We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michelle Bell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michelle below.

Michelle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

The thing I love most about what I do is seeing people enjoy it. Even if it’s just someone who walks by my table at a market saying “how cute!” The smiles and joy I see it bring others makes everything so much more fulfilling.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I make crocheted and hand crafted goods under Sweet Belle Makes. My grandmother taught me to crochet as a child and I picked it back up as an adult. I started off with things like scarves and blankets, but really found joy in making crocheted animals and toys. Not only are the stuffed animals fun to make, as you start with a plain stitch and end up with a cute figure, but seeing other people enjoy them is the best part. I also love doing custom work as it’s usually something I haven’t done before and lets me try out something new and different. I still think I have quite a ways to go with my business, but I am proud of how much I’ve been able to achieve so far. When you run your own business you have to be the marketing team, photographer, finance person, creator, all of it. So it’s interesting to see what else you’re capable of. There are great resources out there to help someone piece it all together, so I want others to feel encouraged to do so as well. I think everyone can find their own support system and cheer team if you keep looking for it.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

My husband is constantly telling me I undervalue my work. I think it’s a common theme among small business owners, but especially women. The popularity of mass produced items has really formed our ideas of what pricing should be like, but it’s important to remember that your time is valuable. Instead of a machine, it’s one person hand making something with love and care which can take hours. The challenge is I really want things to be affordable, but also some stuffed animals can take me days to make. As a result I’m constantly asking my husband and friends how much I should charge and they’re always reminding me how much I put into each item.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I started off crocheting scarves, blankets, household items just for fun. Next I was making hats, scarves and things for friends and coworkers. I’ve always loved craft fairs and farmers markets so I thought I’d try doing one of those to see how it went. It was terrible. I barely made my booth fee back, the only thing that really sold were these crocheted Christmas light bulb ornaments I made. They were my first try at Amigurumi and it was fun to make something cute that people might keep as a memento, so I tried more little animals and decorations. Then I was addicted. Seeing my friend’s kids play with them really settled it for me. I was making all the animals and selling to friends of friends so I decided to try markets again. Markets are now my absolute favorite way to sell items. Interacting with customers and hearing stories an item reminded them of or how their grandmother crocheted, it makes my heart happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.sweetbellemakes.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/sweetbellemakes
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sweetbellemakes
• Tiktok: https://tiktok.com/@sweetbellemakes