We had the good fortune of connecting with Maya Dahlgreen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maya, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
Over the years of owning my own business, there have been plenty of times where I figured I might as well just give up. I’ve had thoughts like, it’s too hard, it’s not going as well as I thought it would, it takes up too much time and mental space. A few main things make me keep going…

1. I think I would be so mad at myself if I didn’t give this everything I had. If it fails, it fails, but at least I tried my best.
2. I feel like I’m doing something I can be proud of. I am making clothes out of pre-existing fabrics, so my waste and environmental impact is almost nothing. I am so proud of this.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My mom taught me to sew when I was in high school. She went to college to be a fashion designer, but ended up becoming a CPA. She’s an amazing seamstress, and she wanted to each me to sew using patterns. I refused. I had a vision in my head of a dress I wanted to make. I wanted to wing it and make something from scratch – not using a pattern. She supported this and taught me the best she could. All that is to say, I am not a professionally trained seamstress. I don’t know how to use patterns, I couldn’t make a tailored shirt if my life depended on it. But I LOVE engineering and constructing garments starting with a vision and working my way backwards. Trying a technique, failing, trying again. The mess of it all is so inspiring to me!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Any of my success started with the community of creators, sellers, and designers on Instagram. There is such a wonderful community of women business owners who support each other, buy from each other, repost each other, and give encouraging words to each other – it’s the most surprising and amazing part of this whole business ownership thing.

Website: mayameyer.com

Instagram: instagram.com/mayameyershop

Image Credits
Kaitlin Green

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