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

Jessy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I often joke that as a self employed person I have a terrible boss. She’s got such unrealistic expectations about what I can get done in a day, and I haven’t had a raise in years!

Of course that boss is me and I only have my self to blame. I do sometimes think longingly of a job that I can leave at the office, of tasks that don’t follow me home at the end of the day.

The unavoidable truth as a small business owner is that when there are unassigned tasks on the roster those tasks belong to you. I’m a big believer in hiring people when possible and my staff is amazing, but there is always something left to do at the end of the day. Sometimes I am the garbage man, hauling cardboard to the recycler, sometimes I’m the star of our promotional videos! Sometimes those things happen on the same day.

It is exhausting, and there are more than a few moments when I think about chucking it in, but then I realize that I was never the kind of employee who could clock out without my mental gears churning over the problems of the day. I have a brain that refuses to sit quietly. I don’t have an “off” mode and if my destiny is to be the owner of an unrelenting idea factory, then I want that factory to be working for me, not for someone else.

Jessy, 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 decided to open a fabric store because I was not happy with the ready-made clothing options available to me, and when I sewed my own clothes I had trouble finding quality fabrics and patterns. So I decided to open a fabric store specializing in ethically sourced, natural fiber fabric with patterns from independent, modern designers so that other people could come to this amazing hobby/lifestyle without the stress of sourcing quality materials.

Ready-to-wear clothing fits everyone badly, and when I talk to our customers about their fit issues I’ve found that most of us take that experience extremely personally. It’s embarrassing to talk about how clothing doesn’t fit properly because we assume that that is a unique experience. “Everyone I see on the street is wearing clothes that seem to fit okay, so the problem must be me.” This experience is even worse for people whose style or gender expression doesn’t match the clothes that are available for their body type.

The problem is not you. The problem was never you. The problem is an industry that has designed clothes for the fastest possible production rather than the best possible product.

It is my very great privilege to watch people fall in love with themselves when they are able to produce clothing that flatters their body and matches their personal style.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

We were scheduled to host our 1 year anniversary party in April of 2020 when we were suddenly shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a small business person I felt extremely lucky that our products were not perishable like our restaurant neighbors. I knew as I was locking my door that my fabrics would be there when I got back, although I had no idea how long that would be.

What I had no way of knowing in that moment was that handmade fabric masks would suddenly become a sought after medical item with inexhaustible demand.

I went from sewing fabric from my storefront, to giving away fabric for free from my front doorstep, and then very suddenly the supply chain lost pace with demand, especially for items like elastic and black fabric.

I already had some import relationships with companies overseas, so I was able to keep elastic in stock after other stores in the area were sold out. I also committed to giving away supplies for free to anyone who was selling for donation, which seems like a poor business decision when our shop front was closed and rent was still due every month.

Without even soliciting donations people started fundraising for us to continue free supply distribution and we were able to supply fabric and supplies for 20,000 masks that were donated to our surrounding communities.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

We gain our most loyal customers through our classes.

Sewing is gaining in popularity but there is a lack of quality instruction for ultimate beginners. We jokingly call our beginner class “I’ve never seen a sewing machine before,” and we teach the absolute basics without condescension or expectation. I watch my student’s shoulders while they are sewing and if I see them creeping up towards their ears with tension then we take a break and do some chair exercises to loosen up.

Somewhere between kindergarten and high school we pick up the perception that acquiring a new skill is hard, and that we have failed if we don’t achieve immediate mastery. At least half of our beginner classes are reassuring people that mastery comes with practice and that perfection is actually impossible to achieve, otherwise it wouldn’t be perfection.

When you create a positive environment where people can explore without judgement they want to come back, and when you guide them through the completion of a project that brings them pride, they will come back again and again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://seamsfabric.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seamsfabric/ and https://www.instagram.com/seamsfabric.kzoo/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seamsfabric and https://www.facebook.com/seamsfabric.kzoo/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessy-gregg-569889b2/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@seamssewingandmercantile460
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/seams-sewing-and-mercantile-kalamazoo

Image Credits

All photos were taken by me, Jessy Gregg, and feature students at our classes and events who have given their permission for their likeness to be used.