Conversations with Brittany Barnes

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Barnes.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
RedBluej started in November of 2016. After the birth of my 3rd child, I was, for the first time in my life, unemployed and learning how to be an at-home mother and wife. 

The thought of using a sewing machine had come to me before, my grandmother Dora Horton was my initial inspiration for learning how to use a sewing machine. But that is not where my story began. Redbluej started as a gift to my husband Jackie for his birthday in Sept. of 2016. Redbluej began as a tied blanket business. The 1st few months of Redbluej were tiring months of cutting tons of 3-inch slits in flannel and tying numerous double knots over and over again. By 2017, I wanted to crack open the sewing machine. It had been sitting in the corner for months staring at me. 

I finally pulled the plug one day and pulled it out of the box. I began watching tons of videos on YouTube and purchased my 1st batch of fabric and thread from my local Walmart. It took me over an hour to figure out how to use the auto threader but once I got it threaded that was the birth of Redbluej Handmade. I started with the name with comes from the 2 birds that played a joyous role in my own rainbow babies’ pregnancies. The Cardinal and a Blue Jay Bird. The Cardinal would line the fences during our walks in the park and later sat at my feet while I stood in labor pain on Labor Day with our daughter. 

The Bluejay chirped in every tree after the birth of our 2nd son Jaxon. Next came my passion for babies and quality baby goods. I remember with each pregnancy I was blinded by the need to have a theme for each child. I would google the theme and the usual suspect would always pop up, ETSY. I loved Etsy but not the prices and not having to purchase different items from different vendors to build a set. That was the thing I was passionate about when it came to Redbluej. Accessibility, pricing, and one-stop shop. 

Hence the tagline for Redbluej was born “Affordable and Adorable”. Redbluej started as bibs and burp cloths and eventually grew to Bibs, Burp Cloths, Pacifier Clips, Minky Blankets, Swaddles, Car seat Covers, and the list goes on. About 2 years into my business the need for bows became… Overwhelming. Everyone wanted Bows. So, the bow business began, and from the bows there came resin art, bling and as we stand today my business is a full one-stop shop for many moms for children and themselves. 

The little desk in my living room corner is now a craft room in my home. I tell everyone you have to start somewhere even if it’s at the kitchen table. My love for art and knack for creativity has become a great source of income for my family, has improved my mental health, and has kept me innovative year after year. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It did not start smoothly. There were plenty of days when I couldn’t decide if I wanted to keep going or quit. What I pride myself on now is helping others over the humps that kept me up at night. 7 years ago, there was no one there to teach me how to ship, package, price, or manage a social media profile. Things were bumpy because I had no mentor, and I had no one to teach me the ways of running a small business. So, I learned everything the hard and long way. I went into the post office every other day and shipped items at full price for over a year. 

I stewed over captions and pictures to the point I would just post anything. While it all worked out it was painful to go through with no one to mentor me on how to do it more efficiently. Personal challenges included being a mother and a wife. While I wished I could sew and create all day long I had to stop here and there for bottles, lunches, park runs, store runs, etc. There were never enough hours in the day to complete the things I had on my agenda each day. Orders would have to hit the back burner on some days and weeks when a child was sick, I couldn’t think about making it to my craft space. The challenge of being a full-time wife and full-time mom is something I think most mothers understand. 

There are only 24 hours in the day and the only way I was able to smooth out that challenge was to learn time management. Once I was able to figure out my 24hrs it made my business run so much more smoothly. Along with my time management came funding my work. In all honesty, I would still do all these things even if I had not one sale. This is the thing that brings me joy. This is the thing I am deeply passionate about money for me isn’t the driving force behind Redbluej, it’s something that realistically has to be there but without it, I would still press forward. It took some time to figure out my pricing because being affordable and adorable means that people need to be able to afford the items. 

The challenge wasn’t being affordable! It was that most people didn’t know my prices were affordable because… Being a local handmade shop means WE GET A DISCOUNT, WE GET TO HAGGLE, WE NEGOTIATE WITH YOU and the best one is WE PAY WHEN WE ARE READY TO GET OUR STUFF. I learned in the 1st six months that I had to set rules and policies for my business. I didn’t know where to find those, so I made them as I went along as well. It’s been 7 years and there are still bumps in the road, but I realize all successful businesses have bumps in the road, so we keep pushing forward.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a self-taught seamstress. I specialize in baby goods and hair bows. I sew and hand-make all the baby items in my shop which include but are not limited to bibs, burp cloths, pacifier clips, car seat covers, minky blankets and so much more. I also create some of the cutest hand-tied hair bows and hair accessories. Along with my baby side of things I create numerous resin pieces like badge reels, hair clips, earrings, magnets, and keychains. 

My most recent love would be blinged items such as pens, tumblers, luggage tags, and much more. My specialty would be custom baby bundles. Creating a baby bundle is a process that starts with each customer presenting a theme/color palette to create a baby goods order. Once I receive the theme, I then present the customer with several fabric swatches to choose from. After the customer has chosen a print, we begin the process of creating a baby bundle. All bundles are a la carte so customers can create a bundle that is budget-friendly for their needs. Being able to provide customers with a one-stop shop with their budget in mind is top-tier customer service. 

What sets me apart from others is that the items I create bring me joy. Not only do I get to experience the joy and love from the mothers-to-be/gifters, but I also experience joy throughout the entire process. The love I put into my orders is pure because its purpose is fulfilling. The ideas I have come up with over the years have been heavily researched and loved. I pride myself on not being a cookie-cutter business so that every order is created as something unique for its recipient. 

I also pride myself on having the best customer service. Something my father and late grandfather Ben Brown instilled in me is ethics and morals. 

Everything from handwriting to how you treat customers is important. Lessons they both taught me from birth to even now I have been able to incorporate into my business model. I take money out of the equation and treat my customers how I would want someone to treat me. Most of my long-standing customers feel like family, I have watched their kids grow from needing bibs to needing bows to outgrowing bows and wanting hair clips. 

It’s been a very eventful and loving 7 years. While I try to stay trendy, I find it’s more important to offer quality items. Quality for me includes offering other items that I would use for my babies. My quality control started with my babies. I tested all items with my children so that I could make sure they were quality and efficient for all babies. 

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is… What I make it. For others, success for Redbluej would look like opening a storefront and having my items in a physical store. 

Having a staff and being a mom at home enjoying being a mother while making an income. In my eyes, Redbluej Handmade is already the definition of success. A mom of 4 pursuing her dreams of owning her own business, finding purpose in my early 30’s (something it takes ppl a lifetime to find), and being able to do the thing that brings me so much joy. These things are my definition of success. 

I define success as finding the things that make you happy and pursuing them no matter the challenges, the lack of sleep, or the bumps in the road. Giving all the sweat and tears until you physically and mentally cannot go any further. Giving your all is the measurement of success. Even if what you set out to do doesn’t become profitable or the next million-dollar idea it’s yours and you tried, that is what success truly is. 

Contact Info:

• Website: Redbluejhandmade.square.site 
• Instagram: @redbluejhandmade
• Facebook: facebook.com/redbluejhandmade