Ep25 - Sara Crique Talking About How She Retired And Started Her Online Clothing Business

[00:00:00] Greg Mills: Our guest today is a business owner and clothing designer growing an online clothing business, creating sophisticated clothing and modern designs with an ethnic flair. Before that she retired from a long and successful career as a healthcare administrator, where she was an expert in healthcare management, staff development and practiced operations and major hospital systems in New York City.

[00:00:24] She's the proud owner of Seams NYC. Without further ado,Sara Crique. 

[00:00:31] Sarah Crique: Thank you for having me pleasure to be here with you

[00:00:34] Greg Mills: Well thank you for being on now. Sarah, can you

[00:00:37] take a few moments and fill in the gaps from that intro and bring us up to speed with what's going on in your world. 

[00:00:43] Sarah Crique: Sure, sure. So as you said, I retired last year from a very long career in Healthcare Administration. Healthcare Operations. I soon moved into, creating a new business for myself, that I started sometime at the end of last year. And it's been a whirlwind. , new ideas and just trying to get a handle on what it's like to be an entrepreneur, as opposed to a I'm a senior manager, at different institutions.

[00:01:15] It's settling in now. So, I'm doing well and it's going really well.

[00:01:23] Greg Mills: Now you mentioned the adjustment from being a long time employee to being an entrepreneur. Was there anyone in your family that was an entrepreneur or came from an entrepreneurial background? 

[00:01:34] Sarah Crique: Well, you know, I'm originally from the Dominican Republic and we came here when I was a teenager. My mother was a seam stress. And just like the immigrant communities, we're all learning. Really make, do and become business owners and entrepreneurs. So there's always that drive there, that fuels us.

[00:01:55] And, this is what I sort of focus on and what I draw from, when I started my business and as we move along,

[00:02:02] So my Mom was the seamstress and, she raised us, me and my siblings, , behind the sewing machine. And she, came here in her forties. I was a teenager, and she sewed for others. She designed for others. She worked outside the home, she sold clothing. She did a lot of different things.

[00:02:22] That's the inspiration that I get from her. She lived a very long life. She lived till the age of 97. And until she was about 90. She was still sewing and making things for other people in her community. 

[00:02:32] Greg Mills: Oh, wow. One of those people that probably just doesn't know how to slow down. 

[00:02:36] Sarah Crique: She certainly didn't, you know,. I get this from her, where she was just running and running and running until she couldn't anymore. It was wonderful to have her as. Kind of like a mentor for lack of a better term. And that's someone who I looked up to, always. The people around us, - we were always trying to do the best we can.

[00:02:56] I saw a lot of people in my life who really succeeded as entrepreneurs, as business owners.

[00:03:02] Greg Mills: Now you originally graduated from the State University of New York Empire State College. And then later on, went to attended Cornell University and graduated from there. Can you walk us through your career? 

[00:03:15] Sarah Crique: Sure. Sure. So I said earlier, I came here to the United States as a teenager. We're always fueled to do well to do better than our ancestors, always striving to learn. The first thing I did was learn to speak English and, always wanting a better life. So I went through, starting to work in different careers.

[00:03:36] Eventually went to college. I felt I needed a college degree. I graduated from, Empire State College with a degree in Business Management and Economics. And that took me through a lot of my work life and a lot of my career. And later on, I wanted to develop a new skills in terms of Staff Management, Staff Development, Training, Human Resources.

[00:04:02] So I took several courses and certificate programs at Cornell University. Then I was later certified as a Human Resources Expert to be able to train staff and to be able to do that. I actually wanted when I retired to become a trainer and to do a staffing and some other things, but this took me in a different direction.

[00:04:24] So my career was really, mostly healthcare and mostly the managing staff and really learning how to develop people to better themselves.

[00:04:34] Greg Mills: Would it be fair to say that you've kind of constantly reinvented yourself? Maybe not completely, but exploring new things. 

[00:04:42] Sarah Crique: exploring new things. So when you talk about entrepreneurship, so there was always something else that I was doing, always something that I wanted to try and sell things and create different businesses. Some of them were successful. Others were not.

[00:04:56] But there was always this. And I guess I, I owed that to my background where, you know, with the immigrant experience, We always want to take advantage of what America has to offer, take advantage of everything we can. I'm always moving. I'm always been moving, moving from one thing to the other, but in a way that the next was always better and that I was always moving up, and moving forward.

