We recently connected with Mélina Bernhardt and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mélina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.

This is a question that has been coming up more often lately as people compliment me and my business model.

The first thing that I feel my parents did right is to introduce me to nature and our interconnectedness. I grew up in the countryside, playing in the dirt, watching my parents garden and being ecologists in their own way. I remember when I was ten maybe my dad showing me why we did not buy this cookie box. Because the cookies came in a plastic tray, wrapped in a plastic foil and then in a cardboard box. Now I even go as far as saying that they are industrial and I’d rather make my own or buy them at a small local bakery. All that to say that they gave me an ecological base that I have been riffing off of and try to take further in my personal life and my business as a craftivist.

I have patience and am empathetic. These seem to go together for me. When I teach my different fiber arts classes I have often been told I am patient. I have an ease at putting myself in other people’s shoes. I remember teaching one person to knit and they worked on one stitch and mastering it for one hour. And another person a week later learning to knit, then purl, then to fix a mistake, understand the engineering part of knitting, all in one hour. I encouraged both students the same way because to me we all have different capabilities and learning facilities. My father is German and my mother is French. Growing up in France and being different from all the other people – especially in the country – I think made me tolerant of others, empathetic and not ever assuming that one way was always the high way or only way. That we are all different and have different needs and qualities.

Mélina , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I grew up in France, in the country with a German dad and a French mom. My mom loves art and has always painted, knitted and sewn. My dad loves nature and is a carpenter. I say this because it is a little summary of part of who I am also. Twenty years ago I started working at a local yarn shop, Lambspun of Colorado, as an office administrator. That small business was like a family. After a while I was asked if I knew how to knit. My mom had taught me knitting and crocheting when I was about twelve and I had not kept it up until at twenty one I found myself at Lambspun and picked up knitting and crocheting again and then learnt to weave, spin, felt,… and teach all of these trades. After almost fifteen years of working at Lambspun on and off – between occasional returns to Europe – I was ready to “fly from my own wings”. A few friends had been telling me when I made a nice leather purse, or a patchwork for myself that they would absolutely buy one from me and that I should make more. A seed was planted in my mind and in 2016 I opened my own business. I started as Mélina Bernhardt Creations, then Mélina Bernhardt and finally Mélina Be. At that time I was discovering the business world, simplifying, yoga and being in the moment. To Be and the beginning of my last name – a truncated version of it. I sold on Etsy and at local makers markets. Today I am excited to have a website and to be teaching everything I know how to make. As a fiber artist I love to weave, knit, crochet, spin, felt, make jewelry and leatherwork, basket making, I teach all of these trades and still sell my wearable art at local markets. I blogged recently about how I love to meet and talk to people at markets. I say it’s good P.R. because I don’t have to sell a lot every time I have a market but I always get to meet and talk to potential customers and people working at the venue.

One of the first things I can think of that may set me apart is that I use a lot of re-used or reclaimed material in my creations and when I teach. Sustainability is very high on my priority list in my business and personal life. There is always room to grow and I feel as though when I share this ecological and sustainable passion of mine with my customers and students I learn from them also. I read books about Zero waste and try to better myself and my business in that regard.

I love that my business is always changing, morphing, that I am learning so much and sharing my passion with others. I just started advertising and focusing more on teaching so that people can get the pleasure of making art themselves and not just buying it – from me. Or realizing how hard it can be and then buy it from me.

When I doubt myself and if my business is going to grow more I think of the new opportunities I am given like teaching at a museum, having art shows in local galleries, selling a woven blanket – one of my priciest pieces or teaching a party – also literally – of six friends wanting to learn from me together.

Any fun sales or marketing stories?

A year or two ago I was so excited when someone in Belgium bought one of my woven blankets. Someone I didn’t know, in another country who bought my highest priced item. I packaged the blanket nicely, wrote a personal note, went to the post office, paid for shipping and filled out a customs form.
The package was taking forever to be delivered. I was in touch with the buyer, his girlfriend’s birthday wasn’t for another month or so. Maybe it was Christmas actually. Finally after a few back and forth emails and my detective work – my sister’s help in France – with the post office to figure out what happened we realized the package was stuck in customs. They evaluated the goods and decide how much the customer had to pay in customs and they took their time doing this. The long and short of it was that my Belgian customer could finally pick up the package at the post office and pay the equivalent of half the price of my blanket in customs. I felt so bad and reimbursed him for the customs fee. Later I read other Etsy sellers’ clauses where they tell the buyer they will have to pay the customs taxes. That the seller will not. And also realized that no small makers and sellers declare the goods sold like this in another country.

I felt doubly betrayed because my honesty caused me to get penalized and the package took two months to get delivered. The funny ending of the story is that in all this time my customer had separated from his girlfriend and the blanket was his.

I always make limeade when given limes so I took this as a good learning experience to have under my belt.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

I would say local markets and posting on Instagram and Facebook. Some word to mouth also. However I am planning on reaching my community with a few flyers. I know a lot of people – like myself – who are not satisfied with too much screen time and social media advertising. Instead we would rather focus on face to face communication and visiting local businesses to bring flyers, restock inventory and support their business while at it. It’s a fine balance between sanity, mental health and saving paper!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.melinabe.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melina_._be/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelinaBeArt
• Linkedin: Melina Bernhardt
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/Melimome

Image Credits
Sunshine Lady Photography