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
Cultura con carácter: How JEFES inks DINKC’s hometown team with drops of KC Latino hustle
Laedan “DINKC” Galicia draws a fine line between his creative mediums: skin, pen, fabric, and paint — now from a artists hub in Kansas City’s Columbus Park neighborhood. From his signature tattoo style to his JEFES clothing line, DINKC’s bold perspective is leaving a mark on Kansas City culture (and the Super Bowl). “With JEFES, I…
BKS Artisan Ales plans Crossroads nanobrewery, tapping additional location closer to KC’s hub of activity
BKS Artisan Ales — dubbed a “little beer heaven” by industry insiders — is bringing its award-winning operation to the Crossroads, adding a second, smaller brewery location near what founders Brian and Mary Rooney see as a downtown tourism market that also is easily accessible to some of their business’ biggest local fans. The space…
Pipeline doubles-down on diverse voices: Meet its new class of Pathfinder entrepreneurs
Programs built to support emerging founders who are primed to break through — despite entering entrepreneurship from a different starting point — have never been more needed, said Melissa Vincent, announcing the newest class of Pipeline Pathfinders. “In today’s climate, programs like Pathfinder are not just valuable — they’re essential,” said Vincent, CEO of Pipeline…
Pipeline adds top founders to its network: Meet 14 fellows tasked with building the Midwest together
The newest class of Pipeline fellows embodies the elite Midwest network’s founder-first focus on industry-agnostic collaboration and support, said Melissa Vincent, noting the power of tapping barrier-breaking perspectives to solve problems and build world-class companies side by side. “We have an incredible depth of entrepreneurs who are all focused on building high-growth, scalable businesses, but…