May 25, 2020 • 25 mins
FYI!!! Carla Marie is no longer the host of a morning show in Seattle but she is still supporting small businesses in every way possible. She’s even started her own small business with her radio cohost and best friend, Anthony. All of the links below will help you stay up to date!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the side Hustler's podcast. I'm your host from
my Heart Radio Carla Murie. Each week I talked to
someone new who is following a passion outside of their
day job. It's been really cool. I've been doing this
for over two years and it's become my own side
hustle because I host the Carla Marie and Anthony Show
on one S one Kiss FM in Seattle. You can
(00:20):
listen to it anywhere live on our I Heart Radio app,
or you can catch the replay the on demand version
wherever you listen to podcast. This week's guest is Samantha.
Her day job is working for a screen printing T
shirt company, and her side hustle is her very own
company called s W Designs, where Samantha actually handmakes embroidered
(00:41):
T shirts. Now, she gets the T shirt and then
she goes in and embroiders, sewing and stitching by hand,
cool sayings, words, and not only T shirts, she expands
to hats, Fannie packs all kinds of things, and yes
she does custom work. This is Samantha's story for a
lot of people. You know, why, what do you know?
What you want to do? And this is something you
(01:02):
want to do you don't about and do it? I'm
a hustles side side hustle do it. I'm a hustle
hul do it. I'm a hustles side side us. Come
on ask about me, yo yo. It's the side Hustless
podcast we call the Roof. So joining me from are
you still in Ohio, Samantha, I am not in Ohio.
(01:24):
I'm in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. I did not know that, Okay,
So when we'll get into that. But when Samantha and
I first got connected, you were living in Ohio and
now you're living in New York, which is like my
old stomping ground. So I can't wait to hear how
that transition went for you. But talk a little bit
about your company, which is s W Designs, and I
know you've got the best pitch to explain what your
(01:44):
side hustle is. I'm gonna leave that part up to you.
S W Designs is hand embroidered apparel and accessory. So
it started off T shirts. I've done Fannie packs, hats,
custom orders are wonderful, so it's kind of branched out
from just T shirt sin sweatshirts. Everything is hand embroidered
I started embroidering in college. I went to fashion school,
(02:07):
so part of my classes we're doing mini collections, and
I started embroidering samples and incorporating them into my collections.
And when I graduated, I wanted to like keep designing,
but something I could just basically do from my house,
something I didn't need a ton of resources. And I
didn't have the resources to print graphic t s. So
(02:27):
I was like, I'm going to embroider them. Yeah, I
guess it's way less. Really, you don't need that giant
machine to do what you're doing. You can just use
Is it just a needle and thread or are you
using like a sewing machine? It's just a needle and threat. Yeah.
I don't know if that was a good idea or not,
but here we are. It's all hands stitched. So I'm
on your website it's s w D S g n
(02:48):
S dot com. So if any and I'm also if
you're listening right now and you're like, what did you
just say? It is in the description of this podcast
that you could just click on it and get over
there super easy. But some of the stuff you have
is very intricate, like that you are gold t that
like that writing is so like neat and it's script,
so that is your hand you are doing that? Yes?
(03:09):
Why how so this T shirt specifically, how long does
it take you to then stitch out? Am I saying?
Or embroider? I guess you either you are gold baby.
That's a new one, so I haven't done it a
ton of times. That one is probably like thirty minutes
of just of the stitching. It's not I'm not like
free hand stitching. Everything is drawn and traced and then
(03:33):
I put it on the hoop. And that's kind of
how I get that. I've had people ask me that
where they're like you just like from your head, absolutely
not still very intricate. It's a very almost like intimate
type of thing to do. Like you're in there in
that one shirt and someone is going to get that
one shirt that you handmade. It's different than a lot
(03:55):
of products that people buy. So what, like you just said,
you took thirty minutes on one shirt? What is your
week like? Because you still have a day job. This
is a full blown side hustle right now. Yes, it
looks different every week. To be honest, I have kind
of resigned to doing as much or as little as
I can. In the first year, I really drove myself
crazy with like I have to get so much done
(04:16):
with my side hustle, Like I have to always be
doing this, And I kind of found a balance on that.
There's only so many hours in the day, but I
love doing it so like I don't mind spending most
every evening after work on it. So then what is
your day job? So my day job is also making
T shirts. I'm a graphic designer for a T shirt
(04:38):
company in Lakewood, Ohio that specializes in sorority and fraternity designs.
So it's very different than this. It's a whole different
athotic So I'm t shirts. Geez, what school did you
go to? I went to Kent State for a fashion
design and you had the project where you're talking about
you did T shirts in school? Was this like, Okay,
this is what I want to do. I want to
(04:59):
design T shirt forever, no matter what kind, I want
to do T shirts. No. I kind of felt backwards
into this T shirt Like, to be honest, I've said
so many times, like I think about it and when
I was like growing up and worked in restaurants and
like my uniform was a T shirt. I hated it.
I was like, I can't wait to not have to
wear T shirts. And I'm like, here, I am all
(05:19):
I wear this T shirts but all everyone it's great
though it's crazy, so it's like full circle T shirts.
When I finished school, I knew I wanted to do
something in fashion, obviously that's why I went. But I
wasn't ready to like move out of Cleveland. So I
was really just looking for like a full time job
to not work at a restaurant anymore. And I actually
applied for a job within the company that I work
(05:42):
at now, and it was like an operating It was
some like just random job and I found this company.
To their credit, they brought me in. They were like,
you have design experience, Like do you want to do
graphic design? And I was like, I don't feel like
I know anything about graphic design, but if you'll let
me do it, like yeah, absolutely, And so they really
like bought me. I mean I already had like basic
(06:02):
photoshop illustrator skills, but they really like taught me a
bunch of stuff. And I've been there for three or
four years. Have you learned things at your day job
that has helped you with sw designs for sure, because
I do design my designs for the embroidery on the computer.
