Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / How to make your wedding clients feel special with Nadine Bozeman

Transcript

How to make your wedding clients feel special with Nadine Bozeman · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

0:00
Nadine: And yes, I'm always going to be continuing to grow my skills, just like
0:03
we always want to do as a wedding vendor.
0:05
But let's not forget what is so memorable.
0:08
And that's how we make people feel like they have this really
0:11
short time in their life.
0:13
They're really stressed, they have so many decisions to make.
0:15
And so if they can feel like at peace for that hour long appointment or consultation
0:20
that we have with them, we can make such a lasting difference on how they
0:23
experience their wedding that goes beyond.
0:26
You know, the service that we're providing for them.
0:30
Becca: I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing
0:32
expert, speaker, and blogger.
0:34
And you're listening to the wedding pros who are ready to grow podcast.
0:38
I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
0:41
examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
0:45
If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
0:48
and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you
0:52
love, then you're in the right place.
0:54
Let's get going with today's episode.
0:57
Today I'm chatting with Nadine Bozeman, founder of Sweet Frances
1:01
Sewing Company, where she offers a boutique alteration service for brides.
1:04
Having created her own successful alterations business, she now helps
1:08
others do the same through her podcast Secrets of a Bridal Seamstress
1:11
and her membership community too.
1:13
When not working, you're more likely to find her reading a book or maybe even
1:17
watching her chickens in the backyard.
1:19
I'm looking forward to getting into this conversation.
1:21
Nadine, welcome to the podcast.
1:24
Thank you.
1:25
Oh, I'm really excited to be here.
1:26
Thank you so much.
1:27
I'm excited to have you on.
1:29
Let's talk about the chickens first of all, because that was a random
1:32
little stat that I threw in there.
1:34
Like, where did the chickens come from?
1:36
Why do you have chickens?
1:37
And how come you spend so much time with them?
1:41
Nadine: Oh, my husband asked me the same thing.
1:43
So we like lived downtown Olympia, Olympia, Washington.
1:47
Both of us grew up like, you know, in little suburban neighborhoods.
1:50
And a couple of years ago we moved out in the country.
1:53
I mean, we're still in a subdivision, but like everybody out here has acreage.
1:57
So that was like new for us.
1:59
And the neighborhood is super friendly.
2:01
And so when all these new neighbors were coming by with like, you know, cookies and
2:05
stuff to welcome us to the hood, they're like, Oh, are you going to get chickens?
2:09
And we're like, what?
2:10
Like we never considered getting chickens.
2:12
Like we're not chicken people.
2:13
We don't know what we're doing.
2:15
So, like, literally two weeks after we moved in, I went to the local, like,
2:19
feed store, and I got five baby chicks.
2:21
And then I called my husband, and I was like, we're chicken parents!
2:26
And then when I first got them, I made, like, a little apron with a pocket, so
2:30
whenever I was home, I'd put the baby chicks in the apron pocket, because
2:34
I wanted them to be, like, super domesticated and, like, Like, snuggly
2:38
chickens, and so they're like super spoiled, they're, and if you don't know,
2:42
chickens are amazing, and they're super smart, and they're super affectionate,
2:46
and they like love to be with people if you just give them a chance.
2:50
So, like, at the end of the day, I love to come home and like, sit in
2:53
the back porch and let my chickens in the backyard and just watch them play.
2:58
It's like the cutest thing ever.
2:59
So that's my like free therapy is the chicken therapy.
3:03
Becca: It sounds very cute.
3:04
I feel like most people here in the UK, we just don't have the land
3:07
space to keep chickens, but there are some people that do and I have
3:10
heard that they are very friendly.
3:12
It sounds like you're living this.
3:13
Yes.
3:13
idyllic life out there in the States.
3:16
So let's find out how you got there in the first place.
3:19
So I, I love to take my guests right back to the start because I think we
3:23
can learn a lot from someone's journey.
3:24
So how did you get into sewing in the first place?
3:28
And at what point did you make sewing your business?
3:30
Nadine: Yeah.
3:31
When I was a kid, I was really overactive, I guess you could
3:35
say, like I had to be moving.
3:36
I had to be like doing stuff with my hands.
3:38
So from as long as I can remember, my mom.
3:41
has been teaching me, like, to, she taught me to knit and crochet and to sew
3:46
and just to do stuff to keep me busy.
3:48
Probably just to keep herself sane too because I was like,
3:50
what am I gonna do now?
3:51
I'm bored, I'm bored, I'm bored.
3:52
So from a young age, like, I was always making something and then when I
3:56
became a teenager, I got into quilting.
4:00
You know, not really your typical, like, teenager interests, but I loved it and
4:05
I didn't really get into, like, making clothing or alterations until Probably
4:10
once I was out of college and then I was like, Oh, it's fun to make my own clothes.
4:14
Okay.
4:14
I, and it wasn't anything formal.
4:15
It was just, you know, picking up fun patterns, whatever.
4:18
Well, I graduated with a degree in music education, vocal performance.
4:23
Like we've, we've shared that in common, our, our love of singing.
4:27
And I taught a middle school choir for nine years.
4:30
So, like, nothing to do with sewing, not in the wedding industry at
4:33
all, but I gotta tell you, like, my first, by my first or second year
4:38
in the classroom, I was like, this is not my forever job because I'm
4:42
not gonna last till retirement.
4:44
You know, I was like, watching these, like, older teachers retire and I thought,
4:47
I have no desire, to last that long.
4:49
And I had friends of mine who were like committed to the teacher's call.
4:53
You know what I'm saying?
4:53
Like they could not imagine themselves doing anything else.
4:56
They were pursuing higher education.
4:57
And I'm like, no, I don't want to put any more money into this
5:01
because I don't see myself being a teacher for the rest of my life.
5:04
So.
5:05
Pretty early on into my teaching career, I developed an exit strategy.
5:09
So I was like, well, I know how to sew.
5:11
So I started making like, you know, these cute crafty things and like
5:14
selling like kitchen decor items or home decor things at local markets.
