Welcome to Business of Craft, a show designed to help entrepreneurs with fabric or fiber businesses become more successful.
This is our 8th season of BOC and today we have another solocast to cover one of the topics in our new book, Marketing Magic for Savvy Craft Businesses. I’m super proud of this book which my whole team wrote in 2025. The book is available for sale in Kindle and print version (and soon to be audio) on our website or Amazon.
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Hi friends, Leanne here — and today we’re talking about one of the most powerful, overlooked tools in your entire marketing toolkit: your brand story.
Now, I know “storytelling” gets thrown around a lot these days. But while that’s important— really important- branding is more than an engaging paragraph on your About page or slapping a fun tagline on your packaging.
Crafting your brand narrative is about building a relationship with your customer. It’s about connecting who you are to why you exist — and why they should care.
And the best part? You already have the story.
You just may not have shaped it for impact… yet.
Here’s why this matters:
Your products aren’t always what people are buying. They’re buying the emotion behind the product.
The values you stand for. The journey you’ve taken to get here.
I just got back from Bernina University in Utah and we had a booth there, and I have to tell you one of the highlights of that show is when I get the opportunity to talk to businesses about their origin story. In the sewing world, those stories are just so entertaining for me.
For example, one of our clients Scott Perry and Alyssa McDonnel from Aurora Sewing center -located where I grew up in Western NY about how they grew up in the quilt shop their mother owned, what a prominent figure she was in the industry for 45 years. She was such a pioneer in quilting and created a strong brand during her tenure. As adults, they weren’t sure they wanted the business but then after she passed, they quit their other jobs to take over the business. Now it’s just absolutely thriving and they just opened a new location in Victor, NY.
Or, one of my other favorites is Richard Borget from Dave’s Bernina in Utah. When he first became a client, he recalled the story of how his father was a door to door salesman and as a kid, he and his brother would join along on those trips selling sewing machines to housewives… Can you imagine that? Selling a sewing machine DOOR TO DOOR? I just LOVE that visual. He just posted this amazing photo on his blog of his parents visiting the Bernina factory 60 years ago. He also recently went to Switzerland to visit the factory so the legacy continues. And you know what, Richard is consistently one of the highest ranking retailers for Bernina– it’s literally in his genetics to sell those machines!
So, we want you to refine YOUR brand narrative. What’s your unique story that nobody else has in your competitive landscape? In the book, we ask some essential questions that help shape a strong brand narrative.
Let me walk you through a few of my favorites — and feel free to jot these down if you’re somewhere you can pause:
Why did you start this business?
What moment changed everything for you?
What problem are you really solving for your customer?
How do your values show up in your work?
When you can answer these, you start to build a story that’s authentic. And authenticity is what earns trust.
Here’s a little origin story of my own:
When I started Stitchcraft Marketing, I didn’t set out to build an agency. I just wanted to help people — creative, talented, overwhelmed people — market their craft businesses better. I started with newsletters and Facebook tips. The clients came because they needed help. But they stayed because they saw that I genuinely cared about this industry and helped them solve real problems. That I’m a maker too. That my team is made up of passionate crafters who live and breathe this stuff. That’s our story. And we tell it in every piece of content we produce. We’re forward thinking with fresh, vibrant ideas so our logo is modern, our colors are bright and stimulating.
Your story doesn’t have to be dramatic. It just has to be true — and relevant to your customer.
Here’s the structure we often use with clients:
The Beginning – What inspired you to start your business?
The Struggle – What challenge or insight led to a turning point?
The Mission – What do you stand for now?
The Customer’s Role – How do they fit into your story?
One important tip I want to share when you’re thinking about telling your brand story:
Don’t make you the hero or heroine.
Make your customer the hero. You’re the guide. You’re the mentor, the expert, the one offering tools and solutions for their journey.
Let’s say you run a natural dye company. Instead of “We make small-batch yarns with eco-friendly ingredients,” try:
“Every stitch tells a story. We help modern makers dye with purpose and create heirlooms with heart.”
See the shift? Now it’s about them, but it still reflects you.
Once you really have nailed down your brand story, then you move on to the work of making sure it’s conveyed in every aspect of your business. That’s where it’s important to get it right with your logo and your brand colors. If your shop is about vibrant modern quilting, then your logo better not be a cutesy play on words with traditional fonts and muted colors.
Your brand needs to be reflected in your about us page, your social channels, your templates, photography, marketing materials and your in store experience. We cover all these sections in detail in the book.
Before we close, here’s your mini action step for the week:
👉 I want to keep you accountable to your marketing journey so Here is your homework until we publish the next podcast (which is in about 2 weeks)
Write your origin story in 3 paragraphs.
Then revise it using this lens: “What does my customer need to hear from me to feel connected, inspired, and understood?”
In the book we also have a list of characteristics and attributes you can use to define your brand, go through those and choose the top 5 that describe your business.
Also feel free to lean on your trusted advisors to guide you through this exercise. Your employees, partners, siblings and spouses probably have a good sense of your business brand and what you stand for so ask them too.
OK, until next time, this is Leanne Pressly signing off. Stay crafty everyone.