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

Shannon, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about serving the underserved.

I teach hand sewing and embroidery as after school enrichment. We teach over 50 classes a week, sometimes 500 students are on our rosters. I volunteer in under served communities here in Los Angeles. I made a film where I rode my motorcycle to Selma, Alabama to teach a sewing class at the school where I learned how to read and write.

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 am Shannon Allbright, owner of the company ‘Miss Shannon’s Sewing.’ we teach hand sewing and embroidery to children as after school enrichment. I’m also a filmmaker that made a documentary film called “2500 Miles.’ I rode my motorcycle to Selma, Alabama where I learned how to read and write. I went to my old school in Selma to teach a sewing class to children. When children sew or engage in any creative activity, they talk. I believe hand sewing provided relief to children and adults. When they sew with someone willing to listen, it becomes therapy and creates esteem. I’ve been teaching for 17 years now and I’ve seen the benefits over and over again. I’ve become a sort of evangelist for sewing and believe I’ve contributed to the sewing revival.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I’ve never tried very hard on social media to create a business. I have social media and post but I’ve seen myself creating a much larger audience by becoming a documentary filmmaker… I had never filmed myself sewing with children because of privacy. In our film when I felt like the child needed their words protected, we used music dubbed over the conversation. Social media helps with summer sewing camps and updates with the film. The true success of my business is being a loving and kind teacher. I also hire loving, kind teachers. The parents spread the word for us. We can convey how lovely it is to sew in a post with children, we try but part of my brand is privacy. We don’t talk about who we teach and we rarely post photos of children’s faces. My faith in the business is that parents trust us with their kids and tell one another. We don’t advertise or even try to market… people just come and then tell us how grateful they are that they found us.

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

I had a year last year where I kept asking myself “am I done?” Ive been doing this for 17 years and it seems to be getting more difficult. Something would happen and I’d say “am I done?” Because many children are on devices or phones their attention span is terrible. It’s like their addicted to screens. I believe this happened during the pandemic. When you try to teach them, they get angry like little addicts. I’ve never taught such rude children. It’s not fun having to constantly discipline and try to refocus children. I’m a very kind person and have loved teaching… children are magical but this year, I questioned whether or not I could keep doing this. Parents are also rude and lack manners. They think it’s okay to text me at 6:32am or 11:39pm or on Sunday mornings to sign their kids up for classes. I now have 3 telephones and turn off my work phone. This is also the first year I’ve had to ask children to not come back to sewing because they were so cruel to other students. Then the parents were so mad at me. Resilience for me is remembering some of the best students and the sweetest things that have happened. If I decided not to teach I wouldn’t get to change the lives of so many kids… to mentor young girls in group homes. If I stop because of the few, I don’t get to teach and influence the many.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://missshannonssewing.com
• Instagram: Shannon Allbright and Miss Shannon’s Sewing
• Facebook: Shannon Allbright
• Linkedin: none
• Twitter: none
• Youtube: Miss Shannon’s Sewing
• Yelp: none
• Soundcloud: none
• Other: none

Image Credits

Stephanie Exner