5:19
And you know, those would bring in like whatever, 500 bucks, definitely
5:23
not enough to make a living, but it was enough to spark interest.
5:26
Like, Oh, I can make money somehow with this, you know?
5:29
So my mother in law she's in Minnesota in the Midwest here in the States
5:34
and she's a bridal seamstress or a retired bridal seamstress.
5:37
But she was the first one who told me, you can do alterations.
5:41
Like if you know how to sew, you can do alterations.
5:43
And I was like, what?
5:45
Well, then that opened up my mind to like a whole new world of sewing like
5:51
the puzzle pieces like taking clothes apart and then putting them back together
5:55
and it was like my love of sewing and creating and also like that side of my
5:59
brain that loves like problem solving and puzzles So that's what got me into
6:04
alterations and you know My fellow teacher friends would bring me their
6:07
bags of clothes to alter like they were like my number one clients, you know But
6:12
at that point too, I was just learning so much and I knew like, alterations
6:16
were always going to be in demand.
6:18
But that wasn't super fun.
6:20
Like, I didn't enjoy like, hemming jeans, you know?
6:22
But I remember my first wedding dress, wedding gown that came in the door and
6:27
it was, you know, a friend of a teacher.
6:29
And once I did my first wedding dress, like, that was it.
6:31
Like, I loved it.
6:32
And I'm like, I love the relationship that I had with the bride.
6:34
Like, I saw the client like, three or four times.
6:37
I love the challenges.
6:38
Like, obviously, It, the product itself is so beautiful.
6:41
So once I found that I knew what the exit strategy was to get out of teaching.
6:46
So I was a, like a part time bridal seamstress.
6:49
I would come home from, you know, teaching in the classroom and then I
6:52
would get in my sewing room and sew till 10 o'clock at night and then
6:55
do it all over again the next day.
6:56
And I did that for a couple of years, well, two or three years.
6:59
And then I left my teaching position.
7:02
worked from home, like just had brides coming in my home and doing alterations
7:06
from my little sewing room at home.
7:08
And like about a year and a half after that, my husband and I were like, we got
7:12
to move this thing out of the house, you know, like the dresses were taking over.
7:16
And then you have to be careful, like what you cook, because you can't like
7:18
cook bacon and then have dresses stink.
7:20
You know what I mean?
7:21
So you have to like really be cautious of like taking care of the house to Make sure
7:24
none of the scents get on the dresses.
7:27
So I moved into a storefront that was, at the time, like, just less
7:32
than a mile away from our home.
7:34
It was amazing.
7:34
Like, we had this conversation of, okay, it's time to move out.
7:38
And I had in my mind this really beautiful location that I would
7:43
walk by, you know, taking a little walks or, or running errands.
7:46
And at the time it was a toy store.
7:49
And I'm like, Oh, it would be so cute.
7:50
Like I could just picture the little waiting area and I could
7:52
have a dressing room in the back.
7:54
You know, I was just envisioning it by looking through the windows.
7:57
And when COVID hit the toy store went out of business, sadly.
8:01
And so less than two weeks after my husband and I had that
8:05
conversation of, you know, moving the business out of the house, that
8:08
space became available for lease.
8:10
So I had the keys in my hand two weeks after we had that conversation.
8:15
It was crazy.
8:17
So then, yeah, after that once we got into the storefront, it just grew even farther
8:22
because now, you know, people were just driving by my brick and mortar and that
8:27
was enough advertising in and of itself.
8:29
So it became, it grew into like this six figure business, which was
8:33
something that I didn't want to do.
8:34
I, that was like totally just in my dreams.
8:37
You know what I'm saying?
8:38
Like when I was teaching and I was like, I just want to make enough
8:40
to like cover my teaching salary, which is actually super low.
8:43
So that was a really pretty low bar to set, you know, and then creating,
8:49
you know, not just, not just providing bride alterations, but my goal was to
8:53
create like a luxury experience, like a really comfortable, personalized
8:57
experience for our local brides.
8:59
And at the time I was the only bridal seamstress, like specialty sewist in
9:04
my area, so it was really easy to grow.
9:06
And once I figured out, wow, it's working, I've had to kind of conquer all of these.
9:12
business challenges, not coming from a business background.
9:15
Like I was a teacher, I didn't know what the heck I was doing.
9:17
So after I learned a lot of lessons the hard way, I wanted to help other women
9:23
who were in the same boat, who had like a side hustle or who, you know, they just
9:27
wanted to bring some money to the table.
9:29
But they, they had the sewing skills, but they didn't really
9:31
have the business skills.
9:32
I was like, I want to help these women get there sooner than I did.
9:37
So that's what led to the podcast and the business membership.
9:41
And that started, gosh, was that like 2022 or yeah, no 2021.
9:47
And so that's just been growing too.
9:48
So I feel like in retrospect, everything happened so fast, like in real time,
9:53
it felt like it was taking forever, but now I'm like, gosh, that was like.
9:56
Less than a 10 year journey and it came really fast.
9:59
We came far pretty fast
10:02
Becca: Yeah, and it's impressive because for me just the thought of the pressure
10:07
of taking someone's wedding dress Taking it apart and putting it back together
10:11
just blows my mind I am terrible at anything to do with craft anything
10:15
to do with sewing but it is such an incredible skill I took my daughter's
10:18
dress for her dance competition to a local seamstress here and it had
10:21
all this lace on it, it was beautiful and it needed completely changing of
10:25
the size and I just left it with her, came back and it fitted perfectly.
10:29
I'm like, I don't even understand how this happens.
10:31
There's a little bit of magic in there, yeah.
10:33
I don't understand it.
10:34
So it is an incredible skill that you have.
10:37
Thank you.
10:37
There's a little bit in your story I would love to get into a little bit deeper.
10:41
So let's go back to that point where you quit teaching and you went full
10:44
time in your business because that's the stage that quite a lot of people
10:46
get to a business where they think I don't, I know I don't want to do
10:50
this job, I want to do this job, but it feels like a really scary leap.
10:54
Do you remember that and how did you make that decision?
