We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Samantha Powers a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Samantha , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
My mission behind SaveMeSomeHoney is to encourage others to love and accept themselves for who they are. When I was in ninth grade, I was diagnosed with panic disorder. That started a decade long struggle for me. I developed a very bad relationship with myself. I hated myself. I hated how I looked and I hated how anxious I was. I felt like there was something wrong with me. After years and years of working on myself I realize how important it is to be in your own corner. I realize how important it is to give yourself grace and space to grow. I realize how important loving yourself is. I had a dark cloud over me for so long and now I only want to spread light.
I started my business during the COVID lockdown in 2020. I was feeling incredibly lost and had many conversations with my family discussing what I wanted to do in this life. I felt purposeless. At the time, my brother was selling stickers on Etsy and encouraged me to make my own to sell too. I decided to give it a try. I started designing stickers with positive affirmations on them, words that I felt like I would love to see myself. I eventually built a small following posting my stickers on instagram and started making sales on Etsy. Then, I slowly transitioned to making shirts with positive affirmations on them.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Samantha. I am a 26 year old small business owner. I design/sell affirmation apparel, jewelry and accessories.
I worked at my family run heavy truck shop as an office manager starting in 2016. In 2020, after encouragement from my brother I opened an Etsy shop selling hand drawn stickers. As my instagram following grew, that eventually evolved to me designing t-shirts and sweatshirts with positive affirmations on them. I did this on side until 2022 when I took my business full time.
I am most proud of the positive impact I am making on others. Over the years, I have received hundreds of messages from my followers letting me know how good they feel when wearing SaveMeSomeHoney. I have gotten messages telling me that my apparel acts as a “comfort blanket” or a “shield from negativity”. Those messages are what keeps me going.
I put out messages that would’ve been good for me to see when I was younger and struggling with my mental health. My most popular design being my ‘I am’ sweatshirt. It shows ‘I am’ on the front and has a large paragraph of completing positive affirmations on the back. These truly feel so special for me to ship out all across the country.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I have definitely had to pivot at the beginning of my business. I started designing and selling stickers. I had my stickers printed by a company called StickerMule. I realized that the profit margin was very small with stickers and it would be hard for me to turn my business into a full time job on just stickers alone. So, I made the choice to start making t-shirts and sweatshirts with my Cricut. Now, I am able to have the majority of my pieces printed by a professional screen printing company which was such a cool transition for me.
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
I currently sell on Etsy and Squarespace. The majority of my sales are made on my website through Squarespace. I originally started my business selling on Etsy, which was great way for new customers to discover my shop. But, as I made more sales on Etsy, the more I saw the listing/transaction/shipping fees add up. I knew I had to find another avenue to sell. That is when I decided to make my own website. I drive the majority of the traffic to my website through Instagram and TikTok.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://savemesomehoney.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savemesomehoney/