So like even having those like illustrator skills has really
helped be able to develop like the design in my
(06:23):
head into a traceable format. The orders that I used
to work on at work and my full time job
were like all custom orders, so you're using all different apparel,
and it really got me familiar with like what different
apparels were and what colors and where I can get
them from. So I buy my T shirts from like
the same wholesale that's we use it works, So that
kind of stuff has been really interesting. And now I
(06:45):
work on our company's e commerce site, so even like
little marketing website things like it is like very similar
to where I can take away a lot of different things.
So you were working for this company in Ohio, then
you moved to New York's obviously you were remote. You're
still working for them, so you were working from home
before the rest of the world was forced to work
(07:06):
from home. So what was that transition like for you?
Because you're ahead of the game for most of us
in that situation, right, we were lucky enough, like Our
company has always had a pretty loose work from home policy,
so I have been able to work from home a
couple of days a week or however much I really
want for a long time. So I was already pretty
used to like that work environment. And then I moved
(07:28):
and we were all set up that I was going
to work remote, and yeah, I moved to New York
the first week of March, so I was here for
one week before this day at home order went no.
So my transition to remote was not hard because everyone
else was doing it too. I was like, I thought
I was gonna be the only one on the zoom call.
(07:49):
You're all at your houses too, So it's been pretty strange,
but I guess it was an easier transition for me
for sure, and be but being in a city, I
guess it doesn't really matter if you're an city you
don't know, because it's not like you can explore anyway
right now. It's not your There's not much you're missing
out on. But why New York? Why the move? Me
and my husband moved because he was starting a new job,
(08:12):
and it was like, we've always wanted to come here anyway,
so any any reason to get me here really, So yeah,
it's really weird timing that I'm here, but I'm not
really because I can't do anything. Do you think that
being in a new city will influence the design you
have for sw designs eventually when you can explore I hope. So.
(08:32):
I love like finding reasons to make new designs. I
don't have like a super strict like I don't have
like seasonal releases. If something like strikes me, I can
have it up on the website pretty quickly, or at
least experiment and make a sample or whatever. The other
thing I really am like excited to do when life
goes back to whatever is like make new connections. I
(08:53):
feel like the Cleveland market is so small and doing
like something like the Cleveland Fleet, like you kind of
meet everyone that's doing something similar to you, So to
find new people to like collaborate with or whatever, it's
just a whole new market to explore. They're really excited
about absolutely, and people listening right now they're like, wait,
I've heard of the Cleveland Flee before. Why have I
heard of a market in Cleveland? That is because Emily
(09:15):
from Art of Sucra, the Cotton Candy Company, Emily has
been amazing. Emily was at the Cleveland Flee. She's been
on this podcast. She spun cotton candy when I did
my other podcast Live in Cleveland. So she's been amazing
in this process. Yeah, but Emily connected Samantha and I
because you guys met at a market. So did you
know Emily before that market? What is that market life? Like?
(09:36):
I did not? Well, I'm trying to think of when
I met Emily. I think the first time I met her,
she reached out about doing custom shirts, and so I
stitched shirts for her and her employees with her logo
on it, and it was just the coolest thing, Like
her custom orders are always so much fun. The Clevon
Flee is super unique. There's a ton of markets in Cleveland,
but that is like the that's the big one. And
(09:59):
I used to shop at it before I had this business.
For the first year is in business, it felt like
this like big some day if I could get it.
And then the next year I did get him when
I applied for the spring, So that was like I
did it for two full years, two eighteen and two nineteen.
Our markets a huge part of your business. Kind they
kind of became a pretty big part, like not totally
(10:21):
on purpose, but nothing is at this point. Yeah, it's
so it's just so many eyeballs all at once, like
it's there's it's hard to be and a lot of
people at markets, even myself, like I'll take someone's card
or take a picture of what they have and always
go back and buy a gift later. And sometimes it
just helps. Like you said, eyeballs. You know, they may
not be buying at that moment, but you're in front
(10:42):
of people, they see and feel your products, which is great,
and then when they do need something custom also they
may think of you. So I think markets are great.
Everyone who's been on this podcast and has been to
markets has raved about the market community. And I'm a
big advocate for the market community when they aren't ripping
off small businesses because I know it's tough, like you said,
to get into them and then pay for them. It's
(11:03):
not always easy. But now, obviously markets aren't really happening
at the moment when we are recording this, So are
you looking at different things you can now do for
sw designs that maybe that won't be happening for a
while and you're in a new city, or you just
like website is up and that's all that matters a
little bit of both. I definitely am always trying to
find like new ways to get in front of new audiences.
(11:25):
The Cleveland Fleet, like I said, it was so my audience,
like the customer base was just so perfect, And when
I knew I was moving, I kind of had that
thought of like, am I going to try to do
markets this year? There are a lot of work, it's exhausting,
and so part of like at the end of everyone
you go, I don't want to do this again, and
then in a week you're like, I can't wait for
the next one, Like it's just it is what it is.
(11:46):
And the Cleveland Fleet actually announced that they are not
doing any markets. So then I was like, well that
kind of made my decision for me. So yeah, it
has been a lot more of like how do I
up my like online presence as far as even if
its Instagram or like working with influencers or just different
ways to find new audience members. Well, I think we
(12:07):
might need some side Hustler's custom gear. That awesome. Well,
I love you have like you said that you do
just love making designs and making things based off of
whatever you feel or whatever is happening in that moment.
