How Wholesale Helped Our Business Reach its $750,000/Year Milestone

Hey there, my name is Kaelin, and I own Counter Couture. So how did I begin Counter Couture? I started what is now Counter Couture back in 2010; it was a happy accident how it all came together. 

For ten years, I worked at a sizable, high-end retailer managing multimillion-dollar floors and a large staff of 25 or more people. It was there that I learned how to run a business, understand goal-setting, etcetera. I was also fortunate to get training from that company on managing people and understanding what they needed to be motivated. After ten years, I decided to move on as the GM for a local coffee chain here in Denver, Colorado. In this new position, I trained new store managers for the different coffee shop locations around town.

Three years into this job, I bought a house with my soon-to-be husband Richard in the Fall of 2009. One month after closing on our new home, I was given 3 hours' notice by the company that they would be closing permanently. I was in shock and worried about how we would pay our bills and that new mortgage!

So how did I survive? I cleaned friend's and family's houses to make ends meet. I also enjoy gluten-free baking, so I did that for a little extra cash. During this time, Richard and I brainstormed on what would be next. I always knew that I wanted to own my own business, but the thought of leaving a steady paycheck that offered health insurance and a 401k was just too scary. One night in early 2010, Richard mentioned to me that he knew how to screenprint. I had always wanted to learn how to screenprint, but it seemed so complicated. About two weeks later, Richard's acquaintance mentioned he was selling a gently used professional screen printing press with all the accessories...

We did the obvious thing and cleared out our remaining savings to buy the press! We figured we knew enough people in the music and the bar industries to drum up business printing gig posters! We told everybody we knew about our plan, and after the first two jobs, we were able to pay off the equipment and put that money back in the savings account! It was great at first, but by the end of 2010, I realized I didn't enjoy printing other people's designs. Fortunately, Richard and I both have Fine Arts and Graphic Design backgrounds, so we figured the next logical step should be starting our own Etsy shop. Opening that Etsy Shop is genuinely where Counter Couture was born! 

Getting the Business Going

At that point, we switched our focus from printing for other people to creating original screen-printed home goods. Between my business brain and Richard's artistic talents, we moved forward. Richard hand illustrates our designs with ink and paper; we then digitize them, making them ready to screenprint. He taught me how to screen print and when he got off work from his day job, he would help me with the remaining items to print. We built out a line of kitchen towels, T-shirts, and Pillows. That following Spring, Counter Couture started doing local craft shows and farmer's markets as additional ways to bring in business. It was also during this time that we met some of our first wholesale customers.

When we started, we were running the business out of our house. We did not have a home anymore; we worked where we lived, and we lived where we worked. Those boundaries were very blurry. We were making screens in our shower and our kitchen sink. Eventually, we built out our garage to start screen printing from there instead of our kitchen!

Doing craft shows was relatively successful in the beginning and only getting better with each season. As handmade events picked up in popularity, we found ourselves living like carnival folk, working almost every weekend from Spring into the Holiday season. Our technique of setting up and tearing down a 10 x 10 tent or booth space became an art form all its own. But after years of this, I knew we couldn't continue at this pace, and my body was not going to hold up for years of booth set-up and tear down either.

Our Wholesale Journey

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