211: When to Walk Away from a Successful Business (and Start Something New) with Natasha Sewell

Sabrina: On today’s episode of the Shoot It Straight podcast, I have my friend Natasha Sewell joining me again, and this time we’re talking about how she left her successful photography business of over 13 years to start something brand new. And we’re talking about what that felt like, how she knew it was time to move on, and what it’s been like to build something brand new.

This is really, really a fun chat, and it’s almost like you’re just kind of a fly on the wall listening to a conversation between friends, and I know that you will get a lot out of it and be really inspired, so let’s dive in

Welcome to Shoot It Straight, the podcast for women building businesses and lives they actually want. I’m Sabrina Gebhardt, and around here we believe in clarity over hustle, alignment over burnout, and giving yourself permission to want more: more ease, more beauty, more income, more space to live. So if you’re ready to grow without losing yourself in the process, you’re in the right place.

Welcome back to the Shoot It Straight podcast, my friends. Today, I have my friend Natasha Sewell back with us. Natasha, you’ve been on the podcast a couple of times, and we’re gonna talk about something totally new today, and I can absolutely guarantee you that we are going to veer and get off topic, and it’s gonna be a really, really fun, organic chat.

I cannot wait to see where it goes. But before we get too far into this, ’cause again, I just know we’re… Because even before we started, we were already chit-chatting about all the things. Um, before we get started, in case somebody is newer and they have not heard you on the podcast before, will you just do a quick intro of yourself?

Natasha: Absolutely. I am Natasha Sewell. I am bicoastal, I guess you would say. I live in Washington, DC, and Palm Springs, California, which is where I am right now. I was a photographer for 13 years. I recently closed my photography business because last fall I started a needlepoint business with my sister. I am also the mom to three grown humans, have a husband, and am in my mid-life- I’m 53, so made a big pivot in, in my life in the past year.

Sabrina: Yeah. And I am obsessed with it, and I cannot wait to dig into that, which is exactly what we’re talking about today. But let’s kind of start at the beginning. You and I go way back, which is so fun. Because of that, we have seen each other through a lot of life changes personally and professionally. For, for the fact that we don’t live near each other, we see each other kind of regularly you know?

Like, a cou- a couple times a year, sometimes more than that, which I am so happy about. Uh, but you and I first met in 2019. You hired me for in-person mentoring back then, and tell me what your business was like back then and how us meeting kind of came about.

Natasha: So in 2019, my husband had just retired from the Army, and we were living in North Carolina at the time.

I had had my business since 2013, maybe really 2012, but the government didn’t know that. He had moved to DC to take a job there. I was still in North Carolina, and I knew that I could not move my posed newborn business to DC. Rent was too expensive, all of those things. So I needed to pivot, and my pivot was lifestyle, in-home sessions, and I went to you to teach me all the ways so that I could make that happen successfully.

Sabrina: Yeah, and we had such a good … I still remember that session. We had such a great time. Um, loved that connection. And then you and I just stayed connected af- after that, um, which has been really, really fun to get to know you, and we’ve traveled together and we’ve been at lots of retreats together, and we’ve seen each other at conferences.

It’s just been really, really, really fun to get to know you and watch things grow and change. So over the seven years since you and I have known each other, your photography business really continued to grow and get more successful. It changed, like you said. Like, you went from posed to lifestyle, you moved.

You got … You really honed in on your work and your client experience, and things just, like, kept elevating for you, which was really, really incredible to watch. You also stepped into the education space during that time, um, which was really, really fun. Things were really successful for you. What did that feel like, having a successful photography business, a successful education business?

Like, good, bad, indifferent? Like, how did things feel to you?

Natasha: It felt really good, I will say. However, my sticking points with it was moving my business from North Carolina, where I was very well-established, to Washington, DC. I was back sort of in that hustle of constantly marketing. I was getting word of mouth- Referrals, all of that sort of stuff.

Um, repeat clients, yes. But in a major metropolitan area, because I had moved from rural North Carolina, so small town, you know, what goes along with that. So I was known in the small town. In a big city, it’s a little harder to get that, that, your name out there. So I felt like I was constantly sort of in, like, marketing, just the marketing hamster wheel.

Also, adding in education was awesome. I hosted a retreat. I had a course, all of these things, and I was really proud of it and really enjoyed doing it. I am a former first grade teacher, so that came kind of naturally to me. But, and you have preach this to me over the years, education is a slow burn, and you really have to put in the marketing time and the effort to get it to take off.

And between my ph- you know, the photography side of my business and the education side, I was feeling a little burnout on the marketing, honestly.

Sabrina: Yeah, ’cause it’s a lot. It’s one of those things where you have to do it, you know? And it’s like if you don’t do it, then you’re not gonna get business. Do you feel like there was um, a moment where you were like, “The crack has begun, and I’m not sure I wanna do this anymore?”