And you've got the stay Home crew neck and it's
the stay Home sweatpants and it's the heart and two
hearts and it says stay at home and the other one,
which obviously you didn't have. I'm assuming in January that's
(12:30):
probably something new. Yeah. I actually designed that before all
of this happen. I swear. I was like, why did
you do that? You did? So? Yeah. When I did
launch it, it was like middle of March, and I
was like, well, this is more appropriate than it's ever been.
I was like, I can't believe it. Okay, I just
love I'm a homebody. Yeah, well that's crazy to me
(12:50):
because I was like, oh, that's awesome, like look at
her being with the times right now. But I mean, hey,
it's still awesome. I mean it's really cool. I know,
you've got the No Brock Club tea, which everyone is
preaching right now. No, that is quarantine inspired. Quarantine inspired
super cool. So if someone wanted to do a custom teacher, okay, okay,
so for me, example, say I want something that says
(13:11):
side hustlers. Do I go to your website? Do I
email you? Do I like how does that work? There
is a contact form on my website that kind of
gives like a little rundown about like if you're interested,
like these are the details that will get us started,
about how many things you're looking for, what the design is.
I want to be able to give someone a price estimate,
like pretty quickly. But if they just emailed me, like
(13:33):
I want a T shirt, Like, I have so many
questions before I can give you, like even an estimate.
So yeah, the contact form is the easiest way. I
feel like my custom orders really like EBB and flow
and gratefully the last couple of months they've been pretty steady.
So it's just like it's just always different. But I've
had like Bachelor atte parties. I was just going to
(13:55):
ask some my sister's Bachelor at party has since been moved,
but it will be in February. We they're sixteen of us,
So what is the an order like that for you
sixteen of say the same shirt or maybe it's got
something different on the name, Like that's going to take
you a long time. I would never turn away something,
you know, I've I just recently did one that was
really fun and it was a lot, but it was
(14:16):
like twenty five hats, I want to say, and it
was for like an Earth Day thing, so it was
a little like Earth on the front and then the
person's logo on the back. So it's stuff like as
long as I'm being realistic with them about my turnaround time,
like that's the only thing is if they're like I
need it next week, Like your hands can't do that, Yeah,
(14:36):
I physically can't do that. I think customers are so fun.
I think it's really cool to see what other people
come up with and like something outside of just a
design that I've made a lot of times, I'm really
into like stuff that customers bring to me, like this
is amazing, Like it's just it's really fun to my
gears are going right now, I'm like, what am I
going to have or make for me? Oh my god,
(14:56):
I have so many things. I'm thinking of all these
teachers that I want to order and all these things.
So this is not I'm definitely beck um sw Designs
real soon. What is your end goal for your company?
Is it always I'm going to make this a side
hustle forever or do you want to grow it's so big?
And then what do you do when it's something handmade
and intricate and it's this huge company. I've thought about
(15:18):
this a lot. I'm definitely not in the position right
now where like the income is to where I can
like make it my full time, but I would love
to do that, or I think someday maybe if it
makes sense for me to make that more my full
time and then graphic design on the side. I don't
think I'll ever have like one job that just doesn't
that's not me, no, And you're fine. I mean a
(15:38):
lot of it's crazy. A lot of the people on
this podcast are the same, like cut from the same cloth. Honestly,
where it's that you can't they'll leave their day job
and make it their side hustle like you just said,
that will happen, and sometimes they'll go full time in
this and then decide, like in a year, I have
another company I want to launch. It's just this is
who you guys are, Like you're all like, yeah, I
(15:58):
guess I'm part of it too, And and it's a
good thing. You know, not everyone is like that, but
you know, serial entrepreneurs they exist. It's a it's a thing.
And I was just curious when you're doing something so intricate,
How do you grow your business when it's going to
have to be so much of just you know, one
on one? Do you hire someone else? What happens? I think,
and I feel like being in a city like New
(16:20):
York makes this a lot more possible. I would love
to get to the point where I could hire someone
to do stitching. I could also delegate other parts of
the business. So I don't know which one would be
the better option. But obviously, like being more full time
would allow me to have more time to stitch, but
like physically, there's only that you would still run out
(16:40):
of time to take on more projects. So I think
I think eventually finding someone to like help with the stitching.
I tried to convince my husband to learn how to
embroenter so many times, and he's just not here for it. Okay,
So how then, obviously your husband has to be supportive
of your business. Maybe he's not gonna stitch for you,
but I'm sure he can't super supportive. From the day
you were like, okay, I want to do this, what
(17:01):
has that been like, he's been great. Yeah, he won't.
It's probably for the best that he's not switching. I've
it's but he's helped in so many other ways, especially
with fleas where I've I've drugged him to many a
city and made him help me put up a tent
and put tables together and sit there and talk to
customers all day, just from like keeping the house clean
(17:23):
because i have an order that needs to go out
and I'm putting all my time into that. Yeah, I've
been really grateful to him that he kind of just
lets me do my thing, and he's never like he's
here to bounce ideas off of. But he's never like
told me to stop her of course, you know, anything
like that. So I feel like he needs to be
handy to give you some hand massages because you must
(17:45):
have like the sores hands after stitching all of this. Yeah. Yeah,
I'm worried that it's overall not going to be a
great thing for mys Gonna do some massages or I
don't even know. I can't Like I'm lucky. I can
fix a time the hole on my shirt. Let Al,
I look at what you do and it's just it's art.
