Psst. As always, my posts are far too long for e-mail format, so click ‘read more’ at the bottom to see the whole thing!
Dear Kula Diaries,
Hello friends and welcome to Part 3 of my ‘How to Create Anything’ series! If you haven’t read part one or part two, I’d recommend going back to read them first, because this will make a lot more sense that way.
If you have no desire to create a product… keep reading. This isn’t just a boring tutorial… it’s part ‘how to’ and part ‘it’ll probably make you cry’… and I really hope you love reading it as much as I loved writing it.
At this point in the process of creation you have probably completed these basic steps:
Had an idea for what you are creating (either a physical product, service or brand)
Taken steps to make your business ‘real’ - i.e. you have a name, you’ve gotten a business license, you have a separate bank account and are doing some early bookkeeping of expenditures
You have contacted a lawyer to see if you might need a trademark or a patent
You have worked on a logo for your brand, or you are working with a designer to create a logo.
You’ve sourced the materials for your product (or at least some of them)… and you’ve done some basic research on how you are going to produce your product
You have a rough prototype of your product (if needed)
You’ve been considering packaging options for your product (if needed)
You feel obsessed with the creation of your product… thinking about it consumes most conversations, your daily life, and everything in between. There is an intensity and aliveness to the sense of creation that drives you and pushes you beyond obstacles that would have typically stopped you in your path. Once you reach this point, the momentum is so great that you will figure this out.
You feel simultaneously terrified, excited, exhilarated, horrified, nauseated, aghast, in awe… and you sometimes cry in the fetal position while hiding in a closet because you wonder if you’ve made a huge mistake.
Oh wait… that last one was just me. But if it’s you too - don’t worry. It’s normal. I was scrolling through memory lane the other day, and I discovered this comment that I had made on my Facebook post when I finally announced Kula Cloth to the world on July 16, 2018:
So, if you are currently experiencing a vast ocean of complicated feelings… you aren’t doing anything wrong. This is a normal part of the process, because you are creating something that has never existed… and that isn’t an easy task. Fear is normal — and it does not mean that you should quit. It means that you are stepping into the unknown, which is the place of infinite possibilities. The more and more that you step into the unknown - the easier it gets.
When I first started Kula Cloth, I remember thinking that taking each step felt like standing on the edge of a cliff and looking toward a distant island on the horizon — and knowing that I had to get there, but I wasn’t sure how to to do it. I could stay where I was, and be comfortable - or I could take a step and see what happened. Every single time I took a step… a bridge appeared. Soon, I’d be on the island that had once seemed like such an impossibly distant place… and I’d be looking at the next one, wondering how I’d get there. The more and more you do this, the more that you realize — I always make it to the next island. Even if it doesn’t look exactly like you thought it would… you will always make it there, somehow. This is the process of truly surrendering to the current of the universe. When you can let go of the need for things to go your way, and trust that they are going in the direction that they need to go… you open the door for really amazing things to happen.
How to find a place that makes stuff for you
I felt a little dorky writing the heading for this section of the post today, but hear me out… those words are the exact search terms that I used over five years ago when I was trying to figure out how to find a factory to make Kula Cloth.
When you first decide to create something, and particularly if you have absolutely zero experience in this process, your biggest obstacle for information is that you don’t know the terminology. I knew what a factory was — but I didn’t know the type of factory that I needed in order to find somebody to manufacture a Kula Cloth. So, I started pretty general, by asking basic questions like, “How do I find a place that will make stuff for me?” Keep in mind that if you are currently doing your production - that’s OK too. Maybe you want to keep all of your production in-house to start… or maybe you want to only consider in-house production. There is absolutely nothing wrong with either of those things at all. Personally, since I had absolutely zero sewing experience, I knew from the very beginning that I did not want to do my own manufacturing.
I also know many folks who start by manufacturing things on their own… and, as their company grows, they realize that they need to outsource the manufacturing in order to preserve their own sanity. There is no right or wrong way to do this, and there are advantages and disadvantages to all methods — the best option is always to do what feels best to you. What is your gut telling you? Listen to it.
If you’ve decided that you want to work with a factory, and if you know the material/method of manufacturing for your product, you can use that to narrow things down a bit. For instance, you might try, “How do I find a place that will manufacture nut butter for me?” or “How can I find a factory that will make me a custom tiny spoon?”.