10:57
How did you know the timing was right?
10:59
Nadine: Yeah, I, Clearly remember sitting in my administrator's office and crying
11:05
like definitely remember that moment.
11:08
But before that, I would say probably once I started, once I started realizing
11:13
that it was working, I also had hired a business coach or a business
11:17
mindset coach while I was teaching.
11:20
And so I hired the coach in January and I put in my notice by April.
11:26
And I think that's a really important part of the story.
11:29
I, if I didn't have that coach, I wouldn't have had the nerve to do it on my own.
11:33
You know what I mean?
11:34
I didn't know like what was even possible.
11:35
I didn't know that there are resources out there.
11:38
Before I had a coach, I felt like I would just have to
11:41
figure everything out on my own.
11:43
And like, I would just be like stranded and make a decision that I'd later regret.
11:47
But once her name's Stephanie.
11:49
Once I was working with Stephanie, she just opened my
11:52
eyes to like what was possible.
11:53
And then I realized, you know what, if I just have more time.
11:56
then I can make more money.
11:57
I can, you know, I can streamline this system.
12:00
I can potentially hire out for this job.
12:03
You know what I mean?
12:03
But I just need the time.
12:05
So I think when you get to a point where you have your systems in place, you're
12:09
seeing clients come through, you're seeing consistently that your service is
12:14
in demand and that missing link is time.
12:18
Not money.
12:19
Like you don't want to quit your day job when you have a need of money,
12:23
but you want to leave when you have that desperate need for time.
12:27
And that's what I was out of.
12:28
Like, I can't do this anymore.
12:29
Working, you know, full time at a middle school and coming home.
12:32
You know, I told my husband, he's like, okay, let's do it.
12:34
And I remember like, you know, doing my hair and putting my makeup on in the
12:38
bathroom and just crying because I knew it was, it was, You know, when you teach,
12:43
and if anybody listening has ever taught, you know that it's such an identity piece,
12:49
like there's, there's, I feel like it's kind of propaganda, honestly, to like
12:54
keep teachers teaching, but like there's, you know, this, this feeling of, you
12:58
know, teaching is my identity, and I'm in service to kids, and it's my calling,
13:02
like that, that's just all that you hear, really, when you're teaching, and so I
13:06
remember feeling like, Okay, this is it.
13:08
I'm leaving this.
13:09
But it also felt so right.
13:11
I remember just crying like tears of joy when I was getting ready that
13:14
morning and like, obviously feeling nervous to have that conversation with
13:17
my administrator, but it felt so good and you just, you do know and I know
13:24
that's like so trite to say like, well, when you know, you know, but But there's
13:27
a difference between, okay, what if I have this crazy idea of quitting?
13:32
And then there's also a difference between like that thought popping in your head and
13:36
then the feeling of like, I can't imagine doing anything else except for me it
13:42
was sewing wedding dresses, like working with brides, like working for myself.
13:47
Like that's all that was consuming my thoughts and I
13:50
just needed the time to do it.
13:51
So, and I think also if you're thinking of a practical level, I do think there's
13:55
a point where you want your finances to be in a place where you are, you can
14:03
feasibly see yourself either matching or surpassing your current paycheck because
14:09
you got to think practically, right?
14:10
So I was about at that like 60, between like 60 and 70 percent.
14:14
I was making 60 to 70 percent of my teaching paycheck and I knew that like
14:21
once I left teaching I'd have more time to supplement the bridal sewing money.
14:26
So there was a, obviously there's like math involved.
14:28
You know, you want to be practical.
14:30
And so, if I were still, you know, working part time on wedding dresses
14:34
and just matching my, my teaching salary by like 25%, I don't think
14:39
it would have been smart to quit.
14:40
So I, I was working for a couple years to get to that point where I could You know,
14:45
match it 60 to 70 percent up until I quit.
14:49
Becca: Yeah.
14:49
And I think there's that piece that people forget, which is that you
14:52
can grow so far, but there is that element where you do need more time.
14:56
And there is that, that kind of moment where you know that you've
14:59
got to let go of something, say goodbye to something else in order
15:02
to start bringing in something new.
15:03
And that feeling I know is uncomfortable.
15:06
You have to take that leap, but I'm sure now looking back,
15:09
you have absolutely no regrets.
15:10
Nadine: And I thought that I would, I thought that I'd like missed And I don't,
15:15
well, I will say I still direct a local community choir, like a children's chorus.
15:19
I'm artistic director of that.
15:21
So once a week I'm still in the little choir world, but I
15:23
have never regretted quitting.
15:28
Always grateful to not be teaching.
15:32
Becca: As I quite often say to people, you can always go back.
15:35
Sometimes we make these decisions and we feel like they're finite.
15:38
Like, if I quit teaching, then I go and do this business, I'm never teaching again.
15:42
But actually, five years time, you decide I wanted to go back to teaching.
15:46
There's no reason we can't go back.
15:47
I always used to tell myself that when I was starting out in my business.
15:51
I was like, if it all goes wrong, I'll just go work in the cafe.
15:54
They're always hiring.
15:55
I have no intention of working in the cafe.
15:58
Nadine: Trader Joe's grocery stores.
15:59
No, we don't.
16:00
Okay, it's a really cute, like, cute grocery store that has, like, really nice,
16:05
I don't know, you could, you can google it if you guys care, but I, I told my husband
16:09
all the time, like, well, I could work at Trader Joe's if I need to, you know, that
16:12
would be, like, my backup plan, or yeah, like, work at Starbucks or something.
16:16
That's so funny.
16:17
Takes the pressure off.
16:20
Becca: It does take the pressure off, and actually sometimes it's
16:22
that mindset that gets us going.
16:24
So at what point did you say goodbye to everything?
16:27
other than wedding dresses because you talked about doing other
16:29
kind of clothing alterations.
16:31
When did you make that switch from that first bride coming in to actually
16:35
saying, this is all I want to do?
16:36
Nadine: Probably like two months because, and you know, when you work in the wedding
16:40
industry, you know that your services, you charge more for wedding related services
16:45
because you have that like stress tax.