It truly is, because it's so unique and so different,
(18:09):
and for me, it's not something I can do. So
I look at what you do and I'm just like,
that's amazing that you can do that, and you found
a skill and you ran with it, and it's incredible
what you've done. And finding something you're passionate about and
turning it into a business is is not the easiest thing,
and I admire that and everyone who's been on this
podcast and and obviously in you as well. But something
(18:30):
you've done is you had an etc Store and then
you transformed to having your own website. So on your
end as a business owner, why and what is that like? Well,
I started on etc just simply because it's so easy
to get up and running. I've always had a Squarespace
account just from school because we had a online portfolios
and all that kind of stuff. But like switching to
(18:50):
the commerce profile or whatever you wanna call it felt
like a big commitment that these kind of like it's perlistic, Yeah, yeah,
for sure. And the thing that is nice about Etsy
is that it's kind of its own search engine, so
like you're more likely to come up than just like
having a random website. And then for a while I
had both. I had my shirts for sale on my
(19:14):
website and on Etsy, and that was just like really
tough to keep track of inventory. I already struggle with
that anyway, especially with fleas. It's just like a lot
of areas that all need to cooperate with each other.
I've actually considered bringing my Etsy back. I just don't know.
For a while, I feel like it felt not as professional.
(19:35):
It felt for me more professional to have a website.
But then I was like, no, I can see that
because it depends like the general person that shops at
Etsy is just like, Okay, I'm shopping at etc. And
this is fine. But if you're trying to read someone
who's never shopped at Etsy, they may think, what do
you mean you don't have a website? Like how do
you know twenty how do you not have a website?
(19:56):
So I completely understand your point of view. I think
it's end of the day. It needs to be what
makes the most sense for your business and your time
and your sanity. Not that you asked my opinion, No,
it's it's I don't think there is a right answer
when it comes to like ets your website kind of
because I've seen some really beautiful Etsy pages where I'm like,
how did you make this looks like it looks so professional,
(20:18):
and I'm like, well, that doesn't feel less than what
you know. I don't know, it's just and I think
it depends on the product. A lot of T shirts
on Etsy are like screen printed, so when you see
like a T shirt at the price range that mine is,
I could almost see people being like, would like and
just kind of it blends in with all the other things.
That makes sense. Yeah, I know it's it's a hard
(20:40):
thing for a lot of business owners who are creatives
and handmake stuff. I had Lawnerrey handmade an episode with Roxy.
Her company is Launerrey Handmade, and when we talk, she
was literally just going from Etsy to her website and
she hand makes purses, so same idea like you can
find and she sows with her hands or with the
sewing machine. So you guys are like in the same boat.
Have to connect you guys. She did make the jump
(21:03):
to the website this year, so I'm curious now where
she's at. Maybe she's thinking the same thing you are.
So I get it. As a business owner, it's tough,
especially when it's a side hustle and kind of does
a lot of the work for you. I completely understand.
I'm always very curious about it. We always ask for
some info ahead of time about you know, your side hustle.
(21:24):
And you said that all of your grandparents had their
own company, their own businesses, so this was kind of
like in your blood. So what did your grandparents do? So,
my mom's parents own a greenhouse, um, which they still do.
My mom works there. I grew up working there, like
I don't know, way too young to like high school.
(21:44):
And then my dad's side owned a bar, and then
his stepdad owned a bunch of different businesses like a
sand and gravel company and just different, like not nearly
as relatable to me as like fully understand that, but still,
I mean, it's in your blood at that point. Yeah,
growing up being an entrepreneur like as such a like
(22:06):
simple like it didn't feel like a crazy thing to me.
I was like, I've seen people do this my whole life.
I can do it too. I never saw myself in
like a really traditional job, so it always made the
most sense to me. Oh, it's cool when you see
obviously your parents and people or grandparents that you look
up to doing something you don't fully I guess grasp
(22:27):
what they've done to you, it's just normal. And then
when you start doing it yourself, you're like, how do
you how did you do this? Like I know with
my dad and like, how are you a manager? How
did you manage people? I'm so bad at this, and
you know, I get advice from him, But in my mind,
I was like, oh, that's cool. My dad manages people,
and I'm sure for you, like launching your own business,
You're like, how did they have a greenhouse? When I
(22:47):
started taking like business classes in college, I would like
come to like my uncle or my grandparents with like
fake projects that we use, and I was like, how
do you deal with like overhead and like all the
stuff that you've never like, I've never considered that r
And I was like, this is a complicated it is.
They make it look so easy, but obviously you're doing
a great job at it. I am a fan of
(23:08):
what you do. I know you and I have been
trying to connect for almost a year now because I
I say this all the time, I picked the worst
kind of podcast to do when it comes to scheduling,
because I'm dealing with people who have at least two
jobs most of the time, and I've got a job,
so it's hilarious when I try to schedule this podcast.
But I'm glad we made it work. I'm glad Emily
(23:29):
connected us, and I'm glad you're part of the side
Hustler's family. Thank you for doing what you do, and
then thank you for you know, putting something out there
that will make people smile, especially right now. Your products
are amazing and I'm excited to see what you do
and I hope you don't get our threats anytime soon.
Thank you. So people can go to your website, it's
s w D s g n S dot com, which,
(23:50):
by the way, the s w is your name, Samantha Wiggins. Yes,
so designs is just without any vowels. Okay, every time
I say that, I go yeah, if you have to
double check. And then your Instagram is also s w
D s g N S. And again I will put
all of that in the description below so anyone can
check it out. Samantha, thank you so much for being here.
(24:11):
I appreciate it. Thank you, Thank you so much for
listening to side Hustlers and to Samantha's story. Don't forget
it's s w D, s g N S dot com
s w D S g N S on Instagram. You
can also just hit the links below to follow Samantha
and to support and to get some T shirts. I
know I'm going to be getting some, so thank you
(24:32):
for supporting anyone who has been on this podcast. I
appreciate it so much. Every small business owner appreciates it.
