Have you ever considered selling both digital and physical products?

Today’s guest – Emily Sheehan of Woolly Bear Knits – is doing exactly that.

She is a knitter and knitting pattern designer who started her business in 2019.

At Woolly Bear Knits, you’ll find cozy, modern knit accessories all hand-knit with ethically-sourced yarn to keep you warm on all your everyday adventures.

Emily entered the handmade business world with previous business experience, and we discuss how that helped her in the beginning of this journey, and how her business evolved to offer both finished knitted products, and knitting patterns over time.

We also discuss:

• Dealing with the isolation of being self-employed


• Product photography


• Knowing who your ideal customer is and how to reach them


• The importance of branding


• Not following the competition, and more!

You can listen to the podcast below, or on your fave podcast app – or you can watch it on YouTube!

Keep thriving,

Jess

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Show Notes

• Emily started her company, Woolly Bear Knits (named after the Woolly Bear Caterpillar) in 2019. She was a stay-at-home mother at the time and living in Minnesota where the weather is cold. Having lived in California and Colorado for some years, Emily was wanting to spend more time outdoors and rediscovered knitting with Merino wool to create cosy hats to keep her warm in the Minnesota winter.


• Emily discussed how she transitioned to knitting as a business, and this started when she made hats as a fundraiser for her sister who had a not-for-profit business.


• Her sister had previously operated a successful Etsy shop and encouraged Emily to start one herself.


• Emily’s background is in business and human resources, and this has helped her a lot to run the business on her own.


• Having started her company in 2019, she had one full selling season (October to December) at markets etc. before the Covid pandemic. However, during lockdown, her hats, and particularly her downloadable knitting patterns, took off as people looked for new hobbies and online products.


• Emily has tried in the past to sell other products such as macrame during the summer months, but this never took off. Summer is now her time to build stock and complete admin tasks such as updating her website.


• Jess noted that it’s important for new business owners to get to the know the ebbs and flows of their particular product in their particular region, and not panic when there is a slow season. 

‘…Some of us just got really lucky in terms of the timing… I had two years of experience by then [Covid] and was able to scale my business a little bit more during that busy time, but if I were just getting started during that busy time, it would have been a different story.’ {Emily} 

• Jess spoke about the isolation that some makers experience and how important it is for them to realise that they’re not alone in their struggles. She started her business in 2008, the year of the Global Financial Crisis, and has seen ebbs and flows along the way. The current financial issues will also pass.


• Emily highlighted the importance of having a network of maker friends, who don’t necessarily make the same thing, but can offer advice or suggestions about aspects of running the business, or just provide support.


• Marketing was discussed. Emily mostly finds customers for he