16:48
So, and obviously working on a wedding dress is going to bring
16:51
in more than working on jeans.
16:53
And once you can, or, you know, slacks or.
16:56
whatever suits, but like once you hone that skill, it doesn't necessarily take
17:02
you some pieces of bright alterations aren't going to take you that long,
17:07
but the quality has to be so precise.
17:09
It's, there's a higher value to your hourly wage than, you know, what you would
17:15
charge for hemming slacks or whatever.
17:17
So it just definitely made more sense and I just enjoyed it so much more.
17:22
So it was literally just a couple of months.
17:25
into my first dress.
17:26
And then word, you know, word spreads like wildfire.
17:29
Like, oh, you, you're getting married.
17:31
Okay.
17:32
My friend's getting married and da, da, da.
17:33
I went to this bridal seamstress.
17:35
Oh, you should too.
17:35
Like, it just takes one bride and like, word of mouth spreads so quickly.
17:40
It's like, in the wedding industry as you know.
17:42
Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
17:43
And did you build relationships with wedding dress suppliers?
17:47
Were you just getting people word of mouth from friends and family
17:50
or was it a bit of everything?
17:51
Nadine: Yeah, probably the first full year was just word of mouth because I was so
17:55
petrified to talk to a bridal shop owner.
17:58
I just felt like, well, I don't, maybe I don't know what I'm doing.
18:00
You know, it's like that imposter syndrome was so real.
18:03
So I had a full year and you know, my first full year, I
18:06
maybe had like, 10 clients.
18:09
Like it wasn't, that was a lot for me at the time.
18:11
It was like, Whoa, you know, now I have like a hundred a year or
18:14
like more, you know what I mean?
18:15
But at the time it was like 10 a year was like, Oh, well it's exploding.
18:20
But I had those brides from like word of mouth from different random bridal
18:24
shops from like Facebook or whatever.
18:27
A friend sent me to your Facebook page, you know, But I think about a
18:30
year in was when I formally introduced myself to a bridal shop owner and
18:35
I was sweating in the parking lot.
18:36
I remember, like, sitting in my car and, like, taking deep breaths and, like,
18:40
praying to have the courage to go in.
18:42
And what's so funny is now that shop owner is, like, one of my best friends.
18:46
Like, we have a wonderful relationship.
18:49
We, that was, gosh, like, five or six.
18:52
Six years ago, and so now it's like we have such a great relationship,
18:55
and I can't imagine doing this job without her because we just support
19:01
each other so much and like she gets my stories, and you know what I mean like
19:04
so That was the first introduction and then after that I just focused on the
19:11
two stores that happened to send me.
19:14
Maybe they weren't intentionally sending me Brides, so I shouldn't say send me,
19:17
but the, the stores that, you know, most of my brides had in common, I
19:21
just made an effort to like introduce myself to them, but that was after I
19:26
could say, hey, I've already served, you know, like a dozen of your brides.
19:28
Thank you so much for ordering, you know, quality design dresses.
19:32
Here's flowers, whatever, but it really just took like one, that one
19:37
step to introduce myself to that one shop owner, and it was kind of like
19:42
perfect timing because she had two seamstresses who were retiring, so
19:45
she needed a new referral, and she's young too, she had recently purchased
19:50
the shop, so both of us I don't know.
19:52
It was just really serendipitous, like how we were supposed to
19:54
meet and encourage each other.
19:56
So it just kind of goes to show like you don't know what's on
19:59
the other side of that fear when you're sitting in the car sweaty.
20:05
It's it can be more than just like the business connection.
20:08
It can be like a relationship that it'll just push you through or could be that
20:12
like one link that can open the door to your business growth because so many of
20:17
her clients had friends who purchased their dresses Transcribed Somewhere else
20:22
but still had me in common, you know, with their what other bridal friends.
20:26
So it just was kind of like a, that was a really good question
20:28
'cause I forgot about that piece.
20:30
That's a big step.
20:32
. Becca: Yeah, it's a huge step and I love the quote, A simple hello
20:35
can lead to a million things, which is exactly what you love.
20:37
That I love you just.
20:38
Don't know, you don't know what going in and introduce yourself to that store
20:42
owner is going to lead to in the future.
20:44
So now then you're helping other people on the same journey through
20:47
your podcast, through your membership.
20:49
What are some of the common mistakes that you see people you were working
20:53
with make in their business journey?
20:55
Nadine: Oh yeah.
20:56
I think the first thing that comes to mind is being, I
21:01
think this does come from fear.
21:02
And like I mentioned before, that feeling of like the imposter
21:05
syndrome that we hear about.
21:07
The, that.
21:08
causes us to doubt taking professional steps and creating
21:13
professional boundaries.
21:14
So a lot of women feel like they're not worthy to only have your website and
21:20
your email be your form of communication.
21:22
So what comes up, I mean, probably a couple of times a week with
21:27
women that I hear from are, DMs.
21:31
Brides have their numbers, they're texting them at night, they're emailing,
21:34
they're sending Facebook messages, like there's so many ways for their potential
21:38
clients to contact them that they don't have control over the communication.
21:43
And also when we have so many like, you know, more casual forms of communication,
21:48
the wrong bride takes advantage of that, you know, so I think for whatever
21:54
reason, I don't know if it's because I, I feel like it is more so the case with
22:01
women than with men, and I don't know, I, I could just be saying that because
22:04
I only work with women essentially, but there's that feeling of like, I don't
22:07
want to hurt your feelings, so I'm going to meet you wherever you're at, and I
22:10
don't want to put barriers between you and me, so you can contact me anywhere,
22:14
and I'm going to help you with anything, but what happens is, you know, the bride
22:18
doesn't know that you're supposed to have boundaries and so she'll just be
22:21
like texting you late at night or, you know, seamstresses will text the bride
22:25
their invoice or like, here's your total just so probably like lackadaisical
22:30
like professional boundaries that also leads into time boundaries and you know,
22:36
essentially not being able to say no.
22:38
Don't we all struggle with that though?
22:42
Becca: We definitely all struggle with that.
