Liberty screen printer brings Hustle + Heart in the face of early-stage failure
March 20, 2019 | Elyssa Bezner
Liberty-based apparel company Hustle + Heart wouldn’t have found success without failure, said Serena Kotalik.
“[You should] never give up whether you’re starting a business like mine or any other,” said Kotalik, founder of the primarily wholesale, online company, which sells many of its wares through a VIP Facebook group. “With each [failure] I have learned [from it] and gotten past it.”
Hustle + Heart took on many forms before landing on the correct one, she explained, with the store evolving from an Etsy-based brand selling phone cases, to screen-printed graphic tees, to finally, its wholesale and Facebook sales structure.
Click here to request to join the VIP Facebook group.
“I’ve taught myself everything that I could possibly figure out how to do,” Kotalik said. “I read books, I watched webinars, and I read blogs about this entire process until I knew exactly what it was and what equipment I needed.”
The switch to wholesale came in response to competitors copying the store’s original designs as well as a dizzying influx of custom orders, she added.
“Now I can have the boutique owners join my Facebook group and then they can comment [on posts] or order or message me to say what they want and that way they can all have an area where [specific people] can see all my designs,” she said.
Click here to learn more or shop Hustle + Heart.
“My brain is not like the normal person,” laughed Kotalik. “I love the fact that I get to be creative every single day. I constantly think about work and I’m so excited to wake up the next morning because I am just so pumped. That’s what drives me. My days just fly by so fast because I love what I do.”
While running a standard online boutique of her own remains a dream, the wholesale aspect of the business already consumes so much time, said Kotalik.
“I can’t add another business to my life right now,” she said.
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KCultivator Q&A: John Coler champions making a quick impact, packs of dolphins
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Today Startland takes a closer look at startup ecosystem champion John Coler. Check out our features on Made in KC’s Tyler Enders, Hispanic business builder Pedro Zamora, ‘fashionpreneur’ Jordan Williams, Plexpod founder Gerald Smith, innovation coach Diana…
Backed by $4M round, Hilary’s Eat Well expanding organic food line, hiring 10-15 workers
Hilary’s Eat Well is growing its plant-based food line, company leaders said. The move to diversify the company’s offerings — as well as to more efficiently produce larger quantities of its free-from (dairy- and gluten-free) products — comes as the Lawrence-based operation moves its storage to an off-site facility, freeing up manufacturing space, said Lydia…
City challenges startup leaders to swap social media for in-person dialogue on regulation
Editor’s note: Rick Usher is a member of the Kansas City Startup Foundation’s policy committee, and Sarah Shipley is a board member for KCSF, the parent organization of Startland News. This piece was independently produced. There’s a void of shared awareness between city government and the startup community, Rick Usher said. That’s why government officials and leaders…
8-year-old Raytown entrepreneur strings together jewelry business
Raelynn Heath’s bling is inspiring, her mother said. The 8-year-old entrepreneur has spent half her life developing a brand built on crafting original jewelry and repairing broken pieces, she said. “We take a little bit of the old and the new and the practical,” said Regina Lastiee-Heath. Young Raelynn markets her jewelry on Facebook and…