Kristin Link and Kathy Mack
This podcast episode began with my desire to know more about Sew Mama Sew. When I think of the nexus of the online sewing world, the site that brings everyone together, I think of Sew Mama Sew. I read it every day and I think many of you do, too.
I know that it takes a tremendous amount of hard work, vision, and persistence to make Sew Mama Sew as valuable and beautiful as it is every single day. I wanted to hear that story.
So I sent an email to Kristin Link, the founder and owner, and asked if she might be a guest on my podcast. Kristin has never done a podcast interview before, although she’s been asked. “I’m such an introvert. This isn’t my usual thing. I’ve turned down several others, but I’ll pull it together for you.” Hooray! I felt so lucky that Kristin would trust me with her story.
One of the things I didn’t anticipate when I started a podcast that involved having two guests for each episode was the level of curation I’d need to do to choose and pair guests. I spent most of the next few days thinking, “Who should come on with Kristin? Who has a complementary and compelling story to tell alongside hers?”
And then the perfect match occurred to me: Kathy Mack. Kathy is the owner of Pink Chalk Fabrics, an online fabric store for modern sewists. She’s also a sewing pattern designer, blogger, and teacher. I emailed Kristin again and asked her what she thought. “Sure, Kathy is a friend! She and I usually get together for dinner or drinks at Quilt Market and have taught a class together. That would be great!” I’d picked the right person and I knew that this was going to be a great conversation.
A glimpse inside Pink Chalk Fabrics.
We had the podcast recording scheduled for mid-September and then Kathy emailed asking if we could push the date into mid-October because, as she explained, “I’ve recently made a sharp right turn in my creative business journey. I’ve decided to re-invent the Pink Chalk brand to better align with my life’s purpose.” Read Kathy’s blog post about her decision to stop selling fabrics to find out more.
When I heard Kathy’s news I felt that we should focus our conversation not just on building a business online, but also on changing directions, finding a new focus, and staying true to what feels right and what’s working financially. You might remember that Sew Mama Sew started out as an online fabric store as well.
Our conversation was honest and interesting. We talked about money and ego and making hard decisions. If you’re interested in small business and the online culture of craft, this episode is for you.
And, of course, Kathy, Kristin, and I recommend great stuff we’re loving right now.
Kathy recommends:
- her new sneakers, Onitsuka Tigers
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (a great read before jumping off the cliff!)
Kristin recommends:
And I recommend:
I enjoy every episode, but this one is truly special. Listen right here on the blog by clicking on the arrow below or subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher and listen on the go. And if you like the show, tell a friend about it or leave a review (here’s how). Thank you!
P.S. You might also like this guest post that Kristin wrote for my blog last year about how she and her business partner, Beth Wilson, manage the Sew Mama Sew editorial calendar. It’s very impressive.
War of Art is one of my current faves!!!!!! I read it in just a few hours. I could not but it down.
Really enjoying these podcasts, and I don’t even sew! Love the behind-the-scenes look at the women who run these creative businesses and very inspired knowing that over time, it’s OK and even good if our businesses evolve. Thanks, Abby!
A really interesting podcast. It’s good to hear people talking about the realities of running a creative business, yes we get to do what we love but equally we all struggle to earn even a basic wage. People assume that if you have a big brand like both these ladies do that you must be rolling in money yes somehow the craft industry is still a really tough one to make money in. I think they are both very courageous, and inspiring, to follow their hearts and completely change their business models.
Great podcast, Abby. I was especially interested in your question about basically whether women ask/expect to be paid enough for what they do. I do think we have a habit of running on our own passion, whether that is for crafting, or childcare…or even just having a tidy house. Maybe the glass ceiling is a little bit in our own heads and not just in the big corporate world?
great podcast, so interesting to hear how it is to run a business and how they both branched out to different things, selling fabric online sounds exhausting!! thanks for talking about topics that are not often talked about like what’s profitable and best for business 🙂
My first podcast to listen to, loved it! Everything was right up my alley. Thank you to you and your guests.
I’m so honored to be your first podcast! Thank you for listening, Gretel.
GOSH this is good!!! I have had many similar conversations with other pattern-makers, bloggers, fabric designers, and shop owners, so it’s wonderful to hear the “value your work, pay yourself” conversation put out there publicly. The issue of gender is DEFINITELY at the core of many of the issues here, and the other issue that Kathy touched on briefly that I find very interesting is the problems of “free” that we see online. I also (frequently) contemplate a complete change in direction as well, so hearing these two inspirational (and honest) stories about their experiences is really great. This is a fantastic podcast, Abby!! Thank you!!!
Thanks for listening, Rae, and for commenting. I’m so glad you enjoyed this episode. I feel really grateful to these two women for sharing their business stories so openly with me. It was terrific to talk with them.
Great podcast! It was wonderful to hear all three of you speak about creative businesses in such an honest and, well, business like way. These conversations do have to take place and it was refreshing to hear this one. Running a brick & mortar fabric and craft store, I know all too well how many hours go into every day and how little we are paid for it. Your insights were great and I hope the conversation continues.
Thank you so much for listening, Beth!
Loved this episode. I always find it interesting listening to entrepreneurs talking biz, money & passion. I wish you all the best of luck!
And my recommendation, for Abby, to listen to while you sew:
https://librivox.org/moby-dick-by-herman-melville
Awesome! I’ve listened to a bunch of books on Librivox. This is now in my queue 🙂
I finally had a chance to sit down and listen to this last week, and have been thinking about these topics for a long time. There are quite a few people thinking and talking about this, in all aspects of the quilting industry. I wrote some comments over on Sew Mama Sew in response to her “Do What You Love” series, but namely so many designers and makers really have to stop doing work for free to “get out there”. Sam Hunter has started a “We are Sew Worth It” campaign as well. If people do work for free, they need to consider their intellectual property rights and whether giving them away forever is worth the zero dollars you get in exchange.
I hope this conversation contributes to some community-wide thinking about the value of creative work. Than you for listening, Mandy.