22:43
The other thing I find, and I'll, I love to get your input on this, is that
22:47
people who are particularly creative, so people who are doing exactly what you
22:51
do, sewing, or maybe stationers who are creating art or venue decor, they're so
22:57
in love with their art, that they feel that they can't charge very much for it.
23:02
Now for someone, as I said, who's completely unartistic, I,
23:05
I value that so much, yet they don't seem to value it themselves.
23:09
Now going back to my dress example from earlier, my daughter's dance dress, when
23:12
the lady told me how little she wanted to charge me for these alterations,
23:17
I actually Offer to pay her double because I was so shocked at how little
23:21
she was charging me for something, which I knew was an incredible skill.
23:26
I guess to her, it felt like something easy to do in an evening.
23:29
But for me, I'm like, you're transforming this whole dress.
23:32
If I bought something new that fitted would cost me a hundred pounds and you're
23:35
charging me such a small amount of money.
23:37
Is this common?
23:38
Is this what's happening?
23:38
People not charging.
23:39
Nadine: Yes.
23:39
Yes.
23:40
And I want to be careful of how I talk about this.
23:43
Cause I don't want to come across.
23:45
as like ageist or whatever, but there's definitely a discrepancy
23:48
between, you know, seamstresses who have been doing this for 40, 50 years
23:53
and they're still charging what they charged in the 70s or in the 80s.
23:58
You know what I'm saying?
23:59
They haven't changed their rates and they've just inherited their, you
24:05
know, quote unquote business practices, which aren't business practices.
24:08
They've inherited it from, you know, the previous generation.
24:11
And so some of these.
24:13
younger seamstresses who are coming up, they're just learning by word of
24:18
mouth or by the previous generation.
24:20
So they don't know you should be charging what would be equivalent
24:25
to the professional service rate in your, in your area.
24:29
So what I tell, My members to look for is, you know, what are your local
24:33
electricians charging by the hour or your local plumbers like these
24:37
specialty service providers and I, I love to tell the story of when we
24:40
moved into our house, we had to have a locksmith come in and he he charged us.
24:46
Well, I'll tell you first what he did.
24:47
He changed four locks on the door on, you know, four different doors.
24:51
He arrived 20 minutes late.
24:53
And he was probably in and out of our house within 10 minutes.
24:56
And he also used my bathroom while he was here.
24:58
And I don't know why that really bothered me.
24:59
And the total was over 400.
25:04
Becca: Wow.
25:05
Nadine: He did not blink.
25:06
He just get, and then I was like, well, you were 25 minutes late.
25:10
And he was like, okay.
25:11
So he gave us a discount for that, but it's like, He did not, he didn't second
25:16
guess himself, like that was, that's what it cost, you know what I mean?
25:19
And so, that's, when you, when you look at like the hourly rate, or like
25:23
what your local service providers are charging for these, these skills.
25:28
You know, we have a specific skill set, so I think that seamstresses
25:32
should, seamstresses should be charging between 100 and 150 an hour.
25:37
Like, for this specialty skill.
25:40
It's a dying art.
25:41
You know what I mean?
25:41
It's a really specialty trade, but I think the pricing, it also is difficult
25:47
because like I said, it goes back to that discrepancy of like, you know,
25:51
somebody's charging 25 for a hem.
25:54
I'm charging 140 for a basic hem.
25:57
You know what I mean?
25:58
And so when you have that disparity, in your community, it's like, kind of
26:03
makes the whole like sewing ecosystem weird because the consumer's like,
26:08
wait, what is this actually worth?
26:10
And I'm saying, well, in 2024, this is what it's worth.
26:13
And then somebody, you know, a few blocks down the road is saying like, well,
26:15
in 1982, this is what it was worth.
26:17
Or, you know what I mean?
26:18
So.
26:20
It is a struggle and I think as an industry as a whole, we are trying to
26:25
just raise the bar and raise awareness so that not just seamstresses are
26:29
aware of the issue, but also brides.
26:32
Like when you purchase a dress that's made overseas, that the hourly wage to You
26:40
know, make a dress overseas is going to be different than what Americans are charging
26:45
for our hourly rate or, you know, probably the same for you guys in the UK as well.
26:49
So just the education piece is huge.
26:52
Educating the consumer and also the seamstresses or those of us
26:56
in the industry to just have.
26:58
a little more equilibrium with our prices.
27:03
Becca: Yeah.
27:03
And to just be, and to be confident to charge that because ultimately, you
27:08
know, that locksmith, maybe it was easy for him to change the locks, but that
27:10
was a job you couldn't do yourself.
27:12
And therefore you needed an expert to do it.
27:13
And therefore they could charge the expert price.
27:16
I cannot sew anything, so if I want my dresses changed, I need to pay a
27:21
premium for someone who can do it, and therefore you should be confident to
27:24
do it, because I think people think like, well I can do it in ten minutes,
27:27
so she could just do it in ten minutes, why would she want to pay for that?
27:30
But I know that I couldn't do it in ten minutes, I probably
27:32
could do it in ten million hours, it still would look rubbish!
27:35
Nadine: Yes, it's like that, it's so funny that you said that because
27:38
we sense that from brides who bring their moms who quote unquote sew and
27:43
she'll be like, oh, she, those are the ones who kind of like raise eyebrows
27:46
because it's like, well, I can sew.
27:47
It's like, okay, can you sew this dress?
27:49
Then go ahead, do it yourself.
27:50
You know what I mean?
27:51
But like when they feel like, oh, this is kind of like a hobby skill.
27:54
Like I know how to sew too.
27:57
They feel like, I don't know, that diminishes the value or something.
27:59
So it's, it's constantly a battle of charging.
28:03
Equitably.
28:05
Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
28:07
Now, I know that one of the things that you think has added to your success in
28:11
business is really valuing your couples.
28:14
It's something you teach is something you've embodied yourself.
28:16
Now, a couple of weeks back on my podcast, I went through the wedding
28:19
dates report, which is a industry report that comes out here in the UK.
