Rocky Mountain Women in Business Series Video: Micayla D'Ambrosia

(04:40):

(05:46):

So I launched these little stuffed animals that you see all around, have been a huge hit, and it's been so fun making them and creative and doing just new things. And so now I have products of different price ranges, which is nice at markets then. So that was 2023. 2024, this year has been crazy because it's been like, I can work my business year round now that it's not just blankets. And so one day I was talking to my husband and I was telling him all my aspirations for this next year, and he was like, you can't just work out of that tiny room in our basement anymore if you're going to keep growing your business like this. And so he talked me into building what you see today in my She Shed, which is we have this gazebo in our backyard and we just enclosed it.

(06:46):

And now I have a whole space for my business, which is so cool. Every small business owner's dream to have their own little space that you get a design and everything. So yeah, I have storage for all my stuff. I have content creation corner over here. I have a shipping corner over there when I ship products. It's crazy. But yeah, it's been, I never would've thought that back in 2021 when I started just making blankets and absolutely hated it and then fell in love with it that it would come this far that I would need a whole space. But I think what really inspires me now to keep going is the fact that I know that so many moms do go through postpartum anxiety and depression. There's so many feelings that come with postpartum that I just want them to know and see me in my business and know that those feelings don't last forever and that I will preach all day long that moms, you need something else outside of being a stay at home mom that really drives you and fulfills you.

(07:55):

And yeah, so that's why I kind of keep going. And then of course, I love that my kids see me following my dreams and they know they can do anything that they put their minds to, so yeah. Some of the challenges that I have faced in growing my business over the years is number one, when I was first transforming my hobby into a business, I really struggled with how to price things. Because when it's a hobby, you can sell 'em for cheaper because you're not making a living off of it. But then when you turn it into a business, you're like, okay, you have to price it to where it's worth it for your customers and also for you because you're taking time away from, well, I'm taking time away from my kids, away from my family, things like that. And so I really struggled with how to price things.

(08:48):

Another thing that I struggled with in the very beginning was finding the right craft markets for my business and for I needed to find markets that had my kind of clientele. And so a way that I got around that is really just trial and error. I did a lot of markets that I was like, okay, probably not going to do this one again. And then I did a lot that I absolutely loved, and I have been very loyal to those markets ever since. But a way that I did that too was just connecting with other business owners in the market. Sorry, can you hear my chickens outside? Okay. So one other big struggle that I dealt with, and I know that a lot of other sole proprietors and small business owners deal with is that everything is on you. I do the marketing, I create, I do the books, I do literally everything that is the small business.

(09:46):

And so that's why I loved getting on that call with Marguerite because she really helped me with my bookkeeping and helping me kind of figure out a system to make everything so much easier and simpler than the way I was doing it, which was not easy and simple. And so I'm actually, we have a whole game plan and we are going to, we hopped on a call, I'm going to do some things, I have some homework to do, and then I'm going to go back and get on a call with her. She's going to help me figure it all out again, and then we'll just continue working. So I love that all of your services are free. That is so cool to small business owners because I need it. I need the help, all the help I can get because it's all me. Yeah, everything is all me that I have to do.

(10:33):

So that's a big struggle. But I also love it. It's a challenge sometimes, but yeah. Just kind of time management and doing certain things at certain times. I try to sit down once a week and go through my books, and I try to sit down every single night and build my inventory, and then I try to do content certain times of the day. So really just time blocking and time management, which doesn't always happen on time because I have kids all the time. But yeah, I think that just hopefully finding a couple systems that will make my bookkeeping easier and my inventory tracking easier is going to help a lot. I think some skills that I have as an entrepreneur, I would say number one is people skills. And I think that's why I thrive so much doing these in-person craft markets is because I love connecting with people and hearing people's stories.

(11:37):

And I genuinely care about people. I'm a people person, I'm a people pleaser, and so I love people, but I love that, especially at my craft markets and stuff, my customers become like my family, and they follow me to different markets around town. And people that I've never met up until I did a craft market, they'll be like, oh my gosh, I saw you at this market. And they came to that market because they saw my posts on social media. So it's just super cool to make those friendships and make those connections with my customers. And I think that's a huge asset that I have. I think that a lot of people can knit, but I think Grown Cozy is me, and I know that my people are loyal to me because I love them. And then I think another thing is organization, especially when you're running a business solo, you have to just be really organized.

