When I think back over the last 7 years I think year 2 might have been the hardest one. I saw a bit of a boom at the time of the pandemic when everyone was making masks and had more time at home to sew. By year 2 that had slowed. I also wasn’t able to hold any classes for more than half of the year. Although, I think the bigger challenge that year was the construction project that happened downtown. I’ll get more into that saga later.
Year 2 definitely had some great high moments! I hired my first employee! We started holding classes again, the shop filled out, and I started to find a rhythm to the whole thing.
That winter saw the first iteration of our popular mystery fat quarter bundles. I was packing up bundles in food to-go containers that were no longer food safe. I was also creating bundles from the collections that would come in. I didn’t realize it until looking back, but fat quarters have always been a big part of the business.
I’m not sure exactly when it happened but I wrote the Wyld Whirl quilt pattern this year. I had a lot of people who wanted to buy the fat quarter bundles but weren’t sure what to do with them. I remember sketching out a block that would use up as much of a fat quarter as possible. I had never written a pattern before so that was a whole new experience for me. I’ll be 100% honest and say I don’t think this pattern is anything that special, it’s just a fun and quick pattern that we could give away for free to help sling some fabric. I will say that I never get tired of seeing folks make it for their first quilt!
During this time I was also growing our Wyldwoodie community and hosting fun virtual classes. We also hosted our first sew along for a quilt coat. It went so well we hosted a second round just a couple months later! The quilt coat I made a youtube video with hung in the shop with a QR code link to the video. I would cringe every time someone would scan it. I would have to hear my voice come out of their phone. I actually gave that coat away this year, I was over it haha.
In March of 2021 I hired my first employee! Maggie and I became friends from hanging out at 4 generals, the brewery around the corner. She mentioned she was available if I ever needed help and I took her up on that offer. I started by having her come in for just a couple hours a week to help me cut and make kits. Once she got a new job we transitioned to her coming in early in the morning to pack online orders. I remember feeling like I wasn’t alone anymore and how good it felt to have some help. We dubbed her the shop elf. It was so great to walk into work with a pile of packages ready to go out.
Shortly after Maggie, Remy joined the team in May. I remember putting out a call in our newsletter looking for someone to help with the website, creating product listings, and stocking in orders. I still remember reading Remy’s email response where they cited 3 mistakes on our site and how they would fix them. I knew from that email that they would be the right person for the job. Forever shout out to Remy who was crucial to the back end of things for a very long time. While working for us Remy created what would eventually become the Quilt Mock Up Tool. I wanted mock ups for some of our products and that led them down a road…. I’d like to think I’m a small part of the reason why the Quilt Mock Up Tool exists.
Sometime that summer we were able to start hosting in person classes again. I brought on our first instructors to help teach! Joanne, Kael, and Anne joined the team and taught a class or two a month. Joanne was a huge help in getting our Intro to Garment making class going. Kael is still teaching with us now! It was a big adjustment for me to bring other people in to teach. I had to let go of some control and it was hard. I think one of the hardest things about scaling a business is trying to let go of everything being done exactly the way you would do it. It just isn’t possible and at some point you have to put trust into the people you hire.
In August I hired one more person, Tawny! I still find it so funny that I managed to hire someone with my same name. Tawny worked one day a week so I could actually take two days off. It was a weird feeling to not be there when the shop was open.
All of those folks (except Kael) no longer work for Wyldwood but everyone left on good terms. I definitely forgot how many people have transitioned through the team over the years. I’ve been fortunate enough to never have to fire anyone or have anyone leave on bad terms, it’s always been a natural parting. Often due to them getting a new job or opportunity. Maggie is now one of my closest friends and I still see everyone else from time to time. I’m so grateful to all the wonderful people who have helped me grow this business.
The team was growing, we had regulars, things were progressing nicely. And then we lost our sidewalks. I honestly think I’ve blocked out a lot of the drama that came with having such a large construction project happen downtown. I can’t remember how long 3rd st was closed for but I know it was at least several months. From February to July our business had to be accessed on a ramp over dirt where they had torn out the concrete. It was an absolute mess and people just stopped coming downtown.
At some point in the chaos I gathered personal accounts from all of the businesses to send to the mayor to express our frustrations. The management of that project left a lot to be desired and I guess the person who was supposed to be the business liaison for it all just didn’t feel like liaising. I think the worst day was when I showed up to work on a Saturday and there was a giant tractor parked in front of our door completely blocking access.
The project put people off of downtown Renton to where they just wouldn’t even consider going downtown. It took years for them to come back. We also didn’t really get much support from the city through it all. I did have an employee of the city help me get a grant that covered about ¾’s of a month's expenses. It was something, but applying for that took hours and endless back and forth trying to show the proof that I was affected.
I think that the construction era was the worst time of being in business for me. It was so frustrating that something completely out of my control was affecting whether or not I would be able to stay open. I had no idea that the project was planned when I picked the space. I didn’t even know it was going to be happening until I came down to work and saw the roads torn up. I think being a new business I wasn’t on the lists for communications. In July we had sidewalks again, but the project wouldn’t be completely wrapped up for almost another year.
I tried really hard to keep both quilting cotton and garment fabrics in stock but it was a real challenge and the garment inventory was a constant yo-yo of stock level. Cash flow was always an issue and I’m pretty sure this was the era of my “panic sales” as I’ve coined them. Basically I would have a big bill due and no way to pay it so I would panic and have a sale. It took a good couple of years to break out of that cycle. There’s so many things that I would do differently looking back, but we got here how we did and I’m just happy that we’re still in business.
In September Maggie and I painted the building! My shop neighbor Sparkle had hers painted and I didn’t even know it was an option. I asked the landlord and he said go for it. I still love the blue even though it’s not technically part of our brand color palette anymore. Maybe I’ll get around to changing it soon, the building is definitely due for a fresh coat!
In October I competed in Impact Pitch. A competition hosted by Business Impact Northwest. I’m honestly a little scarred from that experience haha. It was SO MUCH work. I basically had a bunch of business homework. I had to make financial projections, create a youtube video, and beg everyone to vote for my video every day. I made it all the way to the final round where I presented my business to a panel of judges. I remember practicing that pitch for what felt like hundreds of times. In the end I didn’t win and it was crushing, but definitely built some resilience and character!
I considered adding the photo of me crying after I lost but ultimately decided not to share that one with the internet.
While I started to have a team in year 2 it was still all me when it came to social media. I forgot how much time I spent on instagram! I tried really hard to be an IG model and take photos of myself, thankfully we’re out of that era lol. I also started the TikTok this year! I would come home from work and sit on my hammock and make silly voice over videos. It was a lot of fun and felt easier than instagram. I didn’t feel like I had to have a curated feed, I could just be my fully weird self. Instagram is definitely where I grew the business but I would say these days we get a lot more traction from TikTok. At least a couple times a week we have someone come in who says “I found you on TikTok.” I honestly don’t think we would be where we are without social media, and I’m not sure how to feel about that.
That fall we hosted the first ever Sewing Throwdown! An event I will bring back eventually. It was basically chopped but with fabric. I gave each person a mystery bag of materials, they had 20 minutes to shop for additional materials, and 2 hours to make something. Throughout the whole thing I walked around with a tiny mic and live streamed it on instagram. It was silly and fun and I definitely want to do it again!
I seem to have a trend of not taking photos during the actual anniversary sale. Year 2 I sprung for a balloon and a little backdrop. The shop had grown from year 1, we had more fixtures and the space looked like an actual fabric store. I survived! I don’t recall what we did for the sale or how busy it was. There was still so much uncertainty, and so much debt, but I managed to keep things running somehow.