As I entered the realm of the Google abyss, I quickly discovered the term, ‘cut and sew facility’. Apparently, this was what you called a place that could sew stuff for you. So then, I started googling that term, and I even threw in the word, ‘Seattle’ - to see if there was anything local. As it turns out, I found a small cut and sew facility located in Seattle. I sent them an e-mail, and they told me that I could stop by and drop off some sample fabric and that they could make me a prototype.
Factory talk
A tiny piece of information that will help you during this process: when you do find a place that will make stuff for you, most factories will require a deposit (i.e. $500) to make your sample. They will use a stopwatch to calculate the time that it takes to perform every single operation that is required to make your product. For instance, making a Kula Cloth is seven different operations:
cutting the fabric into squares
cover stitching the reflective thread onto the corner
serging around the edge of the Kula cloth
putting the ‘male-male’ snap on the end of the strap
attaching the strap to the top of the diamond with a snap
adding a snap to the bottom of the diamond
inspecting the final product
Once the factory calculates the approximate time that it takes to make each product, they will use that time x their hourly rate to determine the ‘CMT’ (cut make trim) cost for your product. Usually, you will also get a discount as your quantities go up — and most of my factories were able to reduce the cost over time, since their efficiency went up dramatically as they became more and more familiar with the product.
For instance, if it takes them 10 minutes to create your custom tiny spoon carrying case, and the factory’s hourly rate is $60/hr, it will cost $10 to manufacture one custom tiny spoon carrying case. This means that you will need to figure out the cost of materials for your product + the cost of manufacturing for your product + the cost of shipping your product all over the place… and then multiply that number by at least 4 or 5 in order to get the retail price for your item. The retail price for your item needs to be high enough that you will be able to sell your item wholesale (if you want to).
To expand on the Tiny Spoon Carrying Case example… if your materials and manufacturing cost for the case was around $12 total, but you only sold them for $24 each, then you’d be making an $12 profit (per case) when you sell them directly to the consumer. However, if Uncle Steve’s Nut Butter Emporium wanted to buy 100 cases in a wholesale order, they would expect to pay 'keystone pricing’ (which is 50% off retail price)… or, $12 per case… which means that you’d be making a $0 profit per case. To further complicate matters, some retailers (like REI) use a distributor to handle some of the purchasing of their products — which means that you will likely be selling the product to them at less than keystone pricing. If you keep your profit margin in mind from the very beginning, you will be ahead of the game when larger stores start to place orders. In general, you want to sell your item at 4-5x what it costs you to manufacture the item. If you are making the items in-house, remember to include your time.
Obviously, the pricing is entirely up to you — but it is helpful to start thinking about wholesale orders before you set your pricing. One thing that I did in the beginning, is an unofficial survey of some of my testers. I asked them, “How much would you be willing to pay for this item?” They told me that at under $20, they wouldn’t trust the product to work… but that over $25 felt too expensive for the product. When in doubt - ask people questions! Also, keep in mind that this explanation is very simplified. There are so many nuances to pricing your products, but this will give you a basic foundation to get started.
Ok, back to the quest to find a factory. To say that this process was exhilarating and overwhelming was an understatement. I felt like I was on a hero’s quest — the only thing missing was my white steed, because white steeds are frowned against while travelling on I-5. My tiny Honda Fit would have to do. One day, I hopped into the Fit and drove a couple of hours to strange neighborhood, where I had been told that this ‘factory’ was located in a house. To say that this was a factory is a little bit of an exaggeration — it was a garage that looked like it could have belonged to a hoarder — in fact, I don’t even know where they kept their sewing machines, because the garage was so packed with boxes and fabric and what appeared to be a random assortment of junk. My eyes widened as I approached the ‘factory’ and saw two people milling about aimlessly, “Ummm… my name is Anastasia… and I called about the pee cloth I’m designing?” Disinterested in my existence, they took the fabric from me and I quickly described to them what I wanted to make. “We’ll call you when we have some samples,” they said.
I left that ‘meeting’ feeling somewhat disheartened. This was not the factory environment that I had imagined with professionally organized fabrics and machinery. Something about it (i.e. literally all of it) didn’t feel right to me. When I went back a few weeks later to retrieve their ‘sample’ Kula Cloth, I was equally dismayed. They handed me something that, indeed, looked like a potholder that one might find hanging from an oven in the 1950s - complete with a scalloped trim. I mean… I know that we joke about Kula Cloth being a potholder… but… it’s not a potholder.