Was it, like, a specific moment, or was it more of, like, a slow leak where you were like, “Wow, I just … Over time, this isn’t feeling as good to me anymore”? What did that feel like when your business started to not be so great?

Natasha: I think there was… First of all, I’m in my 50s, and I knew that I could not continue photographing toddlers forever.

Let’s be honest. I was exhausted after a session. You know? Like, more so than I had been before. I also bring a lot of energy into a session so, you know, it depletes me. You know, there was that aspect of it, that I knew something sort of had to give. I thought education was, was my path. I was gonna start doing a lot of education.

That was gonna bring the money in. That is what was gonna replace maybe not all of my photography business, but some of it. But I really, as I said, didn’t love the marketing part of that. So I kind of felt like a snake oil salesperson, which I wa- I don’t think I was. I just felt that way. It felt icky to me.

That was part of it, but also, I felt heavy in my business. Like, my body felt heavy. I loved my sessions, loved being with my clients. I actually am a weird person and love editing, so that was not it. It just, in general, all of the behind the scenes stuff just felt like a lot. Um, and so I think that that was sort of what kept coming in, was, is this really what I wanna keep doing?

Is this really where I see myself in five, seven, 10 years? I, I just think it was the way I truly felt In my business.

Sabrina: I think that’s so important to recognize that you were paying attention to that because, and we’ll get to this, but on the flip side, when your needlepoint business was starting to be born, hearing you talk about that, like, energetically was totally different.

You know what I mean? Like, you could just tell it was e- energizing and igniting and joyful, and yeah, there was a lot of moving parts and a lot of hustle and a lot of things that had to happen, but it, like, didn’t matter. You know what I mean? Whereas with your other business, it… You knew those things had to happen, but it…

Like, you just didn’t want to anymore.

Natasha: I really didn’t. I really was like like, I’d get on social media to post something, and I’m like, “Ugh.” I- like, there were tons of posts I just scrapped. Like, I had planned out all the th- and then I’m like, “I just… No. I just… It doesn’t feel good.” So that’s kind of where, where I was.

Sabrina: Were you actively looking for something else?

Natasha: No, I wasn’t actively l- yeah, I wasn’t actively looking. I actually thought about shutting the whole thing down and then just trying to find something else to do. I mean, I, I am fortunate. I do not have to work. But I do have to work for myself. Money-wise, I’m very fortunate, you know, do not need to bring in a certain amount of money, but I personally would shrivel up and die if I didn’t have so- like, a purpose.

So yeah, so I think that that, I, I thought about just shutting it all down and, I don’t know, like working in a shop or like, like just doing something that was easy that I just went to and came home, just to give myself something kind of to do.

Sabrina: Okay, so you weren’t actively like eyes open, I need something else to fill a gap.

You just knew that things couldn’t keep going the way they were. So where does needlepoint fit into all this? Like, how did it come back into your life, so to speak?

Natasha: So I needlepointed years and years ago when my oldest was very small. I was a very young mom, at least amongst my friends. Most of my friends were not married, did not have kids, and so I had some time on my hands and I picked up needlepoint, then had other kids, life got busy as it does, and stopped doing it completely.

And then I didn’t pick it back up until I started having some anxiety issues, and I was on medication, seeing a therapist, doing all of the things, but I was also needlessly scrolling. And I had kind of curved that by, I don’t know if you remember this, but I totally would go off social media on the weekends, and I would actually even take it off my phone on the weekends.

Like, that was kind of how I was doing. But I still was finding myself scrolling a fair amount. So in order to stop doing that, I’m like, “I need to do something with my hands,” and I took needlepoint back up. So yeah, that’s how it came back in.

Sabrina: I love that. And I have… I mean, we were talking about this before recording.

I have jumped straight in the deep end with needlepoint, thanks to you, and I spend so many hours doing it that I used to spend scrolling. Now, I still scroll, so like, I do. I do, I still scroll. I do too. But I have replaced a lot of that time with needlepoint now, and I’m just like plowing through the projects and everything, and it is an expensive hobby, but one that I’m like, “I don’t care.

This is my mental health.” I’m in a season, the listeners know this, I’m in a season where my anxiety is really, really high, um, with my daughter going off to college, and I need something. And it’s fun, and it’s creative, and it’s off my phone, and I can still be engaged with my family and have conversations, you know?

Yeah. Um, which is a huge thing. You can

Natasha: still be present- Yes … when you needlepoint. It is just- Yes … literally

Sabrina: giving your hands- Which is why I

Natasha: love it … something to do. Yes.

Sabrina: Which is why I love it. I’m not, like, sitting in a room by myself reading a book, b- like, don’t talk to me. I’m not, uh, having my, something in my ears listening to a podcast.

I’m not going on a walk away from my family. I’m in my family room, talking to my boys, talking to my husband, watching a show, but I’m doing this as well. It’s been so fun. So okay, so needlepoint came back in mainly a big reason because of anxiety. Because you were like, “Oh yeah, I had this thing I used to love.

