One of the hardest things for small brands is finding a factory with small MOQ’s, who you can talk things through with and know they are working with your best interests in mind. That’s were Bruna comes in! Bruna founded her micro-factory in 2020 and has been batch producing collections for (mainly) children’s wear brands ever since. Bruna is a one-woman, high vibe, self-taught expert supporting brands to realise their dreams. Pretty cool if you ask me.
I am delighted that Bruna agreed to be on the blog (I have been bothering her about it for nearly a year!). Bruna is originally from Portugal and now resides in the UK.
Who are you and what do you do?
Hi, my name is Bruna. I am based in Hampshire and I run a small batch production business – a clothing micro-factory from my home studio if you like! I help small kids-wear and accessories brands make their products.
Why did you decide to set up your business/work in the fashion industry?
Oh, it just kind of happened for me! It took me a few years and a degree in Education to realise that I could make my passion for sewing into a career. There was a time when I was so unhappy with my work life that I decided to try different crafty workshops and look for something I would enjoy doing. I went to one workshop and fell in love with the sewing machine. I bought one and started looking for freelance work not long after.
I always imagined running my own business but up until then I had no idea what that could be. When the first kids-wear brand found my freelance services, that was the moment that all made sense to me.
Suddenly I found this gap in the market where small brands were looking for help with their production but was too big of an investment to go into manufacturing – where most have huge minimum quantities. I was loving freelancing, making different garments for different brands so I took the plunge.
What drew you to this field?
I know this could sound a bit contradicting and may upset some but I am not necessarily passionate about fashion. What I love is making things, being in my own world creating and fixing. My grandmother was a seamstress and it definitely had an influence on me. I spent a lot of my childhood attaching buttons to scraps, embroidering and tidying the biscuit tin aka thread’s tin.
What has been the biggest challenge either when setting up your business/since setting up your business/working in your industry?
So many aha! Since I decided to change from only a few freelance jobs a year to a full-time job, February 2020 (yes before the pandemic hit us) I am grateful to say it has been non-stop. I have plenty of clients and prospect clients reaching out regularly. It’s incredible! With that comes self-doubt, learning to value my work and the service I provide for these brands, managing my time well, pricing… I had no background, no clue how to run a business. It’s all doing and solving as challenges and issues appear.
Aside from so many other little challenges, I have tried to hire before and that has been a huge test to my strength and how much I want this business to work. I am a bit impulsive sometimes with business decisions and so I jumped at hiring people at first opportunity. I now know it was way too soon. I am serious about the quality of my work but I wasn’t anywhere near ready to be a leader.
What motivates you?
I am a big day dreamer! I dream of having a family, our home, travelling with the kids and leaving a legacy. I want to inspire others, especially women and mums, and one day my kids that we can do and have everything we desire. And so, when times are tough, I try to focus on that – my why.
Sometimes I need to remind myself that I am already doing a little bit of that. Being able to help these women – all brands I work with are run by female entrepreneurs – growing their businesses, which is their dream. It blows my mind! And that’s motivating.
Who do you admire within your industry or as a business role model?
Ok, so I am a bit ignorant when it comes to celebrities or the geniuses of the industry. I live in my own world. But I admire lots of people in my circle, my social media colleagues who run a business and share their vision, their dreams, their struggles. Friends and colleagues that I can actually see what and how they run their businesses. People that come from nothing, no business background, no experience, no money and they thrive! Literally we can do anything once we decide to. I admire the “day-to-day” people that are doing their best from the little they have.
How do you deal with stress and big challenges?
If only I had an answer that would work every time! It’s difficult, I have periods where I can juggle it all – personal and work – and there are other times where I lose track and sight of what was working.
A few things that help is to take care of myself and do things I enjoy which, and I think we all do this, is normally the first thing we stop doing when life gets a bit trickier.