This brings me to an important point about working with a factory or manufacturer: trust your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, it isn’t. One thing that helped me in the beginning (when Kula was a microscopic speck of a company) is to constantly ask myself this question: If Kula Cloth were a multi-million dollar gear company, what would my decision be?
Now, obviously, when I had negative dollars in my bank account, there is no way I could have gone out and purchased 17,000 yards of fabric and hired some mega factory to make Kulas. However, I was trying to get myself (as a mental exercise) into the habit of acting like a bigger gear company, even though I wasn’t. This meant that even though it might have saved me a few bucks to have my Kulas made by a friend or in a dirty garage in Seattle… I knew that it wouldn’t have been the right decision down the road. In order to become what you want to be… you have to start being it… right now.
I walked away from the creepy factory in Seattle, even though I knew it meant delaying my production timeline. I also made a really difficult decision not to hire one of my friends to make the Kula Cloths, even though she had really wanted to be the one to make them. That part of the process was heartbreaking for me - I wanted to include everybody, but something about it just didn’t feel right. As it turns out, I did send my friend some Kula fabric to ‘test’ on her machines, and her sewing machines weren’t able to handle the thickness of the fabric. It took her approximately 4 months to sew around 200 Kula Cloths - which, as you can imagine, was not a sustainable way to run the company (for reference, my current production facility can produce hundreds of Kulas per day). In the end, she realized that Kula was growing too quickly for her to manage — and she was relieved that she hadn’t been given the task of production. Our friendship was spared, and she became one of Kula’s biggest fans.
As my quest continued, I randomly decided to call my textile manufacturer one day to ask them if they had any recommendations. “Actually,” they said, “There is a new cut and sew place that is just starting up… they aren’t far from us.” They gave me the information, and I put in a call to a brand new factory. “Hi, I’m Anastasia…and this is going to sound a little weird… but I’m making a pee cloth.” I had no proof of success… just an idea… and a lot of excitement about that idea. I explained the product to them, told them I had sourced the fabric and the thread, straps and snaps… and asked them if they would be interested in working with me. They told me that they thought they could do it. Yes, they were a new factory, but they were not new to the industry. Like me, they were a team of professionals who believed that they could create a successful cut and sew facility in the USA. Dean (one of the co-founders), told me later, “One of my friends told me that I was nuts for doing this. He said we’d never be successful.”
Kula Cloth was one of their first customers. I somehow managed to figure out how to have fabric made… shipped to them… and then I mailed them all of the snaps and straps and reflective thread. The first batch of Kula Cloths was 350 Kulas, and it took them over a month to make them. The snaps on the first batch failed (thank you to all of you who were patient as I repaired them - ha!) because the die press for snaps was cracked… the edges of the Kulas were rough and imperfect… and the process for making them was somewhat disorganized, but I was resolved to stick with them.
Here is another tip about working with a factory: there is an adjustment period. Every product has its own nuances, and sewing machine operators have muscle memory that must be developed as they learn how to make that product. The product that you see today as Kula Cloth is about 20,000x better than the product that was made in the first batch, because the process itself has become more and more efficient and streamlined. We’ve upgraded our equipment to make Kulas, and the factory has turned itself into an organized and professional production space for Kulas. In the past 5 years, my original factory for Kula Cloths has produced well over 250,000 Kula Cloths - and that number will likely jump in the next year as we add some new, mega customers (sssh lol).
Remember what I said about glitches being an important part of the process? I’m going to tell you a story about how the snap glitch forever changed Kula Cloth. As I mentioned, one of our snap presses had a crack in it, so we had a lot of failed snaps. This meant that in our first batch of pre-sales, we had a bunch of returned Kulas that I had to repair, which meant that I made zero dollars on them, because I had to pay for so many return shipping fees (side note: Brian and Rita were some of my failed snap customers, and they just launched their own gear company called Pillow Strap… how amazing is that?).
When the ‘Great Snap Debacle of 2018’ happened, I was pretty upset and frustrated. Completely pointless thoughts raced through my brain like:
In a fit of completely pointless anger, I decided that I probably needed to change manufacturing facilities… so I started searching for a new factory that would clearly never have any issues at all. I needed one of those perfect factories out there… full of perfect people who never have to problem solve or troubleshoot.
