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

Claudia , appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Prior to establishing my business, Camper Kiddos Handmade, sewing was something I would only do for my children. It was just me, and my two sewing machines in the little kitchen table of our RV. We were traveling frequently for my husband’s occupation. We were living the happy camper life. I made Easter outfits for my four kids, early 2019, and I would post sneak peaks of them in my Facebook stories. I would work on their outfits every little chance I’d get. As I started posting more of my sewing and creations, I started receiving messages from some of my Facebook friends that were small business owners. They would complement my work and told me I should start a business. In my mind, I was like no way! Me? A business? At that time I thought that was out of my reach.Prior to establishing my business, Camper Kiddos Handmade, sewing was something I would only do for my children. It was just me, and my two sewing machines in the little kitchen table of our RV. We were traveling frequently for my husband’s occupation. We were living the happy camper life. I made Easter outfits for my four kids, early 2019, and I would post sneak peaks of them in my Facebook stories. I would work on their outfits every little chance I’d get. As I started posting more of my sewing and creations, I started receiving messages from some of my Facebook friends that were small business owners. They would complement my work and tell me I should start a business. In my mind, I was like no way! Me? A business? At that time, I thought that was out of my reach.
A few weeks passed by, and I hopped on a Facebook buy, sell, & trade group to post some distressed denim I had made. I would thrift denim shorts, overalls, and pants. I would then, distress them and sew on cute fabric patches. I love to up-cycle clothing.
A wonderful lady from Kentucky ended up buying the up-cycled denim overalls. When she received them in the mail, she messaged me saying how much she loved them and mentioned that I should start a business for my creations. A complete stranger’s inspiring words in my inbox was the little extra motivation I needed.
I later brought the idea to my wonderful and supportive husband, and he was all for it. He’s my rock and sanity through all the chaos a business brings along.
I took a leap of faith and began my journey as a Seamstress. We came up with the name Camper Kiddos and registered it. I started an official Facebook page for my business on April 2nd, 2019 and was ready to take orders.
Orders started to flow in and the word spread. In my almost 5 years of being in business I have fulfilled an estimated 6,000 orders. I also started a women’s handmade clothing business in 2023. This would not be possible without the love and support from my family, my reps & customers throughout the years, and of course the inspiring words from complete strangers whom now I call friends.
To celebrate our 5th year business anniversary this year, I am very excited and thankful to be able to announce on this platform that I will be changing the name of Camper Kiddos Handmade to “My Kiddos Seamstress”. This name change is a celebration of growth, and a new stepping stone for my business and entrepreneurship. So, make sure you follow my business socials to get a look at my new logo when I release it! I am very excited to see what the future holds for my business. Making my children proud and building a good standing business and legacy is the most important thing to me.

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.

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

Having an audience is the core of having a successful business. You need people to buy your products in order to keep growing and stay open. My audience for my sewing business grew with the help of reps that help promote my business throughout the years. They become like a virtual family to me. Reps help me reach a larger audience in exchange for discounts and freebies. Who doesn’t like freebies? Doing collaborations with other small shops has also boosted my engagement. There’s been so many amazing small businesses I’ve encountered along my journey that have partnered with me and shared their platform with me to reach a larger audience.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

One of the biggest things I’m proud of, from my business, is that every single garment that has ever been ordered, is manufactured by my hands only. I’ve been told along the way, “You should hire someone to help you sew so you can take more orders.” Ummm. No thank you. I strongly believe no one will take care of craftsmanship and quality better than I do for my business. So, to this day, every style is still sewn up by me in a corner of my house, and I am very proud and thankful for that.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.camperkiddos.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camperkiddoshandmade
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camperkiddos
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@camperkiddoshandmade Facebook VIP Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/camperkiddoshandmadevip