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

Tess, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I’ve always loved nightgowns but I haven’t always loved looking like a grandma. I bought a nightgown once at WalMart years ago and thought it was decently cute only to find that my grandma’s roommate at her nursing home owned the same nightgown! It was embarrassing, at worst, and at best, it got me thinking about a way to find the comfort of a nightgown while still looking cute! I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect product but the nightgowns on the market always came up short so I decided to create my own! That’s how my business was born.

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?

My goal in creating döz was to design nightgowns and pajamas that make you feel cute, covered and comfortable. I wanted something you could wear to chase kids, travel with family, answer the door, grab the mail all while feeling comfortable and looking cute. As a designer it’s important to marry the functionality of the product with its aesthetic appeal. These are the two guiding factors any time I make changes or design updates.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Manufacturing is a huge hurdle for any small business looking to scale. I spent hours googling manufacturing as well as leveraged every contact I could think of to find a manufacturer that would fit my needs. I finally found one that was in the United States and happened to be in the city I was currently residing. I took it as divine intervention and decided that manufacturing state side in a place close to home would afford the communication and oversight that I wanted just starting out.

And I was wrong. So wrong. It took nearly a year and a half to develop the product and once it was delivered, over half of the production run were unsellable. I was devastated. This particular manufacturer closed it’s doors shortly after so, not only did I loose time and money, I had to start completely over.

But I believed in my product and still had a desire to start my business so I went back to the drawing board. I found another manufacturer and began the process with them again. This time the partnership was much better. In my experience, half of owning a small business is just figuring out how to keep going when things don’t go your way as demonstrated by the above experience.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

There are so many different touch points with your customers. One thing I try to remember is that, no matter the platform, if someone takes the time to reach out and comment or engage in your content in some way, engage back. It only takes a few moments but goes a long way in recognizing that someone else took the time to validate your content and I think engaging back is an expression of gratitude!

The other thing I did early in my business which I loved and wish I could figure out how to scale is I wrote a handwritten thank you note to each customer separate from their order. I printed post cards and would write a short message on the back of how each order meant so much to me! I would send them out a couple weeks after their order had shipped. I still include hand written notes occasionally in orders but I loved going back and taking the time to write a note to each customer.

Contact Info:

• Website: dozsleepwear.com
• Instagram: doz.sleepwear
• Facebook: doz.sleepwear
• Other: TikTok doz.sleepwear