005 | Balancing a manufacturing business & retail store with Sara McNally, Constellation & Co.

Sara McNally is the owner of Constellation & Co., a letterpress studio and retail shop based in Seattle. She attended Paper Camp in 2013 prior to jumping into wholesale and doing her first trade show.

On today’s episode Sara talks about juggling a manufacturing business and retail shop, utilizing interns and falling in love with letterpress.

ON TODAY’S EPISODE:

From design school to Constellation & Co.
Falling in love with letterpress and following a dream.
Jumping into wholesale, moving away from custom work.
Product development & adding new product categories.
How running a retail shop has changed the way she manufactures products
Starting the Constellation & Co retail shop
Managing a manufacturing business & retail shop in tandem
Roles & responsibilities of the Constellation & Co staff.
Hiring for family help helps the business too.
Utilizing interns
Using the interview & application to hone in on the right candidates
Don’t get in over your head with inventory.
Focusing on the higher level, revenue generating projects and hiring for the rest.

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KEY TAKE-AWAYS

“I’m too passionate and I’m too driven to allow someone else to burn me out at 23” – Sara McNally

“I just feel really grateful, that there were buyers that invested in me, when I had no idea what I was doing.” – Sara McNally

“Like everything else that I’ve done in my business, my shop has been a learning experience and a little bit of kismet.” – Sara McNally

“I’m a big fan of delegating, whether it’s for your personal life, or your business life or culmination of the two.” – Katie Hunt

“We always need to be professional, because this is a business but also realize that life happens.” – Katie Hunt

“You can’t teach passion, you can’t teach business acumen but you can teach technical skills.” – Katie Hunt

“Don’t get yourself in over your head with that overhead” – Sara McNally

CONNECT WITH SARA MCNALLY

Website: constellationco.com | Facebook: @constellationco | Instagram: @constellationco | Pinterest: @constellationco | Twitter: @constellationco

Connect with Katie Hunt

Katie Hunt is a business strategist, podcaster, mentor and mama to four. She helps product based businesses build profitable, sustainable companies through her conferences, courses and coaching programs.

Website: prooftoproduct.com | Instagram: @prooftoproduct