We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Gyger recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sarah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

I feel very strongly about this actually! The people in my life who understand the why behind my business are my closest family and friends and I’ve never had to ask them to share my content on social media or support my business in any way. They just do it! Without being asked. And I think that’s very telling. The people who think it’s going to come across as “sales-ie” (which I’ve actually been told when I’ve asked people to share my content) are not the people my business is made for. I have several close friends who sell clothing online or have an online business and they have shared my business, and supported me, with people they know who would enjoy it. And I do the same for them. It’s a wide world and there is room for everyone if we just realize it is about community not competition. So I don’t generally ask for support specifically. It gets offered freely and that just shows I’ve got some really amazing people in my life!

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.

I started Clever Girl Apparel in 2021 after thinking about it for years. I’m a long time nerd and an avid comic convention attendee. And one year when trying to put a comic con outfit together I realized that all the nerdy clothes available were heavily branded or just not my style. I wanted something I could wear everyday, to school drop offs, brunches, Date nights, and to nerdy events. But I sat on that idea for years, until one day, after being around an amazing group of women who all had their own small businesses, I decided to take the leap. I realized the only thing in my way was me. And the thought of failure kept me tied down for too long. I realized that yes, I could fail. And if that happened It would be painful, but not trying would be devastating. I also had the thought that there is no way I’m the only one in the world who feels this way about nerdy things. It took a while to fine tune what direction I wanted to go in, but once I realized that there are so many amazing and supportive fandoms out there I just knew I was on the right track. Fandoms are everywhere and everyone’s fandom deserves to be represented.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My social media journey is ever evolving! I don’t have a huge following, and that used to really irk me. I would think if I could just reach x amount of followers I could get so many more sales. Or if I have just x more views on my content it would go viral. I think a lot of small businesses feel this way. But about 2 months ago, I decided to stop counting followers, stop looking at views and just focus on making content I would want to watch, that would be entertaining for me. I also don’t really niche down. I know that works for some creators where they niche down and down and down and only show that specific content. And that is great for them, but I can’t do that. 1, I don’t have the time and 2. I just love too many things and I think anything can be fandom! And I’m all about fandoms! So I don’t think there’s a big secret way to grow, So I just make sure I post consistently and make sure I change it up between videos and pictures and stories. And most importantly I make sure it’s true to me and my brand.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I sell on both my own website and etsy. And I’ve heard it described like this;

Etsy is like the mall, someone goes there to shop for a specific item and hopefully they pick mine.
My website is more like a boutique. Someone comes in specifically to browse around your stuff.

And that analogy has always stuck with me.

The pros and cons are varied but having your own website is nice because you can set it up however you want! But you also have to drive your own traffic to it. While with Etsy, you are set in how you set it up, but it’s such a well known platform that people go there first. So it’s a trade off. Right now I definitely get more traffic from Etsy, but when I’m out there promoting my business I drive my customers to my website.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.clevergirlapparel.com
• Instagram: @clevergirlapparel
• Facebook: @clevergirlapparel
• Other: I’m @clevergirlapparle on tiktok also

Image Credits
Doce photography Clever Girl Apparel