We were lucky to catch up with Jenny and Kate recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jenny and Kate, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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.
When the idea for our company sparked, Jenny hired me to illustrate a pattern for one of her Interior Design projects that got a lot of foot traffic. We co-developed a Minnesotan Loon wallpaper that was pretty polarizing. There was a lot of love for it and also a lot of side eye. I think that was the project that made us think, hey! We should really do this again. Jenny and I are both very entrepreneurial at heart, so the way it snowballed into a full-blown company felt very natural and almost inevitable!
Jenny and Kate, 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 an illustrator based in Minneapolis. I started creating art when I was very young and luckily never stopped. I studied illustration at Minneapolis College of Art Design, where I fell in love with commercial illustration, portraiture and print and pattern design. I eventually got really excited about the idea of surface design… I loved the thought of artwork being able to live longer and exist in environments and on everyday objects. I personally got into the industry working at Target as a surface designer on the Print and Pattern team. I got to experience making artwork for all sorts of home products! It was like Christmas every time products would land in store. I eventually left to create She She with Jenny!
She She is a wallpaper and textile studio. We offer custom wallpaper and fabric designs.
We have also been building a line of wallpapers that we sell by the yard on our website and at showrooms across the country.
She She will take on collaborations when cool companies approach us! We really love meeting and working with passionate creatives.
And lastly, one of our favorite things to create together is seasonal products for our shop.
We are currently getting ready to launch a line of pillows and we can’t wait to share it with the world!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Jenny and I are always light on our feet. We like to iterate new processes or completely shift directions when we are both feeling like something isn’t working.
A moment that sticks out the most to me is when Covid hit, we were really nervous that our custom projects would taper off, but it was just the opposite! It was a booming time for us.
We just had to pivot our business to meeting with our clients on zoom and it was not only efficient, it was a fun way to bond and create community in a time of isolation.
Our clients were stuck in their spaces and were excited to create custom wallpapers with us. It was kind of like… “We are trapped in here…” Let’s make it pretty!” moment.
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
In the beginning a lot of people found us on Instagram, but now that we are getting into more showrooms, we are seeing a new wave of traffic!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bysheshe.com
- Instagram: @bysheshe
Image Credits
Judith Marilyn @judithmarilyn_