Pull The Thread

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5% of employees in the US are millionaires.. and 88% of millionaires are business owners. Success leaves clues, wouldn't you say?

This summer, my primary business, Music City Sewing, will turn eight. Eight years of running a small service-based sewing business that on the surface looks super shiny & glittery, peppered with Getty images and exciting opportunities, but when it comes down to it, it’s a blue collar business. It’s alterations, it’s softgoods and merch… it’s just your typical business on Main Street.

But it's changed my life, in a way that I could only pray more people get to experience if they have an idea that's bursting at the seams. 

Interested in reading up about the Six-Figure Sewing Pattern? Head to sixfiguresewing.com.

Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.

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Money is the scoreboard for the impact you get to have in the world as a business owner. 

You know what a red flag looks like in dating, but can you spot the ones that go up in MOST small sewing businesses? I'm bringing you five red flags, five ways sewing businesses waste money.

I'm speaking to myself this week, as someone who's made every mistake in the book! Tune in!

Get 50% off your first year using my favorite email marketing platform, flodesk by heading to krystaldouglas.com/flodesk.

Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.

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Broke and anxious??

Running a sale is always the way to go to solve your problems, right? 

Eeeesh.. How exactly do you plan to make more money at your craft by charging less? I don't believe in regularly running sales on products or services you don't plan to sunset - for these eight reasons. And because it's not enough to tell you why running sales all the time is bankrupting your brand, I also give you five ways to incentivize sales instead of simply slashing prices. Let's go!

Artful Agenda promo code: RK405225

Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.

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Have you ever wondered exactly what's in the clothes you make to sell, or how you could potentially clean up the amount of synthetic dyes and chemicals your customers may be buying?

Just because a product is handmade, doesn't mean it's skipped out on containing chemicals that are scientifically-proven to affect our bodies as makers, and inevitably, your end customers.

Today's guest is Jeff Garner, a fashion designer of the clothing line Prophetik, and Emmy-winning documentary producer. His newest documentary, Let Them Be Naked debuts May 11th, 2025 and goes in-depth into the research, the education, and the impact our fashion design has on our bodies and our environment. 

If there has ever been an episode that left me immediately making lists of ways to make healthy changes in terms of removing toxins from MY WORK, it's this one!

Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.

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We’ve seen bad AI...  in all formats, like blog & image creation, voice cloning, etc. But in order to use AI well, and benefit from its capabilities, you have to FIRST understand how it works, and how to clearly articulate what you want, and SECOND, you have to actual put in effort to creating the right prompt.

As a business owner, you get out of it what you put in, so with just a little time in learning how it works, and finding the right types of AI to help you play to your strengths, you can gain even more momentum on your year than you originally thought possible.

Let's run through three different ways we're using AI in our sewing business RIGHT NOW, and how we're leveraging it to push past the competition and increase our bottom line.

Psssst! Wanna steal my homework? Grab my FREE AI Chat Prompts for Handmade Businesses by visiting krystaldouglas.com/ai.

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Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.

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We don't rise to our goals, we fall to our systems. 

Last year, I was gone over HALF of the year, but solely because our business processes are practically muscle memory at this point, our business still continued to grow. 

I go behind the scenes in housekeeping for my business at the top of the year, to teach you exactly what steps you should take if you own a handmade business and want a peaceful, organized start to your year, as well as a framework for structuring your craft work!

Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.

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After just a quick year sabbatical, we're back with Season 2 of Pull The Thread Podcast. This is mostly a recap for the past year, as to why Krystal took a break from ALL content creation, as a digital business owner AND brick-and-mortar business owner, and how we're approaching reentry/planning for a profitable, peaceful year.

Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.

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If you're hustling for new clients all day, and working as fast as your little fingers can fly  all night, you've probably been walking the fine line between self-employed and business owner for a while now.

Krystal has a couple ways to tell if it's time to make the changes you need for long term stability, as well as a little advice for what's going to be expected of you when you change.

Regardless of whether you want to scale your business, or remain a one-person operation, Krystal has tips for what to look out for along the way. 

Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.

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Do you ever feel like people are lapping you? Like everyone else is moving forward, and your current status is... well... stationary? 

Episode 27 of Pull the Thread podcast is for the perpetual planner who just can't seem to pull the trigger on launching or is stuck without any growth. Because you only ever really have two choices - you can evolve or remain.  Are you willing to do what it takes? 

Krystal guides listeners through a series of practical questions to get unstuck a move forward - what's it gonna be?

Questions to answer for your business to move forward:

1.  What do customers want?
2. Can I get them what they want?
3. How do I deliver it to them?
4. Where can we find pockets of target customers who are frustrated with our competition?
5. Where is the competition weak or deficient in delivering the outcomes, solutions, and the value the market demands?
6. What should we be doing to communicate to potential customers that a
we are the aspirin for their pain?
7. What are the three primary problems (pains) my target market has?
8. Where have I substituted my judgement for what I want to deliver, for what the customers actually want to receive?
9. How could I check in with our customers to find out what new pains they’re experiencing or gains they want to achieve?

Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.

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September marks my assistant, Natalyn’s one-year anniversary of working at our brick-and-mortar sewing business. I finally dragged her behind the mic to share about the past year, all the hard work she’s put in, and things she’s learned along the way.

If you’re considering fashion school, or a career in the hands-on side of creating fashion, this episode is one not to miss. We talk about how she scored her opportunity, what it took to prove herself, things she found surprising, and how she would go about it if she did it all over again. We also delved into my management style, and shared some behind the scenes of our favorite projects we’ve worked on together. 

Keep up with Natalyn’s journey by following her on Instagram at @natalynkaser. 

Interested in learning from Krystal? Hop on the mailing list on krystaldouglas.com.