I need to pick it back up.” What were your thoughts diving back in to needlepoint? Because it’s changed a lot from when your boys were little to now. Did you immediately pick it back up? Were you, like, obsessed with how fun it is now, and, like, the different canvases, and options, and styles, and all of that?

Like, what was it like digging back in to that hobby?

Natasha: So it’s fun, and it’s sort of like riding a bike. You kind of, like, I picked up a canvas and just started going. Like, it wasn’t, it d- there was no learning curve. I did buy, one of the first things I bought was this, like, needlepoint sampler where you could try all these different stitches, and that was sort of fun.

Um, because I had really not explored different stitches when I initially did it. I, I’m sure they existed, but it wasn’t, there was really limited internet, so you didn’t have it, like, r- like, at your fingertips to see that stuff. It was also fun just to see the d- how canvases have sort of become modernized.

Like, there’s a lot of pop culture in it, and I love that. So it, it, you know, it’s not all just super, super traditional stuff. Like, the first needlepoint I did way back when, almost 30 years ago, was a Peter Rabbit. Like, you can’t get more traditional than that .

Sabrina: Right. Right, right. So tell me how Georgie and Lottie was born.

This Georgie and Lottie is your needlepoint business. Tell me how this happened, and for the listeners, this is a business that Natasha and her sister, um, own together and started together. So when did you two realize that this is, this is something we’re gonna go after?

Natasha: I mean, it was really a lot of text messages.

I would send my sister… My sister is an artist. She is a painter. She was an interior designer. She has a lot of art in her. Like, it is her passion. So I kept seeing on TikTok people painting their own canvases, and I kept forwarding them to my sister. Like, just all of these videos. I’m like, “You could do this.

Why don’t you do this? I think you should do this.” And then she was actually out with me in Palm Springs and- We, you know, were talking and she had ordered actually those acrylic paint, paint pen-type things to kind of try it out, and I was like, “Maybe we should just make this a business.” And she’s like, “Okay.”

Literally, that is how it started. We had no business plan. We had no anything. We just were like, “Let, let’s give this a go,” and then we backtracked and did all those things. But it was just, it just seemed like something fun to do together, and it gives her an artistic outlet, which has been really great for her I kind of take care of the business side because after running a business for 13 years, I’ve got that.

I can, I can do that. So the art side, not so much. But

Sabrina: Yeah, so tell me about, so the seed is planted. You’re just like, “Hey, let’s do this,” and she’s like, “Yeah, okay.” Um, so what next? ‘Cause, because I, you know, ’cause we’ve worked together for so long, I love the logistics side of things. You plant a seed and I’m like, “Oh, let’s sit down with a map and create, like, step one, step two, like create the plan.

What do we need to do? How can we do this? Where’s it gonna go?” Like, that’s where I thrive with ideation and things. Is that what you guys did? Did it all of a sudden start pouring out? Did you have to do research? I mean, what happened from the seed being planted to, okay, we’ve got a timeline, we’ve got a plan?

Natasha: Yeah. So we definitely had to do some research. I immediately bought the URL, immediately. Like the day we decided to do this and came up with a name, I’m like, done. URL purchased. We set up email. I set up, the next thing I did was set up Flodesk and have a newsletter, hey, join our newsletter sitting on the URL.

Like, that was kind of where we started, and then we kind of talked about what this looked like, like what we wanna do, and it has changed, ’cause initially we wanted to do these subscription boxes. It was gonna be like a canvas and a way to finish the canvas with all the threads and all the stuff. Then the logistics of that was a little bit tricky, I won’t lie, and so we sort of pivoted to doing these drops of canvases.

My sister started designing, and we would go back and forth with the designs. I meanwhile was designing a website, and I had done the research on, you know, where we could sell to consumers, retail. You know, what was the best website option for us just starting out. I’m actually in the process of moving our website to a different thing.

But anyway, so, um, it was a l- it was a lot of that, and then my sister designed our logos, and I worked on the website, and I worked with Cara, who I know has been on your podcast. But she helped us with Pinterest because I think that’s such an untapped thing in needle point . And so she was helping us with, with Pinterest.

I was writing the blogs. Um, so we kind of tried to get the foundation before actually launching the business, because we decided to do this business in July of last year, and the, the actual first launch wasn’t till December. So we had some good lead time in there and were able to kind of take care of all the backbone things.

Sabrina: Yeah. When did you, uh, during that point, when did you guys post the, like, it’s coming? Like, so that social media started and you started to build that list.

Natasha: I think it was September. It was pretty early on, and then we did do a couple, um, Stitch Chit Chats, which we sent out, uh, we tried to do them live on social media, which FYI, you cannot do unless you have, like, a thousand followers or whatever.

