Homespun E9 | Jessica Barrera

welcome to Homespun where creativity Finds Its voice I am your host Misty D and today I'm joined by Jess Barrera founder of Sally tomato she shares her journey with us from love of sewing to starting her business and finding success in the industry Jess thank you so much for being here with me today I really really appreciate it I'm excited to sit and talk to you and I think people are going to love hearing more about your story and your journey yeah thank you so much for inviting me I'm excited to chat today and be a part of your podcast this is very special oh absolutely I'm glad you could be here so for those who don't know can you just start off by sharing a little bit about Sally tomato and how it came to be sure so I started my business when I was in college I grew up working at a quilt shop and I was a cashier and cut fabric um so I actually worked at ny's Notions in Wisconsin oh I love that yeah so really fortunate that um I'm from the beaverdam area and it was so close to my home so my mom worked there uh she sold machines and then my dad was a repair Tech so I kind of grew up in a quilt store and I always had an interest in sewing and business and teaching so I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do and uh in college I did end up majoring in entrepreneurship and um so I was making things and selling them online and my mom encouraged me to try writing a pattern since it's a lot of work trying to go to craft fairs and sewing projects and selling them uh so my first pattern was actually a dog bed with an attached blanket yeah um and I so that was really fun and uh since I had worked at ny's and I knew a lot of the team I asked if they would be willing to put it in their catalog so uh they did and it did really well and I've always been interested in the bags and it's a fun challenge to incorporate the hardware and um I started researching full leather and cork Fabric and zippers and it's just spiraled from there and grown and I've always um paired the the tutorials with it and the education with the patterns to provide that support so had a lot of good customers I love it I mean you've you've done such an incredible job it's so inspiring to to know that like I I knew you started in college and I love that you just kind of Dove head first you're like I can do this you know is there any like particular project maybe that gave you the confidence that one you could start your own business behind this but that yeah I'm actually I'm good at this I can I can do it yeah so I think I I started out out fairly easy with myself I saw the other designers out there and I thought well I'm just going to start with a tote bag and see how that goes and then play a little bit with the zippers and kind of went from there so my the first bag pattern I ever designed was called the stylish sturdy tote at the time um and now it's kind of evolved into the our anab bag pattern since it's been updated but yeah I think uh it helped just to start out with the simple project and um I've read uh lots of patterns and research lots of techniques trial and error so to build up my confidence for sure so I love that so so you kind of grew up around quilting and sewing which is pretty amazing but were you always drawn to it naturally did you always enjoy crafting or how did you really kind of get into it yourself yeah so like many sewing has run in my family so my grandma has knew how to sew and she Tau my mom and my mom taught me um but I've always been interested in art I thought about going to fashion design school or even architecture I love home decor um and Home Design so um yeah just a variety of Interest growing up and I've always come back to sewing I've tried garment sewing clothing embroidery I love it all so yeah anything with stitching right yes all the pretty Fabrics I love that so I I heard a rumor that you made your own prom dress in high school is that true oh yes yeah that was a big challenge um can you tell us about that I love that so much sure um so in my group of friends they all knew that I had I sew and um so they had challenged me to make my own prom dress and they're like you can't do it and I wanted to prove them all wrong and so decided to use denim of all fabrics and some lace and I know the hardest part was the Bon and getting the lace to lay right but it had this big train and bows and yeah it was just it turned out really nice like I tried to pick the the odest material to just uh and create like a really nice prom dress from it so yeah I was happy with it I love that so much you're going to have to send me a picture cuz I'm dying to see it and I'm sure everyone will want to see it too so maybe you could share that with us that would be so I love that so so now you know you you've obviously loved sewing your whole life you've started this business um that's grown and has been super successful so is there something that you can share maybe maybe at some point in your journey where things felt really hard like how how do you overcome those challenges as a business owner sure so um yeah there's challenges every week still and I think like surrounding yourself with supportive people really helps and um trying your best to to stay organized and schedule out your days so you don't overwork yourself and definitely in the beginning of years it was 12 to 16 hour days on top of working and um going to school so I had um my husband to help a lot with fulfilling orders and things but uh so I think through that initial experience then um it's really important to ask for help so then my