We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christine Schmidt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christine, appreciate you joining us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?
I think the biggest thing that had the most impact that my parents taught me, is not to be afraid of changing your career, or of changing your mind. That there was no such thing as wasted education, or a waste of time, so long as you learned something from it moving forward.
By trade when I was growing up, my dad was an auto body man. He worked for himself & he worked for others. He was also a real estate agent, and then a general contractor. My mom was a travel agent, and a home maker, literally since she helped dad build houses. Then they tried out combining construction and hospitality and refurbished a heritage building into a small Inn. They have always had a passion for DIY. This really led me to have an attitude that you can do anything if you want to learn how. So now I’m a Serial Entrepreneur, just like them. It’s a lot easier to learn how these days, with google & you-tube, and some perseverance, the world is at your fingertips.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi! I’m Christine, I roll dice and I sew things. Primarily, I make tabletop gaming gear to help keep you organized at the game table. I’ve been sewing since 1995 when I received my certificate in fashion design. I’ve made costumes, cosplays, grad/wedding gowns and sewn all kinds of things. I think of myself as a textile wizard. I also enjoy tabletop gaming, and my products are born out of that experience. I’ve drafted most of the patterns I use myself, or hacked other patterns to suit my vision. The dice bag I developed was designed to keep your game essentials organized. With spots for pens/pencils, tokens, notepads, card decks or score cards, and of course dice.
It’s incredibly difficult to point to a moment where I could say “There! That’s the idea, that’s the one we are going to run with”. My brand Geeky Tendencies didn’t develop in isolation, it grew out of a desire to have a “house brand” or product line for my sewing studio & maker space that I was running pre-pandemic. I listed a few of my newly designed dice bags. I would get custom requests, and with each one, I’d be inspired to create a new style or variation or feature. That was my first RPG/Board Game inspired product and the real turning point for my business. In 2021 it completely overshadowed other products that I made and became my full time focus.
Recently, I’ve learned surface design techniques to create custom signature fabrics to set my products apart from the crowd. This was a challenge, as I’m not a terribly good artist, so I asked my sister Ferne Hebig to lend a hand. I am super proud to have her join me on my website and table together at conventions/craft shows. Our products and crafts complement each other nicely.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Much of my working life has been one pivot after another. in 2010, the computer shop I was working at closed. So I had to pivot, and I became massage therapist. In 2017 repetitive stress injuries were forcing me to reduce my massage therapy practice. Pivot again back to my roots, and I opened a sewing studio teaching kids & adult sewing classes while still doing a few massages. I was also looking for an idea to grow and develop, that wasn’t tied to a particular fad or trend.
A problem I tend to have as a crafter is “When you can make anything, what do you make?” I was playing RPG’s in my spare time, and my group needed dice bags. So I designed some that were a different take on the traditional look I’d seen on Etsy. I posted a few in my Etsy shop to see if they’d sell. And they did, but slowly. I also happened upon a very popular trend at the time – Beeswax food wraps.
Summer of 2019 – I closed the studio and quit massage altogether. It was a tough decision, but the massage was subsidizing the studio during the times when there were no classes, and without it, I couldn’t keep it open. keeping my Etsy shop on a back burner, I did a quick little pivot and sidestep to open a small shop selling Beeswax food wraps as a plastic wrap alternative for 2 years. Then suddenly in 2021 my tabletop gaming sales that were on the back burner started to take over. I’m sure I’ve got more pivots in the future, as the music changes, so do I.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
I sell both on my own website and on Etsy. I chose Shopify to be my website host because I had used WordPress/Woocommerce in the past, and I found it took too much time to maintain that I could otherwise spend making products. Shopify takes care of a lot of that backend maintenance for you, which I completely took for granted previously. There is a lot that goes into creating a website that most people just don’t see. When I drive my own traffic I drive it there. But it is still pretty new. One of the chief benefits of having an Etsy shop, is that they are a platform, they have a search algorithm that really helps to drive traffic to your shop and develop an audience. Which is also simultaneously a downfall, because you are at the mercy of that algorithm, on whether they choose to show your shop, or where you show up in the listings. An Etsy shop is a great way to get started selling online, there are no monthly fees, so you only pay when you list items or make a sale. It’s one of the least expensive selling platforms out there. It has its limitations, but for most small crafters I think it’s a good starting point. You can buy your domain name and point it at your Etsy shop until you are ready for your own website.
Contact Info:
- Website: Geekytendencies.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/geeky_tendencies
- Facebook: facebook.com/geekytendencies
- Twitter: twitter.com/inclined2geek
- Other: pinterest.ca/geekytendencies/ linktr.ee/geekytendencies tiktok.com/geekytendencies
Image Credits
All photos taken by Christine Schmidt & Ferne Hebig