We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Fairbanks a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
Success is all in the eye of the beholder. I did not have success throughout my career but through the learned experiences of my path. Early on, I had a lot of incredible press coverage, was featured in news articles and fashion shows and received a number of awards. But behind the scenes, I was broke and barely making ends meet. I lived in the back of my store, in a loft my dad helped me build with my sewing machines underneath to conserve space. I slept on half a futon next to a stack of fabrics and cooked my meals in my toaster oven and microwave.
It wasn’t until more recently that I’d consider myself to have been successful, mainly because I survived the early years of business. I did not know what path my career would take, nor did I really know what I ultimately enjoyed doing. That took quite a while to figure out. What I do consider to be successful is not giving up and being willing to pivot when you discover your path is not taking the route of your liking.
I began my fashion design career at FIT in NYC. I loved everything about design and when I got my first job out of school I was absolutely miserable. I hated every second of it. It took me 2 days to determine that was not something I ever wanted to do again. Not the design, per se, but the working for others part. I took a hiatus for a few years before getting back into designing, but for myself.
I began building a portfolio, saved up my funds and eventually made the move out to San Francisco where I dreamt of starting my own clothing line. It was fun and exciting, but I funded my business endeavors with about a half dozen simultaneous jobs. Looking back, I have no idea how I did that. Over the course of my 8 years in the bay area, I had a clothing line, taught fashion design at a university, had a store and a design studio. I closed up my business in 2009 to discover that selling off my supplies was the most profitable business I had encountered at this point.
Because of that new found knowledge and the shifting of my business to selling supplies, and ultimately education, I finally starting seeing the path I was always meant to take. I continued to teach, wrote books and built my supply business to grow my new passion of education. While I created a nonprofit design school, I was bottoming out with another struggling business, all while my supply business flourished.
I eventually closed the school and decided to focus on the “successful” business I inadvertently created in 2009. I then slowly decided to design again, but this time I chose not to manufacture my creations, but offer my designs as digital patterns for other people to make on their own. It is through that path that I finally feel like I have achieved success. While the business pivoted several times to accommodate my lifestyle, I never felt my business endeavors were unsuccessful during the low points in my career financially. The success I felt at those times, was more in recognition. I don’t think I’d be where I am today without all those growth points, both high and low.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a fashion designer, pattern maker, business owner, educator and author. I have written multiple books in the fashion industry in pattern drafting, won awards and founded the business Porcelynne in 2002. My main business Porcelynne provides lingerie sewing supplies worldwide and digital sewing patterns that I create and design. As my own business struggled to find the supplies I needed to get going, I now offer lower minimums and reasonable entry points to both retail and wholesale customers. My goal is to not only have a business that supports my family but also supports the community and other small businesses.
Last December I opened Sew Pinellas, a local sewing studio in St. Petersburg, Florida where we offer in person sewing classes. For those a bit further away, I also offer online learning options through Porcelynne. Because my love for educating others has always been something I’ve focused on, I also created a lingerie sewing retreat business earlier this year where we have destination lingerie sewing retreats. Next year, we have a retreat at my studio Sew Pinellas in Florida and a second one in the fall in Scotland. For more info on those specialty retreats, you can check out LingerieRetreat.com.
I wear many hats in my businesses (4 and counting), so finding balance is so important and having a team you an rely on is key. Several years ago, when I started selling online, we realized that we also needed an inventory management software and everything that was available was just not ideal for us. Because of this, my husband developed and created an inventory management software called Epitome Inventory, although that business is mainly focused on growing Porcelynne. One of these days we will offer this software to others, but presently it’s for our in house use.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
I sell on many platforms including my own website. I began selling online after my shop in San Francisco closed. I pivoted from in store sales to online. I had a rudimentary website and and Etsy store. Etsy was a lot different back in 2008/2009 as it was all hand made and supplies. It was actually a place you could be found easily. Etsy is ultimately the reason I went into selling supplies online. I was able to reach a customer base that I did not know existed.
I was recruited to sell on Amazon in 2012/2013. At that point, you could advertise your own website on Amazon and because of the traffic that Amazon was sending my way, they reached out to me to sell directly on Amazon. Its crazy to think that is how Amazon started, given its worldwide growth over the years. I worked with an account rep who helped me set up my products. It has changed so much over the years. I now have a brand on Amazon and am a certified Small Business on Amazon.
There is a lot I have to deal with. When Amazon changes a policy that they don’t really announce it and for months, my listings are buried and nothing sells. I have learned many of their quirks. I now send roughly 500-1000 items a month to them for their own fulfillment services. That seems to keep my products relevant in their searches. I also sell select items on Walmart and Etsy, but not as much as I sell on Amazon. I do about 1/4 of my total sales on Amazon.
I have learned how to optimize selling on Amazon and have been able to successfully convert many business customers from Amazon to my own website. Sending marketing material in all my packages helps in that process. I honestly have a love/hate relationship with Amazon. I love that they have helped me build my business, but hate that I have become someone dependent on them for the business to thrive.
It can be a great place to sell, but you really have to understand how they work. Etsy has become a huge disappointment since they now let everything onto their platform including people selling toilet paper and commercially available soap.
Regardless of the platforms, its so important to have your own site too. If these platforms fail, we need to have our own customer base to continue our growth.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I have built my reputation on providing quality products and reasonable prices. I don’t offer sales or discount codes on my website. I feel like that is training your customers to only buy with a coupon. My prices are good without a sale, so I’m consistent and provide excellent customer service. I can be reached on the phone directly and respond to emails quickly. I also ship next business day. I could only do that with the help of my employee. Consistency is key for a valued reputation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://porcelynne.com
- Instagram: porcelynnesupply
- Facebook: porcelynnesupply
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/porcelynne
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/Porcelynne
Image Credits
Images are all of me teaching at my sewing studio Sew Pinellas.