brother started helping and my mom and it just gets to be too much for one person and yeah having uh some other people involved to understand the business and the situation just helps be able to talk ideas through and um so yeah we've got a really good team now that we all jump in when times get hard and and figure it out so yeah it's been a challenge for sure but we're in a good place now I love that when did you know you were to a point where you're like it's time I need help yeah um I think when it took over my whole house um cuz we had the whole basement uh full of product and it was overfilling into the living room and yeah it was uh just yeah a lot of work to for one person to do so that Mak that makes sense so you're creating new designs all the time now which uh I can totally relate to once you're in it I feel like inspiration kind of comes from all over but where do you find inspiration for your next bag design yeah so originally I wanted to round out our selection of patterns so all the different types of bags duffel bags tote bags I wanted to make sure we had at least a basic pattern um so I challenged myself to find like the ultimate um Basics I guess um just easy to follow and had all the necessary parts and styles and things um and now I actually am inspired a lot by our customers and requests that they have um so then I'm challenging myself to incorporate different styles of handles or um different construction techniques and things but um of course outside of that I do have lots of other ideas constantly which I'm sure you can relate to um so I like uh classic movies and so it's really fun to watch the old movies and see the vintage designs and um just bring them up to date to modern styles so I love that I I I also love vintage movies I love to watch a good black and white film so that's really fun know that I I love that I used to watch Turner Classic Movies after school like all the old especially the old musicals but super fun me too well so I also have to say I think something that's really unique about your company is you've taken bag making and one made it really approachable but you've also added these really fun modern finishes in your hardware and and I feel like offered such a incredible product selection so how did you like make the jump into some of that product development because that's unique to what you do as well yeah um so when I worked at ny's Notions and I would help a customer and we'd look at the back of the pattern and I'd help them search for supplies in the store they'd get frustrated when the store didn't have all the supplies needed and they'd have to go hunt for the supplies so I knew that if I was writing these patterns I'd want to have the supplies to go with it um so the hardware was um involved with the patterns like right away and um zippers were already out in the market so I wasn't too concerned about the zippers quite yet um but uh from school uh they did a little bit of product development uh in the classes so um I researched on some global trading sites and worked with manufacturers to create some molds for the hardware got samples in and um another thing too was the hardware colors were really difficult to match there's so many different variations of gold and um different thicknesses of d-rings um so I was really focused on making sure that it all coordinated and matched um and I had a little set on top of my dresser just little baskets full of hardware and then it expanded to a a peg board and larger bins so it just kind of grew over time and as product would sell then I'd reinvest and um bring in more product so it was a risk at first but it was really exciting to see that there was an interest for the hardware and so that was started I personally love it because I think it takes that you know what can really look like a handmade bag initially but when you add the hardware and all of those details it gives you this beautiful professionally finished project that you can really feel proud of I I know when we were making my bag together like I was just stunned the whole time I was like first of all I can't believe just took this idea that I had in my brain for how I wanted this bag to look and she was able to like you were able to just build all the components and and have it turn into this really beautiful bag that I'm so proud of and I I I really enjoyed working with you so that was super fun for me to see just a little bit of your process um uh I was just so amazed and like I said all of those details and the thought that went into them coordinating and working together it certainly has paid off because you have really beautiful projects that you you designed so thank you for taking that leap that I'm sure was very scary um because you have a wonderful eye for all of those details well thank you and you had a beautiful vision for your bag too I love all the components and I see people at shows carrying the Misty bag and they're so proud and it's perfect for travel that was a really fun pattern to design y it was really fun I really enjoyed it so so let's share a little bit more cuz I know how busy you are and you know as a business owner how full your days can be so how do you kind of Juggle that work life balance to make sure you have time for your yourself for your family um other other creative Hobbies you might have how do you juggle it yeah and I think overall I am a little bit of a workaholic so I do have to make sure that I stick to my work schedule um CU it's so easy I can relate to that my husband tells me all the time he's like it's okay for you to take