Check Out Crystal Tucker’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Tucker.

Hi Crystal, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
My name is Crystal & I’m the owner of our brand, Tucked & Threaded! My husband, Jim, and I had a wild idea at the end of 2015 to teach ourselves to screen print graphic tees for kids! I had just gone PRN (working when I wanted) with my hospice job as an RN so I had a little extra time on my hands… or I thought I did.

Jim ordered equipment for me for Christmas & we spent weeks learning how to do this foreign task in our kitchen with a toddler running around. January 2016 was quite busy for us! We launched our Etsy store with a small collection of tees for children + ladies & found out we were pregnant with our Gia. I continued to work quite a bit at my nursing job for a couple of years to pay for these expensive kids, but now I only work every month or two thanks to being so busy with our business. (My husband works full-time at his family business, but gosh, he does so much for our business!!!).

For three years, we did everything in our kitchen (and living room + master closet) until I decided to turn my husband’s shop into my she-shed!!  It’s been such a blessing to separate business + home (even though the lines are very blurred, but that’s how I like it)!!

In all these years, we have printed thousands of tees, met soooo many wonderful friends + customers, gotten to give back to organizations and families, create, laugh, cry, & serve you in so many ways. Because so many sweet, generous, understanding people support us, I have been able to never dread working and always be around when my family needs me.

We employ our cousin Matti Sellers and she’s been with us for almost 3 years as of January 22nd!! (We like to do all the things in January) She handles all of the shipping, orders, & organization here!! She’s also been one of our models since day 1!! I don’t know what I’d do without her! We also work with numerous other artists + small businesses to bring you handmade, unique items.

We usually release MAKERS collections once a month on our website. My friend, Angelique, has hand-drawn a crazy amount of designs for us over the years & she is so so talented. Our models have always just been so so good to us and we love each and every person who helps us out by modeling!! They all do this for free just because they love us & that makes my heart burst!!

2020 brought lots of changes our way, but mostly for the better!! I began to outsource a lot of our printing to a local screen printing company, Southland Graphics, & I adore them!!!! The quality prints they provide are just what I want for our customers & how they treat me & boost me up truly helps my mindset & my business so much. We have worked with Carrie Ellen Photography and Maddy Jayne Photo + Film for several years and we hope you’ll give them both a follow. They mean the world to me and have become some of my closest friends. Nothing like friends you can laugh, hustle + brainstorm with!!!!

We have super fun she-shed shopping events here in Greenfield, TN usually once a month. We also participate in vendor events all over & those are always so amazing! You can find all of our items online or in boutiques. Our Instagram highlights show our retail partners across the U.S. I feel so blessed each time someone orders our little brand to be on the floors of their boutiques along with brands I love!! It’s a cool feeling walking into a store and seeing your work!! I will always be grateful for those boutique owners + teams.

Tucked & Threaded has plans to continue to grow as a team, grow into more boutiques, and grow our product lines. We look forward to all the fun ahead and couldn’t be more thankful that people love T+T!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Balancing motherhood, my nursing job, & running a business in the first few years was really exhausting. Over time & having our business separate from our home & now in our she-shed, managing that balance has improved. And now, we have growing pains of really tweaking our strategy for growth and managing all the social media and marketing.

That’s not always something that comes easily to this nurse!! I’m just thankful I have people who help in all ways.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Our brand really created some waves after sharing about the beginning of business ups and downs and in 2017 when we created our first area code design on apparel. Everyone loved anything with our area code!! We branched out to several other area codes across the state and surrounding states.

I’m so thankful a friend recommended this design as it truly helped us gain traction and growth. I have never considered myself artistic…may be creative, but not artistic. I’ve taught myself basic graphic design skills and utilized this to the best of my ability for designs. We then worked with a local friend & artist to create hand-drawn original designs and, again, people showed so much love for her work. We now work with a local graphic designer to make the ideas in my head come to life.

I have always promoted other businesses + makers that we work with and the people who help run our business. I think this makes people feel like even if they don’t have a certain skill for a dream, it’s okay if you surround yourself with the best people who will help you!!!

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
My advice for someone young in business or thinking of creating a business is to really take some time to brainstorm. You don’t have to know it all, but try to get your ducks in a row a little better than we did! This may look like learning about marketing from basic YouTube videos or a class at a local college or community center.

Pop-up events and brainstorming groups help you meet people in the same realm of creating and business life and this is crucial. If I wouldn’t have met some of the people I have met at vendor events, wholesale shows, and social media, I wouldn’t have a clue about certain things.

Mingling with other business owners & helping others in any way will get you further than anything!!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: TuckedAndThreaded.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/TuckedAndThreaded
• Facebook: Facebook.com/TuckedAndThreaded

Image Credits
Carrie Ellen Photography