Hey, my name is Marijke and I own and operate Superbloom Gear Repair. And what Superbloom Gear Repair does is offer sewing services to my community and abroad. I work on jackets, tents, backpacks, anything that can go in a sewing machine basically is what I do. Noticing a need for garments and clothing and gear to be fixed rather than be thrown away. So I worked for ski school, I worked for a hiking guide company, and these people really go through their gear really fast and I was like, we should be able to fix this. So I slowly started to teach myself and work on my friend's old sewing machine. And several years later, here I am and I have my own business accomplishing this goal of keeping things out of the landfill and giving clothing new life. I think what makes me a good business owner is that I'm relentless.
(01:18)
I want to make it work. I like filling my workday my way instead of someone else's way, and I'm organized and I'm creative. So it fulfills that and drives me to be successful. And I'm also kind of a people pleaser, which I think helps in some sense to keep a business going. You always want to do a good job and you're always interacting with your customers in a polite, nice way, so people keep coming back and spread the word. So I think I'm nice, I'm creative, and I'm a relentless hard worker and I want to make this work. So I think that helps me be a good business owner. So what keeps me going, because running a business is really hard, so it's hard to, you have to motivate yourself to go to work every day and do all your tasks and stuff like that.
(02:19)
And what motivates me is kind of like trifold. I'm passionate about the environment and clothing creates a lot of environmental waste. So if I can make a small impact by keeping your jacket going just because the zipper broke, let's replace a zipper and keep it going for 10 more years. So that motivates me is the Earth, which is kind of surprising. The earth doesn't have its own voice, so we need to do all we can to keep it going. We only have one. And then another reason is clothing and gear can be super sentimental, so being able to provide a service to make people happy is really rewarding. And so that's kind of what keeps me going, even if it gets like, oh my gosh, I got to hem these pants again and I got to do this thing, but it's worth it because people need it and there's not a lot of people doing sewing.
(03:23)
So that's what keeps me going through the times when I don't want to come in and do this work. What's really funny, what is really hard for me and a big roadblock is a advertising and social media. I'm a millennial, but I am not very good at doing the Facebook or the Instagram. So that's been very challenging for me to make that happen, but it's also worth it. I did finally start an Instagram and I'm starting to do it, and I got really great feedback from people. They're like, we really like seeing what you do. So it's working and that's motivating, and I am getting better and hopefully I can take a class from Rocky Mountain Women's Business Center soon to work on marketing stuff. But I think that's the hardest because I'm just not into being on my computer. And sometimes as a business owner you have to do computer stuff.
(04:29)
I mentioned I started an Instagram and there's a bunch of other repair people on Instagram so I can connect with them through messaging and stuff. Other things that have been difficult for me, being a one woman show and everything, bookkeeping and accounting. And I actually signed up for QuickBook Live Bookkeeper, and that's been very useful just to take an hour to have them explain it to me. And then I've also had one-on-one coaching with a business counselor. So that's been a very useful free tool to help me figure out my goals and figure out other things I can do to reach those goals. And it's been very valuable for sure. Community is the centerpiece of my business because I offer the service that nobody else does, in the valley where I live. People call me and they're like, I need this done. And then they come in, I fulfill their ask, and then they're like, awesome, I'm going to tell everyone about you.
(05:41)
So then their friend comes in and they're like, this friend told me about you. And then the coolest part is I see people out and about in the stuff I fixed. And that's the most rewarding part is that it's small. Whitefish is small enough to where I can see the repairs I've done and see people use it, and also kind of keep track of what kind of wear and tear is on this if I get it back, and I can see how the repairs work too. So community is really important. I've never advertised for my business. It's all been word of mouth. So community is central to my business being successful, and I'm very grateful to everyone. Right now I'm working on, so something that has stuck out to me with a customer and a piece I've been working on is I'm reworking a client's robe from her mother who's passed into a skirt shirt combo.