28:23
And there was one statistic that really shocked me, which I'm going
28:27
to share with you now, because I know this is important to you.
28:29
And it was this 74 percent of the couples that were surveyed.
28:33
They were all couples who were engaged, planning their wedding, or recently wed.
28:37
74 percent of them said they felt like they were a number and not made
28:42
to feel special by their vendors.
28:44
Nadine: Oh my goodness, that is so sad.
28:47
Becca: Yeah.
28:48
I
28:49
Nadine: can't wrap my head around 74%.
28:51
Becca: Yes.
28:51
74%.
28:52
So I've been using this in my talks recently.
28:54
I've been saying, you know, it's a shame on our industry.
28:57
We need to do better than that.
28:58
So tell us what are you doing in your business or what have you done
29:03
over the years in your business to ensure that your clients do feel
29:06
valued and I'm not part of that 74%?
29:09
Nadine: Yeah.
29:10
I think number one is.
29:11
Goodbye.
29:11
Understanding, like, who the client is that you want to attract, and then you're
29:15
building your branding around that, and having the same message across the board.
29:22
So, like, on my website, they're going to come across, like, really beautiful
29:25
language that's like, you're so special.
29:27
That's basically the message on the website, right?
29:29
I want my Instagram to have the same message, like, this is all about
29:32
you, and this is your special day.
29:34
When I, when they fill out my inquiry form.
29:38
they receive an email that's like, not just, oh, send me your photos
29:42
so I can give you a quote and get an estimate on our time together.
29:45
But there are, you know, there are a few paragraphs like wishing them
29:49
well on their wedding plans and, oh, I hope you're enjoying every moment
29:52
of this special season, da da da.
29:54
I try to keep that nice and personal so that even before they like, officially
29:59
interact with me, like, in real time.
30:01
They're feeling, they're getting the feeling this is a full experience.
30:05
It's not just like, oh, I'm gonna fix your dress, or like, oh, I'm
30:08
actually such a great seamstress.
30:10
I can, like, totally do whatever you want and make you look amazing in
30:13
your dress, because I'm so great.
30:15
No, it's very much, Bride centric and it's all about her experience
30:19
and like this is a once in a lifetime hopefully Experience for you.
30:24
So we want to make it the best it can be and every every touch like every
30:29
touch point of Our communication.
30:32
I want it to be like lovely and memorable, right?
30:36
And so then for their first appointment You know, this was actually I just
30:40
remembered this I had a client once This was like a couple, mm, maybe like a year
30:45
after I came into my brick and mortar.
30:46
My brick and mortar is super cute.
30:48
Like it, we have like a pink velvet couch, and it's like mint green and pink
30:53
and lots of like velvet and like really beautiful textured pillows and whatever.
30:56
It's always scented.
30:57
It smells good.
30:59
I have like pretty music playing.
31:00
Like I have a playlist where I've collected like the The walk down the aisle
31:05
songs, you know, so it's like just all this romantic music on repeat and candles.
31:10
I don't have candles.
31:11
I have like the se, the scented melter thingies 'cause I'm
31:14
so afraid of open flames.
31:15
But everything in there is so beautiful and . One time I shut up to work, you
31:20
know, in like jeans and a T-shirt, which there's nothing wrong in.
31:23
Being comfortable at work, you know, so, but this is just my own personal story.
31:28
And I had a bride come in and she was totally dressed up.
31:31
Like she brought her dress and she was, she had a sun dress on.
31:34
She was all done up.
31:35
She was so excited for this fitting.
31:38
And I felt like a dump.
31:39
Cause I'm like, you are pumped for this experience.
31:42
And I didn't meet you here.
31:43
I just, I'm working and you can see now that I'm just at work and
31:48
you're here for an experience.
31:49
And I just felt like.
31:51
And she's like, Oh my gosh, I'm so excited.
31:52
I've been following you on Instagram and my mom's coming
31:55
and my grandma's going to come.
31:56
And it was, I built up this experience for her.
31:59
And then I showed up in my jeans and a t shirt like did not match
32:03
the, like the memo or the vibe that I was trying to present.
32:06
So I remember going home and just being like, I never want to do that again.
32:11
I want to meet my brides where they're at, at that level.
32:14
Like my friend Wendy Rivera, she has a coaching business
32:17
called Do You Speak Bride?
32:19
And it's, Awesome.
32:19
It's geared towards stylists, you know, at bridal shops, but it's all very
32:25
relatable to seamstresses as well.
32:26
And she says, you know, the language of bride is excitement.
32:31
And so we're not faking it.
32:33
We're speaking their language.
32:35
Cause sometimes it's like, well, I don't like to dress up or I just
32:38
want to be comfortable at work.
32:39
Or this is who I am.
32:40
And it's like, okay, you don't need to put on a full dress.
32:43
like a fake persona, but you do want to speak your client's language.
32:47
And so if I've been priming my client that this is going to be such a lovely,
32:52
memorable experience for you, like you're going to be comfortable and prioritized,
32:56
then I want to meet them with what I wear, how I speak to them, how, you know, the
33:02
music that I have going in my shop so that I'm speaking their language and like
33:07
meeting them in their excitement and.
33:10
It makes my job, I don't know, so much more fun.
33:12
You know what I mean?
33:13
Like, I'm not like, I don't know.
33:15
I don't really know what it would be like to show up any other way.
33:18
Well, I did because I did in my jeans and t shirt one day and I felt like a schmuck.
33:21
But, showing up where they're at and celebrating with them, they
33:26
remember that and they like, they, so many times, I, you know, they
33:32
send cute little thank you notes or whatever, drop off flowers afterwards.
33:35
And like, it's always about how they felt.
33:37
You made me feel so special.
33:40
You made me feel so comfortable.
33:41
Like you made me feel so excited and I felt so beautiful.
33:45
Thank you for your work.
33:45
And so I don't think I'm the best seamstress.
33:48
Like I know I'm not, I know I have skills that I still need to learn.
33:51
Like I know that I'm like, not the best around, you know, and I, I knew
33:56
that from the jump when I started my business, and I know that now, but I
33:59
do know how I make people feel and how important that is in the wedding process.
