I'm not exhibiting at Premiere Vision in 2026.

Have you ever gotten unsolicited advice that you just know is correct? And before I go on I will admit, I usually don't take unsolicited advice, but I've learned that when someone knows more about something than I do, I should listen.

While I was vending at Brooklyn General for the Brooklyn Yarn Crawl last week, I had the absolute good luck to be doing a pop at the same time as Geraldine from The Wandering Flock.

At some point in the afternoon, Geraldine comes over to where I'm set up and I'm there with a couple of customers explaining a few things about the satchels with my designs on them and showing the features. Gerladine, overhearing that I design textiles, asked me if I'd ever been to Premiere Vision. I excitedly told her yes and that I planned to exhibit there next year. Lemme tell ya, it was like hearing a record scratch.

It turns out that Geraldine was had been a print buyer in the fashion industry and attended lots of trade shows, including PV to buy prints. She flat out told me not to do PV and that I'd be wasting a lot of money, time and effort exhibiting. I have to say, my immediate knee-jerk reaction was to assert that I think my designs are good enough to be there and that I would meet new customers. But what Geraldine was trying to tell me wasn't about being "good enough". She explained that the buyers don't like working with people they don't know. Again, my knee-jerk reaction was to assert, I'm different. But just a beat later, I realized how delusional that was — how could I expect people in business who are trying to work as efficiently as possible, to change their behavior? For me? C'mon, Sun. Get real. Being an entrepreneur does require a bit of delusion. Maike no mistake. Doubts will constantly try to creep in and you have to kill that noise. You really have to believe in yourself, especially when things feel hard. But we gotta live in the real world.

I set my ego aside and realized I should probably listen to her. What she was saying made total sense and I was LUCKY that she felt comfortable enough to give me this advice — especially when so many people like to gatekeep. Working with a new designer can be risky. You don't know what condition the files you're gonna get will be in. It takes more time getting to know and work with new people. They don't know what kind of education I have or how skilled I am at executing what their ideas. I know how good I am, but they don't know and they don't really have time to find out.

Though I felt that Geraldine was likely right, I got up the nerve to email a few professors from FIT and ask them about it. A professor who also runs his own design studio and has sold designs at shows like PV agreed with Geraldine AND gave me even more reasons not to do any shows as a beginner without contacts — lower foot traffic at the shows since the pandemic being a major issue.

So I'm not doing PV. It doesn't make sense. I admit, I was despondant about it for more than a few days because it seems impossible to break into this industry as a freelancer. But checking myself here — I haven't tried all that hard to get freelance clients since I graduated. I just assumed that any cold pitches I made to creative directors would go unanswered. Again, the ego is a problem. I realized I have been afraid of those unanswered emails. This week, I got over it and started pitching. I got my first "No thanks" yesterday but it wasn't because my design was bad, it's because the already have a design coming out with a similar subject matter. Can I tell you, I jumped for joy when I got this email because that No is actually a contact and somebody I can pitch again.

I feel a new hope blooming. Now that I'm not focusing on churning out hundreds of designs for a show, I can focus on what I really want do, which is develop yarn&whiskey into more than project bags. I took a big step with the brand this week that I will share at a later date. But while I build out my brand, I will also get into the habit of pitching because ya never know.

Speaking of random, cold pitches, can I tell you that everyone I emailed for advice, except for two people wrote me back and helped me. I had held off on asking anyone over at my alma mater for help because I thought they wouldn't respond. It was a mistake assuming that nobody would help me if I asked. I was standing in my own way.

Onward and upward. If you need me, I'll be reading up on how the textile legends got successful and learning how to grow this brand.