(06:50)
So that's been pretty wild to work on because it requires a lot of fitting. It requires tailoring, which I'm starting to get better at, and a lot of creativity and a lot of seam ripping, which is basically what sewing is, is just seam ripping. And she is beyond the moon excited about this rework of a robe that she would never wear into something that she could wear all the time, two pieces of clothing that she could wear all the time. So that's been really awesome to work with her and to make her dreams come true, because it's really hard to please clients sometimes, but it's going really well and I'm really excited to how it turns out. So that kind of sticks out to me as something that's been rewarding, difficult, but definitely what keeps me going to do this business. It's great. Yeah, I used to rework stuff myself, and it always turned out terribly.
(07:54)
So when she came to me with this, I was like, I don't know if I could do this, but I must be getting better at sewing because it's turning out so good. She just came in here before the meeting and we did an hour fitting to do the finishing touches, and it turned out really, really great. The way I learned sewing is I basically taught myself how to do it, and it took several years before I was comfortable enough to provide this service for other people because I'm a perfectionist and I wanted it to be good enough. Also, as a woman, I feel like sometimes we have imposter syndrome, maybe I'm not good enough for this. And it took a lot of people allowing me to work on their clothes. Maybe it wouldn't turn out as perfect as I wanted it to, but it was still functional enough for them to use it.
(08:47)
And I still see some stuff I did a long time ago, so I taught myself. There's a lot of resources out there from other repair companies, so I just look at their pictures and then be like, can I execute this? Yes, I can, which is cool. And then because you kind of need to know a lot when it comes to zippers, a lot of seamstresses don't like doing zippers, but I love it. That's kind of my thing. And so I taught myself all about that, and it's amazing what you can do to teach yourself stuff, and I feel pretty accomplished, but it did take several years before I was comfortable enough to say and be confident that I can do this. Making a cut into something, it's like measure three or five times before you make the cut so you don't make a mistake. But now I feel like if I make a mistake, I can fix that mistake.
(09:48)
So it's cool how that comes along. And just being willing to make mistakes and forgive yourself and not take yourself too seriously is also how I advanced my skillset. And now I'm just learning more and hopefully getting new machines, working with new machines to make certain repairs easier and look more professional. I knew I could do sewing full time once I started getting so busy that I was a month out on repairs, then it's like you got to bump up your prices and you have to commit more of your time to do it. So that was two years ago. In 2022, I was running around, I was sewing out of my house. I lived 30 minutes out of town, and I would meet clients in town, and it was just becoming way too much. So I was looking for a space to get out of my house, and a affordable shop space came up in Whitefish. So I moved there in January of 2023, and then I was diagnosed with cancer in March, 2023. So that was right when I was starting my real, kicking it off. I was diagnosed with cancer. I had to do surgery, and I had to do chemo.
(11:20)
So then after that, it's been hard to get back in, but I've busier than ever, and it's been a year since I've finished chemo and I've been busy ever since. And it's becoming profitable, which is exciting. It's lot of hard. It's hard work, that's for sure. Being the only one doing it, I would love to hire somebody, but I want to pay them a livable wage. So it's really hard to have those goals. But thankfully, there's people like the Rocky Mountain Women's Business Center who have coaching to help me steer my business in the right direction to get those goals accomplished. Like hiring somebody. The future goals of Superbloom Gear Repair are to hire more people so we can reach a wider group of people and be quick and timely with our repairs. Also, I would love to partner with a clothing company like Patagonia or the North Face and be their repair person or one of their repair people, because then that would take, I'd be able to take in repairs via the mail for them and feel good about that, helping them out, because a lot of people do the warranty, and there's somebody like me who's doing that work.
(12:46)
So I'd love to create a partnership there. And then I would also love to start tailoring clothing for women, because women's bodies come in all different shapes and sizes, and the clothing industry doesn't cater to all the different sizes. So it'd be great to start tailoring clothes for folks to make them feel good and feel confident in themselves. Because as women, we need to be. So there's a lot in store for Superbloom Gear Repair. Stay tuned.