[00:05:22] So it's something that's ingrained in me that no one I'm going to stop. And maybe like my mother who passed away at 96 and was still running.

[00:05:29] Greg Mills: Not a bad thing. So I read one of your posts on LinkedIn and it really struck me. It reads, I worked on in this building on 57th street, about 35 years ago, as a young Secretary who ate lunch by herself because her young white coworkers did not welcome,her After an appointment in this area, I chose to have breakfast by myself by choice, to reflect on how far I've traveled in my journey. I'm a retired Healthcare Director, an Entrepreneur who chooses, who she associates with based on their values. I wonder where those women are today. Now, have you ever run into any of your old coworkers 

[00:06:12] Sarah Crique: yeah, maybe not those particular women, but certainly, people that I work with, when I was younger and newer and starting out and needed acceptance. and there were people who did not accept me. There's one time, some young woman just asked me, you know, what are you?

[00:06:28] And I didn't know what she meant by that. She meant nationalities, She meant race. Although not those particular people I haven't run into, but I have connected with people that I knew back then. And, they've changed. They've evolved. I think that we all just, we all evolve and, there are certain things that are taught to us as we grow up.

[00:06:49] And then when we become more mature and more worldly, we know what things are and how they should be. So we do evolve and we do change. So I think that, one of the reasons that I create the clothes that I create is I want people to do. Embrace culture and embrace minority cultures and wear culture in their clothes to support, others.

[00:07:11] And it's a great opportunity now for people to do that. because we're always, we're one, we're one world and we take care of each other and we learn from each other. And I always, I'm very hopeful, always that everyone evolves and we all learn. And maybe those women that at the time would not accept me for who I was.

[00:07:33] If I run into them now, I think they would embrace me.

[00:07:36] Greg Mills: I hope so I would hope that they've evolved and, you know, learn better. It just seems like a really a wasted opportunity on there part. 

[00:07:44] I was going again by your LinkedIn bio and you kind of touched on this a little bit, but it looks like you all had about a month's downtime from when you started your clothing business, SEAMS NYC.

[00:07:58] How long had you been planning on opening up your own shop? 

[00:08:03] Sarah Crique: It's been years planning on not necessarily that particular business. I have been planning most of my life to have, my own business to be my own boss. You know, as the cliche goes to really create. Jobs for others. To be someone who is a leader who is, serving her community. So having my own business was always something that I wanted to do. Circumstances at times.

[00:08:31] did not allow me to do that. I didn't know what I was going to do when I retire from Healthcare. I thought, like I said earlier about Training, about Staffing, a lot of other things, but going back to what my mother did, going back to the fact that when I was younger, I used to love sewing. And I designed that I went to also went to Fashion Institute of Technology for a little while.

[00:08:55] I did not have that there, but that's part of my training in fashion and in design. When I started to think about, I think this is the year for me to retire, as you said earlier, I was running with, what am I going to do next? And this is what I came up with, and this is what I love to do. So no, there was no downtime.

[00:09:17] Greg Mills: I figured you were planning it all along. What were some of the other things that you explored maybe throughout the years? Not necessarily when you retired. 

[00:09:27] Sarah Crique: So real estate was one thing and I'm sort of in it, where I own some property and I manage those properties myself. Real estate investments, financial planning, a lot of those things where, always trying to help minority women, in whatever business I thought about was always in line with how do I create jobs for women?

[00:09:48] How do I help minority women, be themselves, be better? And create wealth for themselves. So along those lines is always what I wanted to, what I wanted to do. Someone once said to me, you like to be on stage. And I said, I do, like to be on stage, not for myself, but so that I can impart, information and knowledge to others.

[00:10:10] So wherever I did, I wanted to be on stage.

[00:10:13] Greg Mills: So for you all the world's a stage.

[00:10:15] Clothing is your vehicle. 

[00:10:17] Sarah Crique: It's my vehicle, right? Yeah. Just to brag, I made this jacket, this is one of my designs. And, I love wearing it. I love wearing ethnic clothing. I love wearing it, the fabrics. Just showcase culture and I love colors and this is why I wear a bright things like this.

