Turn Down The Hustle: Empowering Online T-Shirt Sellers

38 | From Hobbyist to Thriving Business Owner with Dakri from Shielded Hearts Clothing Co.

• Sun Kissed Virtual Assistant • Episode 38

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Dakri, the owner of Shielded Hearts Clothing Co., shares her journey from crafting bottle cap necklaces to establishing a thriving creative business. She discusses overcoming personal challenges, the importance of community, and practical strategies for balancing life and entrepreneurship.

• Exploring the origins of Shielded Hearts and Dakri’s crafting journey
• Navigating personal challenges and the leap into entrepreneurship
• Importance of community support and overcoming initial barriers
• Effective time management strategies for a busy life
• Advice for aspiring craft business owners, including starting small and embracing adaptability

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Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the Turn Down the Hustle podcast. Today I am welcomed by a very special guest, daiquiri. She is special to me and I think once you guys get to know her you're gonna realize she is also special to you. She is the business owner of Shielded Hearts and she started her unofficial business and kind of hobby journey roughly 13 years ago. It became official five years ago. So she's been doing this thing for quite a bit and she evolved from bottle cap necklaces if you guys have seen those super cute bottle cap necklaces to sewing onto vinyl and tees and more.

Speaker 2:

You're listening to Tear Down the Hustle, the podcast dedicated to transforming how you run your creative online t-shirt business by working smarter, not harder, so you can spend more time with your why, people and passions that matter most in your life. So throw on your favorite graphic tee and turn up the heat press because it's time to turn down the hustle. Here's your host digital marketer. Cold brew lover, t-shirt maker, freckled hype girl and owner of Sunkist Virtual Assistant, amy maker.

Speaker 1:

Freckled Hype Girl and owner of Sunkist Virtual Assistant Amy. So with that I'll turn it over to you.

Speaker 3:

Welcome, dacri, and why don't you introduce yourself for the audience? Thank you, I'm so excited to be here. So my name is Dacri and, as you said, I own Shielded Hearts. I've been doing this officially for about five years. I had two boys first and then I finally got that little girl. So I wanted to have all things pink bows, frilly, girly so it just started as a hobby making. I figured I could make those things rather than buy them. So that's how it started, and then it just has grown from those bottle cap necklaces to teas and tumblers and all kinds of fun accessories.

Speaker 1:

I can relate on that one where it turns into like wait, I think I can make that and that's pretty much how it started for me too, like I'm sure I could figure this thing out, and then back in the day we were just YouTube figuring it out A lot less resources than what we have today. Absolutely I love it. So let's get into. How did Shielded Hearts kind of start? So how did your journey into crafting and even sewing begin? Sewing I wish I had that skill. My mom has always said she'll teach me and I still have never learned. But how did you get into that?

Speaker 3:

I grew up in a family of crafters. My grandmother quilted, she crocheted, she knitted Barbie clothes for us. My mom was also pretty crafty, so I grew up around that. Then, like I said, I just thought oh, I can make this bottle cap necklace. It's just some hot glue and a little round image and a bottle cap and it just took off from there now?

Speaker 1:

do you still offer bottle cap or have you set that aside? No, I haven't done those in years, really, okay, and how old was your daughter when you started?

Speaker 3:

It was when she was born and she actually turned 14 today.

Speaker 1:

Oh, wow, so you have some celebrations to go celebrate. Wow, that is special timing. Yes, I was wondering if you had a little model. That's amazing. When I first started, I was doing tutus. Yes, we've all done the tutus, or 19. I think we should ask people have you made tutus before? And I need to find that was actually technically my first show I ever did 18, 19, but my niece was my model and like having them hanging up, they did not sell, but throw one of them things on a cute girl at the front and, oh, they sold yeah well with the sewing.

Speaker 3:

I can't read a pattern. I remember my grandmother, my mother, using those old like brown tissue paper butterick patterns and I could. I can't read those, my mind just doesn't work that way. So I just started doing elastic waistband skirts because you didn't need a pattern for that. Yes, yeah, I don't know how many of those I made. And then I found a pattern company that they had pictures with every step of the sewing pattern so, and they were mostly like rectangles and things like that. So it was very easy to do. So that was the only way I could sew with a pattern.

Speaker 1:

Well, and it's probably even better now. It's probably, like the step-by-step videos are combined, what you had to use. Oh, I'm sure I love it. So, going back into Shielded Hearts, so okay, so that's how you started crafting and sewing and then you moved into actually formulating Shielded Hearts as a business after so many years of being a crafter. Kind of walk us through that journey and what made you decide to actually make a business now.

