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

Hi Heather, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I knew I wanted the name to be descriptive and convey that it was a bag that kept its contents cool. From the outside Bergy Bag looks like a beautiful clutch, but it has a cool secret. It’s insulated and has an ice pack. In searching for the perfect descriptive word I learned that a Bergy Bit was a chunk of an iceberg. Icebergs definitely represent COLD and there I landed on Bergy Bag.

Heather, 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?

Hi, I am Heather, and I have lived in Arizona for over 20 years. Each summer I am deliberate in what I pack for the day in my makeup bag. Far too many days have ended with melted mascara, lip gloss, lip balm, and exploded sunscreen and serums. If my makeup bag was in the heat for too long the contents were destroyed. And as I graduated from a flip phone to a smartphone the heat would cause my phone to stop working and flash a message that said something to the effect of “too hot to handle.” I tried solutions to keep my essentials from having to be replaced, but nothing made me feel like the adult, businesswoman I am. My daughter’s insulated emoji lunch bag wasn’t sending the right message in client meetings or poolside while I was on a romantic getaway with my husband. I wanted something that was both stylish AND cooling. So, from that need Bergy Bag was created! For a couple of years, I pored over the details and construction of Bergy Bag spending countless hours sampling material, zipping zippers, snapping pockets, and testing cooling times to see the minute the ice pack should be rotated. It was important to me to have a quality piece so that your investment in both our bag and the items you put in would last. Our bags are made with Saffiano leather and are insulated, each comes with its own ice pack and fits perfectly into a pocket that says “brrr…it’s cold in here”. My hope is that Bergy Bag helps you keep cool, brings you joy, and adds a little elevated style to your day.

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

Manufacturing was the most intimidating step for me. At first, I didn’t know what I was asking for so it was frightening to even call a manufacturer. I first started by subscribing to Maker’s Row and spent hours filtering by keywords like “low minimums, works with beginners, and builds samples”. After reading reviews on countless companies, I got the courage to send a submission through the website of a New York City manufacturer. I got a call and was very nervous communicating with this fast-talking New Yorker. She was encouraging and in the end, worked with me to build two samples. After I had the first sample in my hand I traveled to an LA Textile Show and met a consultant who introduced me to a firm that would be my liaison to a manufacturer in China. I can’t say enough about this firm, they were professional, and timely and walked me through each phase of the process. My lessons are countless but the main one is it’s important to communicate accurately and when in doubt video yourself describing the changes. Working in different languages this seemed to be the best way to get a message across.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

I sold a property management business in 2017. It was a business that I had poured blood, sweat, and tears (oh so many tears) into for over a dozen years.

Property management is all about timelines, schedules and accounting. Each day there are tasks to complete by all levels in the company. Once you get it going it’s like a juggernaut which is great but maybe hard to put the brakes on.

Here’s my mistake. I was so used to being involved (and in charge) each day that once the handoff was complete I may have overstayed my welcome with the purchasing firm. They really didn’t need me to chime in, but I was so used to running the show I may have put my foot in my mouth and stayed too long at meetings I was never really invited to.

As you exit, be clear to not only the party you are handing off to but to yourself. Switching gears is hard but it will happen one morning and you NEED to own it. You may grieve the former business like a kid going off to college, at that is fine, but don’t overstay your welcome. Define your role to the purchasing party and most importantly to yourself. It’s okay to let others take the reins after all that’s what you wanted!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bergybag.com
• Instagram: @bergybag
• Facebook: @bergybag
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-dziedzic-3821a3/
• Youtube: @bergybag

Image Credits
Sarah Hoag