[00:10:35] Greg Mills: Now I probably am the kiss of death here, but I would invite everybody to go and check out your webpage, just for all the vibrant colors and stuff. 

[00:10:44] Sarah Crique: I love that! Thank you

[00:10:46] Greg Mills: I am a poor example, but,

[00:10:49] I can appreciate talent. 

[00:10:52] Now there's a quote on your Instagram page that reads:

[00:10:56] I'm a believer in the power of knowledge, in the ferocity of beauty. So for my point of view, your life is already artful. Waiting, just waiting for you to make it art. And that's by, I believe Tony Morrison. 

[00:11:09] Sarah Crique: That's right.

[00:11:10] Greg Mills: What does that mean to you? 

[00:11:12] Sarah Crique: It means basically that, art is already within us. I think that the more we learn, the more we blossom, the more we become. And I think that we have to just be. Not be fearless and just express it because it, it already lives within us. It's just a matter of expressing, our inner beauty, and use the knowledge that we've acquired to really showcase who we are and show ourselves to the world.

[00:11:44] Greg Mills: What motivates you to keep moving forward? 

[00:11:48] Sarah Crique: My family motivates me I want to have a legacy for. You know, my children are adults, but I have grandchildren that are coming up and I want them to follow in those footsteps. I want them to know that the American dream doesn't just happen overnight.

[00:12:04] You have to work at it. You have to really put it all together and not be afraid to fail, not be afraid to go for. That's what keeps me motivated. I just have to keep moving. Some of my family members say, well, you retire. I said, well, I didn't retire. I switched careers. I just changed what I'm doing.

[00:12:23] I'm not taking the subwayto an office. I am, going upstairs to my studio to create. That's the motivation. It's an internal motivation, but it's also to try to change some mindsets and to try to change views and to try to change the lives of others.

[00:12:38] Greg Mills: What are some of the mindsets and views that you'd like to change? 

[00:12:43] Sarah Crique: As I said, I'm a Latina. I'm an Afro Latina. And I want us to embrace our African heritage. I want people to, switch their mindset and think about how beautiful, the culture is. I want people to really, believe that they can do anything. Women to believe that they don't have to be, constrained by circumstances that no matter where they are, they can move forward from there and they can do whatever they want to do.

[00:13:18] I always want to be an example. I want to be a walking example of what it's like to go for something and accomplish it. In terms of mindset there's a lot of beauty in ethnicity. There's a lot of beauty in Africanness. There's a lot of beauty in Hispanic cultures.

[00:13:34] I want everyone to embrace that, and to really see it, in a different way.

[00:13:39] Greg Mills: Now, can you already see that you're making a little bit of a difference in your grandchildren and probably a little bit is not. The right word, but can you see that you've made some differences? 

[00:13:51] Sarah Crique: Absolutely. Absolutely. I have a, granddaughter who's in college and she shares with me, her experiences. When she talks to others about me, she talks about my accomplishments. She talks about what I've done to, um, talks about how fearless I am. I think that that example it's important for me to pass along.

[00:14:15] I think I see it. I see it already, The younger ones just love their grandma, the lessons that I'm imparting, they pick them up. I see it every day. Sometimes there's a little fear, fear of grandma, but what is she going to say about what I'm doing?

[00:14:31] Because they know my standards and they know what I expect from them and they're rising to the occasion.

[00:14:37] Greg Mills: Do you have a physical shop or is everything that you create and sell online? 

[00:14:44] Sarah Crique: I create everything myself in my studio, and I sell everything online and occasionally on pop-up shops. So this last summer, I was in the Berkshire fair in the Berkshires of Massachusetts. And I sold quite a bit of pieces there. So if I have the right pop-up shop the right market, I will go physically and bring my clothing.

[00:15:09] And then sometimes people order, at that shop at that market. I don't have a physical shop, I hope to one day, but right now it's mostly online. I sell on a couple of platforms that I sell my clothing.

[00:15:21] Greg Mills: Now it looks like you specialize mainly in women's jackets and kimonos. You do everything yourself from the designing to sewing, or do you have anybody to help? 

[00:15:31] Sarah Crique: So right now I do everything myself. I have people who helped me with other things like shipping, but I like to have my hands in my design. The creation, everything I make is sort of limited and limited quantities, because I select the fabrics. I select the design. I create it myself, and then I ship it out.

