On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about creating a craft kit and workshop business with my guest Morgan Spenla.
Morgan is the founder & CEO of Crafter and The Crafter’s Box. Crafter.com is an online home for makers offering educational videos, kits, patterns and community, The Crafter’s Box is a monthly subscription exploring new crafting mediums such as printmaking, fiber arts, woodworking — even a series of workshops in basket weaving. Today, Crafter supports artisans full circle by partnering with small business suppliers, legacy manufacturers and accomplished teachers to bring curation and quality to makers worldwide.
This episode is sponsored by The Academy for Virtual Teaching.
Learn how online workshops and educational videos can bring in passive income and create a loyal community of fans.
Every solo-preneur recognizes that feeling of exhaustion. There are limited hours in the day and only one of YOU to go around. You want to scale your income but Hermione just won’t let you borrow her time travel necklace!
If you are a creative, a designer, maker, retailer, or educator, the Academy for Virtual Teaching invites you to learn how online workshops and educational videos can bring in passive income, create a loyal community of fans who are willing to support you with their dollars. Join for a 2 week free trial at a4vt.com.
In this interview, we begin with Morgan talking about her childhood, college years, and the start of her career in the corporate world. Morgan talks about working in marketing and change management and how she parlayed some of those skills into her own business when she launched The Crafter’s Box.
Morgan and her husband have four children and we talk about her years blogging home and lifestyle content. One night, shopping with her children at one of the big box craft stores, Morgan had the idea for The Crafter’s Box. She craved a place to find all the best craft supplies for a project in one easy spot so that when, as a busy mom, she finally had time to be creative, her project would work and turn out beautifully.
Morgan has participated in a few business incubators over the years in including one through Rent the Runway. She has also taken on investors. We talk about how business owners can know when they’re ready for each of these steps.
Each box comes includes an online video workshop showing how to create the enclosed project step-by-step. Customers also get access to the instructor for a Q&A session each month and there is a podcast episode with that instructor so that customers can learn more about their creative journey. Morgan explains the thinking behind each of these pieces of content and she talks about what she is looking for when hiring a new instructor and sourcing materials for the boxes.
In this conversation, we reference:
- Pepper design blog (Morgan’s old blog)
- Techstars incubator
And, of course, I ask Morgan to recommend great stuff she’s enjoying right now. Morgan recommends:
- Up First podcast from NPR
- Thrifting
- Weaving on a tapestry loom
- Sewing a baby quilt
Keep up with The Crafter’s Box on Instagram and on Facebook for updates, and sign up for a box or workshop on The Crafter’s Box website.