So that did not happen. So then we just sent out a Zoom link, and we hosted a couple of those just to, like, get people there. We had nothing to sell, nothing to show them. It was more community building. And then I think we launched our first collection with, like, 400 people on our newsletter list, which I was pretty happy with.

Sabrina: That’s incredible. Yes, it’s incredible.

Natasha: Yeah. Um, it has grown to over 2,000. I think we’re, I think we’re at, like, 2,400 people on our newsletter list, which is, which we are running a freebie ad, which has helped greatly grow that.

Sabrina: So let’s, let’s bring it back to the how you were feeling about all this, ’cause everything you just listed is a lot.

Like, that’s a lot, right? You are setting up the logistics, you are doing research, you’re figuring things out, you’re mapping out a timeline. You are, a lot of the stuff you know how to do, a lot of the stuff you don’t know how to do, and so you’re, like, figuring it out. But energetically, that felt exciting and fun, and, like, you didn’t, you were burning the midnight oil, and you don’t care because it felt good.

Meanwhile, that sitting next to emotionally how your photography business felt, it was a drastic difference, right?

Natasha: It was a drastic difference. I was so energized by this new business and by doing everything new. I was excited about something new, so my photography was still moving along. It was fall. I was busy, and I was still taking pictures and still doing all the things.

I also, as I mentioned, have a house in Palm Springs, so I was going back and forth. There was a lot of moving parts. I was then, my sister and I don’t live in the same city, and so I was going down to Richmond, Virginia, a lot because that’s where she is. So it was, it was a lot, but I was so excited about this new thing that that kind of pushed me along.

Sabrina: So for several months, you were running both businesses. Like you said, it was busy season for photography, plus you’re, like, super excited and ramped up to build this new thing. Was there a struggle or any emotional attachment, so to speak, to making the decision to finally close your photography business?

Like, in your mind, you could tell that you were obsessed with one and not with the other, but you were still doing both. Was it hard to let go, um, because you’d been, quote unquote, “a photographer for so long,” and that was part of your identity, so to speak?

Natasha: I think there was some guilt involved. I was like, “I’ve had a business for 13 years,” and I honestly felt guilty about closing it.

I didn’t feel bad about closing it for my clients or that sort of thing. I just felt guilty that I’d put so much time into something and then was just gonna close it. That, that was the… I think that was the emotion and feeling that I really, really struggled with, was just, “Is this the wrong thing because I’ve built this?”

Like, how do you just walk away from something? And it was successful, and how do you just walk away from that?

Sabrina: Yeah. Yeah. I remember, um, obviously I had an insider’s perspective. Like, I knew that you were gonna close it and I knew it was coming ’cause we talked about it, but you had not shared any indication of that with the public.

And I remember the day that you announced that you were closing. I got several Voxer messages from mutual friends that were, like, freaking out. They were like, “What is happening? I’m so… This has totally thrown me.” And like, they’re… And I’m like, “Everybody calm down. This is fine.” “She’s allowed to do this.

She’s… We’ve got this other thing.” And, you know, and I had to kind of coach women through the fact that, like, yes, she’s walking away from something successful, but it’s intentional and it’s on purpose, and here’s why. And it’s funny that… And I don’t even know if you know that. I don’t. But like, there were…

Yeah.

Natasha: That’s the first time I’ve heard that.

Sabrina: Multiple pe- multiple. Like, three or four, okay? So, um, it was really, really interesting to see, from my perspective, how people responded to that. And that’s not to make you feel bad or anything, but it is the fact that your business was successful. And it’s not like that you had been dragging something along that had been slowly declining, that nobody was surprised you were closing.

It was like, “Wait a minute, what do you mean she’s closing her business?” It’s like, “We, we wanna be like her, and now she’s closing it,” you know? And so I can totally understand the guilt part of it. And also, like I alluded to, the identity, not that that was a thing for you, but for me, that’s been a thing. You know, being a photographer for so long and then deciding not to pursue that anymore is like, “What, what do you mean?”

You know, even my kids still introduce me to people as, like, “My mom’s a photographer.” And I’m like, “Was a photographer.” You know what I mean? Like, you know, and, and it’s just one of those things that, like, it gets tied to you a little bit and, and if you’re not gonna do that anymore, well, who am, who am I? And for you, you had a next step.

Well, this is who I am. I am now a Needlepoint business owner, you know?

Natasha: I think it would’ve been harder for me to close my business- If there wasn’t something else, honestly. I think that guilt would have really eaten me alive. But I think the fact that I had something else and I was growing something else and I was working in something else, it didn’t feel…

But I did not allude to it. I mean, I still have a course that I built and just never released. Like, I was in the process of doing that. I mean, I, it was, it was a little out of left field that I just all of a sudden, from the outside world, you know, because I was still doing all those things. To me, I, I had been thinking through it for a long time, and then I just was like, “No, it needs to, I need to be done with this.”

