On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a yarn company with my guest Nicole Snow of Darn Good Yarn.
United States Air Force veteran, entrepreneur, mom to a five-year-old, wife, founder & CEO, Nicole Snow is the ‘Jane of all trades. In 2008, out of the desire to create a business focused on social consciousness through crafting and design, Nicole founded Darn Good Yarn. Over the past 13 years, Darn Good Yarn has saved over 2,000,000 pounds of manufacturing remnant material from ending up in landfills or rivers, upcycling it into handmade craft supplies and apparel while employing more than 600 global artisans. Darn Good Yarn has appeared for the last 5 years on the Inc 5000 list.
This episode is sponsored by Craftsy.
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We begin this interview with Nicole talking about her childhood and her time spent in ROTC while in college. Nicole was in the Air Force after college where she worked securing contracts from vendors.
After her service, Nicole started a small business, Around the Om, importing women’s clothing from India. She explains how she got started and how that business led her to realize the beauty of recycled silk yarns. She pivoted from importing clothing to importing yarn and founded Darn Good Yarn. More recently, Darn Good Yarn has expanded into offering women’s clothing, bringing things back around again.
We discuss some of the challenges Nicole faced along the way, including not having a solid grasp on inventory, and how she overcame them, asking experts to teach her along the way.
Nicole talks about motherhood and how becoming a parent changed her perspective on running her business. We also talk about the yarn subscription box Darn Good Yarn is now offering.
In this conversation we reference:
- Stitchlabs and Cin7 for inventory
- Darn Good Yarn on TikTok
- The Berckman personality test
And, of course, I ask Nicole to share things she’s enjoying right now. Nicole recommends:
- UPPERCASE magazine
- Udemy classes
- creating a sleep routine that involves easy embroidery
Catch up with Darn Good Yarn on Instagram and on Facebook. And shop for yarns on their website.