VIVSTUDIOS

In 2020, the world was hit with the Coronavirus pandemic. Everyone was frantic and resources were becoming scarce. One of the most sought after item during this time was face masks. If you were able to find any masks, the prices were through the roof. I knew while I was back home from school and staying in the house that I could use my sewing skills to help with this crisis. I took some material and had sewn myself a few masks. I was proud of the masks I made and decided to share them with friends and family. A few weeks in and word got around that I was making masks, and soon my full time job became producing masks. At first it was ten to twenty masks a day, but overtime it grew to hundreds. Friends of friends to even businesses in my area came to me for masks. I was overwhelmed but also excited with the amount of work I had and knowing that I was helping make a difference.

A small selection of my various masks.

After many months, the panic of finding masks lessened as they became more accessible. Business was finally slowing down and I realized I was left with an abundant amount of different fabrics. I knew I did not want to get rid of all the fabric, and they weren’t materials I would want to sew into clothing, so I knew I had to come up with something. That is when I created VIVSTUDIOS, a small, handmade business that sold various accessories made of leftover face mask materials. I made a few different items to start with, like different sized makeup bags and scrunchies. I promoted myself to previous customers of mine in order to get my business out there. In June of 2022, I took a chance and set up my first booth at a weekly event in town. It couldn’t have gone any better. After my first shot at this event, I became a regular, setting up every Wednesday and selling my products for the whole summer. This gave me the confidence to reach out and search for more events, until I eventually started selling two to three times a week. Each time, I was able to make new connections through other small businesses and allow for my clientele to increase. It felt like I truly had such a supportive community that believed in what I was doing. Every event gave me an opportunity to improve on my small business. I developed a successful booth set up, expanded my product range, got better at talking to customers and learned how to promote myself through social media. Opening VIVSTUDIOS was never something I imagined for myself doing as a job, but I am so proud of where I have gotten it today, and thankful for all the skills and opportunities it has given me. I can’t wait to see where I go with this new venture.