Sabrina: Do you wanna share that story? Because I know that, that you had been toying with, well, what does it look like if I close it, and when would I close it, and how would that work? You’d been toying with it for a while, but there was a very clear day where it was like, “Nope, we’re doing it.” Um, do you wanna share that story of how that decision came to be?

Natasha: So we were at the Creative Educators Conference, and I was there for my photography business. But every conversation I had there was about my needlepoint business. I don’t think I ever had a conversation about my photography business with one person there. It all was about my needlepoint business. That was a little bit of, okay.

Um, and then there were a couple women I knew there that had recently, one woman in particular, that had recently closed her photography business, and that was also a kind of, okay. And then we, there were different speakers While we were there, your podcast producer, Haylee, was there, and I kinda was like, “Oh, maybe we could do a podcast, my sister and I.”

Like, you know, toying with that idea. But then we were sitting listening to things about memberships, which was something I was like, “Well, I don’t even need to listen to this. This has nothing to do with me,” and I took probably seven pages of notes. And it was during that talk that I was like, “Well, we could maybe do that,” which we have not done yet, and I’m not sure how that looks.

But some… And I was just like, “Nope, I’m okay with this. We’re just gonna shut it all… It, it’s done. It’s done. It’s done.” So-

Sabrina: And then how did it feel once you made that decision, when it was very clear, you’re like, “Nope, we’re doing this”?

Natasha: Oh, I felt like I lost 200 pounds. Yeah. Literally.

Sabrina: Wow.

Natasha: Like, it was such a good feeling.

And to reiterate that feeling, I… Very much it’s the way something feels in my body, obviously, that it’s important to me. This week, earlier in the week, I got an email from a client that I photographed back in January about an album they purchased in March, and she was asking me, “Hey, um, I think this was supposed to have something engraved on the front,” and it doesn’t.

It, uh… I don’t ever put anything on the front. It’s, like, literally a plain linen cover. So I got the email. I could feel the weight come back on me from this email, and the, like, not stress, but just, like, a li- it was heavy. I responded to the email, said, “No, it’s exactly the way it’s supposed to be,” whatever, whatever.

And I was like, yes, that, that reiterates to me that it was time for me to close that chapter because of the weight I felt just from that stupid email.

Sabrina: Yeah. Yeah. Wow, I love that. I’m… I know that people are gonna be curious because there’s a lot of multi-passionate women listening. Like you said, you met, uh, several women at Creative Educator.

We’ve got our hands in different things, whether it be something wildly different, like you’ve got a whole new thing going, or different arms, right? Like, there’s a lot of multi-passionate women listening. Talk to me about the money side because Georgie and Lottie is a product-based business that is very different than what you were doing as a photographer.

Like, how did you financially prepare for something like that while also still running another one?

Natasha: I will say my husband is a silent investor. Yeah. Meaning that I don’t even know that he knows he invested in it.

Sabrina: Yeah.

Natasha: But, um, he did. Yeah. Um, because starting a product-based business, obviously, there’s a lot of money up front.

You are purchasing things before you’re selling things. And the needlepoint industry, for those of you that are completely not familiar with it, there are a lot of shortages going on. And so we’re putting money out and not even getting the product for months, and months, and months, and months, and months.

Like, we’re talking like eight months. So there’s a lot of upfront expenses. Um, I did funnel all my photography money into Georgie and Lottie, we are currently not pulling any paychecks or anything like that from the business. Obviously, everything’s just going straight back in, and I foresee that happening probably for the next, I would say, eight to 12 months, um, before we can actually pull money out and pay ourselves something.

We are currently covering all our expenses. My husband is no longer a silent partner. You know, there are a lot of expenses when you’re product-based On the flip side, marketing a product-based business is much more fun for me than marketing myself in a service-based business. And that is just my experience.

I’m sure some psychologist somewhere could unpack that. But for me, marketing a product is just much easier for me.

Sabrina: Do you think that’s because it, it’s like a physical thing that you’re not, like, emotionally attached to?

Natasha: Totally not emotionally attached to. People either buy it or they don’t. They either like it or they don’t.

But when someone doesn’t book you, it’s because they don’t, you know, you take it internally, “Well, they don’t like me. Why don’t they like me? How can I make them like me?”

Sabrina: Right. Right.

Natasha: But with a product, it either works for someone or it doesn’t, and there’s no emotional attachment to it.

Sabrina: Have there been any big financial surprises that you’ve learned along the way, like, with a product-based business that you just didn’t think of or realize?

Natasha: I think the biggest thing is just the lead time on everything has just… We knew there was a lead time, but we had no idea there was going to be this, these shortages that we’re experiencing and the kind of lead time. So we currently just sent things off to our painting house for February. We’re probably s- sending out all of our spring stuff in the next, like, four weeks.

So, like, you’re just having to plan out so far in advance, and I don’t think we really had taken that into consideration, so it’s just our mindset and planning has changed that way.

