We were lucky to catch up with Megan Sundquist recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Megan, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
My optimism comes from within and is inspired by nature. I often find myself drawn close to nature in times of despair or confusion. I go on long walks and hikes and reflect during these times. The beauty of the world and the peace that I find in the naturally occurring masterpiece that is nature inspires me to take on new perspectives. This is why most of my tie dye designs are reflections of nature- ocean waves, palm trees, flowers, butterflies, the moon and stars, etc. They help me to see life in color again when my spirit is feeling dark.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I make pre made and customized hand dyed and at times hand sewn apparel and accessories in baby- adult sizes. My techniques include traditional tie dye, but focus on a self created technique that produces a more controlled design. My designs are inspired by nature and the positive perspective that I draw from it is reflected in the vibrancy of the colors that I incorporate.
I think it is important to have clothing that reflects our uniqueness as individuals and that can set a positive and playful tone for our day and I find joy in sharing my interpretation of this concept.
I sell my creations at festivals and pop-up events on the weekends as well as in store in historic olde town Conyers in a store called Boho Jo who I have a partnership with. My brand has also been on set as an extra in Hulu movie Idea of You.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three skills/qualities that were most impactful on my journey would be being open-minded, being willing to learn, and being able to pivot.
Being open minded served me and continues to serve me very well because things do not always go how you may want them to or how you plan for them to go and you have to be able to open your mind to other ways of achieving your goals or changing your goals all together.
You must be willing to learn how to do the things that you do not know how to do. This means you also have to be okay with failing. You may not succeed the first time, but that is why you have to be open to the learning process. The more chances you allow yourself to learn from your failures, the more knowledge you can acquire over time. Learning how to do things that do not come naturally to me such as building a website were very challenging for me but allowed me to bootstrap my business in an affordable way.
I also have to constantly be in a mindset of learning what is working and what is not working with regard to my garment construction, the design process, as well as the selling channels that have and have not been successful for me.
Being able to pivot has been an incredible quality for me to adopt in the process of figuring out how to grow my business and connect people to my art.
Sometimes with events for example, it rains, and there is nothing we can do to stop the rain from coming. So I had to learn that instead of being disappointed that my weekend that I have spent all week preparing and creating for is now gone, I have to simply reimagine it. I have to find other ways to connect my creations with consumers when this happens. This is when I go to the Store in Conyers and personally talk to Boho Jo customers about my designs and assist them in finding their perfect pieces. This is when I reach out to my wholesale businesses about if they need anymore merchandise made for their shops. This is when I run online sales, create promotional material, and get ahead on creating for the future.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
The most influential book in my development as a person, an artist, and businesswoman is “You are a Badass” by Jen Sincero.
This book has been instrumental in teaching me how to embrace who I am as a person and understand how to believe in myself and therefore my art.
This is where my art began- as an outlet to expressing myself once I connected with my identity and learned to live loudly. I realized I had all of this creativity and love that wanted to pour out of me in the form of art and the colors gave my soul a voice.
The book focuses on the idea of manifestation and how we can stop limiting ourself through our beliefs, how we got to these beliefs, and how to consider whether or not they are serving us and the life that we desire.
Once I grasped this I wanted to strive to create the life that I truly wanted and made it my goal to have my tie dye business be my primary form of income out of college, and that is what I did.
I have now been a clothing designer and entrepreneur since graduating from UGA in 2021.
Some of my favorite quotes from the book are as follows:
“The only failure is quitting. Everything else is just gathering information”.
“Our thoughts become our words, our words become our beliefs, our beliefs become our actions, our actions become our habits, and our habits become our realities”
“So often we pretend we’ve made a decision, ,when what we’ve really done is signed up to try until it gets too uncomfortable.”
“We only get to be in our bodies for a limited time, why not celebrate the journey instead of merely riding it out until it’s over?”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/hippiecomfort
- Instagram: @hippie.comfort
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hippiecomfort
- Other: www.hippiecomfort.com
tik tok: Hippie Comfort
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