We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sharon Bosco. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sharon below.
Alright, Sharon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you share a customer success story with us?
When it comes to gift giving, the power of personalized gifts is unlike any other. We introduced the ultimate in custom embroidery by stitching keepsake artwork and handwriting, which is especially meaningful when it’s that of a late loved one. I recently had a bride request to have a writing sample from her late father embroidered on the sleeve of her wedding gown so he would be close to her heart on her special day. Even though I was sweating serious bullets while stitching the custom embroidery on the gown, we pulled it off. It was touching to play a small part in a very big, special moment.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I was born and raised in a small, rural town in Pennsylvania. My interest in embroidery began at the age of 7 when my mom taught me to hand embroider and sew. The craft of sewing was passed down from many generations and I was encouraged to learn the basics. In all fairness, I think everyone could benefit from learning how to re-attach a button or take up a hem, so thank you mom! I was always tinkering in the sewing room and experimenting. When it came time for college, I enrolled in a dual degree Fashion Merchandising program at Mercyhurst University and the Fashion Institute of Technology. While I was studying in NYC, I did a number of internships and networked as much as possible. After graduating, my first job was at BCBG Max Azria in the corporate office, a dream job! Together with a team, I helped launch the Herve Leger wholesale business and gained incredible insight to the world of corporate retail as an Account Executive. After almost 5 years, I took on an exciting role with Fendi managing their shoe business for North America. Fast forward a few years – I got married, life happened, and a great job opportunity for my husband sent us packing our bags and moving to Chicago. It was a difficult transition for my career as the opportunities for corporate retail in Chicago are few and far between. I often found myself sewing as a creative outlet with my new found ‘free’ time between various freelance jobs. After having my own kids, I was underwhelmed by the monogrammed items available to dress my children in, as well as to gift others. Nothing says luxury quite like something personalized. The existing monogramming market struck me as super traditional and a touch too formal. I was on the hunt for more modern and practical everyday items, but monogrammed. I wanted quality basics, personalized: sweatshirts, jean jackets, sweaters. So, I started monogramming my kids’ items myself. I also started gifting monogrammed items for birthdays, new babies, and everything in between. Organically, Stitch Monograms was born as the requests started coming. With my background in wholesale, I was very comfortable navigating and sourcing wholesale brand partnerships. Merchandising math also came in handy! For the first year of my business, I worked on a single needle embroidery machine (!) during nap time and at night after the kids went to bed. Stitch Monograms has come a long way over the last 6 years, but one thing that remains is our attention to detail. We offer modern custom embroidered gifts for babies, toddlers, big kids, women, men, and the home. My customers love that I’m a touch neurotic ;)
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
When I first launched Stitch Monograms, I started on Etsy to ‘test the waters’ and better understand the market. Etsy’s marketplace is huge, for better or worse. While the platform is incredibly user friendly and easy to setup a shop, I felt it was too big and not personal enough for how I wanted to build my business. It was difficult to connect with customers and maintain a relationship. It felt transactional. After 6 months, I closed the Etsy shop and launched my own site via Shopify. While it doesn’t drive the same traffic volume as Etsy, I much prefer having autonomy on my site and it has allowed me the opportunity to better connect with customers.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Hands down, referrals. I could certainly do a much better job of advertising and marketing, but my most loyal customers have been driven from referrals. Happy customers are likely to gift friends and family items they can vouch for, and that’s what we’ve seen happen. This business didn’t explode overnight. It has been a gradual, steady growing business over the past 6 years. I have many customers who no longer fill out any personalization details on their orders, they just tell me ‘whatever you think is best’. To me, that is the biggest compliment!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stitchmonograms.com
- Instagram: @stitchmonograms