Speaker 3:

So about, let's see 21. So about four years ago I went through a divorce, found myself a single mom of three living in Fort Lauderdale. Cost of living was outrageous. So I had been talking about moving to Tennessee. I have family here and I just finally came to a point where I, just, like, was living in survival mode all the time. So I took that leap of faith, packed up the U-Haul pods and moved to Tennessee. It was at that time that I thought I really need to make a go of this, I can do this and I have a great community around me for support. So I just I found myself at a crossroads and that was the time to do it.

Speaker 3:

I found myself at a crossroads, and that was the time to do it.

Speaker 1:

So I put I went all in, invested in myself and here I am. I love that and I can relate to that as well as far as like when a lot of us started our business. It's interesting because I think for a lot of us it wasn't like I was bored.

Speaker 1:

So, I dabbled in something. For some people it does become where you enjoy crafting and it turns into an expression. But for a lot of people it seems to be when you're almost trying to find a close to one chapter, and it's like when you're growing your business. It's also symbolic to like what you're growing in your personal life too.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely.

Speaker 1:

I can relate to that too. I started my shirt business when I was going through a really tough time and I realized that I didn't have time to sulk because I had orders or I had, or my passion was also fueling and making me happy again. I think that's beautiful and I'm sorry to hear about all those troubles you went through, but I'm thankful for what you created out of it Beautiful for sure.

Speaker 3:

I believe, I'm a firm believer in everything happens for a reason and that we are put on paths for a reason and we just have to have that faith to follow those I completely agree, and the sooner we can find why is this happening?

Speaker 1:

it seems to be that it's not closed doors anymore, it's open doors, exactly. It's beautiful. I love that. So going into shielded heart, so one, how did you come up with that name?

Speaker 3:

So when I originally started this, the name was DL Designs. I remember that. Yes, I remember that. Okay, but I felt like, because I was starting over, I needed to rebrand and get rid of the L? Ah. So the shielded heart comes from my children and my faith. My oldest son works in law enforcement. I have another son who is serving he's active duty in the army, so that is where the shielded part comes from. And then my daughter she is an epilepsy warrior, so that's where the heart comes from why did I never know this?

Speaker 1:

I need to ask more people about their business name. It says so much that is beautiful, yeah, and so, within shielded hearts, some of the values that you have in Shielded Hearts as far as, like I know, you mentioned protection, strength, love, influence some of your business ethos. Walk me through, starting with protection. What does protection mean to you and your business?

Speaker 3:

I understand the feeling of wanting to be protected and protecting my children physically, to be protected and protecting my children physically, emotionally and spiritually. So I feel like my brand shows that and that we are covered by faith and resilience.

Speaker 1:

Wonderful, and then that leads into the strength.

Speaker 3:

So you went into the strength a little bit, but tell me more about the strength in your business, the strength military families. You got to have a lot of strength to be a military family, and it's not just for the service member, it's also for the parents and siblings and things like that. Strength is not just about endurance, it's about rising, rebuilding, rebranding. I think people think of strength as strong muscles, but it's not always that the love. I love people. I don't call my customers, I call them friends, family and I want people to feel loved when they get a product from me.

Speaker 1:

And I'm sure they do, and that goes into the last part, love.

Speaker 3:

I just. It comes from the love for my family, my community that is around me with my business and just. I am loved. So Shielded Hearts is not just about clothing for me.

Speaker 1:

And that's definitely evident. I have no doubt that your friends feel that the same. I love that, okay. So your kids are the foundation of your business, but you're not just a mom or just a business owner. So you juggle quite a bit of things. So let's shift gears a little bit into balance, because that is a big thing for a small business owner. Some of us are working nine to fives, some of us are working nine to five inside the house, or I guess you could say 24 seven for those that are stay at home moms. There's a lot to it. So how do you manage running a business while you're also working full time in law enforcement yourself, in raising three children?

Speaker 3:

Giving myself grace, that is, there are only so many hours in a day and I would stress and I remember nights and tears because I couldn't get this done, I couldn't figure this out. Stress and I remember nights and tears because I couldn't get this done, I couldn't figure this out. So just giving myself that grace that hey, if I don't get it done today, it's going to be there tomorrow and if it's not done tomorrow, it's going to be there the next day. I know that to five. I am employee and I just I have to manage my time very well. We're very active in our church, my daughter plays volleyball, my business, so it just I have to be very good at time management and prioritizing what has to get done, and if it doesn't have to get done it's okay.