[00:15:50] As I grow, I'm looking to add other partners, who can assist in that, but I always want to be the main designer of the clothing that I make. And then I have other people who can help me with shipping them and to fulfill all the orders.

[00:16:04] Greg Mills: Now, how are your customers finding you? 

[00:16:07] Sarah Crique: Facebook ads are one of the main ways. Instagram, we post on Instagram. And I'm on the website. So I use, Google and Google Analytics and Google My Business so that people can find me that way. So I'm on the website at www.seams.nyc is where I mostly sell my clothes.

[00:16:29] I also have an Etsy shop, uh, where you can find it again. The same name, SeamsNYC.

[00:16:35] Greg Mills: I think that the pop-up shops are just a really great opportunity for, you 

[00:16:40] To not only to get your stuff out there, but to maybe capture some, customers, or at least get them thinking about it. 

[00:16:46] Sarah Crique: One of the great things about pop-up shops is that I can talk to people directly. Website. It's great. It's efficient. Especially now, and a lot of people are not going out to stores, uh, but going to a market and a pop-up shop, people will come and they feel the clothes and they feel the fabric and they ask me questions.

[00:17:07] One of the things that I do is I customize some of the styles. If somebody wants something, a little shorter or a different kind of fabric, I can do that and they can talk to me directly and we can, have that conversation. It's always, a great way to do it as long as it's the right shop for the right market.

[00:17:24] I found that to be successful.

[00:17:27] Greg Mills: Before you started seams NYC, were you pretty proficient in social media or was there been a learning curve? 

[00:17:35] Sarah Crique: No. I use social media, mostly for family and sharing photos of my kids and my grandkids and my partners and all that. I thought, I knew how to use it until I started a business. Then I had to engage someone. I have a team who are proficient in that.

[00:17:54] I learned a lot. I'm still learning, there's some things that I didn't know how to do before that I'm very good at now. But I also use a group of professionals who know how to post and know how to do that. it's really always great to surround yourself with some experts to help you shine.

[00:18:11] Greg Mills: That's kind of what I was thinking. I didn't come out of the, earth podcasting either.. 

[00:18:16] Sarah Crique: A few years ago, I would say, you know, what's a podcast, you know, and one of my youngest kids who say, well, what are you talking about?

[00:18:24] Greg Mills: Yeah. Maybe you can get him or her to explain NFTs to us. I just do not understand that concept at all. Now when someone orders off of your website, is that a one-time sale per garment or, do you have multiple quantities of that, or do you immediately have to change out your ad? How does that work? 

[00:18:44] Sarah Crique: It depends on, the fabric. I like to buy very interesting fabrics and I sometimes, just buy specific quantities only because I like to make it, to give it like this one of a kind feel. So I will post the number of garments that I can make with the fabric that I have. As people order it, then it comes down the inventory and then I will take that off the website.

[00:19:10] There's a lot of management of your website to make sure that, no one is dissatisfied, because you don't want to have somebody order something and then you don't have it anymore. So you have to keep up with that. I tend to make limited quantities of everything.

[00:19:26] If I make four of a particular garment and someone buys it and I sell four of them, I can, I can sell it across the country and the rest of the world. And there'll be only four women wearing that so they can each, say they have an original.

[00:19:41] Greg Mills: Pretty cool. Now, are you doing the website yourself as far as the posting? 

[00:19:47] Sarah Crique: I do have a partner who does my website. Again, I started my business only at the end of last year. And it started to kind of take off the beginning of this year. So I started it myself because I always felt like if you don't know how to do something, you can't manage what somebody else is doing. So my versions weren't great, but at least I knew how to put something together. So now I have a wonderful partner, um, and I'll plug them their company's called verbology V E R B O L O G y.com and they work on my website, so that it looks professional as good as my clothes.

[00:20:28] Greg Mills: How are you handling the payments? Is that through PayPal or using multiple options? 

[00:20:34] Sarah Crique: I do use a payment processor that is called square. And, you can pay with a credit card or you can use PayPal if you want to, but you can certainly use any major credit. And it's a very secure payment process. So when you pay on my website, I don't say your numbers, only the payment processor, can see that, and it's a company outside of the website, the processes, the payment, and then they send the payments to me.