Sabrina: Have the shortages and the lead time, are you seeing things getting better, or is it still as hard as it was?

Natasha: No, I don’t really think it’s getting better.

I think there was the thought process that by now it would have… So basically, there’s one place in Germany that produces all the canvases for needlepoint.

Sabrina: Which is wild.

Natasha: Wild, right?

Sabrina: Like- And- … somebody pick this up. Somebody-

Natasha: Well, someone has … figure it out. I’m like- But someone has in the US. I just have not gotten my hands on that canvas to, I need to get my hands on it to kinda look at it.

Um, but it, people are trying, which I so appreciate. Thank you to those people. So there was a canvas shortage, which means that these painting houses that paint our canvases for us didn’t have canvas to paint. So it was supposed to be all cleared up by now. It really isn’t. We still have one canvas from a January 11th order that we do not have in our possession.

So, and we have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of canvases ordered And we have no date for when we’ll have them. That’s also been really hard is the, like, unknown component. They’ll say s- six months, and it’ll be eight. You know? Like, we just don’t know. So I would say that’s kind of been hard.

Hopefully it will kind of work itself out in the next few months. But my sister was initially, for our initial drop, she b- hand painted them all. She can’t keep up with that. Like, she, she also has a full-time job. She can’t, she can’t, she can’t paint every canvas. I have tried painting canvases. That is a disaster.

Disaster. You know, I actually said to her, she was visiting and I said to her the other day, I’m like, “Maybe I could try painting again.” And she goes, “Your talents are better used somewhere else in our business.”

Sabrina: No, you may not paint again, Natasha.

Natasha: Yeah, that basically. She’s like, “That’s a waste of canvas.”

Sabrina: Yeah, yeah. Um, oh my gosh, so because you guys do drops, are you able to even plan drop dates ahead of time, or are you having to wait until canvases come in and then plan your drop dates?

Natasha: It’s kind of last minute, unfortunately. We were trying to really plan it out, and we do have dates on our year out schedule, but they are loose dates because we were supposed to do, like, a Christmas in July, but my sister has to paint all those canvases, and she had a trip planned, and she has a, her child she’s taking back to college, and, you know, s- life gets in the way, right?

My parents have had some health stuff. So our Christmas in July is probably going to be Christmas in August at this point, which is fine.

Sabrina: Yeah, that is fine. That’s fine. No one

Natasha: cares. No

Sabrina: one cares. Are you guys o- slowly increasing the amount of canvases you’re preparing for each drop because your email list is growing so much?

Natasha: We are, especially the number of canvases that we’re ordering from our painting house. We are increasing those numbers. We also are about to start selling wholesale to local needlepoint shops. So therefore we are increasing production that way because we have to be able to fulfill wholesale orders. I am not a believer in pre-sales.

A lot of needlepoint companies do that, and that’s awesome for them. We just feel uncomfortable. I don’t feel comfortable taking a pre-sale and being like, “I don’t know when I can get you this product.”

Sabrina: Yeah, yeah. That honestly, as a, as a shopper, as your ideal client, I hate it when I land on a canvas on a site and it says pre-sale.

And I’m like, I don’t mind pre-sale if you can tell me the date. Like, I’ll order a book on Amazon pre-sale all day long ’cause it has the release date on it and I know when I’m getting it. But if you can’t even tell me the date, I, I just, I don’t know. So, like, for you guys, maybe you could do pre-sale when you get, like, the shipping notification or something like that, and you know it’s coming overseas.

I don’t know.

Natasha: But the thing is, okay, well, we just got a shipping notification m- okay, what day is it? Tuesday. We got a shipping notification Friday- And the canvases arrived, arrived Monday. So it’s such a slow- Oh, okay … turnaround from when we get the shipping. Like, they don’t give us lead time. They don’t say, “Your canvases are getting ready to pack.”

It’s literally when a label’s been created. And also, we don’t know what canvases are shipping until we get that shipping notification. So it’s really kind of tricky. Gosh,

Sabrina: yeah. That is tricky. Um, that is tricky, and it’s so exciting, though, about the wholesale. I have one question I’m curious about because I’m sure the listeners don’t care, but I’m curious.

Um, are there, like, minimums for, for LNSs to place?

Natasha: We will have, I think, a minimum, but a small minimum, like five. Like, I don’t think… And it might just be two of one design. You have to… You know, I, I think we’re gonna keep them really low. Bigger needlepoint companies obviously have much higher minimums, but we’re gonna keep it pretty, pretty low to start, and also because these places haven’t worked with us before.

So they obviously wanna get their hands on the canvas and see the canvas and make sure it’s the quality they want and the design. You know, so we are aware of that part of it. We also have certain designs that will only be available through us and that we will not make available for wholesale.

Sabrina: Talk to me about the fact, you, you mentioned this earlier, that you and your sister live in different states, and you’re running this business together.

