September – Innovator
Elaine Pizzini says that StitchnPost® was initially created out of a hobby and a need to create. This is what seeded this venture. With this locked away desire to design and create one’s own online fashion collection, StitchnPost.com was founded. StitchnPost.com is an online marketplace where aspiring fashion designers can showcase and sell their merchandise.
1. Every business has a story, tell us yours.
I am a native Kentuckian that has traveled and will continue to travel seeing new places and people as new things always excite me. I don’t shy away from a challenge. I have visited many states like Florida, Colorado, etc. I find that each new place I have discovered a little bit more about myself. For me, I always find joy in life doing what I want in the way I want. And in that choice, I have had successes and failures, met head on challenges and sought opportunities. I embrace all of me. As a child, I dreamt of going beyond the front doorstep of my mother’s Kentucky home, never forgetting to return to my Kentucky roots to rejuvenate. In setting out again to achieve and explore my childhood dreams, StitchnPost® was born of this passion for life and experiencing it. With that being said, I know that my passion to explore, passion to learn, and do, is what brings me to the Twin Cities.
This passion and desire to explore new things, places, and people directs my life’s journey. StitchnPost® is a project founded on my love to explore and do something different. Having relocated to Duluth from Oklahoma, I knew little about Minnesota; however, I had accepted a position with a major healthcare company and found myself in a beautiful small northern city but not prepared for the weather. Moreover, even though I had read reviews and various travel sites and even did virtual visits via YouTube, nothing could have prepared me for the below zero temperatures and snow falls. With my first winter in Duluth, I was limited in travel but to work and home. Having arrived at Duluth in October when the beautiful colors of fall painted the landscape, I was not prepared for the first fall of Duluth snow. For I found myself reading and crocheting and sewing again. I had always crocheted and sewn among other things as a teenager, but things in 2016 were going to be different; how different I didn’t know but I was up for the challenge.
Wondering how I arrived at the idea of StitchnPost®. It was a but a few weeks into my life in Duluth and the first substantial snow fall that I decided to start crocheting and sewing again. In this, I want to showcase my work not on Instagram or Twitter so much, but for myself, friends, and family to follow my work. I then created a website. So, I set out to choose a name and I came up with the name StitchnPost® as I was homesick and remembered a shop called the Cherokee Trading Post. So, while I was stitching and dreaming of posting, StitchnPost.com was founded upstairs on my kitchen table in my two-bedroom apartment in Duluth, Minnesota.
2. You were chosen as this month’s Innovator Member. What does being an Innovator mean to you?
An innovator is a person that either sees an opportunity and seeks to create something new or improve on something that currently exists. An innovator also believes that he or she can be that catalyst to change or create change. For he or she is willing to be the change maker and doer. A change maker, an innovator, also believes that he or she has the ability to create or bring change regardless of to whatever arena he sees a need for improvement or a discovery; it could be a company, an idea, product or service etc. that will improve lives, processes, or product and understand. Innovators understand that to change or create something new or improve on something comes with risks. Yet, he or she will roll up their sleeves and pursue that new idea, concept, or vision. Innovators are willing to travel a path many think is too risky to tread; they are in it to win it!
3. No one likes to brag about their business, but if you HAD TO . . .
As a startup, I am still in the process of continuing the vision, my vision to improve on, change, and a new voice to the fashion community. With each step forward, I am gaining traction and more momentum to bring this mission to reality. In addition, I believe that StitchnPost® will bring opportunity to many a tool that supports and promotes their dreams and aspirations of being the next generation of fashion designers. I also believe, our service, will help by way of providing the tools and support many aspiring and young fashion and freelance designers do not currently have, an exclusive platform with a focus on their success. StitchnPost® is a platform for the unknown and the beginner a place to begin, grow, and reach the goals they set for themselves.
4. We learn from our mistakes, especially in business. Give us some words of wisdom.
Failure is not the end, but the beginning. It teaches you that there are more ways than one to achieve what you set out to do. When you fail, realize perhaps you may have to go around the obstacle, go through it, or over it. But most of all, seek a solution and you will find it. If you believe in what you seek, then believe and seek and you will find your solution.
5. What “teacher” has made the most impact on your life and why?
There have been many teachers in my life that have impacted me and assisted in creating whom I am today. However, the teacher that has provided me with the best advice, lessons, and insight to life was my mother. She was a strong mother. She was a single mother of five children. She had many dreams and was not able to achieve as her family came first. But when I look back, she had a strength that I will admire as she helped to create the me of today. She was a highly intelligent person and understood better the world than I was willing to give her credit at the time. Without her passion for life and improving hers and mine, I would not be the person I am today. She demonstrated courage and respect that abounds in me today. I still honor her by acknowledging the impact her words, guidance, and love for me whenever the opportunity arises. She taught me to be strong, courageous, and to never give up on your dreams.
6. What might someone be surprised to know about you?
That I am a lover for the beach. Wherever there is water, I find it; it is there I gather most of my inspiration in life. The ocean for many is not beautiful but for me it takes me on a journey to my inner world. I’m an introvert and love it. Introverts, the myth, that all hide in their homes, shy to a cripple, and fear to taking risks. I am here to say; I am an introvert and proud of it.
7. If you could have only one super power, what would it be and why?
Invisibility is my superpower of choice. The opportunity to support those in need of help when they need it. And I believe each can do it on their own but need that one person that is visible when needed and invisible when not needed. It’s like learning to ride a bike with training wheels and then without training wheels, in time the individual will learn to ride the bike; they just need support to get started.
8. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read or seen this week?
One of the most interesting things I read about this week at The Guardian, an online news channel, is how air pollution—nanoparticles—damage the heart. A study done by Professor, Barbara Maher of Lancaster University, where she found that because of breathing in toxic air, the heart muscle can become damaged and that the process begins even before birth and is compounded throughout the life of the person. In addition, the findings mention persons living in large cities are mostly affected due to the congested communities and lifestyles; however, the study states that air travels and eventually reach communities far outside the dense metropolitan areas. Therefore, everyone will be affected if change is not made as air pollution does travel from high populated areas to least populated places.
9. Why do you choose to WORK AWESOME at OffiCenters?
I have been at OffiCenters but about two months, but I like the convenience of locations, networking events, and the plans available. There is something available for even a seed startup like StitchnPost®.
10. In addition to our Member Directory, how else can people CONNECT with you?
The best way to reach me is via my email as I check often. However, I can be reached via my mobile as well. Preference is email.
