Designer Makes Magnificent Menswear

Notes from Chris

Episode 1683

Amy Barnhart never aspired to work for herself or even start a side hustle. As a menswear designer for Tommy Bahamas, she liked the security of working for a large company.

Or at least, that was the case until she had her first child. The fast paced environment of the big brand world had its advantages, but they quickly evaporated once Amy became a parent. What she really wanted in place of a steady paycheck and corporate lunches was more free time and autonomy.

She tried to switch to a part time role, but it soon became apparent that wasn’t an option. So instead, she did something bold… she took a leap of faith, quit her job, and began a quest to make a living freelancing in the menswear industry.

To create the list of prospects she looked at trade show exhibitor lists and scoured Instagram. She’d browse the pages of menswear companies she’d liked in the past and look at suggested accounts that were similar to their brands.

Another key point: she avoided big brands. Instead, she targeted “direct to consumer” companies who were either just starting out or early on in their journey.

Amy found that for every ten emails she sent, she’d receive a few responses. For those in the know, this is an incredible response rate which Amy puts down to choosing targeted prospects and creating custom emails for each one. In other words, mass, generic emails don’t work!

Over the next year, Amy realized she actually liked running her own business. It surprised her, considering she’d never thought about it before having her baby. But she liked it in ways that didn’t only relate to the original goals of flexibility and free time as a new parent.

Fast forward to today, and Amy doesn’t need to cold email anymore, since she gets enough business through word of mouth. So much so that she makes a consistent income working only ten hours per week. She’s gone from being an employee, to a parent, to her own boss and more.

 

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about Amy and her incredible designs at her website, AmyLynnsDesign.com.

SEE ALSO:

• UX Designer Creates "SimpleBra" to Help Women Feel More Comfortable: How a UI/UX designer scratched an entrepreneurial itch and used $15,000 of her savings to create a side hustle manufacturing bras for women looking for an alternative to the push-up bra.
• Retail Frustrations Inspire Upcycled Fashion Brand: A fashion designer turns a $20 sewing machine and donated denim into upcycled pieces—without sacrificing style for ethics.
• Modest Men’s Style Blog Nets Six-Figure Income: After a series of false starts, a fashion blog for shorter men grows into a six-figure hustle.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,