Teaching Opportunities

You may remember that, a couple of years ago, I posted about the Metal Mesh drapes that we made for The Decemberists.  Through the brilliance of lighting designer Anne Militello, the metal mesh took on the appearance of any amazing Impressionistic oil painting.  Well, Anne is also Head of the Lighting Design Program at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), so when Anne approached Megan to be a guest speaker to a Lighting Lab class, Megan was excited to participate.

Though the focus of the class is on theatrical lighting, it is important that lighting designers be familiar with the many types of stage drapes, as the style and fabric of drapery can impact and be impacted by the lighting design.  Megan began the session by explaining the various types of stage curtains, from Grand Drapes to Backdrops, from Austrians to Tab Curtains, utilizing a Power Point presentation to show the students specific examples of each type of drape.  Here’s one of the slides that was included in the presentation:

But the session was more than just a lecture.  After the Power Point presentation, the session became even more interactive.  Megan brought large samples of a number of different theatrical fabrics, including Cambio, Glimmerine, Poly Silk, Sharkstooth Scrim, and Metal Mesh.  Using the lighting lab equipment, students were able to able to try out a variety of lighting designs and techniques on the various fabrics, to get hands-on experience on how each fabric is transformed by lighting.

All in all, it was a great evening – Megan really enjoyed teaching and interacting with all the talented and creative students.

Encouraging Entrepreneurship

Recently, Megan was approached by Nadia Shahin, Volunteer Coordinator for NFTE Greater Los Angeles. If you aren’t familiar with NFTE, it stands for “Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.” Started in New York City in 1987, the organization’s mission is to “provide programs that inspire young people from low-income communities to stay in school, to recognize business opportunities and to plan for successful futures.” The organization now has more than ten program offices throughout the United States, as well as additional partner programs throughout the U.S. and the world.

Megan was asked to speak to a class of approximately 25 students, grades 6th to 8th, in the NFTE class of Elizabeth Clayton-Bennett at Davis Middle School in Compton, CA, right here in our neighborhood, about Megan’s experiences as an entrepreneur. Megan began the presentation by telling the students about how she got started as an entrepreneur at the age of 19, sewing at her kitchen table, and then over the years grew the business to the Sew What? Inc. that it is today (and added a second company, Rent What? Inc.). She also brought in Kimberly Lee, Sew What? Account Manager, to speak briefly about her own experiences as an entrepreneur graphic artist and web designer.

Following the presentations, Megan made the session interactive by encouraging the students to brainstorm ways to turn everyday objects into business opportunities. Using Sew What? tee shirts as props, she asked the students to think of ways that the shirts could be modified into a sellable item (other than a tee shirt). The students came up with some terrific ideas, including a purse, dog clothes, and a book cover, and for each student who came up with an idea, the student received a tee shirt to keep.

Megan really enjoyed meeting and speaking with the students – it means a lot to her to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs!

Inc 5000 Panel on Small Business

Megan Duckett, President of Sew What? and Rent What?, was honored recently to be asked to speak on a panel of Inc 5000 small business owners.  If you aren’t familier with Inc 500 / 5000, it is a list of the top 500 and top 5,000 fastest growing small businesses in the United States, and Sew What? has been named to the list for each of the last several years. 

At the event, Megan joined with several other small business owners to talk about how we have not only survived the current economic client, but actually continued to grow.  Not only did Megan enjoy the opportunity to participate, but she found it enlighting to listen to her fellow speakers and pick up ideas from them as well.

Want to learn more about Inc 500 / 5000?  Click here.

Rock and Roll Camaraderie

As you probably already know, the co-owner and president of Sew What? and Rent What? is Megan Duckett, who is a woman of many skills and talents. One of them is her unbelievably-rockin’ band Without Warning. We had a treat last week and were able to go see her band perform live at a wonderful little concert hall in Redondo Beach. Not only was it great for all of us to get together outside of work and help celebrate our boss’s amazing talents as a singer and most of all as a *ROCKER!*, but it was so much fun to be able to hang out with one another outside of the work environment!

Without Warning members Megan Dawn, Doug, DC, David, and Hughes

Even better was bringing several companies that we work so closely with on a day to day basis to come join in the festivities. We here at Sew What? and Rent What? really are a “family”, and a lot of these other companies are like family to us too. One business in particular has been a huge sponsor of Without Warning, and has also been an incredible company for Rent What? to have worked with for years. This company is All Access, who, with the help of Bob Hughes, encouraged Megan to audition for the band earlier this year, and has been indispensable with the band’s swiftly growing popularity ever since.