Like, what does that look like logistically? Have you guys figured out a good rhythm? Are you still kind of working it out?

Natasha: We’re still sort of working it out. It’s a little bit of a mess. Our text chain is, like, family stuff, stuff about my parents, and then Georgie and Lottie scattered everywhere throughout there.

Sabrina: Yeah, yeah.

Natasha: So, um, it’s a little bit of a mess. It’s a little bit of a mess, I won’t lie. We kind of do very informal meetings via phone on, like, a weekly basis. They’re really informal, and we just sort of check all the boxes. As I said, she was with me this past week, and so I did not bother her the whole week.

She had some friends with her. Because I’m like, “This is her vacation.” But then yesterday morning before she left, I’m like, “Okay.”

Sabrina: Yes. We need a team meeting.

Natasha: Here’s the list. Just so that we, you know, had some things that we could go through. I travel to Richmond. That’s sort of where Georgie and Lottie headquarters is.

She ships everything, so I travel there. I try to once a month to- You know, help with some things, but also just logistically, we also started this podcast. And so we have done a couple episodes when we’ve been together, but a lot of it is like this, you know, where we’re in two different locations. So we’re just kind of making it go.

At some point, we need to figure out a good system. I don’t love Asana. I don’t love, like, all these things. I hate Slack. I- there’s gotta be something out there that we like, that we can make it work, you know? So she still also has kids at home, so there is that component, too. She’s still… and one of her kids doesn’t drive, so she’s still driving kids places, and doing school pickup and all of that.

And so a lot of times we’re talking while she’s waiting in carpool line.

Sabrina: Yeah. You’re just kind of figuring it out. I would love to know, or let’s share with the listeners, ’cause I know some of it, what is next for Jordian- Georgie and Lottie? Short-term, long-term, what dreams do you have? What’s coming up for you guys?

Natasha: So we would like to start a membership. I was very ambitious and thought we could do the membership and the podcast at the same time. We cannot. That was not… That was a pipe dream. Um, so we’ve pushed that out. We might even push it out further just because there’s a lot of things right now. That, that is one thing we would like to do.

We are also going to some retreats, where we are a vendor at retreats. We’re really excited. Hobby Holiday is having a retreat at the Green Briar Resort, and it’s a Mahjong Needlepoint Retreat, which- So

Sabrina: fun …

Natasha: how fun. Yes. So fun. Yes. Right? Can you think of a more fun thing? So we are head there in September, and she’s doing another one in April in Jekyll Island, so we will be going there.

Then the wholesale is a big thing. I have had to move our whole website from Squarespace to Shopify. It is almost done. Almost done, so close. So that’s really exciting, so we’ll be launching that. As a photographer, I think many of your listeners will appreciate this, I like things to be pretty. Shopify is real ugly.

Sabrina: Oh, yeah.

Natasha: Yeah. So, um, Claude and I have spent a lot of time coding to make it pretty.

Sabrina: Which everybody will appreciate because I’m sure that all the LNSs that order from you guys will be able to recognize the effort that went into your site as opposed to some of the other ones. Because I can tell the ones that have not been beautified, uh, you know, and they feel a little bit clunky to order from, and they’re just annoying, the layout, you know?

And so I, I know that everybody’s going to appreciate yours, for sure.

Natasha: Yeah. Well, I’m excited about it. It’s looking really good. So, and Claude actually somehow… This is for anyone who’s moving a website. It is hard to move a blog, right? It, like it is challenging in a lot of ways to move from one platform to another, move a blog.

I used Claude to figure it out. We moved 48 blog posts yesterday with the photos, and they all moved over, and I was stunned. It didn’t- It

Sabrina: actually worked.

Natasha: It actually worked. Yeah, that’s amazing. And they’re not, not all jacked up- Yeah … because I’ve had blogs move before that I haven’t done, and like the photos are in weird spots- Yes

Sabrina: or like- And the formatting is weird- Yes … and yeah, there’s weird spacing, mm-hmm.

Natasha: It all moved. It was amazing. So lean into Claude or whatever your AI of choice is occasionally for stuff like that because I was sure I was gonna have to manually do it from everything I’d read online, and I was like, “I don’t have the time for this.”

Sabrina: Yeah. Wow, I love that. It’s, the, I’m excited for you guys. And how many, how many LNSs are on the list for wholesale?

Natasha: I think we have 15 on the- That’s amazing … 14 or 15.

Sabrina: That’s

Natasha: amazing. So a good number. Um, and hopefully once we announce that we’re offering wholesale, we’ll get more. Unfortunately, again, we don’t have a ton of stock, so, you know, people have to be sort of patient with us, but yeah.

Sabrina: Yeah. That’s so amazing. And fun fact for the listeners, you guys, one of the first things you guys did for marketing was get on TikTok, and you and I had been TikTok users for a long time because that was where we got our Swiftie information from, and you’re the one that actually got me over to TikTok ’cause you were like, “This is where all the good stuff is.

