Today we’d like to introduce you to Hallie Davis-Bezuidenhout.
Hallie, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Two years ago, I found myself at home not able to work after I had my third child. I had worked at an event venue as an event planner and the schedule did not coincide with a newborn and two other young children. Not being able to go back to work I found myself very depressed. I had found my identity in my career. Hospitality, it was all I’ve ever known except the three years I lived in South Africa and became a nail tech/make up artist, but that’s a whole other story on its own. From being Raised on a old Potato Plantation in Arkansas where weddings are hosted year round to managing my mom’s bed and breakfast in Fredericksburg, TX when I was nineteen years old. My future was pretty set on hospitality. I was so Going from getting dressed up all the time and getting to be apart of something that makes other people happy to not talking to hardly anyone at all. It was a very lonely time and most definitely a confusing season in my life. I know I’m not the only mom who felt like they didn’t know what to identify as other then just mom. I eagerly wanted to feel apart of something and the minute I could get out of the house I took a job helping my friend who own an embroidery business. I quickly fell in love with the fast paced environment and working alongside the boutique world when my husband had to relocate to Texas for work.
I took a big leap and started my own embroidery business in Katy, TX. The thing that I had felt was missing was suddenly replaced with an excitement of how a simple monogram could turn something plain into something personal. I saw how monograms made outfits stylish and made women feel confidence. A keepsake of birth stats on a baby blanket or a special message embroidered on a handkerchief for parent on a wedding day. The thrill of finding Matching holiday clothes for siblings every year. I love that I am able to bring a vision to life. To help other business owners brand promotional apparel and design cute holiday t-shirts. I’m so grateful to be able to do what I love. I currently run my business from home and I look forward to growing online on Etsy and expanding into a storefront in the future.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Being uneducated in everything! I had to google everything from how to start a business, to the in’s and out’s of a commercial embroidery machine. I never liked school and it’s crazy to me how I eagerly reach for any business information I can get. I love learning. Learning is growing. I self taught myself to use the commercial embroidery machine, cutting machines, sublimation printers. I’ve learned from Facebook groups and YouTube videos. It hasn’t been easy. It is taken a lot of cups of coffee, Rachel Hollis’s, rise- podcast episodes, patience and perseverance! It is easy to feel defeated in my industry. There are so many women and men that are jumping onboard the silhouette and circuit train and now the sublimation craze to create custom t-shirts. It was hard to find which category to promote my sales in.
My business is 100% sales. I don’t ever see it being a smooth road. It will always be something I will have to relearn as social media, retail, fashion change but I’m up for the challenge. I hope it will be a road I can learn to navigate well with the twist and turns.
Please tell us about your business.
Elizabeth Davis Embroidery does more than just embroidery. We also do vinyl and sublimation. I specialize in promotional business apparel. Last year in the fall I launched my Etsy shop ShopElizabethDavis with a few holiday item’s and I’m currently stocking it with Monogrammed children’s and women’s clothing, graphic t-shirts and blankets. As I’m starting to focus more on my shop, I’ve also started designing my own designs and can help design business logo’s or create anything you have in mind.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
For any business owner, I would say you have to be or “become” self motivated, self disciplined, relentless, productive, Honest, willing to admit your weakness’s and adopt good habits that set you up to succeed and plan, plan, plan! Which I was none of these things. I’ve been embroidering for a little over two years now and I didnt start selling or even offering services until a year after I got my commercial machine. I was so scared to get rejected, mess up or break something. That hinders me from growing. I still catch myself doing this now and then, comparing the beginning of my journey to someone else’s middle or end. When I joined Etsy, it was so frustrating because other shops have such nice things… And so many items listed, But I had to remind myself they started somewhere too and grow to that size and got better over time. You constantly have to tell yourself to surf your own wave.
Pricing:
- 1″ names up to 12 letter’s- $8.00
- 2″ names up to 12 letter’s-$10.00
- 3″ names up to 12 letter’s-$12.00
- 3″monogram (first,LAST,middle intials)-$10.00
- 4″monogram (frist,LAST,middle intials)-$12.00
- 5″monogram (first,LAST,middle intials)-$14.00
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShopElizabethDavis
- Phone: 830-998-7057
- Email: info.elizabethdavis@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethdavis_embroidery/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopelizabethdavis/
Image Credit:
Hallie Davis-Bezuidenhout
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