Every side hustler appreciates it. And again, if you can't
shop them, totally understand. Following and sharing things that they
post is such a huge help. I note it sounds crazy,
but it is. And if you can rate and review
this podcast, I would appreciate that very very much. You
(24:53):
can follow me on Instagram at the Carla Marie and
this podcast has been produced by my good friend Houston
and until next week to keep ustling m
Welcome to the side Hustler's podcast. I'm your host from
my Heart Radio Carla Murie. Each week I talked to
someone new who is following a passion outside of their
day job. It's been really cool. I've been doing this
for over two years and it's become my own side
hustle because I host the Carla Marie and Anthony Show
on one S one Kiss FM in Seattle. You can
(00:20):
listen to it anywhere live on our I Heart Radio app,
or you can catch the replay the on demand version
wherever you listen to podcast. This week's guest is Samantha.
Her day job is working for a screen printing T
shirt company, and her side hustle is her very own
company called s W Designs, where Samantha actually handmakes embroidered
(00:41):
T shirts. Now, she gets the T shirt and then
she goes in and embroiders, sewing and stitching by hand,
cool sayings, words, and not only T shirts, she expands
to hats, Fannie packs all kinds of things, and yes
she does custom work. This is Samantha's story for a
lot of people. You know, why, what do you know?
What you want to do? And this is something you
(01:02):
want to do you don't about and do it? I'm
a hustles side side hustle do it. I'm a hustle
hul do it. I'm a hustles side side us. Come
on ask about me, yo yo. It's the side Hustless
podcast we call the Roof. So joining me from are
you still in Ohio, Samantha, I am not in Ohio.
(01:24):
I'm in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. I did not know that, Okay,
So when we'll get into that. But when Samantha and
I first got connected, you were living in Ohio and
now you're living in New York, which is like my
old stomping ground. So I can't wait to hear how
that transition went for you. But talk a little bit
about your company, which is s W Designs, and I
know you've got the best pitch to explain what your
(01:44):
side hustle is. I'm gonna leave that part up to you.
S W Designs is hand embroidered apparel and accessory. So
it started off T shirts. I've done Fannie packs, hats,
custom orders are wonderful, so it's kind of branched out
from just T shirt sin sweatshirts. Everything is hand embroidered
I started embroidering in college. I went to fashion school,
(02:07):
so part of my classes we're doing mini collections, and
I started embroidering samples and incorporating them into my collections.
And when I graduated, I wanted to like keep designing,
but something I could just basically do from my house,
something I didn't need a ton of resources. And I
didn't have the resources to print graphic t s. So
(02:27):
I was like, I'm going to embroider them. Yeah, I
guess it's way less. Really, you don't need that giant
machine to do what you're doing. You can just use
Is it just a needle and thread or are you
using like a sewing machine? It's just a needle and threat. Yeah.
I don't know if that was a good idea or not,
but here we are. It's all hands stitched. So I'm
on your website it's s w D S g n
(02:48):
S dot com. So if any and I'm also if
you're listening right now and you're like, what did you
just say? It is in the description of this podcast
that you could just click on it and get over
there super easy. But some of the stuff you have
is very intricate, like that you are gold t that
like that writing is so like neat and it's script,
so that is your hand you are doing that? Yes?
(03:09):
Why how so this T shirt specifically, how long does
it take you to then stitch out? Am I saying?
Or embroider? I guess you either you are gold baby.
That's a new one, so I haven't done it a
ton of times. That one is probably like thirty minutes
of just of the stitching. It's not I'm not like
free hand stitching. Everything is drawn and traced and then
(03:33):
I put it on the hoop. And that's kind of
how I get that. I've had people ask me that
where they're like you just like from your head, absolutely
not still very intricate. It's a very almost like intimate
type of thing to do. Like you're in there in
that one shirt and someone is going to get that
one shirt that you handmade. It's different than a lot
(03:55):
of products that people buy. So what, like you just said,
you took thirty minutes on one shirt? What is your
week like? Because you still have a day job. This
is a full blown side hustle right now. Yes, it
looks different every week. To be honest, I have kind
of resigned to doing as much or as little as
I can. In the first year, I really drove myself
crazy with like I have to get so much done
(04:16):
with my side hustle, Like I have to always be
doing this, And I kind of found a balance on that.
There's only so many hours in the day, but I
love doing it so like I don't mind spending most
every evening after work on it. So then what is
your day job? So my day job is also making
T shirts. I'm a graphic designer for a T shirt
(04:38):
company in Lakewood, Ohio that specializes in sorority and fraternity designs.
So it's very different than this. It's a whole different
athotic So I'm t shirts. Geez, what school did you
go to? I went to Kent State for a fashion
design and you had the project where you're talking about
you did T shirts in school? Was this like, Okay,
this is what I want to do. I want to
(04:59):
design T shirt forever, no matter what kind, I want
to do T shirts. No. I kind of felt backwards
into this T shirt Like, to be honest, I've said
so many times, like I think about it and when
I was like growing up and worked in restaurants and
like my uniform was a T shirt. I hated it.
I was like, I can't wait to not have to
wear T shirts. And I'm like, here, I am all
(05:19):
I wear this T shirts but all everyone it's great
though it's crazy, so it's like full circle T shirts.
When I finished school, I knew I wanted to do
something in fashion, obviously that's why I went. But I
wasn't ready to like move out of Cleveland. So I
was really just looking for like a full time job
to not work at a restaurant anymore. And I actually
applied for a job within the company that I work
(05:42):
at now, and it was like an operating It was
some like just random job and I found this company.
To their credit, they brought me in. They were like,
you have design experience, Like do you want to do
graphic design? And I was like, I don't feel like
I know anything about graphic design, but if you'll let
me do it, like yeah, absolutely, And so they really
like bought me. I mean I already had like basic
(06:02):
photoshop illustrator skills, but they really like taught me a
bunch of stuff. And I've been there for three or
four years. Have you learned things at your day job
that has helped you with sw designs for sure, because
I do design my designs for the embroidery on the computer.
