I started this brand with a $100 sewing machine....
13 years ago I bought a used serger on eBay for $100.
I was 22, and had just graduated from college with an architecture degree, but I didn’t want to be an architect.
clothes have always been my obsession
so I opened an Etsy shop and started making clothes! first in my parents basement, then I moved back to Montana and set up a little studio in my apartment.
this was the very first craft fair I ever sold stuff at.
And this was the kind of stuff I used to make.
then on a ski trip, while off the grid for week, I decided to quit my job (designing at a building company) and make clothes fulltime.
I hit the road and went to 30 events all across the country in that first year.
I slept in the back of my truck, or on friend’s couches while I was on the road because at most of the events I was barely breaking even.
I learned how to take photos and used a tripod and remote to do self portraits and designed my very first fabric prints.
This was the very first Treasure Dress. Back when I was a solo show, I had time to test the shit out of my clothes on epic trips.
It was on one of these trips, another girls ski cabin trip, that the idea of skorts was born. This year they turn 10! This was one of the first ones I made.
The first space I rented was a windowless basement without a bathroom, underneath a sawmill for $150/month. It felt like such a big deal to have a space outside of my house.
The next space was another windowless room connected to a hot yoga studio. I would work in my underwear because it was often 90 degrees.
It would be 3 more spaces and 4 more years until I got an office with a window.
In 2020, I nearly lost it all. I moved back into my basement and became the only full time employee. Many tears and night sweats later, I rebranded to Youer in November 2020 and stepped into a new era.
in 2021 I ran the CSA - a crowdfunding campaign to build our own factory - and together you all pre-bought $100k worth of cool stuff from the campaign.
in 2023, we opened The Youniverse - our very own factory in Missoula where we made thousands of garments.
in 2024, I bought this round building and we moved The Youniverse into it and filled it with art. 2 years in, we closed up our factory because it was no longer profitable.
In the last 5 years, i’ve hired 17 people. Today we’re a team of 4 and we’re climbing back up to regain profitability after a wild 2 year journey of manufacturing.
This is just a reminder to you that there’s no such thing as an overnight success. It often feels like it’s taken me an eternity to get this brand to where it is. Other days, it feels like i’m just getting started.