(12:37):

And I also do a lot of marketing, so I don't know if that counts in there, but marketing, social media marketing, I market for all the craft markets that I do. I get people to those markets. I do a lot of, like I said, social media to get people to my website, things like that. But I think just having a background in social media has really been helpful. So the role that my community has played in making my business so successful or as successful as it is right now is I think the Billings community is really, really good about shopping local and supporting local. And especially when I do downtown Billings events, I receive so much support, whether it's compliments on my work or purchasing something little or purchasing something big, or just coming and saying, I've seen you at this other event and I wanted to come see you again.

(13:37):

And I appreciate my community so much because I really do. I feel like they support small businesses as much as they can. And then I love my small business group of friends. I do lots of collaborations with other small businesses. My friend Veronica with Veronica Candle Company, we do a lot of collaborations together because who doesn't love cozy smelly things? So we did a car diffuser with a yarn strap, so you tie it off to your car rear view mirror, and we've done other collaborations like that. I do collaboration with Rubies and the Fig Trees, and she does these little knit earrings. I dunno if you can see those. But it's so much fun to not only have these friendships that also are small business owners, but to kind of mix your products together and work together as a team. And then that way when people purchase these products from us, they're not only supporting me, but they're supporting another small business too.

(14:44):

So two small businesses for the price of one. It's pretty cool. And then, yeah, there's so many of my other friends that I have that have small businesses that we just bounce ideas off of and we help each other be successful. Everybody wants each other to succeed. So we tell each other about different markets that we've seen and done and that we liked. And yeah, I love my community not only of customers and just the community itself, but the community of small business owners in Billings is incredible. Yeah, I think my journey to profitability with Grown Cozy has been quite a journey, especially because the yarn that I use is expensive. And so when I first started, I mainly just did custom orders. So I would have my customers pay me for at least half of their order upfront, and then they could pay me the other half when the blanket was done that way that one, the customer couldn't back out.

(15:45):

And two, I could get the yarn that I needed to make their blanket. So I didn't really start with a grant or I didn't start by putting a bunch of things on my credit card. I just started with doing custom orders. And then once I started doing markets, you can't really do that. You have to have inventory on hand. But I didn't start doing markets till six plus months after I started. But when I did that, I think I did. I just put everything on a credit card and just tracked everything. And I didn't have a lot of inventory then, but I think that's just how I did it when I started doing markets and had to have inventory on hand. And I keep track of everything because everything is a tax write off all the yarn that I buy, literally everything that I need for my business, which is nice.

(16:40):

Yeah, I can think of one instance in particular, but I can think of a couple after that. But the first meaningful experience that I had with a customer was I was at a Laurel Farmer's Market, and this was my first, it was probably my third or fourth market that I had ever done, and it was the middle of July, and I was pregnant with my son who was due in August. So I was very pregnant, and I was sitting there in the heat and just doing my thing. And this guy comes up and he's like, I really like that blanket. And we started chatting for a while, and then he ended up leaving. He didn't buy the blanket. And then right at the end of the market, he comes pulling, zooming up in his pickup truck, and he was like, I came back for that blanket.

(17:29):

And so he came back all the way. I don't know where he lived, but he came back to the farmer's market because he couldn't stop thinking about this pregnant woman in the heat trying to sell blankets in a hundred degree weather. And so that was really, really sweet. And I actually just ran into him this past a couple of weeks ago, so it was two years ago when I did that. And I was like, oh my gosh, I remember you. And he was like, wow, you have a good memory. And I was like, no, that meant a lot to me that you did that, that was a really, I'll never forget that he came back just for that dang blanket. And he was like, I still love the blanket. And it was really sweet, but I also really love it. I love the busy, busy markets, but there's some markets that are a little bit slower that I can actually talk to people.

(18:20):

And I love when people come up and they're like, I've been following you since the beginning of your journey and I love your stuff. And I'm like, this is the support that I was talking about in Billings, people, they show up and they continue to show up, and it's just super sweet when I have somebody follow me to all my markets or they tell me they follow me on social media and they came because they saw my post about this event. And then it's just really, really special when people tell you that kind of stuff. It's like, wow, people are, they do see. They are supporting, you know what I mean?