Speaker 3:

If it doesn't, exactly, no one else knows but me, right?

Speaker 1:

exactly like it's okay. If it doesn't Exactly, no one else knows but me Right, exactly Like it's okay to let it go. And I'm going to butcher this quote. But they say that your task expands to the amount of time that you give it. So it's amazing how, when you only have truly an hour to work on something, you were like lightning speed, right, but then you have like 10 hours, maybe a full day, maybe you're working on a weekend and you get nothing done, or all of a sudden you have all of this stuff to get done your tasks expand to the time you give it. So, with that time management you talked about, are there any tools you use or how do you stay on?

Speaker 3:

track. Time blocking is a lifesaver. Yes, I took one of your courses that talked about priority blocking and that has been an absolute lifesaver. And I found it really funny how, like things come back around because a leadership class that I'm taking, they did a whole segment on time blocking. That's cool, yeah. So I was like, oh wait, I've heard this before. I know how to do this because I do it. So I just I take every day three of my top priorities that have to get done, that are not negotiable, and those go onto my calendar first and I make sure I schedule. As bad as it sounds, I schedule family time Like I don't work on Sundays, that is, that whole day is blocked off for just family and not work. But that has been a game changer for me. I think I posted today on something that my business was running me.

Speaker 1:

I wasn't running my business, but with the time blocking, I blocking, I run it heck, yeah, yeah, and I don't think it's bad at all that you schedule family time, because we schedule what is a priority to us. There's been those demonstrations about like the jar you've maybe seen it, I think I've even learned about it in church but like where you fill the jar with rocks or if you stuff it the wrong way, yeah, when you prioritize incorrectly and then the sand and the water, it doesn't fit. But when you put the rocks in first and then you put it, you can make it work. And so that's why I love those three main priorities and I love that you've identified. I'm going to, instead of doing three, maybe all for your business, because that can happen and then things fall off. No-transcript exactly so okay.

Speaker 1:

So it sounds like you've got this thing down. So you've not only been making things for years over a decade now you've been in business for roughly five officially. I have no doubt there's been some challenges that you faced during this time. Can you tell us more about what obstacles you've encountered transitioning when you moved Shielded Hearts into a business, and how did you overcome those?

Speaker 3:

Definitely the time management was huge. Throwing things at the wall and seeing that they stick just didn't work. That was huge. And just learning. There is so much to learn and things seem to change daily with this, whether it's trends or vendors, or now everybody's doing this type of product and not everybody's real willing to help you when you say, hey, where did you get that screen print from? And they don't want to tell you. So I really had to do my research and learn. I've watched a lot of YouTube videos, watched a lot of TikToks, trying to figure some stuff out and really just asking for help. I'm not usually one to ask for help, I'll just figure it out, but I've had to learn to do that Really. Building a community has helped tremendously with some of those challenges.

Speaker 1:

And I can speak for Sanadly. I've loved having you in our community, for sure. But yeah, I agree, if you do it together or you find your group of people and business ownership, it can feel very isolating and lonely at times. So a lot of things I'm sure you share a lot with your friends and your Facebook group, but there's some things that you don't share, maybe due to it's not maybe appropriate for them to know, or there's other struggles you're going through, whether it's on a business level or personal or professional. But yeah, having that close-knit community, I think, really makes a difference. It does To grow. And so, over the the years, how have you seen shielded hearts grow and evolve? Has there been anything specific that has enabled some of your growth?

Speaker 3:

I definitely put myself out there more. I've learned you can't just sit behind a keyboard and just make random posts here or there and hope that someone's going to see your post from two weeks ago that you had this t-shirt for sale I wish I could have you repeat that again for every like everyone.

Speaker 1:

If you could just hear that again. If you learn nothing else from this episode or gleam nothing else, just listen to what she said again.

Speaker 3:

Just one more time cannot post once every couple weeks and see you're gonna get something consistency. I may go months with no orders, but I am still posting every single day on TikTok, instagram, facebook, snapchat, like I cover all of them, but you never know when that one is gonna stick. I've. I had a huge order last year which was monumental for me. I got asked to do shirt the spirit shirts for my daughter's middle school, so that was about a 250 shirt order. Like I have arrived yes, so last year.

Speaker 1:

So what was that three or four years in? Yeah, like you said, it finally was like all right, that's the one, and that one turns into 250 it did and I put myself.

Speaker 3:

I was I'm on the pto board, okay, so like I put myself in the situation where there was potential, when they asked about spirit shirts, I said, oh hey, over here I can do them. Yeah, I pressed all of those shirts by myself.

