We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sandy Ghelfi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sandy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I am really happy to be my own boss and to run my own business but sometimes, it’s tiring.
Most people think it’s easy to have no boss and run your own business. They think we can go on vacation whenever we want and sleep in all the time.
But they don’t think about the fact that if we don’t work, nobody does it for us and we don’t get our salary at the end of the month. The first few years are the hardest because you can’t really go on vacation or take days off. We think about our business all the time. And it’s even worse when you have to work with Instagram.
But I wouldn’t change that for the world. I love my work and I’m proud of what I’ve built.

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 mom taught me to embroider and crochet when I was 7. After graduating, I worked as a photographer in the fashion and cosmetics industry. I’ve worked with major brands and influencers.
But one day, just before Covid, I decided to launch my own embroidery business. Covid helped me grow my business because everyone was buying from local small businesses on Instagram.
There aren’t many embroiderers and crocheters in the area where I live so It was easy enough to develop this.
The hardest part was (and still is) changing people’s image of embroidery. Show them it’s not embroidered tablecloths and cushions.
I also give workshops so that people can come and discover these two techniques.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I only sell on my website and at markets. I like being able to manage my sales and products and I find that some of these websites take too big a percentage of sales. It’s not profitable enough for products that aren’t mass-produced or downloadable.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I think it’s important to be able to meet customers or potential future customers. So I’d say the markets.
During events, we can chat with them and explain the story or the creative process.
I’ve been able to set up my own market to showcase local creators. So that they too can meet their potential future customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.doucebroderie.com
• Instagram: https://Www.instagram.com/douce.broderie