[00:21:00] Greg Mills: What online platforms are you using in your business? , you've mentioned Facebook. I know you're using Instagram. What social media platforms and then as well, I guess what e-commerce. 

[00:21:14] Sarah Crique: Right. So in terms of e-commerce. The website is the main way that I get customers and sales and I use ETSYto also promote my products and sell them on Etsy. Then Facebook, Facebook shop and Instagram. LinkedIn, occasionally I'll put some posts there and I can get some views from that as well.

[00:21:34] But the main way is my website on the Yeti. Um, the FCC.

[00:21:40] Greg Mills: How do You stay motivated. Maybe motivates not the right word, but how do you keep inspired with ideas for your product?

[00:21:48] Sarah Crique: I think about what's going on in the world. I think about, how people interact with each other. And I think about what people need in terms of color and inspiration. So when I go shopping for fabric, it takes me all day because I'm going around looking for something that strikes me,. Bright, vibrant colors are a big deal to me.

[00:22:10] I think now, especially people need a lot of things to really make them feel good and feel happy. Color is one of those. The fabric talks to me, what kind of, story it tells in terms of, where it came from and what country in Africa it came from or where in Latin America is a fabric from.

[00:22:29] And then I use that to sort of help me create something new. So it's inspired by my culture, by the African culture, by the Spanish culture. and what I think people need in the world, what they will love what's comfortable right now.

[00:22:43] Greg Mills: Let's talk about that a little bit. How are you sourcing your fabrics? I'm a typical guy. I figured you're getting them from, Walmart or somewhere, and I had No. clue, but are you sourcing them from other countries, or how does this 

[00:22:57] Sarah Crique: Yeah. I have a few, suppliers that source the fabric from other countries. I think my next step is going to be to go myself to these countries and get the fabric. But right now I trust my suppliers and where the fabric is coming from. I have someone who brings fabric from Mexico, a fabric from Peru, a fabric from Senegal, from Nigeria.

[00:23:22] Then we work it out and I buy it from them and that's how I source it. And then I have a few online wholesalers that I also use to get fabric, to get people value because I want to be able to create a garment. That's beautiful, but it's also affordable. And if I spend a lot of money on fabrics, then I can't really get that affordability that people are looking for.

[00:23:44] All my jackets are a hundred percent cotton. So they're comfortable and they're easy to wear and they're affordable to the average, you know consumer,

[00:23:53] Greg Mills: Yeah, I was looking online and honestly it looked like you might be underpricing yourself.

[00:23:59] Sarah Crique: Yeah, I have heard that and I understand it. As I said earlier, part of my motivation is to empower women, to really take care of my community, to provide jobs. I know how beautiful my stuff is and how much care I take and making them, but I also want people to be able to wear them and afford them.

[00:24:15] So yeah, if I get a little less money out of it, I'm okay. 

[00:24:20] Greg Mills: Now what's next for your online business and what's next for you? 

[00:24:24] Sarah Crique: So in terms of my online business, I want to be able to incorporate, other minority ethnic fabrics, which I'm looking to do and do my clothes, but I also want to do other things like, home furnishings. One of the key elements of my collections are, it's a little bit of ethnic.

[00:24:45] It's an ethic trim. It's something that not everyone can wear a full African jacket. So somebody wants to go into business meeting, wearing something that's comfortable and it's solid, but it's got a trend somewhere that says this is a cultural, inspired, jacket. So I want to do the same with other garments, expand a little bit more into other types of garments and also into some type of home furnishings that you can also do the same thing with your beds, with your table cloths. With, a lot of other things curtains. Maybe have a store, and do both online and also, a brick and mortar. 

[00:25:24] Greg Mills: I was gonna suggest either, scarves or masks, but I'm really hoping that you don't have to make any

[00:25:31] Sarah Crique: I don't wanna make any masks. I think, masks are coming back, but I'm hoping that, we get to that place and we don't need them anymore. But, I do Shawls also. I create those as well. And one of the ways that I give back to my community.

[00:25:45] So I did an initiative with nursing homes, the Bronx. And I created some, shawls and scarves for the female residents. I did that during the height of the pandemic, when I felt that women needed a bit of a hug because they couldn't see family members. So I use the shawls as hugs and I donated those.

