We recently connected with Daisy Segura and have shared our conversation below.

Daisy , appreciate you joining us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

I started my business in December of 2022, after losing my 18-year-old daughter to an osteosarcoma childhood cancer relapse.

Grief and loss is very difficult to navigate, and I found crafting helped keep my mind and hands occupied. I started initially spending time in my daughter’s room, and slowly made room for a desk and other items. It became my safe space and place of solace.

After some encouragement from my sister, I decided to start a business, creating personalized gifts. At first, I was unsure of what that would look like, but with time, I started focusing more on custom drink ware and apparel.

I had lots of support from friends and family, and that got me started with orders and eventually going to my first pop-up market, selling premade/handmade items.

My first year of doing markets was in January 2023 and I did not know what I was doing. I managed to complete close to 50 pop-up markets and remember how rewarding that felt but also how much work it was to prep, set up and tear down.

After my first year, I was exhausted from doing pop ups and scaled back the second year as I was receiving regular custom orders and that kept me pretty busy, along with my real job and family life.

That same year, I decided to go to a Sewing and quilting expo, and I made a decision to purchase an industrial embroidery machine after going back-and-forth on where I wanted to go with my business.

That has been the best decision I have made. My business has grown so much in the past year. Along with regular incoming orders, I now have a strong focus on embroidery and i’m grateful for my leap of faith and taking a financial risk.

All items are handmade or touched by me by some form or another. I am a one woman shop, and can guarantee that items are made with love, patience, tears while I work through my grief.

Daisy , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Latina owned small business. I am a bereaved mom who works endless hours to make meaningful products. When you order from me, you are not only supporting a small business, but you are supporting and keeping me busy while I navigate the loss of my daughter.

I’ve worked really hard to build my business and most of my customers have come through word-of-mouth or repeat business. I’ve done minimal marketing other than pop-up’s and markets throughout Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Rio Rancho.

I am proud of the growth I have made personally and with my small business. I get tons of joy when I make personalized and unique gifts, whether that be a special embroidered sweater for mom or a personalized cup for the kid who plays sports.

While my focus is personalized gifts, I am mostly working on embroidery and focusing on that niche.

All of my digitizing is done in house and you can be guaranteed that items made by me will be of high-quality and handmade with love.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My business was inspired by my daughter. She is the driving force and my motivation to continue growing my business. I love talking about my daughter, and I don’t mind sharing her story and explaining why my business is named “Tilly’s shop”. I hope, through my business I can share awareness for childhood cancer and also show that through the difficult times, you can move forward..

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

For me, the month of September is of importance because it is the month for childhood cancer awareness. This year was special because I got to make custom hoodies for all the pediatric/oncology patients at a local hospital. It happens to be the hospital that treated my daughter during her first diagnosis.

What made the special for me, was a beautiful message from one of the nurses who knew my daughter and cared for her. She was overwhelmed with emotions at seeing all the pediatric patients wearing my hoodies. She told me how beautiful it was to see and how proud my daughter would be of me. She was very encouraging and brought everything full circle for me.

The month of September 2024, happened to be my most profitable month since opening my business and I am extremely grateful. What was supposed to be a difficult month for me emotionally, was filled with most rewarding feeling that I have felt since my loss.
It was a time of reflection for me to know that I am doing the right thing and on the right path.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Tillyshopp
• Facebook: Tilly’s Shop
• Other: Etsy. I sell my digital designs for drink ware

Image Credits

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