a break I'm like but I I just have one more thing one more thing to get done I'm trying to be better yes it can totally relate um because it's yeah it's so easy in the in the evenings after the kids go to bed to just want to open up my laptop and get a little bit more work done but in reality there will always be plenty of work to do and not enough hours in the day for all the other interests so um exactly yeah it's really important to you know spend the morning with my kids and eat breakfast together and play and then um I work the 8 hour shift and then after that the phone goes on the kitchen counter and I walk away and I'm just totally focused on my family and then yeah once my two boys are in bed then um I like to paint and read and I try to exercise a little bit every day so I actually printed off a habit planner and or tracker and so I list everything that I want to do in day and check it off because I just I guess I'm just that I need that that extra plan in place to make sure I stay on track and don't forget anything so I always have so many ideas and I I have to make lists because my brain is always going a mile a minute and so it's like how do all the things for my house and all the things for the kids and all the things for work so I can that I like the idea of the Habit tracker maybe I need to try that because it would is it like like a bulleted list and you can just go down yep yep every day whatever you want to add that be awesome I I probably need that in my life oh that's really fun so you mentioned painting and reading is there or are there any books that you've read lately that you're really enjoying or that you would recommend sure so um I've been getting into sourdough so I've like been reading cooking books and um because I also really like to cook um and then trying to think um my mom recently got me the book from Reese Witherspoon so I wanted to read that um awesome but I do like reading uh books on entrepreneurship and parenting and um audio books I try to fit them in on the way to work and on the way home so that's awesome well cooking is certainly a creative Hobby and my husband also makes sourdough bread I have not mastered it myself but I get to enjoy his so I'm sure your family really loves uh to enjoy cooking hobby that's pretty fun that's super fun so are there any other creative hobbies that you are really drawn to that you still do quite often um let's see so besides painting um now that my kids are getting a little older I've been getting a little bit into jewelry um so fun um because they like working with the beads and um yeah we have the melty beads and stuff so I guess uh kids crafts I've been interested in and um I thought about incorporating them into Sally tomato as well with um small projects and more education to get younger kids involved and oh that's a great idea yeah I love that I think there there's still definitely a need for more education for kids I think and and kid-friendly projects I I have people ask often and it's kind of one of those things that now that my kids are a little bit older and I guess need me less unfortunately I'm kind of out out of that phase but I spent so many years doing kids crafts and loving it so I say go for it Jess I think that's great seeing the um ashen's Room Makeover and all the videos that she was into so is she has she stuck with it so she's funny she is she's such a hardworking busy kid but she is very much interested in trying things and so so far like like one creative hobby hasn't stuck super hard but she well maybe photography she really loves photography but sewing hasn't stuck with her but she's still very much like hey Mom can we make this and so she'll she'll find a project that she wants to make together which is really fun but she she doesn't spend a lot of time like sitting and sewing herself but I'll take any any chance I can work on a project with the kids and what's funny is my youngest Ezra as far as just like sitting in a sewing machine and just playing he absolutely loves it and so he loves to do like raw Edge applique and he'll just cut out shapes and like kind of do like uh art quilting where he'll just layer all of his Fabric and he made the cutest little house it's so fun I'll have to share it sometime but it's it's just fun to see kids be creative and have kind of those barriers removed and and let them them play in a way that we wouldn't right and so that I really enjoy watching him him SE and and Gideon both Gideon and ashy work in the shops here in Hamilton and so they do some sewing for work and so they all can sew and quilt um and seem to enjoy it and so I I just don't ever want to like force it on them too much you know but any any chance I get to to do a project with them I really enjoy so hopefully you will get you'll get to keep that up with your kiddos because I think I think it's really fun and so special to have those memories as a family yeah well maybe your youngest would like cork fabric then cuz that's great for applique he probably would I should give him some cork cuz you know I have some lying around so he that's a great idea I should definitely let him play with that that would be a really fun medium for him to yeah to work with so that's awesome so you have taken these huge creative leaps in your career and I think it's so inspiring so is there anything you would share maybe with someone who is is nervous to make that jump and maybe feels like they have something to share with the world but doesn't know where to begin yeah um so I'm generally a very softspoken person and very shy so it has been