Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Stephanie Perlman, founder of StonedXSteph, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Stoned X Steph is a premium custom apparel experience that brings all of the tools necessary for party guests to create a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of apparel that they can take home and wear! We love being the facilitators to all of the amazing, fun creativity just waiting to be unleashed on a sweatshirt or piece of clothing. Giving people the ability, whether they consider themselves artistic or not, to create something of their very own from start to finish and wear is such an uplifting, encouraging, and confidence-building experience. It is a unique offering that brings smiles to a lot of faces and a surprisingly broad age range! We provide a variety of embellishment choices like iron patches, vinyl decals in trendy colours and shapes, and anything else we can dream up that we think our party guests would love! The best part is, we bring it all to you! Wherever you are, whatever the occasion, we strive to offer a truly unique experience completely curated to your preferences. You are the creator; we just give you the tools to turn you into a world-class designer, even if it's only for a couple of hours :)

Tell us about yourself

Stoned X Steph was my first attempt as a new mother of two young kids to try and start a business that allowed me the flexibility I required with two under two at home. My entire career has been spent in retail, the majority of which spent as a merchandiser and window displays artist, the latter end working as a buyer. Trying to adjust to a new family life very quickly with two kids super close in age was very difficult. I knew I couldn't go back to the hours and travel schedule I previously had, so I began trying to use my skills and educational background to do what I did best my whole life… make cool, trendy things people wanted to buy! I started with small accessory embellishments, patching vintage Jean jackets, playing around with whatever was trending, and trying to put my own creative spin on them. In 2017, this was just not so interesting compared to now, where the market is overflowing with products like this. I even attempted to go back to college and do night school classes at George Brown for design, with a 21-month-old and three-month-old at home. Then enter COVID… and yet another pivot, embellished face masks and chains! This was the first product I started to gain real interest in and started really selling. Eventually, mask trends started to fade the longer we were in the pandemic. The novelty of fancy masks was replaced by clean, quick, and easy disposables. Then came the idea to do birthday parties; for a brief moment in between lockdowns, people were desperate to have parties again for their children.

I was able to bring my equipment on-site to many backyards over the summer and early fall of 2021, and everything took off from there! Booking requests were coming through like crazy, and I started having to hire staff. Now I'm proudly running parties back to back almost every weekend with lots of growth potential coming our way as we slowly move out of this pandemic. With so much potential, an incredible client base, and amazing, dedicated colleagues, I have high hopes for what we will be able to achieve in the coming year. I feel very fortunate to have made so many amazing connections and been included in so many happy occasions. It's my favourite part and what I missed most about my previous life in retail- being around people! Human connection! Having a good time with people and making them feel like superstars! It fills me with a lot of joy and gratitude to be able to do it in a way that is on my own terms and allows me to be a present mom to my two kids. I strive to offer this chance to other women too, who want flexible work hours and autonomy over their time and fulfilling their desire to do something outside of their homes and families and earn some money doing it!

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

My biggest accomplishment is definitely the volume of parties we have managed to pull off during a global pandemic. Since August 2021, we have been at over 50 events. This is with never being operational during lockdowns and always operating within whatever the changing guidelines have been. Sometimes, it required us to freeze our butts off to be safely outside or just have super small parties to adhere to gathering rules. Whatever we had to do to allow someone the joy of celebrating something special, we had to adapt, and we were still able to accomplish so much! However, my proudest accomplishment as a business owner has really been putting forth a strong effort to be easy to work with, dependable, always able to pivot, and offer great customer service. I very much value it when someone chooses me to perform a service for them. We live in a time when there are a lot of choices, and anytime someone chooses me, I really value and appreciate it; I hope it shows in our interactions and end results of their product or service. It's an oldie but a goodie and something I lived by in my many years of retail "The customer is always right." I believe this wholeheartedly as a customer and a provider.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

You have to carry the weight of the business on your shoulders; through the good and bad, it's all on you. For a long time, I've been a one-man show; as I've been growing, I've been able to find a lot of amazing help, but at the end of the day, I'm the Steph in Stoned X Steph; it's my name, my reputation. My finances that either benefit or suffer from the many, many variables that we've all seen over the course of the past two years. It's very important to stay positive and hope that because we really try and be fun and easy to work with, despite whatever setbacks we face, people will want to work with us again. Every lockdown was scary, not knowing if that was the end if anyone would call after restrictions would lift. Whenever I get another call, email, or inquiry, I can breathe a small sigh of relief that services are still wanted and interesting.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Know who you are and what you represent and align yourself with people who can do the things you can't. I don't have to be everyone in my business, I can learn about every aspect of it, but it doesn't mean I'm the best person to handle it. Find the people who can and treat them really well!
  2. Customer service is everything. Whether they're spending 3$ or 3000$, everyone and every dollar they spend with you is money they could have spent somewhere else. Never forget that regardless of how successful you become.
  3. The simple laws of Karma- when you do good, do good for others. If you are fortunate enough to experience a lot of success in your business, make sure to do great things with it, enjoy the fruits of your labour but make sure you show gratitude for your good fortune and put some of it back out there. Whether it's something you advertise or just do privately for yourself, share your prosperity with those who need it.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

There is no such thing as a bad idea; absolutely anything can be a success story through hard work, the ability to pivot, and perseverance through trial and error. Just because your first idea wasn't the right timing doesn't mean you won't get your lighting moment and strike something amazing!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://stonedxsteph.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stonedxsteph/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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