We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sati Glenn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sati below.

Hi Sati, thanks for joining us today. Do you manage your own social media?

Since my business started out as a complete accident on facebook, I have always handled my own social media. I think it’s important for small businesses to have a voice to go with the brand. If I were to ask someone else to make posts for me, the voice would be different and I’m not willing to sacrifice that. Part of being a career creative is knowing what I like, and being able to make suggestions and offer inspiration to others based on my knowledge and tastes. There is really no way to sub that out. My audience knows me, and I truly believe that if I were to have someone else step into the social media role for me- even if I didn’t tell anyone about it- they’d know.
To succeed with staying up in the algorithms, I make sure to post every day at least once.
I would suggest to anyone struggling to keep up with social media, pick a favorite platform or two and just stick with those. I use mostly facebook, a little bit of instagram, and I have my own website and online calendar that I keep updated. That’s all I have time for, and I feel like that’s enough.
A newsletter has been helpful as well, to reach those who don’t use facebook or aren’t as computer savvy as some.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

This little business started out quite by accident. I taught myself to crochet in order to make clothes for my newest baby. Of course, I was proud of the cute things I was starting to make, and posted to facebook to share with my friends and family. Once people started asking me to make things for them, I started up a facebook group so I could keep everything in one place. Those first few commissions turned into friends of friends of friends asking for all kinds of things. Then requests for local crochet classes. I wanted to learn to knit, so started learning that in my spare time, as well as learning to spin fiber into yarn. I started designing my own crochet patterns when I couldn’t find just what I wanted, and then people asked about purchasing the patterns. That was the start of my online Ravelry store.
Eventually the local museum hit me up to teach a class, and from there I started thinking about how much fun it would be to run a yarn shop. I honestly had no idea I would own one!
Now Rows & Roses Yarn & FIber is a multi-faceted business. I knit, crochet, spin, and weave on commission, I dye a shop label of yarn and fiber, I teach classes, I design patterns, and I make sure that the LYS (that’s Local Yarn Shop, for those not in the know) is an inclusive and welcoming place for all yarnies. We have quite the community of stitchers here, and it’s growing and growing all the time.
Crafters come here for help reading patterns, questions about yarn weights and fibers, and to sit and stitch with friends. There’s always a pot of coffee going, and music plays every day. Our crafting community comes in all ages, races, and identities. It’s so much fun to meet new people who are into the same things as I am and hear there stories, see their work, and share ideas with them. The inspiration is never-ending.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I do dye a whole line of yarns and fibers, Rows & Roses Hand-dyed. My dyeing partner Bianca and I are busy in the dye studio quite often, playing around with different ideas. Most of my inspiration is drawn from the seasons. I’ve found myself to be very seasonally-driven, and do a lot of nature inspired colorways.
We dye semi-solids, tonals, variegated, and our own type of speckles that we like to call “splitter splatter.” We dye full skeins, as well as mini skeins of yarn, and fiber for our spinners to spin into yarn.
I taught myself to dye years ago, in my kitchen, watching youtube videos and looking through books. Dyeing in a home kitchen is not enjoyable to me at all! I’d have to clean everything first, then dye with dyeing-specific pots and tools, and then have to clean it all up again. All this for only 2-4 skeins of yarn. It was so tiring, and then of course I wouldn’t want to cook supper after that (even though I LOVE to cook, and make all the meals in my home.) It was just….. a lot.
I am so thankful that the shop I moved into had a big room in the back that was perfect for a dye studio. Now we dye 50-100 skeins of yarn at a time, and since everything stays set up for dyeing, it’s much more enjoyable.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

When Rows & Roses was just a little group on facebook, most of my clients came from word of mouth. A client would post a picture of what I had made for them, and their friends and family would see it and want to know where they got it. I participated in co-ops as well: groups that did large orders from makers at a small discount. It was along the lines of… if the group purchases 10 pairs of mitts, I’ll do them at a 10% discount. If they purchase 20, I’ll offer a 15% discount, more than 20 and I’ll offer a 20% discount. This kept me too busy for a life, and I didn’t do it for long. The exposure was so worth it, though! After about a year or so of doing coops, my group had more than tripled. Sometimes you really do have to get down to get up. I’m fortunate that things went so well. Now that R&R is also a brick and mortar shop, word of mouth is still king around here. Business cards and event flyers are great for in-store customers, and facebook and the website pretty much cover everything else. I don’t pay for ads often because I haven’t found that I need to. If people can leave with a sense being so happy that they came to visit, they will tell everyone.

Contact Info:

• Website: shop.rowsandroses.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rowsandroses/
• Facebook: facebook.com/rowsandroses
• Other: My blog, full of tips, tricks, and free patterns: rowsandroses.com