um interesting in the fact that there is a a lot of education and and putting myself out there um but I think it's just helped me grown as a person and it's so important to just keep putting yourself out there attending trade shows and when you're at the shows um going around to the different booths introducing yourself and making friends in the industry and um working on collaborations and things so um definitely networking and um going to the trade shows really helped build brand awareness and that would be what I recommend and um get uh claim your username across all of the social media platforms and start posting content uh content and challenge yourself every single day to do one post and just stick with it consistency is also key to um building your brand awareness as well so so what was it like that like that first trade show that you went to what was that like for you yeah so it was actually um quite scrambled to pack everything up uh we kind of wung it and we packed up a sampling of everything um my husband actually built some fake rck walls and oh my gosh so it was a a lot of um material to go into this booth I had planned outlook for ideas on Pinterest and uh we we bought a trailer packed it up and it was definitely in the hotel room the night before and printing off extra signs and um it was a learning experience for sure because uh walking around a lot of the other vendors uh had done several trade shows before and they knew like lightweight displays and these walls were so heavy and um so thankfully I had my husband to help and um yeah I was definitely nervous but it was it was a really good experience everybody in the sewing Community is so welcoming and um nice and all the other vendors so yeah my mom was there the whole time which really helped that's awesome that's awesome so is there someone in the industry Maybe that um you you feel like was a cheerleader for you or helped you along on your journey yeah um there are several um women so when I was working in well and Men working in a college I worked at a Country quilt store and so Carrie had brought me to my first Quilt Market and that's kind of how I learned about the sewing industry um so she gave me a lot of advice uh with pattern design and feedback that she got from customers coming in to shop and if I was going to be writing these patterns then um she would like to review them just to make sure that it would they were easy to teach uh so connecting with the store owner was helpful um Nancy Zan was definitely an inspiration I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I would have liked to um but whenever I did need advice or anything she always had an Open Door um let's see so I think those two were my main contacts and then um also so ny's Notions would have a sewing weekend event once a year and they would bring in other vendors so my mom would bring me around and introduce me to everybody and uh Su very she does embroidery designs and in the hoop designs um her and I really connected and we were just emailing yesterday actually so she was a mentor to me and helped uh me figure out how to start a website and she provided a lot of advice too so oh I love that I think it's so important to like acknowledge the people that help us along the way and it's a good reminder to everyone that uh you really don't need to feel alone I have been so impressed by how welcoming and wonderful the crafting Community as a whole is and so don't be afraid to put yourself out there I have people message me on Instagram all the time with questions and it's so funny because they're like I don't mean to bother you and I'm like no I love it so sweet I'm H I'm happy to help reach out anytime um and and so I think that the majority of people are like that so being willing to um to have a mentor and to to reach out and make friends um it's it's totally available within the industry and I think that's kind of unique to what we do it's everybody's trying to lift each other up and uh and make sure that there's plenty of room and success across the board and I think that that I've seen that in in my career and I it sounds like you have as well which is really wonderful yes absolutely so is there any like final words you would leave for maybe your customers or the audience that you would want uh people to maybe think of when they think of you and Sally tomato I think you know you just got to jump in and try pick a pattern and um the pattern will tell you all of the materials that you need don't be intimidated by the style of the project and just take it one step at a time um and if you have questions always here to help um email in and um check out the tutorials but um education is very important to me like we've talked about so um yeah I'm really passionate about encouraging um new solists and um helping out experience S as well to have some fun challenges and there Journey too so I love that I love that so much and you've done an amazing job so if you are ever needing a bag pattern or you know just a want a friendly face be sure to tune in and and watch what Jess is up to so that's pretty awesome so Jess can you tell everybody where to find you where to find your designs or follow along with you on social media yeah so our website is Sally tom.com we have lots of tutorials and blogs on our website uh we're very active on YouTube and Instagram so just search for Sally tomato and I hope you'll find something that you like awesome thank you so much Jess I really appreciate you being here and I will see you later all right thanks Misty I appreciate you bye-bye bye [Music]