We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rebecca Yuhasz Smith a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Rebecca , appreciate you joining us today. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.

We are a luxury manufacturer/seller of equestrian inspired handbags, belts, accessories, stationery and home goods. All of our leather handbags and accessory products are benchmade in America by our teams of Master Harness Maker Artisans, The balance of our products are supplied by Made in America artisan firms. By staying true to our roots of Master Harness Makers making our product, we create a simply superior product for a reasonable price which our clients appreciate and understand. Additionally, we have eliminated supply chain problems by the fact that everything is here in the states. Finally, we are committed to keeping lost arts of cottage industry, particularly sewing and the benchmade leather work here and alive in this country. Rebecca Ray has been recognized by Oprah Magazine on the Best Made in America List two times and Rebecca was also selected by Country Living Magazine for the Female Entrepreneur search years ago, which really launched her business. Making everything in America is a challenging process, to be clear. Many things are hard to still source here, we must make a superior product and market it as such to maintain our commitment to fair pricing and select artisans who can manage our workload within a cottage industry setting.

Rebecca , 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?

By creating innovative, fresh handbags, accessories, stationery and home goods inspired by equestrian lifestyle, we are clearly fulfilling a niche market. But equestrian style has consistently been a growing category not just for those who have horses, but anyone who aspires to or yearns for a life in the countryside with horses. Rebecca’s eponymous company is by now, a lifestyle brand to be sure. People tune in to see her authentic lifestyle that involves her and her husband managing their hobby farm, Hemlock Lane, where they have lovingly restored a century house and raise top show dogs and Percheron horses all the while both maintaining their jobs. By watching FB and Instagram as well as Rebecca’s insightful blogs, people flock to see how she decorates the house for the seasons, foals being born, sleigh rides and her attendance at Westminster Kennel Club when she’s showing her dogs. Rebecca herself has a Masters Degree in Education and spent a career in non-profit education designing school-industry relevant learning. So to help a huge artisan base in the States is an extension of her core beliefs. Because she is an authentic horse person and many of their products reflect the authenticity of this, including hardware that not only works for a horse’s bridle, it works for a handbag equally as well. Equestrians that buy the Rebecca Ray brand love the authentic nature of the product and the non-equestrians adore the quality. Real Luxury has real roots.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I began Rebecca Ray Designs by making everything myself, at night , in our basement when our daughter was an infant. As the company Rebecca Ray began to gain increased visibility and awards, our sales continued to go up and we suddenly realized that I could not keep up with the work load required to scale the business. We realized that if we couldn’t scale, the business couldn’t grow. The easiest solution would have been to take the manufacturing business abroad. However, at that point, I told my husband that of I was going to make all of the sacrifices involved to run a family business, the business I ran had to be making a difference in our community or the world around us. A tenant from when I was in the non-profit world: “Businesses Doing Well By Doing Good.” That is when we set up the business model that we are still using today, almost 20 years ago. We designed a plan to use artisans from within our community with expertise in a cottage industry setting. This way, these crafts and arts wouldn’t be lost and we can provide training for the next generation of artisans.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have learned to surround myself with the very best people I can who are experts in their various fields. But along the way, I have also learned to examine all the options and consider all avenues, but, in the end, I trust my gut and act in what I consider the best option for good and growth of the company.

Contact Info:

• Website: Rebeccaraydesigns.com
• Instagram: Rebeccaraydesignsusa
• Facebook: Rebecca Ray Designs

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