So like even having those like illustrator skills has really
helped be able to develop like the design in my
(06:23):
head into a traceable format. The orders that I used
to work on at work and my full time job
were like all custom orders, so you're using all different apparel,
and it really got me familiar with like what different
apparels were and what colors and where I can get
them from. So I buy my T shirts from like
the same wholesale that's we use it works, So that
kind of stuff has been really interesting. And now I
(06:45):
work on our company's e commerce site, so even like
little marketing website things like it is like very similar
to where I can take away a lot of different things.
So you were working for this company in Ohio, then
you moved to New York's obviously you were remote. You're
still working for them, so you were working from home
before the rest of the world was forced to work
(07:06):
from home. So what was that transition like for you?
Because you're ahead of the game for most of us
in that situation, right, we were lucky enough, like Our
company has always had a pretty loose work from home policy,
so I have been able to work from home a
couple of days a week or however much I really
want for a long time. So I was already pretty
used to like that work environment. And then I moved
(07:28):
and we were all set up that I was going
to work remote, and yeah, I moved to New York
the first week of March, so I was here for
one week before this day at home order went no.
So my transition to remote was not hard because everyone
else was doing it too. I was like, I thought
I was gonna be the only one on the zoom call.
(07:49):
You're all at your houses too, So it's been pretty strange,
but I guess it was an easier transition for me
for sure, and be but being in a city, I
guess it doesn't really matter if you're an city you
don't know, because it's not like you can explore anyway
right now. It's not your There's not much you're missing
out on. But why New York? Why the move? Me
and my husband moved because he was starting a new job,
(08:12):
and it was like, we've always wanted to come here anyway,
so any any reason to get me here really, So yeah,
it's really weird timing that I'm here, but I'm not
really because I can't do anything. Do you think that
being in a new city will influence the design you
have for sw designs eventually when you can explore I hope. So.
(08:32):
I love like finding reasons to make new designs. I
don't have like a super strict like I don't have
like seasonal releases. If something like strikes me, I can
have it up on the website pretty quickly, or at
least experiment and make a sample or whatever. The other
thing I really am like excited to do when life
goes back to whatever is like make new connections. I
(08:53):
feel like the Cleveland market is so small and doing
like something like the Cleveland Fleet, like you kind of
meet everyone that's doing something similar to you, So to
find new people to like collaborate with or whatever, it's
just a whole new market to explore. They're really excited
about absolutely, and people listening right now they're like, wait,
I've heard of the Cleveland Flee before. Why have I
heard of a market in Cleveland? That is because Emily
(09:15):
from Art of Sucra, the Cotton Candy Company, Emily has
been amazing. Emily was at the Cleveland Flee. She's been
on this podcast. She spun cotton candy when I did
my other podcast Live in Cleveland. So she's been amazing
in this process. Yeah, but Emily connected Samantha and I
because you guys met at a market. So did you
know Emily before that market? What is that market life? Like?
(09:36):
I did not? Well, I'm trying to think of when
I met Emily. I think the first time I met her,
she reached out about doing custom shirts, and so I
stitched shirts for her and her employees with her logo
on it, and it was just the coolest thing, Like
her custom orders are always so much fun. The Clevon
Flee is super unique. There's a ton of markets in Cleveland,
but that is like the that's the big one. And
(09:59):
I used to shop at it before I had this business.
For the first year is in business, it felt like
this like big some day if I could get it.
And then the next year I did get him when
I applied for the spring, So that was like I
did it for two full years, two eighteen and two nineteen.
Our markets a huge part of your business. Kind they
kind of became a pretty big part, like not totally
(10:21):
on purpose, but nothing is at this point. Yeah, it's
so it's just so many eyeballs all at once, like
it's there's it's hard to be and a lot of
people at markets, even myself, like I'll take someone's card
or take a picture of what they have and always
go back and buy a gift later. And sometimes it
just helps. Like you said, eyeballs. You know, they may
not be buying at that moment, but you're in front
(10:42):
of people, they see and feel your products, which is great,
and then when they do need something custom also they
may think of you. So I think markets are great.
Everyone who's been on this podcast and has been to
markets has raved about the market community. And I'm a
big advocate for the market community when they aren't ripping
off small businesses because I know it's tough, like you said,
to get into them and then pay for them. It's
(11:03):
not always easy. But now, obviously markets aren't really happening
at the moment when we are recording this, So are
you looking at different things you can now do for
sw designs that maybe that won't be happening for a
while and you're in a new city, or you just
like website is up and that's all that matters a
little bit of both. I definitely am always trying to
find like new ways to get in front of new audiences.
(11:25):
The Cleveland Fleet, like I said, it was so my audience,
like the customer base was just so perfect, And when
I knew I was moving, I kind of had that
thought of like, am I going to try to do
markets this year? There are a lot of work, it's exhausting,
and so part of like at the end of everyone
you go, I don't want to do this again, and
then in a week you're like, I can't wait for
the next one, Like it's just it is what it is.
(11:46):
And the Cleveland Fleet actually announced that they are not
doing any markets. So then I was like, well that
kind of made my decision for me. So yeah, it
has been a lot more of like how do I
up my like online presence as far as even if
its Instagram or like working with influencers or just different
ways to find new audience members. Well, I think we
(12:07):
might need some side Hustler's custom gear. That awesome. Well,
I love you have like you said that you do
just love making designs and making things based off of
whatever you feel or whatever is happening in that moment.
And you've got the stay Home crew neck and it's
the stay Home sweatpants and it's the heart and two
hearts and it says stay at home and the other one,
which obviously you didn't have. I'm assuming in January that's
(12:30):
probably something new. Yeah. I actually designed that before all
of this happen. I swear. I was like, why did
you do that? You did? So? Yeah. When I did
launch it, it was like middle of March, and I
was like, well, this is more appropriate than it's ever been.
