Fearless Fibers Yarn

Watch Out - I'm Going to Gush!

I posted a message in Etsy's forums this morning and afterward thought that it's really something I want to share with all of you most. I'm cutting and pasting it directly here. Watch out though . . . there is uncharacteristic, effusive gushing coming your way!

Here goes:

"Today is my Etsy one-year anniversary! As I sat in front of my computer this morning, sipping my coffee and answering e-mail, I got to thinking about this first year on Etsy and all of a sudden, I had an “I get it!” moment that I thought I’d share with all of you.

I thought I got the idea of Etsy all along. Buy handmade. Quality items, made with care. Unique items you can’t find anywhere else. A sense of community. All that good stuff.

The part that I think I never fully appreciated was the idea of a connection between buyer and seller. I certainly understood this in its most basic form, but it wasn’t until this morning – looking back over the course of the year – that it really hit home.

When I started Fearless Fibers I was torn between selling wholesale to B&M’s and selling directly to the consumer myself. I didn’t want to do both for a variety of reasons I won’t go into here and I finally settled on selling directly to the consumer as the better way for me to go. I thought it would be more satisfying but I had no idea at that time just how satisfying.

How lucky am I to create something that I love and to be able to sell it to those who not only love it also, but with whom I share a common passion in the love of knitting and all things fiber? Every day, I get notes from customers telling me about the things they’ve made with my yarns. They send me pictures of their finished projects. I hear about how much their sister or mother or best friend loves the gift they knit for her. We share an occasional laugh or knitting tip or story. They actually thank me for doing what I do. Imagine that? They thank ME when it is they who deserve my deepest gratitude (which they also have!).

I knew that making a living doing what I love would be satisfying. I also knew it would be much harder work than most people would imagine. But I didn’t expect this added bonus of interacting every day with some of the finest, kindest, overall loveliest people imaginable. It’s added something amazing and unexpected to my life and I am eternally grateful.

After about 15 months in business (one year of that including Etsy as a venue), I have a long list of B&M shops that want to carry my yarns. I can’t imagine that I’ll go down that road any time soon though. I could grow my business exponentially in that direction, but at this point, I would not give up the direct relationship with my customers for anything!

Yes, I think I get it!

Enough gushing from me. Just had to share these thoughts on my big anniversary day :) Back to work now."

THANK YOU ALL!!

Hugs, Deb