Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Steven Berg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Steven, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
As I sit here today at StevenBe Studio (a renovated turn-of-the-century firehouse filled with fiber arts and crafts) I reflect on my beginnings of learning the art of knitting and crochet from my mother. I was such a mama’s boy. I loved emulating what she did and I learned a lot from her over the years. I knitted and crocheted starting at 5 years old and continued all through grade school adding on stitchery and macramé as I became a teenager. I sold my wares to the public and this encouraged me to create more. By the time I was in high school, I had a my first small business. I saved almost every dime I made and ultimately accumulated enough to pay for a large portion of my first year of college at Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
I was able to use my skills and crafting in my college Fashion Design program as I aspired to become an international fashion designer. I learned to sew and was able to use this in my college classes and created evening gowns and spectacular knitwear to coordinate. After two years in Minneapolis, I moved to New York City. At the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, I was able to apply all the skills and crafts I had learned. I also spent a semester at Parsons A School of Design, after which I got a job on Seventh Avenue designing bridal wear.
The realization of how hard it is to break into the fashion industry in New York City led me to move back to Minneapolis where my artistic knitting and crochet could blossom and my sewing and designing continued to coordinate with all my yarning.
In 1984 I got my first professional job designing for a high-end men’s sweater company called St. Croix Knits. In this new venture I began developing my business skills, worked with knitting machines and produced on a large scale. Learning pattern making would lead me to my next position as Design Director for Munsingwear (the Penguin shirt company). I traveled internationally in this position and got to see how the world worked. Ultimately I was given the title of Vice President of Design, Merchandising, and Marketing for Munsingwear. Spending those years designing in the clothing industry taught me a lot but it also made me realize that it didn’t fulfill my artistic creative need.
By my 40s I felt like I was going through a midlife crisis so I turned to my most stable and precious truth-sayer, my mother, Christa Berg, for guidance. At this time Christa’s Yarn Shop had been established. I asked her, “Mom, what should I do with the rest of my life?” She tossed a bag of yarn at me and said, “Do what you know best, open a yarn shop”. I struggled, trying to process the thought; how I could leave the clothing industry that afforded me a certain lifestyle I’d come to love?
It didn’t take long to realize I didn’t have it in me to continue corporate life and thought long and hard about my mother’s suggestion. I returned to Minneapolis to devise a plan. Leaning on my mother’s generosity and my sister’s perseverance, I began a humble yarn shop business of my own.
I rented a small storefront in Rosemount Minnesota and borrowed yarn from my mother to sell and repay her as I sold it. With the profits, I bought yarn myself and was able to hire an employee. Together with friends, I created a website before online selling really took off. The climate was right for a yarn shop and the business took off and became an immediate success.
I serendipitously fell into clothing design and fiber arts but l also always dreamt of being an actor or performer. I soon realized I could use my outgoing personality and flamboyance to stand out and become a star in my own right within the fiber industry.
By 2003 my artistic creations evolved to knitting and crochet with found materials. I created with videotape, cassette tape, bungee cord and chain-link fence. I was having the time of my life, all while making good money selling the fibers people needed to create on their own!
I felt like I had become a person of inspiration. With 20 to 25 years of experience in various industries, I had a wealth of knowledge to share. I started selling unique products at local fiber venues; first locally, then nationally and ultimately internationally. I also began teaching classes as well, with my unique style and creativity, inspiring others to find their inner fiber artist. Professing “There are no mistakes, only variations!” I found success at trade shows in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas Fort Worth, as well as other cities around the United States. I’ve been fortunate to travel internationally and present my style of art and design in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, and South America.
I love the direction that my small fiber business has led me. I continue to travel the world and present my unique style of fashion, art and design on my own terms while my fiber studio business was growing. I built a thriving business out of my passion for creating with fiber and selling the raw materials to those that were excited to make their own art. I was in my heyday!
The success continued for many years, both with its highs and lows of owning and running a small business. As the business and my team grew, I had to re-learn personnel, money, and business management in the modern age. Additionally, I had to learn to navigate all the new platforms of retail, like online selling through emails and social media. This online retail has become a new direction and challenge for us.
When Covid hit in 2020, my staff and I, along with the rest of the world, were forced to find a new normal, and online sales became our main focus. We had to learn quickly and change overnight from a boutique business to an international online store. We jumped into this new challenge, and we learned as we grew and actually became quite successful with this new format. Over the last three years, we continue to evolve and grow, becoming a new version of my original vision for a fiber art studio. The world has changed since the pandemic and we are continually experimenting and evolving to maintain our strong presence in the fiber industry.
In retrospect, the skills that I learned from my mother, my college pursuits, and my commercial career, I accumulated all that was needed to create StevenBe Studio. I too have changed many times over the years, from an idealistic dreamer to an industry leader, and now a successful entrepreneur. I love the journey I’ve been on and who knows where the ultimate destination will lead me.
Steven, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Today my focus is on StevenBe Studio, an entertaining and engaging social media presence, a website and email marketing campaign, and a 2023 StevenBe Tour in the Southwest portion of the US. Starting in Sedona AZ and ending in Austin, TX . I hope to inspire and meet many fiber enthusiasts.
The StevenBe Experience is truly like no other and we strive to delight and exceed expectations to all who interact with us in person or virtually! We do offer that unique experience to leave you full of joy.
StevenBe is also expanding from knitting and crochet to include a stronger felting, weaving, spinning, macrame and needlework experience as well. Something for every fiber enthusiast.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist and a creative person is having a space to promote art and creativity. I love when a customer’s eyes light up and they say, “Thank you for giving me permission to be myself!” So often people play by the rules and feel that they have to be perfect, but I don’t believe in perfection. I believe each person has an inner fiber artist waiting to be released, and I love releasing that aspect of a personality. When you remove the confines of the thought that your project has to look like a picture, you become so much freer. I love inspiring artists to use color in unexpected ways, especially if they’re uncomfortable with that, as it brings a whole new realm of satisfaction and joy to their work.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Being an artist of a certain generation left me a bit challenged when it came to social media. We started early with the website in the early 2000s. First Facebook came along and eventually Instagram. I still leave a lot to be desired when it comes to Snapchat and TikTok. The way for me to grow these areas of marketing was to travel so I had an engaged audience wherever I went east coast, west coast, and all over the world. We have friends from South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe!
I’ve learned over the years what works and doesn’t work for me. Simply posting a product that everyone else has doesn’t work for us. Personal involvement such as new arrival box openings, Facebook and Instagram Live where I’m talking with the audience and sharing interesting stories about what I’m selling. I’ve also found that modeling my samples myself engages my customer. This is an area that I’ve been working strongly on for the last couple of years and will continue to continue to work strongly on because I feel this is where the business is heading.
Contact Info:
- Website: StevenBe.com
- Instagram: StevenbeStudios
- Facebook: StevenBe
- Youtube: StevenBe.TV
Image Credits
All pictures I or my staff took