It's a new year, so I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself and how Modish became a thing!
To start off my name is Amy and I'm the sole owner of Modish Designs & Boutique. I always planned on being a teacher when "I grew up" but changed my mind once I got to college. I left school and worked as an education assistant at Children's Care Hospital and School for 3 years while I figured things out. I eventually received my Associates Degree in Graphic Communications. I always loved to draw and love typography so it was a natural fit. I worked as a freelance designer, designed wedding invitations for a print shop, was the classified manager at a newspaper and finally the marketing manager for a security company. I currently still do all the marketing for them and occasionally work in office there, otherwise it's all done from home.
I just turned 40 and I'm a mom of 3: Faith 17, Mya 14, Carson 9. All 3 kids "help" in the business in their different ways. Faith will be heading off to college in North Dakota this coming fall, so her duties have been passed down to her sister. You'll see them helping in the store or at vendor events and also modeling from time to time. Carson also has a love for drawing and has a sketch pad full of possible t-shirt designs! All three have been active in sports so we are quite busy Spring through Fall.
When I'm not at either business working or chancing after kids, I enjoy a usually much needed and past due girls night, watching sports, and going to concerts. There is nothing better for your sole than a couple good friends, a couple adult beverages and hours a giggling, rapping, and solving all life's problems. I grew up spending most my summers at the race track and still enjoy a night at the track. I love Duke basketball and Twins baseball, my dream is to see a game at all Major League ballparks. I love listening to live music especially on a patio or at a street dance, I prefer the smaller local bands than going to a big name concert at a huge stadium.
Modish was formed in October of 2016, originally as a side hustle business when I found a good deal on screen printing equipment and thought it would be fun to try! I started off just making shirts for people I knew, had a small website, an etsy store and went to vendor shows. Towards the end of 2018 I had started adding in some other clothing items and had started to run out of space in our house, so I contacted Hartford's Economic Director to see if he new of any commercial spaces with low rent that were available or to at least get my interest out there in case something did come up. He did know of a few spaces and thought the one on Main would be perfect because the current leaser was looking to get out of it early. I signed the lease in September, got the keys in October gutted out the offices to a store show room and was ready to open by Thanksgiving weekend and it's been a whirlwind ever since.
