We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Eckert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rachel, thanks for joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?
Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Tell us the story about the last time you had that thought, what was going on, really paint the picture for us so we can understand what you were going through and how you thought through this question and what (if any) conclusions or insights you came to.
I’ve worked both sides of this coin. I am incredibly creative but also have a very analytical mind. I found when I was younger that I could do both things at the same time… create and also carry on in the business world. I’ve been a business owner of creative businesses as well as a professional business in the legal field.
I’ve watched and participated in the online growth of selling platforms, starting out with eBay in 2005, when it was still ‘handmade’ friendly and then moving over to Etsy in 2006, with it’s ‘handmade’, small business footprint. Both of these entities helped with solidifying online sales for me and getting Studio DreamWoven’s name out there.
I also worked, at the same time, for several online selling venues during the last 15 years as an employee. Starting out with 1000Markets, 2008-2010. A start-up selling only high-end handmade items. I came in as their first employee and handled Vendor Onboarding and was their Online Community Manager, and wore all the other hats associated with start-up companies. The business lasted 2 ½ years and because it was remote work I continued to be highly creative, continuing to do art shows, museum exhibits and commissions for my hats.
In 2012-2019 I again worked with another online selling platform start-up, Tophatter, Inc. as a Sr. Merchant Onboarding & Vetting Specialist – Trust & Safety & Legal Vetting specialist, while also working as a Gallery Director for a local new fine art gallery. I found at this point that I was not as creative as I had been and realized that having a ‘job’ was requiring more and more of my creative time and changing how my mind was actually processing any creative ideas.
Towards the end of 2018 I opened a brick and mortar workshop/selling shop, housed within a local art gallery. The creative flow came back but not until I had left both Tophatter, Inc. and the Art Gallery. The pandemic closed things down in March 2020 but I continued using the shop as my workshop and then in October 2020 I was approached by a recruiter for a 6 month job with Etsy, Inc. I wound up staying for 5 years, ending as their Sr. Seller Risk Enforcement – Legal Investigations Liaison & Non-Standard Escalations Specialist. We were 7 months into the pandemic when I started and mandates weren’t lifted until May of 2023. I closed my brick & mortar shop in Sept 2023 as the economy stayed in a slump and I brought everything back into my home studio. I continued creating/working but not to my full capacity. I stopped working with Etsy at the end of July 2025 and the creative flow has returned undaunted!
For me, getting the job at Etsy was like coming full circle from my online selling on Etsy as “DreamWoven” in 2006 and then actually working for Etsy as an employee from 2020-2025 to once again creating and selling as Studio DreamWoven. I learned that the older I got the harder it was to continue the flow of creativeness while working for someone else and while both types of work were worth it to me on so many levels, the analytical mind needed for the type of work I was doing, stunted my creativeness and shoved me into the detrimental circle of feeling trapped by my ‘job’. I love working. I love using my mind for the type of work I kept going back to (analytical, legal, puzzle solving, gap finding, etc.) but there is a freedom that comes along with being a creative, (even a creative that may not be able to financially make it just by being creative), that can’t be replaced or put aside for too long.
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?
Studio DreamWoven came into existence around 2005. I’ve been and still am a pretty diligent writer, I’ve done voice commercials and was an editor for a motorcycle magazine, I’ve been a ‘gorilla girl’ on the carnival circuit and have had a legal business… but I’ve always created things and I’ve always had a love of costumes and different cultures. I consider headwear to be an important piece of a costume, whether it is daily wear or a unique occasion, headwear can make or break what an individual is trying to portray to the world
While I specialize in using fiber or textiles for most of my creations, I will use anything available or any object that I may have collected throughout my life. I can be inspired by a button or a color combination. A leaf or a bead. I am versed in a number of different crafts (i.e.; embroidery, knitting, crocheting, felting, weaving,collage, beadwork, etc.) and will make what I need when creating headwear. Traveling, museums and art galleries provide me with a wealth of inspiration.
I feel that hats and headwear are a very important step in self-presentation. Think of the ‘french beret’ and what it conjures in your mind. Headwear carries associations such as the Kentucky Derby or royalty in the UK, the demureness of the 1920’s cloche hats, or the sexiness and glamour of 1940’s headwear. Hats and headwear play a part in almost every culture and always say significant things about its wearer and what they want to show or represent to others. I’ve had clients come in and try on hats they thought they would never wear, and its amazing to watch their transformation as they try on different styles. Their faces change, their posture changes, all reflecting the fact they are seeing themselves differently dependent upon the hat they are trying on. For me, watching this is priceless.
I enjoy creating art pieces and am finishing up a “Grief Series” that was started several years ago. This can be seen here: https://dreamwoven.com/in-progress. I do a lot of commission pieces and have collectors scattered throughout the US and Europe. A commission request is a process. If you want me to create something for you, then I need to know a bit about you. It becomes a friendly working relationship, give and take. I also tend to keep some of my Pigtail Hats, Attitude Hats and BirdPop hats in inventory, for daily autumn/winter wear.
“I have sold my hats to every type of person imaginable. From Divas to Drag Queens, Fashionistas to Home Grown Dread Wearers, to women of Pristine Condition and Men of Worldly Charm.
We all fit in there somewhere.”
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Word of mouth! Whether it is online or in the community, having a satisfied buyer recommend your product, admire your product, desire your product, compare your product, show photos of themselves with your product or compliment your product, is a force of its own.
People are always curious as to what other people think of something (just take a look at any comments on any subject found on social media!) and “word of mouth” through friends talking to friends, strangers asking where you got xxx, online commentary, podcasts, interviews, etc. carries a lot of weight.
For my headwear, I also think stories along with your product can help build a visual for a prospective client/buyer. I did that for many years and found people were as intrigued by the stories as they were for the headwear!
Also, know your demographic. It can be a wide base demographic or a specific audience, but it is important to understand who you are selling to.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
For me, being a creative is seeing my work become an inspiration for someone else. Having another creative say “This was inspired by Studio DreamWoven’s Inca style hat” makes it worthwhile. Like open source, it encourages others to innovate and allows the generation of new ideas and ways of doing things.
There is also the personal pride in being an artist or creative, watching the growth of confidence in the things you create, and a realization that this is an integral part of who you are. More and more you own your own creativity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dreamwoven.com
Image Credits
©StudioDreamWoven