I love yoga and every time I’m on the mat I think to myself “Why don’t I do this everyday?” It really helps calm me down and get grounded. And also helps with the pains that come from being at the sewing machine all day.
Very basic but it’s true, seeing friends, going for walks and rest.
It’s simple to do as it is simple not to do.
What is the hardest and easiest part of your job?
At the moment, the hardest thing is to enjoy where I am with the business and be consistent whilst at the same time starting to research and wanting to take the next big step to grow the business. Also managing doing the actual work, social media/marketing, admin… so many different jobs and all need to be done constantly to keep the business going.
The easiest is for sure talking with clients when they are so enthusiastic about creating new garments and I am the one to bring their ideas to life. Sewing is the easiest although very tiring sometimes.
What skills have you found vital to your job?
Of course, sewing is essential for my business because that’s basically the service I provide BUT people skills I think is the secret. And by the way I am far from being good at it – here another big challenge of running a business.
How do you manage your time?
I have tried having a routine and it worked. Now maintaining that is another story. Another reason why I like to work for myself is the freedom to choose when to work so when I have a somewhat strict schedule sometimes can be a bit frustrating.
I find that different seasons deeply affect my productivity and focus too. I mean seasons like spring summer… as well as seasons in life in general. So basically, how I manage my time is always changing. Right now, with the darker days I find that I need extra time to be alert so I do admin, house chores, hobbies in the morning and sewing in the afternoon and evening. Of course, I have commitment with clients and responsibilities and bills to pay so I have a minimum amount of hours that I need to do in a day.
What are your goals for your brand/career?
Love this! As is said I am a big dreamer. I dream of the day I can move into a studio and have a team of seamstresses, pattern drafters, a big cutting table… I have the vision I can see it! I want to have the nicest place that people enjoy coming to work at. Be able to help more brands and be the best small batch production manufacturing in the UK.
What does success look like to you?
Being able to do what I love for a living while helping others to do the same.
How does your culture/background influence/benefit your work?
As mentioned previously, my grandmother was a seamstress so that had a big impact on my skills and passion for anything needle craft. I was raised in a very small village too, which meant me and my sisters were raised being hands on. Hard work was the spirit, from taking care of animals, growing a garden, keeping the house clean, fixing things ourselves. My parents taught us to be independent and capable kids.
At the same time, my family at the beginning were very sceptical about me not pursuing my studies, having “a normal job” and instead being a self-employed seamstress in this day and age didn’t make sense. Well, when I put something to mind and I know that it is going to work and make me happy I’m willing to contradict my family. They are all very supportive now!
What would your advice be to those wanting to start their own brand/have a career in your industry?
Do it! And start now! We get stuck when we don’t know how to do something and it’s easy to give up before even giving something a go.
I have contacted all sorts of people that I thought could help me one way or another, most of them didn’t get back to me or weren’t available to help but the ones that really mattered did and now are either my clients or friends and colleagues that support me and inspire me. So go and do it, a little task a day or a week goes a long way!
What’s your proudest achievement in your career so far?
Just the fact that I run my own business full time and I’m able to survive on it is a huge achievement. Having regular clients that have been with me from the start and recommend me to other brands is a huge achievement.
And not to brag but I did win an award in my second year in business and that was a super proud moment!
What do you think I’d be most surprised to find out about you?
ooh, maybe the fact that I hated English in school and I told my mum I would never learn it and would never need to speak it ahah! Funny that!
What would be your personal tagline?
Dream big and just fucking do it!
Unlock a fashion/ your industry secret for me
The market is not saturated! We just need the right people who are doing it out of love rather than necessity so again if you are dreaming of it do it now. We need you! I believe this would reduce fast fashion big time.
Thank you so much, Bruna, for taking the time to answer the questions today and ultimately helping others who may want to tread the same path.
To get in touch with Bruna:
https://www.instagram.com/bruna_garment.production/
https//www.brunagarmentproduction.com/
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See you in a few weeks with my next guest! Deedee xx
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