From Etsy Shop to Globally Recognized Brand With Leah Longueville from Polished Prints
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Leah Longueville, founder & CEO of Polished Prints, a lifestyle brand dedicated to creating products that bring positivity to you, your children and your home. Leah shares more about how she grew her side hustle business printing sayings on onesies into a full-fledged business with her products in over 700 stores all around the globe.
Leah’s business started when she became a mom with her first daughter and wanted more time to spend with her. She got out of the tourism world and into freelance graphic design. She opened up her own Etsy shop where she could print onesies with sayings and designs that she made and also posted about it on social media. People started flocking to her product and Polished Prints began to grow organically. Leah hired a PR firm to help add fuel to the fire and eventually Polished Prints grew beyond Etsy into its own own website on Shopify, allowing them to control all aspects of the customer experience.
Leah walks listeners through her learning curve of getting a grip on the world of manufacturing and how she pivoted in fall 2020 when her normal shirt vendor fell through. She also dives into the world of wholesale and why launching on Faire was the right move for Polished Prints. She offers crucial questions any business owner should think through before launching a new collection or wading into the wholesale world.
If you’ve been curious about what it’s like to build your own clothing line and a peek into the world of wholesale, listen to this episode with Leah!
Tune in for topics like:
Shifting from hobby to business
The first thing Leah outsourced
When she knew it was time to switch from Etsy to Shopify
How Leah found the right manufacturing partner
The wholesale beast - pricing, volume, sourcing retailers, planning ahead
The unexpected part of Polished Prints that brings Leah the most joy
How understanding your customer can impact your business decisions
Links from the episode:
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