34:06
And yes, I'm always going to be continuing to like grow my skills, just like we
34:10
always want to do as a wedding vendor, but let's not forget what is so memorable.
34:15
And that's How we make people feel like they have this really
34:18
short time in their life.
34:20
They're really stressed.
34:21
They have so many decisions to make.
34:22
And so if they can feel like at peace for that, you know, hour long
34:26
appointment or consultation that we have with them, we can make such a lasting
34:30
difference on how they experience their wedding that goes beyond, you know, the
34:35
service that we're providing for them.
34:37
So I'll have, I try to include like five senses, you know, so we have
34:40
the pretty music playing, I have the.
34:42
yummy melts going, so it smells really good and I try to have the same scent,
34:46
you know, every time that I order.
34:47
I have little mints for the brides, I have a sign that says, you know,
34:51
welcome Kelsey, or whoever the bride's name is and like they have plush
34:56
carpeting in the I have like a cute little, you know, whatever, the faux
35:00
fur rug in the dressing room, just lots of things just make them feel.
35:05
beautiful and special and like the bathroom has all pretty like soaps and
35:08
lotions and like I don't know those kind of things that just make a little
35:12
experience when you come in, you know So think about places that you go whether
35:15
it's like a really nice restaurant or like a Specialty shop that you like to shop
35:20
in or whatever like a gift shop and what about those places make you feel like?
35:24
Oh my goodness.
35:25
I love this store, you know, and for me, it's like I love places that smell
35:28
good I love when it feels cozy and there's like little like You lights
35:31
and like nooks and I don't know.
35:33
So that's what I wanted to create for clients.
35:36
And so it's rememberable.
35:38
It's rememberable.
35:39
It's memorable.
35:41
Becca: I love it.
35:42
One of the other things I talk about actually is sometimes in my
35:44
stage talks, I have another quote.
35:46
We're bringing up all my quotes today, which is people don't
35:49
remember what you said, but they remember how you made them feel.
35:52
And I really, really think that's that's where we're actually going wrong.
35:56
There was a little light bulb moment that lit up as you were talking and
35:59
sharing all of the stories and where it went wrong when you didn't feel
36:02
like you had the right outfit on.
36:04
I feel like this is actually a big problem with where we're going wrong as an
36:07
industry as a whole is that we're really good at hyping up and building up and
36:11
saying all of the things about how amazing this is going to be and how it's going
36:14
to be bespoke to you and personalized to you and you know we're going to give you
36:18
the best day ever yet so often We then let them down because we've done such a
36:25
great job of hyping them up and putting them in that space That then when we don't
36:30
meet that expectation They left feeling disappointed and what we want to be doing
36:35
is leaving them wanting more Not feeling like they got less than they wanted one
36:39
of the big things that happens here in the UK and I'm sure it's the same Out in the
36:43
United States as well is wedding shows.
36:45
I talk about this a lot because people, brides and groups go to these wedding
36:48
shows where they go and look around all the vendors and all the exhibition tables,
36:52
but before they get to the show, they've built up the idea that they're going to
36:55
have this amazing day out and they take their friends and they take their family
36:58
and they turn up dressed up to this show.
37:01
They walk into a room where everyone just tries to sell them stuff and
37:04
they leave feeling really deflated, but yet they've gone into it thinking
37:08
they're going to have an experience.
37:09
And so you're messaging around the fact that you've been there.
37:12
Built up this experience and then delivered on that experience is
37:16
something that I feel like we can all definitely learn from.
37:19
Nadine: Yeah, because it is so much easier to like make cute coherent
37:22
posts on Instagram and then you, that's easier than like, yeah, just
37:27
showing up here, like ready to go and already meeting them in their
37:31
excitement and like following through.
37:33
So that's a really good point.
37:35
So yeah,
37:35
Becca: thanks for helping me.
37:37
Helping me
37:38
have that breakthrough moment that we actually need to make sure everyone is
37:41
doing what they promise on the internet.
37:43
Yeah.
37:44
So when you get to the end of your journey, obviously you give the dress
37:47
back before the wedding day itself.
37:49
Do you have kind of a post dress delivery or?
37:52
off boarding thing that happens.
37:55
What do you do once you've given them the dress?
37:59
Nadine: I know, it is sad because it's like, okay, well, follow me on Instagram.
38:02
I'm going to be, I always say I'm going to be stalking you on
38:04
Instagram because I want to see all the wedding week, you know, details.
38:08
And so typically when they come for their final fitting, that's the last
38:12
time that I'm guaranteed to see the bride because I'll keep the dress to steam it.
38:16
And usually it's like a friend or family member comes to pick up the dress.
38:19
So, you know, A gift goes a long way and it doesn't need to be a 50 gift, but we
38:27
can talk about how you can kind of like cushion gift money into your pricing.
38:32
But I always like to give them, I have little satin bags that have my
38:36
branding on them and then I'll kind of switch it up throughout the season.
38:39
I'll get like, like one time I did locally made bath bombs and soaps.
38:45
I've done branded coffee samplers, so one of my girlfriends has a
38:49
coffee roasting company, and so she made a Sweet Francis Sewing Co.
38:52
blend, so that's what I gave to brides.
38:54
I've done emergency kits, but emergency kits aren't really cute.
38:58
They're not, like, special, you know?
39:00
I've done, like, scrunchies and candles, you know, so I kind of mix it up a
39:04
little bit with what brides get, but they just get something when they leave.
39:08
And then there's also a little reminder like if you want to get your dress cleaned
39:11
and preserved, you can come back to me.
39:13
And I also worked with other local businesses.
39:16
I don't have one going currently, but like last year one of, we have a luxury
39:21
lingerie shop in town, and it's beautiful.
39:23
They have like, like just those beautiful pajamas, like beautiful Stuff in there and
39:29
just like a lovely, lovely place to shop.
39:32
And so she gave me like a 50 gift certificate that I
39:35
could share with each bride.
39:36
Another coffee shop gave me like, you know, a free latte or
39:39
whatever because other businesses want to get in on this too.
