Megan Duckett didn’t know how to sew when a co-worker in the theatrical lighting business told her Knott’s Berry theme park needed someone to reupholster some coffins for a Halloween display. Duckett worked up the courage and took the job then rented a sewing machine and reupholstered ten coffins over the next five weeks. “I made them pretty special with purple velvet and red satin linings,” says Duckett.
Although she says her dream was to be a lighting technician in the rock and roll industry (seen here working on drapes for the 1995 Stone Temple Pilots tour), Duckett is now the president of Sew What Inc, a successful small business that makes theatrical draperies and the like for many big names in the entertainment industry. She incorporated in 1997 after her husband pointed out that she was making more from her weekend and evening sewing than she was from her day job. Today the company has 30 employees.
Learn more about Duckett’s story at the Washington Post.
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