Speaker 1:

I can relate to that. I think, and you could probably relate to this when you're at work, there's been a few times where, like opportunities have definitely come up and I don't raise my hand and it is somebody else, a coworker. It's like wait, amy, can't you do that? So I'm like crunch yeah, I made stickers. So, but I love that for you, that you found the opportunity and you put yourself there, and it wasn't day one. You showed up that you probably made that opportunity. That was time invested, getting to know and putting yourself in the right place. But being not only able to be there for your daughter, but also being in the right place, right time. I love that. Best of both worlds. Yes for sure. Okay, let's. You've talked about community quite a bit. Let's wrap up some of the episode talking more about community. So, for you specifically, how has some of the community support you've received, and then also networking with other businesses, helped your business? So you talked about how it was lacking when you first started. How has that maybe changed for you?

Speaker 3:

Definitely. When I first started, other business owners were not so willing to share the information, Like if I would ask, well, where do you get that particular supply? I've been told to go figure it out. But now I'm very blessed and fortunate that I have landed in a community that is so supportive, Other business owners and like our pods that we have and like our pods that we have those the benefits that you get from that is astounding and it just it's so weird to me because we're all selling the same things. A lot of us are, but we can still support each other.

Speaker 3:

And oh hey, I found this, really this new DTF vendor that you ought to check, to check them out. They're really good. Like there's not that gatekeeping. Like I need all the t-shirts sales to myself. There is enough for everybody out there. And I'm just I'm so grateful that I have stumbled. I don't even remember how I found, found you and Brittany, but like it was, it has changed everything for me. I don't feel like I'm spinning my wheels all the time. I feel like a real business owner because it's working. We're not meant to do life alone. I hear that all the time at church and they talk about communities and things like that, and it applies to business. We need that support and those friends and people that will be honest with us and support us and do like us.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. And I think that's what you found in your pod, so shout out to your poddies, yeah, once they hear this episode. That's amazing. And it's amazing whenever you can take some of those conversations more privately. I've experienced that too, getting like more close knit. I found like three to five is usually enough that way, three is the minimum, because if somebody's having an off day, at least you have somebody else that could maybe give some feedback.

Speaker 1:

Once you start getting above five, six, now you're having too many conflicting ideas and it's overwhelming. On which direction do I go?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it loses, I think, some of that personalization that you get, because you do build relationships. And I still even talk to my the pods we had before this one. We still have our group chat and we still I mean, it's not real often, but we still chat in there and say, hey, did you see this? And so you do build relationships with people. Yeah, and those are important relationships.

Speaker 1:

I love it. So last question to you, then, would be what advice would you give someone starting their own crafting or sewing business? If they were starting today, what advice would you give?

Speaker 3:

Start small and do it with something that you love. I get just as excited today to see an email that says I got an order as I did the very first order. Like I am always, it is a party in here when I get that email that I have an order. Give yourself grace. There's no, like you said, about going fast and just make sure you have surrounded yourself with community that will support you and love you and help you and be honest with you and just to really take in all those ideas and suggestions from your community. That is so valuable valuable at least it was for me, and I hear you say this all the time is pivot. You've got to be flexible and be willing to pivot and change. If something's not working, you've got to move and do something different and find something that is working. And if it's not working, six months down the road we pivot again and just to take that chance on yourself.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I wish you had that advice when you're first starting, but then you wouldn't be who you are today. That's right.

Speaker 1:

Wonderful. I am grateful for the journey, absolutely so. Yeah, so you went from starting unofficially 13 years ago to now official bottle cap, necklaces to sewing and now T-shirts to 250 shirt orders. It's just amazing. And then, in a community where others do look up to you and your optimism, for sure the community could always use more of that all the time. So if you guys want to see if you can get some of your hands on some of Shielded Hearts goods, you can check out the show notes. I'm going to have her website listed there If you want to punch it in now. It's shieldedheartsclothingcocom. She is also on IG and TikTok, like she mentioned. I'll drop those in the show notes below. So make sure you go give Daiquiri a follow or even check out her website and support her small business. Well, daquiri, I just want to say thank you so much for being a guest on the podcast. Interviews like this really refuel me and recharge me. It's just so exciting to hear stories like yours. It is extremely encouraging.

Speaker 3:

Thank you. I am so grateful for this community that you have built and continue to pour into.

Speaker 1:

I say all the time, but it's you guys, I'm literally just the owner of the group, right, you guys make it the community. Well, thank you so much, zachary, thank you.

People on this episode

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Amy

Host
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Dakri Marchelle Lukowski

Guest