Mar 2, 2015
This Week’s Episode
I share an interview with Vashti Braha this week. Vashti has been in the crochet business for over ten years. She has experience as a freelance designer, a self-publisher, a publisher of another designer’s work, and now, as a yarn company owner. I invited her on the show to talk about something else: her mailing list. Vashti created an email newsletter, Vashti’s Crochet Inspirations, in late 2010, and she shared what she has learned about email marketing and how her newsletter impacts her business.
About Vashti Braha
Vashti Braha is the crochet designer, publisher, and yarnie behind Designing Vashti. I had the pleasure of interviewing her on the Underground Crafter blog in 2012. (Vashti shared some great tips in that interview for people entering the crochet business, some of which I excerpt in today’s episode.)
You can find Vashti on the Designing Vashti website or blog, and on Facebook, LInkedIn, Pinterest, Ravelry (as vashtirama, in the Vashti’s Crochet Lounge group, and on her designer page), and Twitter.
About the Interview
In this interview, I talked to Vashti about her crochet career. She started it unexpectedly when she attended the Crochet Guild of America‘s annual ChainLink conference in 2004. There she met several people, including Doris Chan, Marty Miller, Rita Weiss, and the late Jean Leinhauser, and launched her career as a freelance crochet designer after attending the Designer Meet and Greet.
A few years later, Vashti started blogging as a way to continue the conversation with fellow designers and crochet professionals between conferences, and to build an online portfolio in the days before Ravelry. She launched her newsletter in late 2010. In the interview, Vashti explained her approach to Vashti’s Crochet Inspirations and indicated that it does reliably increase sales. We also talked about the yarn lines she has recently launched. Vashti will have a booth with yarn and kits at The National Needlearts Association‘s summer show.
I also asked Vashti if she had any updates to her recommendations she gave for new designers in a blog interview from 2012, and she shared some additional perspective.
If you enjoyed this episode
The Creative Yarn Entrepreneur Show is no longer broadcasting. Episodes are available as a service to the yarn community. This episode originally aired in March, 2015. Be aware that content may be outdated.
If you'd like to chat with other yarn-related business owners, join the Creative Yarn Entrepreneurs Facebook group. Support Marie's work by buying one of her books, Make Money Teaching Crochet: Launch Your Business, Increase Your Side Income, Reach More Students (Amazon | Gumroad) or Design It, Promote It, Sell It: Online Marketing for Your Crochet and Knit Patterns (Amazon | Gumroad).