You need to come over here.” And so I did, but you guys started marketing on TikTok, and you just kept telling me, “It’s so easy over there. We’re getting l- we’re getting followers so fast, and we’re getting so many email n- like, newsletter signups, and it’s… You know, we’re gaining so much traction over there.”

And so you’re the one that got me on board and to finally be brave enough to be like, “I’m gonna join TikTok, too,” um, which is so fun because you guys are wildly successful over there.

Natasha: It’s fun. It’s just a fun thing. I actually think our Instagram for whatever reason, I’ve been doing a series on famous needlepointers, um, and that series has taken off more on Instagram for some reason, which I don’t know because, and on Instagram, it’s just a carousel post, and on TikTok, it’s, like, me talking with pictures with a green screen.

I mean, really out of my comfort zone, but hey, we did it. And, um, but yeah, it’s taken off more on Insta- It’s very interesting, you know, to kind of analyze it. But again, I’m not selling myself, and so it’s li- it, it… I don’t know. It just feels so different to me. I’m actually having more fun now on Instagram than I ever did before because it’s j- I just don’t take it that seriously, which it shouldn’t be serious.

I was taking it too seriously for my photography business. It should be fun.

Sabrina: Yeah, and there’s a huge t- there’s a huge needlepoint community on TikTok. Like, that is a whole side- Yes,

Natasha: there

Sabrina: is … of TikTok. Yeah, so which is so fun. Anyways, okay, this has been such a great chat. Before we wrap, if there is a listener who is feeling this pull to maybe start something new, maybe, maybe it doesn’t necessarily mean setting something down, but they’re like, they’ve got an idea, a passion, something that they wanna do, but they are scared, nervous, overwhelmed.

Do you have a piece of practical advice that you would give her?

Natasha: I would definitely explore it Because you’re going to regret not exploring it, but also just move slowly. Don’t, you know, yes, it looked to the outside world that I shut down my photography business. It was a very knee-jerk reaction. It was not.

This was like a year of things going on in the background. So just take your time and give yourself grace with it, but explore it because it might be the thing that really lights you up and is better just for you. Also, see how you feel. I just think people don’t pay enough attention to the way something makes them feel, and really sitting with, you know, when you’re reading those emails from clients or when you’re, you know, how does your body feel?

Because I do think that speaks volumes.

Sabrina: I do too, and I, you know that I, that’s one of the huge things I talk about when I coach women. I’m like, “Well, do you want to do that? How does that feel to you? What, when you think about that,” you know, and I really am like, “Tell me in your body, in your mind, in your spirit, like what does it feel like?”

Because Business isn’t gonna feel good all the time. It’s not gonna be easy all the time. But when you’re an entrepreneur, it should feel good most of the time. And if it doesn’t, that is a huge red flag, for sure. A huge red flag.

Natasha: Yeah, when you start feeling that heavy feeling, that’s when you really need to be like, “Okay, why am I feeling this?

What’s going on?”

Sabrina: Yeah, that’s such great advice. Tell everybody where they can find you and check out Georgie and Lottie.

Natasha: We are georgieandlottie.com and we are georgieandlottieco on TikTok and Instagram. Um, we have, if you are curious about needlepoint, we have a great freebie that it’s v- a video playlist, so you can watch videos and start needlepointing right away, so.

Sabrina: Yes. And all of your cute little kits, they come with a, like a brochure that’s literally like, here’s how you do it. Step one. And so if you’ve even haven’t ever watched a video, you can… It’s so easy to follow. You and I have helped lots of people learn to stitch because you came to two retreats, uh, this year and taught people to stitch.

And so many of our girl gang now are a part of it because of Georgie and Lottie.

Natasha: I know. Well, because, and thank you for all your support with Georgie and Lottie, and encouragement, and just being a cheerleader in the back and, you know-

Sabrina: I hope that I’m your number one shopper.

Natasha: I think you probably are. I think I ran the numbers.

I think you are- I really should be … are your number one shopper.

Sabrina: If I’m not number one, I should be top five. I really should

Natasha: be top five. No, you’re, I’m pretty sure you’re number one. You are very supportive, my

Sabrina: friend. Yes, it’s so fun. It’s so fun. So to all the listeners, whether you are inspired to start something new or pick up a new hobby, I cannot recommend needlepoint enough.

Thank you so much for your time, my friend. This was such a fun chat. I’m so excited about your new business and all the places that it’s going.

Natasha: Thank you. This has been fun.

Sabrina: All right, guys. We’ll see you next time. Thanks so much for listening to the Shoot It Straight podcast. You can find all the full show notes and details from today’s episode at sabrinagebhart.com/podcast.

Come find me and connect over on the Gram at xo.sabrinagebhart. And if you’re loving the podcast, I’d be honored if you’d hit that subscribe button and leave me a review. Until next time, my friends.