Entrepreneur: the owner or manager of a business enterprise who, by risk and initiative, attempts to make profit.
Parentpreneur: See above, and also juggles the day-to-day demands of parenting, provides income for one’s family and attempts to live out one’s dreams.
Parentpreneurs: How Do They Do It?
by: Jen Wainwright
She knows she can’t slack off.
She’s taken this opportunity, and she’s determined to make a go of it – there is no spouse, no partner to lean on.
“That I’m on my own just makes me work that much harder, and push that much more…”
She stops short.
The line is silent.
Her voice trembles ever so slightly as she adds, “Sometimes, it’s hard. It is. I do this on my own. I’ve got family and a lot of support, and people say, ‘You’re so strong’ or ‘You’re bad-ass’. But sometimes…”
She’s quick to point out that there are many single mothers, and many, many artists, and she doesn’t view her story as exceptional.
But one senses…that she is.
Her Medium
Meet Parentpreneur Elisa Spyker, seamstress, designer and owner of Morgana Fae Couture, and single mother to 9-year-old daughter, Anwen.
The Saginaw resident designs, sews and creates original, one-of-a-kind clothing and accessories through Morgana Fae Couture ranging from luxurious corsets and dramatic, Victorian-inspired ensembles to elaborate, gothic-themed ball gowns, Halloween costumes, intricate wedding dresses, shoes, purses, hair pieces and most recently – upcycled fashions.
Spyker threaded her first needle at eight years old under the guiding hand of her grandma (an artist of many mediums, from sculpting to painting to sewing, who Spyker refers to as her inspiration), and “I’ve been making mistakes, and learning from them ever since,” she says.
The self-taught seamstress sewed on the side for herself, and graduated from cosmetology school with visions of creativity and hairstyling as her career. But, she says, “I hated it. Hair is not my medium.”
On a whim, she listed a fairy dress she had sewn on Ebay for $40, and it sold immediately. She listed another and another – daring to list more intricate items she created – and they all sold quickly.
“I thought, ‘Well, people seem to like my stuff. Let’s see what else I can do with this’,” Spyker says.
Becoming One with Morgana Fae Couture
Spyker became a parent in 2005. She worked various jobs, including a long-time position at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft, but realized quickly: Minimum wage essentially meant working to pay for a sitter; she wanted more than anything to be present with her daughter.
She decided to stay at home with her daughter, and pursue sewing as her mode of income.
“I was not going to miss out on her…I wanted to be there for her experiences,” Spyker says. “There were times that we were dirt poor, but then two or three of my dresses would sell and things would be alright. My income was not stable. But selling my designs and sewing made sense, and logistically because I could sew with my daughter right with me.”
Spyker was selling her original designs and fashions at prices ranging from $40 to $5,000 and beyond, based on the item. Yet, similarly to her relationship with Anwen’s father – Spyker’s heyday with Ebay dissolved.
Spyker says she saw one of her photos on Ebay listed on another site! A foreign company had literally copied-and-pasted her photos, and they were offering Spyker’s designs and products for “prices only a Chinese sweat-shop could offer.”
Ebay offered little by way of help towards the situation. Looking for another outlet, Spyker began selling her designs through Etsy.com, a marketplace for artists selling original, handcrafted goods. It proved to be a more suitable venue for her creations.
She also took a job with David’s Bridal in Saginaw (while visiting the store with a client who’d hired her for wedding gown alterations and adjustments). David’s Bridal hired Spyker on-the-spot, and she says the experience was half heaven, half heartache. She was gaining pertinent knowledge and her first, official training in sewing and corporate-approved methods. But she also worked under tight deadlines with “bridezillas” and short-staffed expectations, and she often dropped her daughter off to school and did not see her again until 10 p.m. or later…if she was still awake.
“I missed my daughter, and I was working all the time and I would think ‘I wish I was working this hard for myself’,” Spyker says.
After much deliberation, Spyker left David’s Bridal with two passions in place: Parenting and entrepreneurism in the form of Morgana Fae Couture, named after her daughter Anwen Morgana Fae, as her full-time career.
Logistics: The Queen of Making It Work
Spyker says that while sewing comes naturally to her, marketing is another realm – and an expensive one at that. She is currently working toward launching her website this year, with plans for a blog in the works. “I know I need to create a stronger Internet presence,” Spyker says.
- Spyker works from her home, and her living room is her design studio.
- She sells her creations through her Facebook page and through her Morgana Fae Couture shop at Etsy.com. Clients hire her from around the globe and locally for anything from custom gowns to Halloween costumes to alterations. Spyker says her ideal client is anyone with a vision or an idea that she can bring to life.
- Spyker relies on word of mouth and internet traffic for clients, as well as return-clients of which she is steadily building.
- Her daughter is now in school full-time, which allows Spyker dedicated work time to complete garments for clients per order. She works nights and evenings under tight deadlines.
- Spyker says that her income consistently covers her living expenses, but is not stable. She may do very well one month, but remains unsure of what the next month will bring.
- As a single parent, Spyker says she’s always aware that she doesn’t have a combined income with a spouse, or a retirement package, or any other plan to fall back on. She says it pushes her to work that much harder to succeed.
“I like to say that I’m the queen of making it work,” Spyker says. “The fact that I’m struggling for my own thing instead of what somebody else sets for me…their hours, their wages…is what makes it so satisfying.”
To Aspiring Parentpreneurs:
Spyker says people should probably examine what’s really important to them in terms of how they spend their time, their work, their income and their necessities.
For example, one day she hopes to open a boutique, selling her creations and offering a gathering space for artists. But for today, it’s also worthwhile to sometimes be a lenient boss, and look at her daughter and say, “Let’s do something today, just me and you”.
“I love having the freedom to do that.”