39:43
And when you're giving something like a promo code, that'll
39:46
get your bride in their door.
39:48
So I also have a a waxing salon by me, a hair salon.
39:53
So like you can partner with local businesses and just get a little promo
39:57
code because the bride, even if they don't use it, Oh, another place I've worked
40:00
with a local massage, like a day spa done the same thing with a promo code.
40:06
And so brides love that.
40:08
And they see that as like a special gift that they're receiving.
40:10
So I think it's important to just give them something back in the day.
40:14
I would write a handwritten note for every bride, but I just
40:16
couldn't keep up with that anymore.
40:17
So I don't think it like a typed out card.
40:20
that you know I make on Canva and preprint.
40:21
So there's definitely, I probably could make the offboarding a little
40:25
bit more exciting, but it's like I give him a hug and I give him
40:28
the present and then it's like,
40:29
Becca: okay, bye.
40:32
Yeah,
40:32
but the present is the offboarding.
40:33
That is the exciting part.
40:34
And just because you're giving it to everyone, they're not expecting it.
40:37
Right.
40:38
It's the, it's the, you know, it's that excitement.
40:41
Unexpected thing that brings them that joy.
40:44
That's the thing that they remember.
40:46
I checked into a hotel last week and there was a plate in there where they'd written
40:49
welcome in a little bit of chocolate.
40:51
Like it was a tiny little thing.
40:53
It probably took them like one minute, but to me I felt really special because they
40:57
put the plate of chocolate in my room.
40:59
So, you know, you know, they're doing it day in, day out.
41:01
Maybe everyone got the chocolate.
41:03
I don't know.
41:04
But in that moment I felt seen and I felt special.
41:06
That's what you're doing for your brides when you're giving them their little.
41:10
They're a little gift that they're not expecting.
41:12
They're expecting to get the dress.
41:14
Everything else is a bonus.
41:15
And I love the way you talk about collaborating with
41:17
local businesses as well.
41:18
So much good stuff in all of these conversations.
41:21
So much good stuff.
41:23
Now, we need to bring this to an end because we, I could chat to you
41:26
all day otherwise, and actually we, we just don't have time to do that.
41:30
However I always end my podcast with the same question, so I'm
41:34
going to pose that one to you now.
41:35
And it's this.
41:36
What's one thing you wish you'd known sooner in your own business?
41:40
Nadine: Well, I kind of cheated because I touched on it a little bit sooner, I think
41:43
earlier in the conversation, but learning to say no, I, I have permission to say no.
41:48
So I can say no to, you know, Projects I don't want to do, brides I don't
41:52
want to work with peers that I don't really want to associate with.
41:56
Like that's a big thing too.
41:57
It's like, you have control of who you allow to influence you in your
42:02
life and you can kindly say no to that or like back out of that.
42:06
You don't need to take on all of the clients who reach out to you or
42:09
like, you know, taking on more than you think you can handle or like the
42:15
projects that just don't sound like fun.
42:17
Like I don't, I know what I like to sew and sew.
42:21
as like a planner, like, you know, what kind of event you want
42:23
to plan or like, you know, what budgets you like to work with.
42:26
And so if it's not fun for you, it just makes work so difficult, which sounds
42:32
actually, that's like really trite.
42:34
That's like not really advice.
42:35
It's just something that we all should know, but you can say no.
42:38
And probably the sooner that I, I wish I had, yeah, known that sooner.
42:43
Yeah.
42:43
Becca: And it, it, it kind of comes, it comes right back to the beginning of
42:46
your story, because you had to say no to teaching to say yes to something else.
42:50
And sometimes we have to say no to things and, and that changes
42:53
the journey that we're going on.
42:55
And it's not a bad thing to say no.
42:56
It Maybe changes us in a different direction.
42:59
So yes, it's not trite is a good piece of knowledge that we all need to remember
43:03
and I'm sure there's plenty of people listening to this right now who are
43:06
thinking, Yeah, I need to say no to something because otherwise I'll be
43:09
hemming jeans for the rest of my life.
43:11
And actually, I can say no to the jeans in favor of the wedding dresses, right?
43:17
It's right.
43:18
There's a whole new world waiting for you.
43:19
Just say no.
43:21
Amazing.
43:22
Now, if there are people listening that want to reach out to you, perhaps There's
43:24
some bridal seamstresses or maybe some budding seamstresses that want to find
43:28
out more about you and what you do.
43:30
Give us some information.
43:31
Where's the best place for them to find you?
43:33
I think you've got a resource as well that people can find.
43:36
Nadine: Oh yeah, yeah.
43:37
So I have a podcast called Secrets of a Bridal Seamstress Podcast.
43:40
So you can find that wherever you are.
43:42
you stream your favorite podcasts.
43:43
And you can find, find me on Instagram, Secrets of Bridal Seamstress.
43:47
And I do have a private podcast series.
43:50
So if you are currently a bridal seamstress and you'd like to consider
43:54
charging for fittings, if you're not doing that or creating branded
43:58
fitting packages, I have a private podcast series all about that.
44:02
So I can link that in the show notes as well.
44:03
Becca: Yeah, absolutely.
44:04
Send it over to me.
44:05
I'll make sure I put all of your links in the show notes and do go
44:08
and check out the Secrets of a Bridal Seamstress podcast because you can
44:12
go and find an episode with me on there as well where we talk about the
44:16
darker side of the wedding industry.
44:17
So if you're interested in that, go and check it out over on Nadine's podcast.
44:20
Thank you so much for being a guest today.
44:22
It's been such a pleasure to talk to you and I'm sure we'll talk again very soon.
44:27
Thank you.
44:29
I love that conversation with Nadine.
44:31
Isn't she great?
44:32
I love her enthusiasm.
44:33
I love how she's making her brides and all of her customers feel.
44:37
And I love that she's passing on that confidence to the next generation
44:41
of bridal seamstresses that they absolutely can charge their worth
44:45
for this incredible skill that quite frankly, I don't know how anyone can do.
44:49
I'll see you next time.