I was like, I can't believe it. Okay, I just
love I'm a homebody. Yeah, well that's crazy to me
(12:50):
because I was like, oh, that's awesome, like look at
her being with the times right now. But I mean, hey,
it's still awesome. I mean it's really cool. I know,
you've got the No Brock Club tea, which everyone is
preaching right now. No, that is quarantine inspired. Quarantine inspired
super cool. So if someone wanted to do a custom teacher, okay, okay,
so for me, example, say I want something that says
(13:11):
side hustlers. Do I go to your website? Do I
email you? Do I like how does that work? There
is a contact form on my website that kind of
gives like a little rundown about like if you're interested,
like these are the details that will get us started,
about how many things you're looking for, what the design is.
I want to be able to give someone a price estimate,
like pretty quickly. But if they just emailed me, like
(13:33):
I want a T shirt, Like, I have so many
questions before I can give you, like even an estimate.
So yeah, the contact form is the easiest way. I
feel like my custom orders really like EBB and flow
and gratefully the last couple of months they've been pretty steady.
So it's just like it's just always different. But I've
had like Bachelor atte parties. I was just going to
(13:55):
ask some my sister's Bachelor at party has since been moved,
but it will be in February. We they're sixteen of us,
So what is the an order like that for you
sixteen of say the same shirt or maybe it's got
something different on the name, Like that's going to take
you a long time. I would never turn away something,
you know, I've I just recently did one that was
really fun and it was a lot, but it was
(14:16):
like twenty five hats, I want to say, and it
was for like an Earth Day thing, so it was
a little like Earth on the front and then the
person's logo on the back. So it's stuff like as
long as I'm being realistic with them about my turnaround time,
like that's the only thing is if they're like I
need it next week, Like your hands can't do that, Yeah,
(14:36):
I physically can't do that. I think customers are so fun.
I think it's really cool to see what other people
come up with and like something outside of just a
design that I've made a lot of times, I'm really
into like stuff that customers bring to me, like this
is amazing, Like it's just it's really fun to my
gears are going right now, I'm like, what am I
going to have or make for me? Oh my god,
(14:56):
I have so many things. I'm thinking of all these
teachers that I want to order and all these things.
So this is not I'm definitely beck um sw Designs
real soon. What is your end goal for your company?
Is it always I'm going to make this a side
hustle forever or do you want to grow it's so big?
And then what do you do when it's something handmade
and intricate and it's this huge company. I've thought about
(15:18):
this a lot. I'm definitely not in the position right
now where like the income is to where I can
like make it my full time, but I would love
to do that, or I think someday maybe if it
makes sense for me to make that more my full
time and then graphic design on the side. I don't
think I'll ever have like one job that just doesn't
that's not me, no, And you're fine. I mean a
(15:38):
lot of it's crazy. A lot of the people on
this podcast are the same, like cut from the same cloth. Honestly,
where it's that you can't they'll leave their day job
and make it their side hustle like you just said,
that will happen, and sometimes they'll go full time in
this and then decide, like in a year, I have
another company I want to launch. It's just this is
who you guys are, Like you're all like, yeah, I
(15:58):
guess I'm part of it too, And and it's a
good thing. You know, not everyone is like that, but
you know, serial entrepreneurs they exist. It's a it's a thing.
And I was just curious when you're doing something so intricate,
How do you grow your business when it's going to
have to be so much of just you know, one
on one? Do you hire someone else? What happens? I think,
and I feel like being in a city like New
(16:20):
York makes this a lot more possible. I would love
to get to the point where I could hire someone
to do stitching. I could also delegate other parts of
the business. So I don't know which one would be
the better option. But obviously, like being more full time
would allow me to have more time to stitch, but
like physically, there's only that you would still run out
(16:40):
of time to take on more projects. So I think
I think eventually finding someone to like help with the stitching.
I tried to convince my husband to learn how to
embroenter so many times, and he's just not here for it. Okay,
So how then, obviously your husband has to be supportive
of your business. Maybe he's not gonna stitch for you,
but I'm sure he can't super supportive. From the day
you were like, okay, I want to do this, what
(17:01):
has that been like, he's been great. Yeah, he won't.
It's probably for the best that he's not switching. I've
it's but he's helped in so many other ways, especially
with fleas where I've I've drugged him to many a
city and made him help me put up a tent
and put tables together and sit there and talk to
customers all day, just from like keeping the house clean
(17:23):
because i have an order that needs to go out
and I'm putting all my time into that. Yeah, I've
been really grateful to him that he kind of just
lets me do my thing, and he's never like he's
here to bounce ideas off of. But he's never like
told me to stop her of course, you know, anything
like that. So I feel like he needs to be
handy to give you some hand massages because you must
(17:45):
have like the sores hands after stitching all of this. Yeah. Yeah,
I'm worried that it's overall not going to be a
great thing for mys Gonna do some massages or I
don't even know. I can't Like I'm lucky. I can
fix a time the hole on my shirt. Let Al,
I look at what you do and it's just it's art.
It truly is, because it's so unique and so different,
(18:09):
and for me, it's not something I can do. So
I look at what you do and I'm just like,
that's amazing that you can do that, and you found
a skill and you ran with it, and it's incredible
what you've done. And finding something you're passionate about and
turning it into a business is is not the easiest thing,
and I admire that and everyone who's been on this
podcast and and obviously in you as well. But something
(18:30):
you've done is you had an etc Store and then
you transformed to having your own website. So on your
end as a business owner, why and what is that like? Well,
I started on etc just simply because it's so easy
to get up and running. I've always had a Squarespace
account just from school because we had a online portfolios
and all that kind of stuff. But like switching to
(18:50):
the commerce profile or whatever you wanna call it felt
like a big commitment that these kind of like it's perlistic, Yeah, yeah,
for sure. And the thing that is nice about Etsy
is that it's kind of its own search engine, so
like you're more likely to come up than just like
having a random website. And then for a while I
had both. I had my shirts for sale on my
(19:14):
website and on Etsy, and that was just like really
tough to keep track of inventory. I already struggle with
that anyway, especially with fleas. It's just like a lot
of areas that all need to cooperate with each other.
