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| September 2006
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ALUMNI PROFILE |
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New Mom Stitches Home Business One Bib at a Time When Alumni Update checked in recently with Laura Swanstrom Reece, CAS/MA ’02, at her home in Alexandria, Va., her 18-month-old daughter, Hannah, came in midway through the conversation for help with her book, “The Snowy Bear.” That’s exactly why Reece decided to start her home-based embroidery business, The Silken Thread, which is celebrating its one-year anniversary. “I wanted to find something I could do from home so I could stay with her but also keep my mind stimulated,” says Reece, the custom embroidery company’s founder and creative director. “I knew I needed something to talk about beyond babies and the cost of diapers, and I really enjoy this.” Reece, who studied Arts Management at AU before joining the Alumni Programs staff to work with students and young alumni from 2002 to 2005, was no stranger to making business plans, updating Web sites, and keeping tabs on expenses before launching her business. In addition to her work experience and AU graduate classes in PR and Marketing, and Strategic Planning, she has a family history of entrepreneurship. “My grandfather emigrated from Sweden and started a company, and my father is an entrepreneur who holds several patents. This is something my husband and I had talked about and didn’t want to not try.” With a small initial investment of her own, Reece bought an embroidery machine, her husband built a Web site to market the business, and they started telling their friends she was making embroidered and monogrammed towels, bibs, purses and the like for weddings, babies, and other special occasions. One year and hundreds of orders later, and Reece says she’s busier than she ever expected, with increasing sales each month. Her most popular items: the personalized bib & ribbon burp cloth set for $16; a monogrammed handkerchief for $12; and the personalized waffle weave cosmetic bag for $15. “We’re starting to think big picture now, going to trade shows in New York and Las Vegas. We have clients across the country - in Connecticut, Kentucky, Mississippi, Colorado, California…” Reece is open about the business revolving around her daughter’s schedule. “I work when she naps and in the evenings when she goes to bed... I’m up til midnight every night, but I enjoy it. It’s creative and it’s flexible, and I can bring Hannah with me when I go to drop off orders." At this point, Reece gets all her orders turned around inside of seven business days, but she knows she’ll need to hire additional help at some point. “We had an ad in Washingtonian magazine in January and June in the wedding section, and we advertised through Google. One of the best “ads” we got was editorial exposure in Daily Candy though.” (See the D.C. May 15 article, "Jeans of Art.") In a classic tale of networking success, Reece says she found her interior designer through the D.C. edition of Daily Candy, a free, daily e-mail newsletter advertised as "the ultimate insider’s guide to what’s hot, new, and undiscovered — from fashion and style to gadgets and travel." Reece and her interior designer became friends, and the designer sent Daily Candy an e-mail suggesting they check out The Silken Thread as a cool business worth featuring. “We got a ton of inquiries from Daily Candy - even from people in New York. It was obvious people had forwarded it to their friends. We got a lot of exposure, which was great.” Most of the orders Reece has gotten have been through the Web site, though some clients have come to her home studio. Reece’s husband, Glen, designed, created and oversees the Web site, amidst his own projects for his consulting firm. Recently, Reece contacted AU in the hopes of finding a student intern to create a PR strategy for the company, “from soup to nuts”; everything from finding the best areas to advertise and contacts for editorial, to putting together a press kit, sending it out, and doing clippings.” Her latest venture involves teaming up with a bridal salon in Georgetown called Hitched, which caters to the younger, hipper crowd she also seeks. “We have sold a lot of our products through their store and it’s been really great. Hitched is the right type of association for us, as opposed to something more traditional. We’re going for high-end, and quality is our top priority, but I also feel people shouldn’t have to pay a ton for embroidery. "My neighbor told me I need to charge more!” she laughs. -Melissa Reichley
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