[00:26:05] And I continue to want to do that with, some proceeds from my garments. I'm continuing to find other nursing homes that I can donate that to.

[00:26:13] Greg Mills: God bless you for doing that. 

[00:26:15] Sarah Crique: Aww, thank you.

[00:26:16] Greg Mills: it's obvious your mom's had a lot of influence on you and on the business itself. How do you think she'd feel about it if she were with us today? 

[00:26:25] Sarah Crique: oh boy. One of the things she'd say is, Sarah never stops and then I'll say back to her, well, neither did you. So she would be very proud. I think that she knows how much of an influence she was on my life. I think she sees me from, where she is. I talked to her at times, whenever I'm stuck, I'll say, mommy, come on, tell me what am I doing here?

[00:26:47] And I think I hear her talking to me, so I think he was. Quite proud. I'll tell you a quick story. My mother, when I was younger, being from a poor country and coming here, she was always afraid that she wouldn't have enough or that wouldn't have enough. So she would say.

[00:27:03] If you ever find yourself without a job, remember you have your sewing machine. And I would always say, no, you're right, mommy. You're right. But I don't think I'll need to do that. Ironically, I didn't find myself without a job. I left my job. And I picked up my sewing machine. So it all came back the way she would always tell me, so yeah, she's proud.

[00:27:24] Greg Mills: All comes full circle. So is there anything I haven't asked you that you'd like to go over? 

[00:27:37] Sarah Crique: I've said it before, but it's sort of what I believe in how I live, is that I want to be an example. I want to be someone who is looked up to, because I want to be able to help other women do the same. And I think that being an entrepreneur over 40 and I'm way over 40, it's a challenge, but it's something that is so meaningful and fulfilling.

[00:28:03] If you have an idea, go ahead and try it. It's wonderful to do that and feel that liberation. My website it's there and it's, you know, I sell clothes, but I'm more inspired by people wearing them and liking them and my making them that, it's something that I adore.

[00:28:23] Greg Mills: Let's get ready to wrap this up. Is there a book that you currently recommend, to somebody that's looking to start a business that you think would help them out? 

[00:28:33] Sarah Crique: A couple of things. To get inspiration and to get unstuck. There's a book that I read over and over again over the years. And it's by the late Wayne Dyer called Pulling Your Own Strings. And that's something that, I read so many times because sometimes We start thinking about what others would think.

[00:28:50] And we don't think about what we really want. So pulling your own strings means you just go ahead and do it for yourself. So that's the first thing I think anybody could read if you're starting anything so that not to be afraid. And then there's another book that I read recently by someone I met, not that long ago, named Joe Rojas.

[00:29:08] And he is a visionary entrepreneur and, his book is called, How Entrepreneurs Thrive. And it's on Amazon and I, I love the read and it's an easy way to kind of start thinking about, how to grow your business, how to start your business and how to grow it and make it successful. So those two things I would certainly recommend.

[00:29:29] Greg Mills: Now what's the best way for somebody to check you out or to get in touch with you. 

[00:29:33] Sarah Crique: My website, you can go on the website, again, WW dot seams, se ams.nyc. There's a contact form there after you look through my clothes, you can email me, I'll get those. And if anyone wants to collaborate or has any interest in any collaboration with me? You can reach me, either by phone, uh, give out my cell phone (917) 796-4945 or email, which is my last name.

[00:30:02] First initial. So C R I Q U E S. @ msn.com.

[00:30:08] Greg Mills: Lastly, what's the number one piece of advice that you can give for our listeners? 

[00:30:12] Sarah Crique: I think that I'm already talking to an older population and I think that, there's a lot of fear in starting something new and the best advice I can say is just go for it, you know, just do it. The worst thing that could happen. It works. So then you have a lot to do now.

[00:30:31] Just do it. Take a plunge, and do it. And if it doesn't work, it start again. I tried many businesses and this is the one that I adore. I love. And, you know, I'll continue to do that. Until like my mother did, I can't do it anymore.

[00:30:46] So just do it. That's all I can tell you. Just like the slogan. Just do it.

[00:30:50] Greg Mills: All right. Well, wish you much continued success and that's a wrap. Thank you, Sarah, for being a guest on entrepreneurs Over 40!. 

[00:30:58] Sarah Crique: Thank you. Thank you, Greg. For having me.