I've actually considered bringing my Etsy back. I just don't know.
For a while, I feel like it felt not as professional.
(19:35):
It felt for me more professional to have a website.
But then I was like, no, I can see that
because it depends like the general person that shops at
Etsy is just like, Okay, I'm shopping at etc. And
this is fine. But if you're trying to read someone
who's never shopped at Etsy, they may think, what do
you mean you don't have a website? Like how do
you know twenty how do you not have a website?
(19:56):
So I completely understand your point of view. I think
it's end of the day. It needs to be what
makes the most sense for your business and your time
and your sanity. Not that you asked my opinion, No,
it's it's I don't think there is a right answer
when it comes to like ets your website kind of
because I've seen some really beautiful Etsy pages where I'm like,
how did you make this looks like it looks so professional,
(20:18):
and I'm like, well, that doesn't feel less than what
you know. I don't know, it's just and I think
it depends on the product. A lot of T shirts
on Etsy are like screen printed, so when you see
like a T shirt at the price range that mine is,
I could almost see people being like, would like and
just kind of it blends in with all the other things.
That makes sense. Yeah, I know it's it's a hard
(20:40):
thing for a lot of business owners who are creatives
and handmake stuff. I had Lawnerrey handmade an episode with Roxy.
Her company is Launerrey Handmade, and when we talk, she
was literally just going from Etsy to her website and
she hand makes purses, so same idea like you can
find and she sows with her hands or with the
sewing machine. So you guys are like in the same boat.
Have to connect you guys. She did make the jump
(21:03):
to the website this year, so I'm curious now where
she's at. Maybe she's thinking the same thing you are.
So I get it. As a business owner, it's tough,
especially when it's a side hustle and kind of does
a lot of the work for you. I completely understand.
I'm always very curious about it. We always ask for
some info ahead of time about you know, your side hustle.
(21:24):
And you said that all of your grandparents had their
own company, their own businesses, so this was kind of
like in your blood. So what did your grandparents do? So,
my mom's parents own a greenhouse, um, which they still do.
My mom works there. I grew up working there, like
I don't know, way too young to like high school.
(21:44):
And then my dad's side owned a bar, and then
his stepdad owned a bunch of different businesses like a
sand and gravel company and just different, like not nearly
as relatable to me as like fully understand that, but still,
I mean, it's in your blood at that point. Yeah,
growing up being an entrepreneur like as such a like
(22:06):
simple like it didn't feel like a crazy thing to me.
I was like, I've seen people do this my whole life.
I can do it too. I never saw myself in
like a really traditional job, so it always made the
most sense to me. Oh, it's cool when you see
obviously your parents and people or grandparents that you look
up to doing something you don't fully I guess grasp
(22:27):
what they've done to you, it's just normal. And then
when you start doing it yourself, you're like, how do
you how did you do this? Like I know with
my dad and like, how are you a manager? How
did you manage people? I'm so bad at this, and
you know, I get advice from him, But in my mind,
I was like, oh, that's cool. My dad manages people,
and I'm sure for you, like launching your own business,
You're like, how did they have a greenhouse? When I
(22:47):
started taking like business classes in college, I would like
come to like my uncle or my grandparents with like
fake projects that we use, and I was like, how
do you deal with like overhead and like all the
stuff that you've never like, I've never considered that r
And I was like, this is a complicated it is.
They make it look so easy, but obviously you're doing
a great job at it. I am a fan of
(23:08):
what you do. I know you and I have been
trying to connect for almost a year now because I
I say this all the time, I picked the worst
kind of podcast to do when it comes to scheduling,
because I'm dealing with people who have at least two
jobs most of the time, and I've got a job,
so it's hilarious when I try to schedule this podcast.
But I'm glad we made it work. I'm glad Emily
(23:29):
connected us, and I'm glad you're part of the side
Hustler's family. Thank you for doing what you do, and
then thank you for you know, putting something out there
that will make people smile, especially right now. Your products
are amazing and I'm excited to see what you do
and I hope you don't get our threats anytime soon.
Thank you. So people can go to your website, it's
s w D s g n S dot com, which,
(23:50):
by the way, the s w is your name, Samantha Wiggins. Yes,
so designs is just without any vowels. Okay, every time
I say that, I go yeah, if you have to
double check. And then your Instagram is also s w
D s g N S. And again I will put
all of that in the description below so anyone can
check it out. Samantha, thank you so much for being here.
(24:11):
I appreciate it. Thank you, Thank you so much for
listening to side Hustlers and to Samantha's story. Don't forget
it's s w D, s g N S dot com
s w D S g N S on Instagram. You
can also just hit the links below to follow Samantha
and to support and to get some T shirts. I
know I'm going to be getting some, so thank you
(24:32):
for supporting anyone who has been on this podcast. I
appreciate it so much. Every small business owner appreciates it.
Every side hustler appreciates it. And again, if you can't
shop them, totally understand. Following and sharing things that they
post is such a huge help. I note it sounds crazy,
but it is. And if you can rate and review
this podcast, I would appreciate that very very much. You
(24:53):
can follow me on Instagram at the Carla Marie and
this podcast has been produced by my good friend Houston
and until next week to keep ustling m
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