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

Valerie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How do you think about spending on the little things / small joys when finances are tight?

Like a lot of entrepreneurs, my business was started because of an unexpected push. I had just been let go from my job, and I didn’t exactly have a nest egg saved up to start a new business. However, I just knew the time was right to do it.

My initial strategy was to be laser focused with my product line. Sugar Camp started off with just three bandana designs. My first bandanas were targeted toward the trends and lifestyles of the audience I wanted to attract—houseplants, feminism, and the local Dayton community. If I could develop a strong foundation locally, it would make it easier to expand from there.

I didn’t want to start out with debt, so I only spent money as I had it. I got thrifty. I made my own displays rather than buy, I accepted a secondhand tent for outdoor market events (it only smelled slightly moldy), and I bought more product as I sold the first pieces. Slowly, my business began to grow, and allowed for me to expand my line, buy displays and equipment, and grow my business infrastructure.

All this is a lot of hard work at all hours, all days of the week. While I have been very thrifty from the start, I do see value in the self-care and investment that makes all that time spent a heck of a lot easier. I often allow room in the budget to get coffee or lunch with friends. Why else would I work for myself, if I’m not afforded the freedom of a midweek lunch date? I also recently splurged on a high-end phone stand for content creation, that is making my social media tasks WORLDS easier than before. I’m kinda wishing I had done that a year ago, but sometimes I learn things the hard way!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Through my brand, Sugar Camp, I craft bandanas and accessories. Bandanas might sound like a pretty unusual niche to dig into, but I assure you, it is a pretty linear path for me.

I am a seasoned designer and art director, and I have worked in a number of different categories and medias. But I have always looked back on my days as a fashion product designer as the most fulfilling. I worked in baby gear (which is so much more fun than you would think!), and I really fell in love with textile design. Print, Pattern, texture—that’s the kind of work that fills me up.

So when I went out on my own, textiles were a given. Though, I wanted to create something that wouldn’t contribute to “fast fashion” waste, or be something that was highly consumable. I wanted to make something that was unique, that could be worn, but also treasured and gifted. Bandanas just took the center stage in my mind.

All Sugar Camp products contain a message. Whether it be that of empowerment, social justice, or self-love, that little sentiment makes my pieces different than other scarves or bandanas, and it endears my brand to my customers. Additionally, my 100% cotton bandanas are Made in the USA, and are pre-washed by me, in a special formula to make them extra soft. I put that kind of love into each piece, because I want the wearer to understand they are important, and worthy of the coolest, nicest, comfiest things.

What I am most proud of, is the wonderful community I have discovered through this journey. I’ve met so many incredible makers, and made numerous friends just by being out in markets, and connecting on social media. When I started this business two years ago, I couldn’t have imagined how rich my life would be right now, and I am so grateful for it.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Let me start by stating the obvious. Social media is hard. It is an investment, and to do it well, it is a full time job.

I, friends, am not doing it well. But! I am doing it okay enough to connect with my audience and very slowly grow my presence. My strategy is to make my customers aware of my product, how to use/wear it, and to educate as to why it is special. Somewhere along the line, a handful of people told me how much social media users like to connect with you as the maker. So now I sprinkle my face in there. It makes me feel slightly uncomfy, but it does help my audience get to know me, and connect with my brand.

I have found that my most popular posts are how-tos and diys. People love to get a peek behind the curtain, and take away something they can try themselves. And then conversely, the more personal posts, where I talk about myself and my journey, tend to do get a lot of quality engagement as well.

My advice for someone starting out is to focus on authenticity. Share who you are, and do it in a way that is all yours. Yes, there are important trends and strategies that you must be educated on, but take those tactics, and do it in a way that makes you shine. Also, focus on the quality, and not quantity, of followers. You may find that your most quantitatively successful reels, might have the least amount of quality conversation and feedback in the comments section. Just because something gets looks and clicks, doesn’t always mean it will result in any new followers!

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

So I can design a cool piece of art, but getting it on product is a journey. I work with a handful of awesome vendors to create my stuff. While I focus on local every opportunity I get, manufacturing bandanas has proven to be much more difficult than I naively thought in the beginning! Because of my design background, I knew how to connect with printers, and understood most press constraints. However, I did not anticipates the intricacies of this supply chain.

To meet my production goals with my bandanas, it needs to hit a few criteria. It must be made in the USA, 100% cotton, have a soft hand, print oversized, and come in a wide variety of colors. Turns out, blank bandanas are quite hard to source. Either they feel like sandpaper, or they are only available in a few colors at a time. I’ve found that at this moment, it makes the most sense for me to partner with print houses that already manufacture bandanas, because they have a an oversized press, and have access to any quantity I need of numerous color stock. I currently have two awesome suppliers, one in LA, and one in Colorado, who meet my quality expectations.

The limitations are that I am forced to work within their color and quantity restraints. Adding any bells and whistles, such as a second ink color, or developing a custom bandana color, increase the already high cost of production significantly. So I get creative with the box I have to work in.

My goal is to one day have the quantities where I can manage my own inventory, and hopefully print locally here, in Dayton, Ohio. I would love to create work and opportunities in my home town by partnering with a printer who wants to grow with me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sugarcampdaytono.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugarcampshop/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/val-smith-81858a8/

Image Credits
All are credited to me, Val Smith