Beginning Again…
It’s exciting to come to a time in your life when you can stop and switch gears. To have a career that wasn’t possible in the beginning, but now is possible and successful, is truly an amazing thing to have experienced.
Here’s some background on me, Cheri Lynch, founder and owner of Seams Original: For more than 25 years, I managed a dental office. As much as I liked the people that I worked with and the patients that came in, it was never a career that I loved and felt passionate about. The main reason being that it was the most un-creative job that you could ever have, and I am just extremely creative! Early on, to fill the creative void, I would participate in small, local craft shows. I had lots of ideas, I would make things that were my own design, and I’d be posted up and every craft show around town! The following year I saw others selling the same things that I made. My items that were my ideas. I was very discouraged by this.
My best friend then told me that I should have craft shows at my house. I lived in a little cottage at the time, so her and I cleared out my house, filled every nook and crannie with my crafts, put on a pot of tea, made homemade cookies, invited everyone we knew, and hosted a homemade craft open house! That was a lot of fun for a few years! I was then shortly invited to participate in large 4 day craft show event for the holiday season. I did this for 12 years straight, all while working full time.
In 2011, I discovered a world that I never knew existed and it was called Etsy. My daughter-in-law told me about it as she opened her first shop selling vintage apparel and accessories. It took me a while to follow her lead, but with her encouragement, I opened my own shop – Seams Original. I started with selling vintage children’s clothes, then moved to vintage curtains, THEN moved to handmade children’s vintage inspired clothes. I was making a few sales here and there, but nothing too big.
While doing all of this, I decided that one day I was going to make a valance for my dining room. I bought a beautiful Richloom fabric with birds on it. My husband who never said no to anything I made for the house, said no to the bird curtains. It was a firm NO at that! So I told him that I would take the fabric back to the store, but instead, he told me to make the valance and put it in my Etsy shop… so I did just that! Within the hour, it was sold! I then shortly made another one and it sold… and another… and another… and another… Sold, sold, sold! This all occurred in September of 2013. My little Etsy shop was actually growing, and by May of 2014, I took a major leap of faith, I said goodbye to my dental career and made home decor items become my new midlife career.
Now I know this is not something that everyone can do, or would even want to do for that matter! There were things that I prepared for leading up to the career change and ideas that have been a massive help in switching careers. In hindsight, there was still a lot of stuff that I should have done, (i.e. be more financially secure), but, that’s another blog post in of itself. Here is a little list of some things that I did and some that I still continue to do:
List…
1.) Prior to quitting my dental job, I purchased a six month supply of basic home necessities. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, bathroom tissue, dish soap, laundry detergent, paper towels, etc. I also spent time learning how to “coupon shop”. I knew once I quit my full time job, money was going to be tight.
2.) I stocked up on sewing supplies that I knew I would need. I also purchased a good DSLR camera to take high quality photos. Photography for my shop has been and currently is my biggest challenge. Taking high quality photos can be immensely difficult.
3.) I kept my business struggles to myself. I didn’t want to put any negativity out into the universe about failure. When I needed to rant, my husband and my son is who I confined in the most and they helped motivate me to continue. My husband used to run his own business, and my son and his wife also run their own businesses. We are a family of small business owners who started from the ground up!
4.) Good records are a must! A notebook of ideas, thoughts, and supplies that I would need. I try to keep everything in one area. I also always compare prices of fabrics and supplies. Since I have a “legitimate” business, I can have an Amazon business account, which includes good savings! But, you have to have an EIN number and you must be approved for this type of account.
5.) Since I work out of my house, I did pick up a very part time job. It gets me out and away from the sewing machines and out talking to people. I do not have close neighbors, so working at home, alone, day after day, 90% of the time is great, but every now and again, it is good to get out and talk to people! Plus, my part time job is fast paced and very physical, so it keeps me active!
6.) As orders started coming in, I would write them down on a steno pad. I know there are computer programs for logging all of this, but, I personally need it on ink and paper so I can have it right there in front of me. At first, this was okay, because I could mostly memorize what I needed to make, but then it became more difficult when I started to get more “custom” orders. So I then designed my own order form. I have to have sizes, quantities, type of items, etc on it… it really keeps me organized and on track. Honestly, it was the best thing I could have done!
7.) Eat healthy and take a real lunch break! It is easy to snack your way through the day.
So, this was just a little bit about me and how I came to where I am today! I hope to hear from you and what you story is. We all have one, and I surely do appreciate you listening to mine!
-Cheri Lynch, founder and owner of Seams Original.
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