Hartford Business Journal

29 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | APRIL 25, 2022 MANUFACTURER OF THE YEAR United Sewing and Design MICROENTERPRISE OF THE YEAR Bare Life INDUSTRY: Manufacturing TOP EXECUTIVE: Mary Ruth Shields, Owner HEADQUARTERS: Hartford WEBSITE: www.UnitedSewingAndDesign. com Q&A talks to Mary Ruth Shields, owner and creator at United Sewing and Design in Hartford. The wholesale sewing contractor primarily makes adult sportswear, gear bags and table linens, providing private and corporate clients with product development, prototyping and small-batch production. United Sewing, founded in 2017, is a social enterprise business that employs formerly incarcerated individuals and recycles or re- purposes the majority of its flexible material scraps and paper waste. Describe your target customer. Our customers need to manufacture small batches of their product. They may not have experience with manufacturing soft goods and are looking for a trusted partner to take their idea from sketch to sellable. Often, they want American made and to support our missions of hiring returning citizens and removing materials from the waste stream. Looking into the future five years, where do you see your business? We will have moved to a location in Hartford that supports a larger workforce, more equipment and larger contracts. We will have added on-site computer- aided design capabilities, more computer-enhanced cutting/sewing equipment, plus sophisticated production management systems. We will have also added space with equipment and mentoring to support local apparel designers. What has been your biggest accomplishment? Is there anything you would change or do differently? In business, my biggest accomplishment has been shepherding United Sewing and Design from an idea to a profitable business in five years. If I were to do it again, I would definitely get more accounting help from the very beginning. What advice would you give to other small businesses, especially during this difficult time? Don't go it alone! There are so many free and low-cost resources in Connecticut specifically geared toward small business owners. Most are very high quality with friendly, sympathetic staff who really know their stuff. INDUSTRY: Manufacturing TOP EXECUTIVE: Ali Lazowski, CEO & Founder HEADQUARTERS: West Hartford WEBSITE: www.EatBareLife.com Q&A speaks with Ali Lazowski of Bare Life, which launched four years ago. The company manufactures a hot cocoa mix that just requires hot water. The mix is dairy-free, gluten- free, plant-based and organic. How did you get into this business? What motivated you? I was diagnosed with both cancer and Lyme disease within a short time. My doctors told me to stop eating dairy, gluten and refined sugars, which left me with few options. So, I decided to create my own foods, and that's how Bare Life was born. Describe your target customer. Our target customer is someone looking for better food options, whether because of health or lifestyle reasons, or just because they want to enhance their body's performance. Looking into the future five years, where do you see your business? Our mission is to re-imagine our foods by creating crave-worthy foods that are easy to enjoy, plant- based and free from dairy, gluten and refined sugars. Hot chocolate is just the beginning for us. What strengths have you discovered about yourself and your employees during this past year? I was wearing every hat, and now it's time to delegate more so we can grow. Delegation is a muscle I'm working on strengthening. I've been so proud of how my team has risen to the occasion and flourished in new leadership positions. Can you tell us a little bit about the culture of your business? I try to create a supportive culture where everyone feels free to express their opinions and provide feedback. Not only does that help us grow, it also helps empower our team members. What has been your biggest accomplishment? Building our great team, mentors and community around Bare Life. Nothing we do, like appearing on QVC, being in all Whole Foods in New England and learning to work with my health challenges, happens without that great team and community around us. from finance and marketing to HR and logistics. Describe your target customer. WBDC serves entrepreneurs at all stages — from ideation to start up to growth and even exit planning. Despite the name of the organization, our programs and services are available to men and women. What has been your biggest accomplishment? Since the beginning of the pandemic, WBDC has launched the WBDC Child Care Business Support Program (a partnership with the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood), which offers entrepreneurial training and grants to child care providers; and the WBDC Equity Match Grant Program, which provides grants of up to $10,000 to qualified women-owned businesses. How have you handled strategic change in your organization? In March 2020, the need for WBDC's services had never been stronger. We pivoted overnight, operating 100% via Zoom — a tool that we had never used. In those first months of the pandemic, our client base grew by more than 650%. We temporarily put aside "traditional" classes to make room for town halls with elected officials to get accurate information to our clients, and group support sessions for small business owners. Our advisors jammed their calendars with meetings with entrepreneurs trying to figure out how to stay in business when they couldn't open their doors. Women's Business Development Council - South Central, New Haven

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