I found a factory, e-mailed them with my product information and they told me they’d be interested in doing some production work for me. I’m not sure how it even came up, but I was talking about getting the fabric printed… and the owner of the factory said, “Oh, we have a sublimation machine here too!”. To be totally honest, I didn’t even know the term sublimation at this point… from my perspective, the fabric that I was using was printed by magic. At my original textile mill and factory, I knew that the fabric was printed in large rolls of repeating patterns… but one thing I had wanted to find was a way that I could print an individual design on a Kula Cloth - like a painting. I described what I wanted to do and the factory owner said, “Oh yah, we could definitely print one Kula at a time!” I was stunned. Immediately, I realized that the snap fiasco hadn’t been leading me to find a new factory for Kulas… it had been leading me to an answer that I had been looking for for months.
Suddenly, I felt like I had turned on a 10,000 lumen flashlight in a cave of darkness — the Kula Cloth production process was starting to make sense. I would work with my original factory to solve the snap issue and to make the ‘stock’ prints from repeating patterns… and I would work with the new factory to make our limited edition Artist Series and Kulas for a Cause.
I’ve been working with both of our factories for over 5 years now, and they have both become like family to me. I was talking to Dean (co-founder of our original factory) last week about a pallet that is currently en route Washington State with thousands of Kulas and Kula Pockets… he had called me at 9pm Eastern Time to ask me if the way that he had been wrapping the pallets was working out, “They aren’t falling apart in transit are they?” I assured him that they weren’t… and we finished our conversation by saying how grateful we are for the partnership that we’ve built over the last 5 years. The impact that Kula has had on their factory is huge — during COVID, Kula Cloth singlehandedly kept their factory open without having to layoff any employees. In addition, they recently moved into a new and improved 50,000 sq ft facility - largely due to Kula. When I think about the 'success’ of Kula Cloth - it isn’t in revenue or sales… it is in the lives impacted. Abundance, if you believe it is there, will expand infinitely and will touch the lives of everybody who wants to be a part of it. There is absolutely nothing more important about the relationships that I have with the factories and textile mills that I work with.
If you are looking for a factory — the easiest way to start… is just to start. Start googling, start making phone calls. Start researching related businesses, and call them and start asking questions. I promise you that somebody out there knows the answer. Somebody will point you in the right direction. And I want to tell you this: somebody will work with you.
About 2 years into Kula Cloth, somebody told me that factories would never work with a small business that had no proof of concept, and I remember thinking to myself, “Wow, I’m really glad I hadn’t heard that prior to starting Kula Cloth!”. So, to set the record straight, I want to tell you that if you have heard something similar, it simply is not true. I started working with two factories with absolutely no proof of success, and I’ve had long-standing relationships with both of them for over five years now. Be enthusiastic… lead with your heart… share your passion and excitement… and somebody is going to feel the authenticity of what you want to create and will want to be part of that.
Running up that hill
Getting to this part of the process can be… intense. It’s easier said than done - and if you are a business owner or a creator of a product, you will understand that too. But, from my own experience, this part of the process is also infectiously exciting and fun — the energy of creation is contagiously wonderful and exciting. Enjoy the process and see where it takes you. Go with the flow, and trust that it is taking you to the places you need to go and see. Creating something from nothing isn’t just a ‘job’ in the traditional sense - it’s a lot more than that. I posted an Instagram Story the other day describing the experience of entrepreneurship as follows:
It’s like somebody is cutting off your arm… and ripping out your heart… while they are giving you a hug… and hitting you over the head with a cookie sheet… and then, in the background, is the most beautiful rainbow you’ve ever seen in your life.
It’s true. It’s painful and beautiful all at once, but isn’t it the juxtaposition of those two things that makes anything worth doing? If it were easy… would it be as rewarding? It reminds me of my favorite Fred Beckey (a famous PNW climber) quote, “The view is different for the man who pays for beauty with the currency of toil.”
