We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Susana Jaruczyk a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Susana , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Probably the most asked question our family answers on the regular is: How do you say you last name? So a few years ago we started answering with Jaruczyk -like Jurassic you know?
and people go ohhhh, that makes sense!
So our home became Jaruczyk Park! We love it, is fun, we have a great time with it!
When I started my business and was looking for a business name, our then 4 year old girl was playing with her dinosaurs next to me, (oblivious my internal dilema about the craziness of starting a business while homeschooling 4 kids and how I knew nothing about running a business! and all that jazz)
Anyway she was playing with her little dinosaurs and she said to her toy: “you can do it mama dino” what was the plastic mama dino doing? I have no clue.
But I took the word play and said Yes, I can do it! . This Mama Dino can sew.
And that’s how Mama Dinosews was born.
My oldest daughter drew my dinosaur logo, & we made it pink because Duh! Is a great color!!
Plus it makes for a fun answer when people say How did you come up with the name? My answer is always Well, my last name is Jaruczyk we like dinosaurs! 🦖🦕

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 came to the USA from Paraguay in 1998 but my family is actually Ukrainian. My husband and I have 4 kids and a grand-baby. We live Just outside of Atlanta I’m a stay at home – homeschooling mom and was always looking for opportunities to make some extra money ( kids are expensive LOL!)

I learned how to sew from my sister when I was in middle school, and I enjoy making things.
A few years ago I was given a huge truck load of upholstery fabric samples, & fabric remnants that were destined for the landfill, I took some pieces and made a patchwork bag, & posted it on my social media, and someone offered to buy it. And then I made another one and people really liked what I made and wanted to give me money!
Sew I made more! 5 years into this business I have made & sold more than 500 bags, is really quite incredible as my business consist of me, myself & I
Each bag I make is truly one of a kind, mostly because they’re made from sample pieces, once I use the fabric, is gone, extinct like those dinosaurs we once had lol.
My repeat customers now know that if they see a bag they like, they have to claim if first, or they may member see another one like it. And that’s not just a sale pitch (even tho it is) is the truth.
Handmade- One of a kind –
That’s my brand

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

The initial capital to start my business was a miracle. A friend of ours called me one night and the conversation went like this:
You sew right?
Me: yes:
Him: you need to call this lady, she works for an interior design company and they have cloth samples they’re throwing away.
Me: oh, well I could call her sometime.
Him: I’ll tell her to call you tonight!

Later the phone rang I found myself talking to my now very good friend Lauren, and she needed to get rid of fabric samples ASAP and I had no idea what I said yes to, until she dropped by my house the next day with a Uhaul and a helper & unloaded half a garage of boxes full of upholstery fabric samples!

Being completely honest, It had never crossed my mind to start a business.
I was just praying for God to provide us money for another vehicle, and Jesus literally dropped what I needed to start the business in my lap. I asked for money, he said: here’s fabric! You already got the brain I gave you and the skills you learned. Make it happen.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

2020 the year of the plague I think every small & large business had to pívot to survive a global pandemic.
Personally was tricky, because I make and sell bags and purses, mostly at local area craft fairs and festivals. But the world shut down in 2020 and there was no festivals and people were certainly not needing purses to stay home.
So I did 2 things, 1, I prayed for ideas, & 2 I started making masks.
There was a huge need for them everywhere.
That gave me the chance to make some money and fill a need in the community.
The second thing that happened is meeting Abigail Benz who was getting ready to compete in the Miss Rodeo USA pageant. and needed clothes, lots of clothes.
So I got hired as her Royal seamstress and was able to make some fabulous clothes for her. Pageant clothes are not the same as everyday clothes, and a rodeo pageant is even more different, I learned a lot of new skills during these past 2 years.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mamadinosews.com
• Instagram: @mamadinosews
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mamadinosews