Text me about this episode! 5% of employees in the US are millionaires.. and 88% of millionaires are business owners. Success leaves clues, wouldn't you say? This summer, my primary business, Music City Sewing, will turn eight. Eight years of running a small service-based sewing business that on the surface looks super shiny & glittery, peppered with Getty images and exciting opportunities, but when it comes down to it, it’s a blue collar business. It’s alterations, it’s softgoods and mer...

Text me about this episode! Money is the scoreboard for the impact you get to have in the world as a business owner. You know what a red flag looks like in dating, but can you spot the ones that go up in MOST small sewing businesses? I'm bringing you five red flags, five ways sewing businesses waste money. I'm speaking to myself this week, as someone who's made every mistake in the book! Tune in! Get 50% off your first year using my favorite email marketing platform, flodesk by heading ...

Text me about this episode! Broke and anxious?? Running a sale is always the way to go to solve your problems, right? Eeeesh.. How exactly do you plan to make more money at your craft by charging less? I don't believe in regularly running sales on products or services you don't plan to sunset - for these eight reasons. And because it's not enough to tell you why running sales all the time is bankrupting your brand, I also give you five ways to incentivize sales instead of simply slashi...

Text me about this episode!Have you ever wondered exactly what's in the clothes you make to sell, or how you could potentially clean up the amount of synthetic dyes and chemicals your customers may be buying? Just because a product is handmade, doesn't mean it's skipped out on containing chemicals that are scientifically-proven to affect our bodies as makers, and inevitably, your end customers. Today's guest is Jeff Garner, a fashion designer of the clothing line Prophetik, and Emmy-winning d...

Text me about this episode!We’ve seen bad AI... in all formats, like blog & image creation, voice cloning, etc. But in order to use AI well, and benefit from its capabilities, you have to FIRST understand how it works, and how to clearly articulate what you want, and SECOND, you have to actual put in effort to creating the right prompt. As a business owner, you get out of it what you put in, so with just a little time in learning how it works, and finding the right types of AI to he...

Text me about this episode!We don't rise to our goals, we fall to our systems. Last year, I was gone over HALF of the year, but solely because our business processes are practically muscle memory at this point, our business still continued to grow. I go behind the scenes in housekeeping for my business at the top of the year, to teach you exactly what steps you should take if you own a handmade business and want a peaceful, organized start to your year, as well as a framework for st...

Text me about this episode!After just a quick year sabbatical, we're back with Season 2 of Pull The Thread Podcast. This is mostly a recap for the past year, as to why Krystal took a break from ALL content creation, as a digital business owner AND brick-and-mortar business owner, and how we're approaching reentry/planning for a profitable, peaceful year.Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.

Text me about this episode!If you're hustling for new clients all day, and working as fast as your little fingers can fly all night, you've probably been walking the fine line between self-employed and business owner for a while now.Krystal has a couple ways to tell if it's time to make the changes you need for long term stability, as well as a little advice for what's going to be expected of you when you change.Regardless of whether you want to scale your business, or remain a one-pers...

Text me about this episode!Do you ever feel like people are lapping you? Like everyone else is moving forward, and your current status is... well... stationary? Episode 27 of Pull the Thread podcast is for the perpetual planner who just can't seem to pull the trigger on launching or is stuck without any growth. Because you only ever really have two choices - you can evolve or remain. Are you willing to do what it takes? Krystal guides listeners through a series of practical qu...

Text me about this episode!September marks my assistant, Natalyn’s one-year anniversary of working at our brick-and-mortar sewing business. I finally dragged her behind the mic to share about the past year, all the hard work she’s put in, and things she’s learned along the way.If you’re considering fashion school, or a career in the hands-on side of creating fashion, this episode is one not to miss. We talk about how she scored her opportunity, what it took to prove herself, things she found ...

Text me about this episode!These nine (mostly free) tools have changed the game for me in terms of automating and delegating tasks. My goal as a business owner is to not waste any human brainpower whatsoever dong things computers can do more efficiently, and in return, keeping our valuable hands busy doing work that matters for people who care. My top 9 tools for a more productive, profitable handmade business:Lucky OrangeChatGPTTrelloAnswer the publicHemingway appArtful agenda Flod...

Text me about this episode!Derek Thompson says that to sell something familiar, you have to make it surprising. To sell something surprising, you have to make it familiar. "It is in this interplay between familiarity and surprise where the strongest appeal lives.And isn’t that just it? Customers are either torn between their curiosity of new things, and also, a fear of anything too new.Hop into this episode to learn how to walk the line between familiarity and surprise, and to hear a really c...

Text me about this episode!Did you know Steve Jobs was so upside down on starting Pixar that he was personally funding payroll for months on end before Toy Story was released? He couldn’t secure backing from anyone, but truly believed in the creative underbelly of what was going on inside of those ordinary offices that sat next to an oil refinery. Jobs was $50 million in the hole, but still knew he was onto something in what they were creating. He brought in Lawrence Levy to be his CFO, who d...

Text me about this episode!The largest art theft in history happened nearly 33 years ago, in Boston, March 18, 1990. Thieves stole 13 pieces of art valued at over $500 million, from Isabella Gardner Museum.One of the pieces stolen has been valued at $250 million… A reward of $10 million is still being offered for the return of this art. Have you ever stolen from yourself? If you’re a creative trying to do business by selling the things you make, or your services themselves, most likely, ...

Text me about this episode!This episode highlights the pain points of well-intentioned aspiring fashion designers.If a sketch were all one needed, then anyone could be a fashion designer... But it isn't.You don't need to know how to pattern or sew - you just need to communicate with those who do.There are a lot of steps between making a sketch, and having it manufactured into wearable clothing... I built you a staircase. Fashion lines are expensive, but they cost even more to start ...

Text me about this episode!The most expensive dress in the world was valued at $30 million dollars, and was created by Faisal Abdullah in 2009 - an incredible designer that doesn't even have a website. That speaks volumes to me - First, that someone can do $30m without a website & second, the consistent reminder that making things is expensive. The sobering reality of what launching a clothing line actually costs is only topped by these five secrets that small batch manufacturers qui...

Text me about this episode!The color chartreuse has a bit of a boozy background. It was named after a French liqueur called “chartreuse” which has a greenish-yellow hue. The liqueur was first produced in 1605 by the Carthusian monks of France. François Hannibal d’Estrées discovered a secret recipe that allegedly helped its consumers ‘live a long life.’ He brought the recipe to Monks near Paris, who ultimately sent it down to La Grande Chartreuse abbey. The recipe was eventually test...

Text me about this episode!Leonardo daVinci wasn't the best painter of his time - in fact, he was better known as an engineer. The only reason the famous Last Supper painting was painted - at Santa Maria della Grazie, was because daVinci had some time to kill.Nearly every fashion designer I've worked with over the past few years has been conceptualizing their fashion lines on the side... in their free time. Here are four ways to know if you're ready to start your clothing line.Int...

Text me about this episode!My exact steps for algorithm-proofing your following. If you lost your social media accounts tomorrow, would you lose your only way to communicate with your audience? If your answer is yes - you do not have a business, you just have a following. It’s time to get those followers onto a platform you control. These are my exact steps for quickly building a website that I used to generate thousands of prospective customers every year.Show links:Krystal’s affiliate link ...

Text me about this episode!Have you wondered why you can’t seem to break a pay ceiling in your own business? The things that we did to get us to our current level in business will not get us to the next level. For that, we need to expand and learn next level capabilities. I share with you a tool I use in my business to see what’s truly moving the needle, and what’s just taking up space.Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.