Erica Leigh of Sweets & Hearts is up to her ears in ears! Erica sells hair accessories such as headbands with kitty or mouse ears, as well as costumes and clothing designs, and she recently sold her 100th pair of ears.
Erica is a college student studying fashion marketing who lives at home with her mom and dad while attending school, and she started her part-time business from her bedroom in 2007 in order to bring in some extra income. Her mom taught her to sew in high school by making tote bags, then she started experimenting with reconstructing her own clothes before learning how to make things from scratch.
The theme at Sweets & Hearts is based on providing things that are cute, colorful, and girlie yet wearable. Her hair accessories, jewelry and clothing designs are adorable and they’re obviously a hit as her site has several hundred fans and growing daily.
Erica says the best thing about running her business is getting to set her own hours since she is “not a morning person at all” and has a pretty busy schedule. She says the only downfall “is that sales are inconsistent and it’s hard to predict how well you’ll do the next month, or even week. Some days are really good, but some weeks it’s hard to make just one sale.”
Her goals are to build the business to the point where it is lucrative enough that she can work it full-time and be able to afford her own place. We predict that Erica will do that and more given her attention to detail, she even includes handwritten notes with each order and carefully packs them with tissue paper and heart stickers.
Check out Erica’s wonderful designs at her Sweets & Hearts Etsy store, or visit her blog to learn more about her.
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