START HERE: Why Owning a Craft Biz Can Be Revolutionary
The Old Version: We Are Sew Worth It
Over a decade ago, on my consumer facing website, I wrote a blog post that was essentially a temper tantrum. TL/DR: I saw someone way undercharging for a quilt she had made, and I took to the keyboard to explain why I felt this needs to stop.
It went viral.
I wrote some more.
I joined craft biz groups. I expanded the conversations to the issues with running a business in which you consistently low-ball yourself.
I got my head on a pike a few times.
I spoke up anyway.
The NEW Version: RevCraftBiz
I’m still speaking up.
Still writing. Still delivering lectures about it.
I remain passionate about this stuff. In fact, I’m more serious than ever because I’ve seen some shifts over the last decade that give me hope.
But to simplify my consumer customers’ experience, and to make it easier to create community with my colleagues, I’m doing the biz writing here (on Substack) now.
Why a Revolution?
New, better ideas and ways are often called “revolutionary” because they change things, and make a better path forward.
The craft industry is packed with long-established systems that resist change. Many of these dominant paradigms keep the owners of small craft businesses firmly at the bottom of the food chain, hustling hard for abusively low compensation.
Anyone who profits from this arrangement isn’t going to change the rules out of the goodness of their hearts; after all, capitalism cares most about the bottom line, not the people.
So it’s up to us to incite the revolutionary changes we need to own sustainable, humane, and profitable businesses.
Where YOU Come In
It takes a community of people to come up with the best ways to enact the change we want.
I want to be IN that community. We’re already creative, capable, and resourceful; we have to be to own our businesses. But we are also diverse in every way possible.
Sure, I have plenty of opinions, but I want to have the rich conversations that challenge me to think of better solutions. I won’t get there on my own.
So I hope to build an interactive, diverse, respectful community that wants to work towards change. It would be cool to include your voice.
What to Expect
My aim is to post free stuff weekly for now, and expand into additional paid content.
I’d love to promise you that I’ll write on a schedule, but I’m working on the revolution of being a woman who actually takes care of herself. It’s amazing how much better I take care of everything else when I do that first. So thanks for your grace on the times when this human needs extra TLC, and I hope that inspires you to take some time for your human, too.
To Subscribe, or Not to Subscribe
There’s a lot of great content out there. Over the years, we’ve been lucky to get a lot of it for free.
But honestly, how much do you like being asked to work for free? It happens a lot in craft businesses and that’s one of the things I want to change. We should be paid for our work.
So if you appreciate what I write, and what I do, please subscribe.