We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Crystal Peralta-Martinez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Crystal below.

Crystal, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How has Covid changed your business model?

Covid may have actually been what truly created this business and turned it into what it is today. In early 2020 during the first wave of quarantine closures, I had a few followers on social media reach out to ask if I could create an embroidery kit based on a past finished hoop. From there, the lightbulb went off and my husband convinced me that this would be a great business model for us. Rather than create finished hoops to sell, why not spread the art of embroidery for others to enjoy – especially now that a good majority of the world (at that time) was stuck indoors and in search of something to keep themselves busy.

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?

A true native “Desert Dweller” and Arizonan who spent her weekends visiting her extended family right across the border in Puerto Peñasco. These weekend drives through the desert and immaculate views of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument truly molded me into the plant lover I am today. As the youngest of four sisters I had many great influences on my life. My father worked across the country as a scallop fisherman for a good majority of my life and was away for months at a time. At the age of 5 I lost my mother to breast cancer and was then raised by three older (but still teenage) sisters – this may be the key ingredient into my self-development from here on out.

Fast forward a handful of years later past the initial trauma and hurdles I had to overcome, I came across an embroidery artist on Instagram (Sarah K. Benning) whose work caught my attention. I immediately knew I wanted to pick up this art form and give it a try. I had tried cross-stitch during my childhood which I truly enjoyed and recall the memory of working through tedious patterns with my godmother. During 2016 in my sophomore year of college at ASU I decided to pick up an embroidery hoop and thread to try embroidery in between my classes. I was immediately hooked!

Luckily my time at college came with several long breaks between classes and on-campus work that had a lot of downtime. Thread and needles quickly took over my desk and my classes provided great insight into the world of plants and landscape – which in turn added fuel to the fire for my embroidery addiction. During my time in college I juggled my time between studio (5-hours long) classes and at one point three part-time jobs (at the same time) to keep myself afloat. To say I was “busy” is an understatement, yet I turned to embroidery to be a creative outlet which provided me with stress relief.

Later that year my boyfriend at the time (now husband) suggested I start an Etsy. I thought it was silly but figured I had nothing to lose. I listed a finished embroidery hoop of a desert landscape and to my surprise, it sold within a few hours! From here I decided to join in on local craft fairs and turned my stress reducing hobby into an additional “job”.

In 2020 this small “hobby” business truly turned into a full-time small business. We’ve transformed our model to share the art of embroidery and teach the art form for stress relief. This creative outlet has allowed me to heal from personal trauma and in turn has brought some amazing opportunities to my life (like our kits being sold online with Anthropologie and across North America in local boutiques) as well as the kindest humans I have ever met.

Along with Sunday Mornings Shop I do work full-time as a Landscape Designer and continue to run it parallel so that the art of embroidery can spread. I’ve learned from life and COVID that stress runs through everyone’s veins and we all need a way to decompress. While sharing this stress relief hobby, I have been able to create the Las Joyas Collection which is a quarterly donation of embroidery kits to those undergoing treatment for Breast Cancer along with survivors who are overcoming their personal trauma through the chemotherapy process as a way to honor my mothers legacy.

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

Although my audience is still fairly small, the social media world is always changing and can truly change lives. A few key takeaways I’ve learned over the years is to be yourself – your true audience is interested in what you have to say and offer versus strictly being “sold” to. Share behind the scenes stories, your life and more! This will be key in creating a real community with your audience. It may not be the quickest way to grow but it will be the most rewarding.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

Alongside our main website we use Etsy and a wholesale platform, Faire. In my eyes, the biggest “pro” to having our own website is we are not losing funds in fees and marketing such as those we would lose by selling on a third-party site. However, Etsy and Faire are large platforms themselves with their own audience which would not have heard of us had we not been on these platforms. Although they have higher fees, the reach to potential customers is far greater than if I sought those connections on my own.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sundaymorningsshop.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sundaymorningsbloggers/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SundayMorningsShop
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystaldperalta/
• Other: Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SundayMorningsShop