Meet Daniel Steigman

We were lucky to catch up with Daniel Steigman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Daniel with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

I have always worked. As an 8 year old, I was mowing lawns at my grandparent’s care facility. I was always tinkering, trying to make something new. I was given a chemistry set when I was around 10 years old. I was a mad scientist! I blew up more stuff. The chemistry sets back then were in no way safe. There were enough chemicals in those things to kill you in 200 different ways. I even followed the directions sometimes, maybe.

Truthfully, I had very hard working parents. My was father was a teacher / administrator and my mother operated our Guest Home for the elderly. I got to meet Tennessee Ernie Ford and Shirley Temple Black through that. It was hard on our family. My father left early in the morning and didn’t get home until after 7pm and my mother was the nightshift at the guest home many times and the only way to see her was to stay overnight with her when she was on shift.

Everyone around me worked, went to higher education or the military. The Vietnam war was still raging but I was too young to be a part of that. Times were scary and I found myself burying myself in school and odd jobs to keep from being overwhelmed. The best part, my brother’s 69 Plymouth Roadrunner!

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My life consists of working. I work at my store and my local church. I could easily close the store but then what would I do? I like fixing things. I like meeting the needs of the people who come in. I love a challenge and when someone tells me I can’t do a thing, well. then I have to try a bit harder to find out if they are correct or not.

There is a third part to my life. My wife and I have spent the last 50 years raising special needs children. We have 4 left at our home now. These kids were drug exposed infants, born into horrible circumstances, that were removed from their birth families. I so remember the many days and nights of pain those children endured as they went through withdrawals. I was a teacher early on, and one of the babies would only sleep on my chest at night, was wired to all sorts of heart and breathing monitors, and many times during the night, I would have to pound on her little back to get her to breathe and her heart to beat. Then I went to work the next day in a slum school with terrible conditions and many more broken kids.

I believe all of that has set my current work ethic. I help everyone I can, to the best of my ability, so that they do not have to suffer. The “young women” (they are all young from 2 to 100 or more), that come into my shop and bring their broken sewing machines are just as much in pain as a person who is dreading the loss of a pet. For many, their machines are their escape, their exercise, their hobby, their core group, and more. That is why I will usually put aside whatever I might be doing and make them my highest priority. I triage the machine and either fix the simple issue immediately and return it at no cost or just the cost of the parts used, (I never charge for used parts in my stash that I have removed from worn out machines). I send them away with their “baby” and they smile all the way out to their car. Do some take advantage? Sure. But more often than not, they are relieved and go to sew another day.

It is removing the worry from the lives of others, showing them a bit of small town kindness, that makes working a pleasure for me. I know that I won’t get rich in my store. It is too small and in too small of an area but it is a place of safety and security for those who need us.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Without question, in my life, the needs to tinker, to understand, and to create were the driving force towards what I consider success. I have always loved seeing what makes things tick. As a teacher, I spent much time seeking out how to reach the students who were failing. As a pastor, I spent much time trying to help those who were caught up in their addictions to find a way of escape and a new life outside of them. As a store owner, I have spent years obtaining training for the areas I was weak in. Never be so arrogant as to think there is nothing more to learn. Seek out advice, look for those you can train up, accept help.

I am currently attempting to obtain a couple, hopefully disabled or retired Veterans, who I can train how to do the work I do here in my store. Due to our size, I can’t pay them but I can offer them a percentage of the shop each year for their efforts, leading towards their ownership within 4 years. My shop is debt free, except for one embroidery machine, has a growing income, and is now past the 5-year mark, in spite of Covid-19. I am seeking a couple who are financially stable so that their personal needs are met while they train. Until the permanent takeover, I will be the responsible party and when the time comes, what is here is theirs. Small businesses like mine can do things like this and we have a legacy we hope to fulfill.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

We are coming up on our lease renewal in October 2025. This is an issue for a few reasons. When I signed the original lease, I didn’t see the clause for, “maintenance, repair and replacement” of the heating and air conditioning unit. I can’t blame anyone else for that. I couldn’t afford an attorney and I was in a hurry. Covid-19 was boiling and I was suddenly hit with massive amounts of machine repair work so people could make masks. Unfortunately for me, this year when it was 111 degrees for many days, the A/C unit failed. I didn’t know, at first, that I was responsible for the repairs. The unit was already 12 years old and I believed it should be changed out and should be the responsibility of the owner of the property. Imagine my shock when they sent me a copy of the lease that showed I was responsible! I immediately told the owner’s representative that, “If I have to pay for a new unit, I will start bankruptcy proceedings right now.” I wasn’t trying to be rude, I simple didn’t have the money to put $25,000 on the roof of the building. My shop pays for itself, but I don’t make any money to take out of the shop yet.

The story goes on. I was able to find a contractor who could repair the unit for $2700 and the owner paid the bill. I am being charged for 13 months the cost of that charge. However, everyone has stated the unit will not last. They project it will only go 1 – 3 more years and then it will have to be replaced. I will never have $25,000 to put on the building’s roof. I have made the Owner aware of this and am awaiting a proposed new lease. If it is not changed, and they won’t change it, I will either need to move or close. Also, I have to consider my age. At that time I will be 70 years old. In our day and age, there are many people that age still working. My eye doctor is 86! However, although I have much to still offer, I get tired doing this business mostly by myself. I go home and drop. That is not how I want to spend the rest of my work life. That is why I am seeking a younger couple I can apprentice and then turn the store over to. Working together, they get $200,000 worth of inventory, machinery and goods and I get to pass on my skills and still meet a need in my town.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stitchescv.com www.stitchescv.store
• Instagram: stitchescv
• Facebook: stitchescv