There’s nothing like “Rock and Roll Camaraderie” to bring everyone together on a Saturday night, and not have to worry about which black poly silk drapes are going where, what solenoid delivery needs to be made that next week, or the huge Austrian drape order that is next on the horizon. By spending some fun quality time with one another, we get to really get to know one another on a more personal level, and that grows into a richer admiration and respect for each other that we might not otherwise have.

 This makes us stronger as a company, and that translates into better customer service and quality of product for our clients. Who knew that getting together to enjoy a little rock and roll could have such far reaching benefits for everyone?

Want to hear “Without Warning”?

Check out Without Warning, live from Hemishpere’s Recording Studio this Saturday night at 8:00 PM Pacific Time.

Click this link at eight and rock out for an hour from afar: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hemispheres-recording

Without Warning

Here’s something you probably don’t know – Megan sings in the band Without Warning.  The band has recently launched a new website – check it out for bios of the band members, a play list, and much more.

If you are a fan of rock and metal, I’m sure you’ll like the play list, with songs from Ozzy Osborne, Van Halen, Journey, and many more (I personally love Megan’s lead vocals on Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”).

On a personal note, I love the band’s logo, designed by our favorite artist, John Rios of Grafix Jam.  Check it out!

Creativity in Business

I just read a terrific article titled “Can you be creative and still make money in Australia?,” which was published last week in the Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald online edition.  Yes, I admit that I started reading it because the author, Valerie Khoo, had interviewed Megan for the article (during her trip to Australia).  But I kept reading because it was a fascinating subject.

Ms. Khoo makes some very good points.  It’s great to be creative, but you can’t build a successful business based solely on creativity (that’s a hobby, not a business!).  And that is what Megan learned.  She was great at making custom stage curtains and theatrical backdrops.  But if all she had focused on were making drapes, and had not also tried to work on the business itself, I don’t know if Sew What? would be as successful as it is today. 

Through the years, Megan and Adam have consistently tried to find ways to improve the business as a whole – yes, to offer better, more innovative stage drapes, but also to make our company more efficient, our business practices more “business-like.”  We bought our own building, we contracted with a marketing agency for a new brand and website, we bought sophisticated integrated Enterprise Resource software, we worked with a programmer to develop our own software application to standardize our sewing plans…the list goes on and on.

And Megan and Adam have been right there, every step of the way.  Megan didn’t say, “Oh, I just want to be creative – find someone else to take care of this business stuff.”  Of course, as Sew What? grew, we began to hire people to take care of some of the day to day operations (such as accounting and purchasing), but Megan remains focused on the company and continues to look for ways to improve Sew What? Inc., both from a creative standpoint and from a business standpoint.  So great that Ms. Khoo recognized this and included Megan as the main example in her article.

Sew What? Featured in Australia

As you may know from reading this blog, Megan (founder & President of Sew What? Inc.) was born and raised in Australia.  Though she has lived in the United States for many years (and is now a US citizen), it is still a kick to find her and Sew What? Inc. recognized in her home country.

The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald recently published an article about Megan and Sew What?, and I really enjoyed reading it – it gives a true portrayal of Megan, the company, and the many roles that custom stage curtains play.  

The staff photo used in the article is especially fun to see – all of us had a fun time posing for Megan.  She gathered us all together with a bunch of fabric and said, “Have fun,” and we sure did!  Here is another one taken during the same shoot:

I think these photos really show the spirit of Sew What?  We take our work seriously, but we still have fun while doing it!

DWEN uses social media to connect the world

Yesterday, I posted about Megan’s visit to Shanghai as part of the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) conference.  On the same topic – I am really inspired with the way that social media has been used for this event, both as a way to connect the participants and as a way to connect the conference to the world at large.

Here are just a few examples:

LinkedIn

DWEN utilized this resource to connect conference participants before, during, and after the event, to discuss events and share information. 

Facebook

With its Dell for Business page on Facebook, DWEN is able to provide conference information and updates to Facebook users everywhere.

Twitter

If you are a lover of Twitter, then the DWEN page is the place to go for information on the conference.

Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network

Exciting week – Megan is in Shanghai as part of the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, taking place along with Expo 2010 Shanghai (aka the World’s Fair).  What a terrific opportunity for Megan to have the chance not only to attend the DWEN conference, but also to be invited to speak.

Of course, with the power of technology, Megan is almost as connected to the office as she would be if she were here!  She took a laptop with her, so she is able to login to her computer here at Sew What? via Wifi from her hotel or the conference.   Isn’t technology amazing, that she can be halfway across the world and still able to access her computer here?

I got an e-mail from her last night, and she said that the conference is excellent.  I can’t wait to hear more about it when she returns.