The first time I heard that quote, I was plodding up the side of a mountain in Bhutan, looking at Jichu Drake, a 6700m peak in the Himalayas. Phil Ershler, one of the co-founders of International Mountain Guides, recited that quote as we took a quick breather before the final ascent of the day. I looked around me at the Himalayas that stretched out in every direction — it was so beautiful that it was almost too much to bear. My feet were sore, my body ached from hiking for almost 2 weeks, but I had never been happier. I knew that the quote was true. My heart was pounding in my head and the air was thin and unsatisfying as we slowly made our way up a 16,500’ pass. I don’t know what came over me, but I decided to run the final 50 feet to the pass to see what it felt like. The first few steps were easy, but the lack of oxygen above 16,000’ quickly made its presence known as my lungs started to burn and gasp with the effort. I kept going. Tears streaming down my face, I ran towards the stone stupa and prayer flags at the pass.
I think back to that moment a lot - there was no reason for me to run, no reason for me to push myself beyond a walking pace, so why did I do it? Sometimes I think that we do things that are difficult because they are reminders. The 'thud thud thud’ in our chest reminds us of something that we often forget when we go on auto-pilot in our daily lives: I am here right now and I am alive. It’s the same with starting a business… creating a product… or doing anything that brings us a deep sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Why would I willingly put myself through the (sometimes) mental anguish of creating a product? For a fleeting sense of accomplishment or success? Or is it for another reason? Is it for the same reason we lace up our boots and walk uphill for miles and miles — to see the view on the other side of a hill, and to know what it looks like over there? Arguably, once you see the view — it’s easy to say that nothing has changed, but I know that mountain climbers and hikers will disagree. There is a piece of the universe that comes with you when you’ve seen a place you’ve never seen before. Similarly, when you have taken the invisible clay of the cosmos and formed it into something that you can touch and hold — a piece of your heart becomes visible for all. It says, without saying anything at all, “We are all here for some reason, and the very least that we can do is to find a small way to bring more love to each other.”
I’ll finish today with a poem about steps. About all of the millions upon millions of steps that each of us has taken in our lives to get where we are. We couldn’t possibly have known all of those steps before we took them — but when we look back, we can see how far we’ve come. Just like climbing a mountain or hiking a trail, we can trust ourselves to keep going, and to figure things out when we need to… and to rest when we need to… or to turn around if we need to. When we look back at the path, one thing is certain: in every single moment, we figured it out. We didn’t know all the details of how we would figure it out before we got there — but we did our best, and that was always enough.
Friends, I hope that these stories are helping you to see that you do have everything that it takes to be, do, have or create anything that you want to create in life. Anybody who tells you otherwise is, sadly, living a world that has caused them to turn away from the infinite possibilities that live within each of us. If you are a person who feels called to create something (anything), than deep down, you know that you have something important to share with all of us. And I am willing to bet that deep down, you know you can do it. I hope that I can be a tiny voice, cheering you on as you run… heart pounding harder than it ever has before… toward that next mountain pass… and whatever view lies beyond.
Love,
Anastasia
STEPS
I wish I could look at the world from above
And see all the footprints
Of where I have been.
The space between them,
When I was jumping for joy...
A gentle depression on the earth
When I knelt and cried
They crisscross the world,
My footprints.
They are the invisible map of my life.
Zig-zagging, climbing mountains, running on the beach,
leaping into the ocean.
Millions upon millions of confusing, chaotic steps.
I feel myself now
Sitting in this chair
Pen in hand
Feet planted firmly on the earth
The steps of my life have led me right here,
To this moment.
Where will my steps lead next
When my pen leaves this paper?
I just read this while sitting in the airport, waiting to board my flight to Fresno where I’ll catch a shuttle that will take me up into the High Sierras for the beginning of an 11 day backpacking trip along the John Muir Trail. I have entrusted ALL of my gear to the airlines in hopes that it will be there when I arrive.
This series of emails has given me a belly full of food for thought. Part three hit home on many levels as I ponder the steps and toil involved in this and other adventures to amazing places.
As I try to build my little wood burning business, wondering just what it is I have to offer, what problem I have to solve, etc my mind and heart is full of doubt and trepidation. Your enthusiasm, courage and generosity are contagious. I feel seen and have taken your words to heart, so I’ll ponder all this while I connect with the wilderness and disconnect from the rest of the world… and I’ll be thanking God for you and the miracle you are, and the treasure you have placed in my heart today.
Thank you Allison.
With love, Crystal ❤️
Thank you for writing this series! I have been noodling for awhile how my idea would even be manufactured or handmade. After reading this article I started googling phrases for a random idea I had for part of my "invention" and I actually found a possible solution! I'm not sure my idea will make manufacturing status but if I can hobble together one prototype by hand I'll be pretty excited. :)