We recently connected with Hannah Stevens and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Hannah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Hello! My name is Hannah, and I’m the owner of Nahnahs! I’m 24 years old, and I started this small business in 2024 shortly after graduating college. I started this business, because my life changed drastically when I moved back home to NJ. I had a new full-time job, only 2 friends still home in NJ, and starting to learn how to live between both my parents houses really for the first time. I always bought so many sweatshirts, and comfy clothes, but always felt like I was settling on things that were just so basic. I wanted a cricut machine for a while, so my mom gave me the idea to start making my own sweatshirts/sweatpants and to sell them on Etsy. I have used a lot of my inspiration from trending clothing and pattern styles with trying to put my own spin on it in order for create designs that make people say “I’ve never seen that before, I love it!”. Not knowing where that was going to take me, but fast forward a year into this small business endeavor, and I just can’t believe where Nahnahs has been! Nahnahs gave me such a purpose this past year, and has allowed me to share my creativity in such a fun and rewarding way. I didn’t think how far I’d come in a year, and we are no where near what I have planned, but I am so THANKFUL for everyone who has supported this dream of mine – even when I didn’t even know where it was going at times. “Nahnah” was the nickname that my aunt gave me when I was a baby, so I thought it was the perfect name for my business. This brand represents me, my family & friends, and current trends in every piece I make. I have had so much fun with everything so far, and I can’t wait to see where we go in 2025!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I sell sweatpants, sweatshirts, tshirts, shorts, baby tees, tote bags, and hats. I also just started to get back into sewing this past year, and since have added hand- sewn cosmetic/travel/makeup bags & scrunchies as well! So basically, if you want something trendy, cute or comfy – come shop at Nahnahs! Keychains, car decals and hand-poured soy candles are going to be added to the shop in 2025 as an additional layer of retail items, more of a way to give people many levels of items to shop & a scent that represents us other than clothing and accessories. I feel like my brand is definitely unique, even though I try to follow a lot of current trends. I try to keep the designs minimalist, but try my best to ALWAYS stick to how something matches the brand. When making my designs, coming up with packaging, and even creating content to post to social media, I try very hard to make the branding very similar so people know what to expect from me. I want every aspect of my brand to make sense and to give people a vision in their head. I am very proud of myself for always checking this and trying new things slowly. If it’s not perfect to me, I will wait to release it until it’s ready!! It’s really easy to want to do everything at once. Learning how to run a small business is hard, but also being the only person to make everything, be the social media manager, and take care of all the back end work is extremely exhausting! It’s a learning curve for sure, but it is something that I am so passionate about. I have so much envisioned for the future and I just hope I can deliver. Loving what I do keeps me motivated to where I want to just do more & grow. Especially, for my clients. My client base is amazing and I love my customers that shop at Nahnahs!! They have a great sense of humor, love to look cute and be comfy simultaneously, and are extremely supportive.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best source of new clients definitely has to be from the in person events! Becoming a vendor at craft shows, street fairs, and other kinds of events in need of vendors is what really changed the game for my small business. Selling in person and interacting face to face with clients was so amazing. It was important that I was getting more involved than just being online. This helped me sell my inventory, bring traffic to my Etsy store, and even to set up custom orders for people’s events. Also, this has allowed me to make friends in the small business community to network and have people to reach out to if needed!

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

That I can do it all by myself. I definitely struggle with this a lot, and I think this has to do with always feeling so protective over Nahnahs. This small business is such a proud accomplishment of mine. I feel like I get so many suggestions and ideas from my amazing family and friends, but sometimes I do get overwhelmed. It’s hard to talk about your brand’s vision and get people to understand your vibe completely while taking in so many suggestions. I am, however, trying to let people help me more. I have started asking for more help and have tried to delegate some tasks to my family especially when they offer their help. I appreciate how much they are all there for me, I seriously don’t know what I would do without them!! Shoutout to my entire support system, I love you all!!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://nahnahsbyhs.etsy.com/
• Instagram: @nahnahsbyhannah
• Youtube: @nahnahsbyhannah
• Other: TikTok
  @nahnahsbyhannah

Image Credits

All photos by Nahnahs LLC