store to help people find their happy place, and their general sense of peace, relaxation, and, Joy! Being able to work with your hands with yarn is such a sense of restoration and peace. It really calms your inner being. That’s why I think people love it so much they can’t find the words to really describe it but when you say to them what I just said, they know that’s it! Lol!😁
I have found over the years as a yarn store owner that my customers appreciate the customer service excellence and hospitality that I extend to them from the moment that they are greeted when they walk in. Taking the time to help them with whatever their project is, or for those who don’t even know what kind of project that they need, however after asking questions and getting a sense of their personality I am able to assist them and they are very grateful. I hear a lot of horror stories from customers who walk in that have been to other yarn stores that tell me the salesperson was just trying to make a sale! They ended up buying yarn that cost a fortune they didn’t know what to do with it, or how to use it or what to make with it! Or they simply were not matched with what project worked best for them. And that’s really where the listening skill comes in. And, just being hospitable to people in general, is very important. We live in a very rush rush have to have it yesterday, world, and when customers come in, and you take the time to really get to know them and that moment that you are having a conversation with them about yarn, you really could have sense of who they are, and what project whether it is knit or crochet will work best for them and the pattern for that project, notions and tools etc. That’s why I feel customers are so comfortable and appreciative by the time they leave out of my yarn shop, because of the time and attention to detail that we provide. They have not received this at other yarn store locations whether it is a locally owned yarn shop, or it is a big box commercial chain craft store that sells yarn. Those big box commercial craft stores are not going to have employees specifically within the yarn department that are dedicated to that department to answer each customer’s questions regarding the different types of yarns, the weights, projects, needle and hook size, kits, and patterns. They are simply employees who work the entire store and cannot provide that individualized attention and knowledge. We are very happy and honored to be able to provide this to each customer who walks through the door, calls on the telephone, sends an email, or a DM.
Have you ever had to pivot?
A really good example of when I had to pivot in my business as a yarn store owner, would be when I transitioned from being in a local community neighborhood over to relocating in downtown Denver’s Central Business district.
When you are located in a community in the burbs, your customer base is different than when you are located in a major downtown metropolis. Although the need for both customers is the same, yarn, notions, tools, patterns, kits etc, in the suburbs, customers are used to driving to the business, pulling into a parking space in a parking lot, getting out of their car and walking in. And they generally tend to have more time to spend at your business to assist them with their fiber arts needs. I had to pivot quickly when I relocated to downtown Denver in the central business district because my customer base was completely different! Downtown customers tend to be more business travelers who are attending conferences, conventions and meetings. Or they are employees working for a company in one of the high-rise commercial buildings downtown. These customers are generally on a lunch break of some sort and are in more of a hurry! So I really had to pivot to adjust my inventory and available kits and patterns for the business traveler as opposed to a customer who lived out in the burbs. It took me a little while to adjust! Lol! Once I finally got it, I got it.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
I’m very thankful for resilience. Being resilient is a key factor in owning your own business. Sometimes you don’t realize how resilient you are until after you’ve gone through a very difficult time. For me, I’ve had a few difficult times. One of them is obvious, the pandemic of 2020. Being located in downtown Denver Colorado in the central business district right at the convention center and all of the hotels with hospitality and travel industry, I was hit hard with the pandemic. I really remember standing in the middle of 16th Street Mall and California where I am located, and there were just no people! I could see a few people in the distance walking down the street. However, basically there were just no people. No businesses open, no customers walking in and out of businesses on the 16th Street Mall, no employees walking in and out of the high-rise commercial office buildings along the 16th Street Mall and surrounding areas. No one. Which then leads me to the second part of being resilient. You really need to have multiple revenues streams. At the time I didn’t even really realize how important that was until I started receiving telephone calls and emails from people who needed documents notarized. As a retired litigation paralegal I am still a licensed notary public with the state of Colorado. During the pandemic, people were in need of a notary for multiple reasons. The main reason, is companies hiring new employees to work remotely and they needed their documents notarized. Therefore I did a lot of scheduling of meeting people at my shop to notarize their documents during the pandemic. Prior to the pandemic I also notarized the documents, but it seemed as though it was not as prevalent as it became during and even now after the pandemic. Having additional revenue streams in my situation that are completely unrelated to each other, has been very beneficial and most appreciated! Lol!😁 In addition to revenue streams, we also offer in the yarn shop repairs on hand knitted clothing items, blanklets/throws, gloves, and mittens etc. And we also offer a service at Yarn Shoppe Denver as the official Travel Concierge for all of your knit and crochet experiences in downtown Denver. We like to offer Friday night stay-cations and weekend getaways not only in Denver but in the city of your choosing. It’s just so much fun to be able to completely plan a weekend getaway for a knitting group or two best friends that want to get away and knit/crochet for the weekend enjoy a great hotel, dinner and a wonderful breakfast and be able to go home to their families completely refreshed! That leads me back to being a litigation paralegal. One of my responsibilities was planning travel for trial lawyers because venues oftentimes can be in other cities and states. I’m very fortunate to have been able to incorporate all of the travel planning that I did for several years as an in-house travel planner and coordinator and for trial lawyers and transitioned that into my business for my knit and crochet customers. We do all the travel planning for you; make all of your travel arrangements and reservations, including your yarn project kit. All you do is show up! Finally, one of the services that I’m very proud to offer for creatives who are interested in quitting their jobs and starting their own business. I tell them not to quit their day job! Lol! 😆It’s important to be able to have your income for your livelihood until you are able to identify what your passion is and how to turn that passion into a career that is financially profitable and successful for you. I began offering these private consultations that are available on my website. You just book your consultation and during the consultation you are able to identify skills and experiences within your skill set and education that you have that would be beneficial in a business that you would like to open for yourself. I didn’t realize in the beginning when I opened up my yarn shop that being a notary public, and able to assist in identifying specific skills would be able to help me assist others to change their lives for the better.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.yarnshoppedenver.com
- Instagram: @yarnshoppe_denver
- Facebook: yarnshoppestudio
- Other: Google Page: https://g.co/kgs/yBgajW On-line store: yarn-shoppe.square.site
Image Credits
Yarn Shoppe Denver.