Interview With Heather Dziedzic of Bergy Bag
Plenty of Passion. No Experience. No Problem. Successfully launching a new fashion brand requires a great idea, a specific niche, and never-quit determination. Heather Dziedzic, founder of Bergy Bag, had all 3 and now she has a successful brand. We sat down with her to get her thoughts on getting started.
Heather Dziedzic of Bergy Bag
Melted make-up again! This is a problem that vexed Heather Dziedzic who lived in the scorching heat of Arizona. Baked expensive cosmetics, exploding serums, and melted lipsticks are an annoying everyday occurrence for millions of women in hot climates. Heather got tired of fighting it and decided to do something about it.
Her solution was a new fashion product. A fashionable “cooling” cosmetic bag that protects toiletries, cosmetics, sunscreen, and anything that can melt from the scorching heat.
The result was: Bergy Bag. Bergy Bag is a fashionable clutch made of scratch and water resistant leather, unique insulation, and even its own custom designed freezer pack that slips into a specially tailored pocket. It keeps cosmetics cool and fresh all day long. The stylish clutch is great on the hottest days, and is also a perfect accessory for evenings out.
I sat down and spoke with Heather about her journey and decision to bring Bergy Bag to life. This blog features the highlights and insights from the interview.
Q: What was the hardest part of your Fashion Entrepreneur journey? How did you get past it?
Answer: 10,000 hours required. It's been said that you become an expert after 10,000 hours. When I started Bergy Bag I had no more than 1 minute of experience, years away from being an expert. What I did have was passion, a vision and a whole lot of hustle ready to burst out of me.
Often, I felt that people would see through me and realize that I had only been doing this for approximately 60 seconds. Since I had been successful in other fields, I had confidence; however, the feeling of starting over in an unknown category was frightening. It was the hardest part of my Fashion Entrepreneur journey. I had to surrender quickly and change my mindset from a confident expert to clueless rookie.
Heather knew that she was on to something. She had identified a real problem that millions of women share, and she had a great idea that solved the problem. She also knew that she was in an industry where she had no experience, and that learning it all by trial and error would take more time and money than made sense. She came to V.Mora to bring a fashion expert onto her team. Here’s what happened.
Q: How did V.Mora help with the concept and start up of Bergy Bag?
Answer: V. Mora did two invaluable things for me and Bergy Bag. The first is that V. Mora became my experts and team members. Instantly, I had the 10,000+ hours of experience surrounding me. They made the introductions to manufacturers easy and seamless. That gave me a feeling of confidence and belonging.
I always compared my relationship with V.Mora like a VIP entrance. Imagine , Anna, Katherine, and the team saying to the bouncer "she's with me". The bouncer lifts the checks you out as you walk by thinking, "that lady must be something good if she's with them".
The second invaluable things V.Mora provided were the Roadmap and validation. V. Mora lays out a clear Roadmap to success. Being the hyper achiever that I am, completing that Roadmap became my full time job. As I sit here today waiting for all my inventory to arrive I already have over $20,000 in sales!
I don't even have all my bags in and I have sales. That's because of V. Mora! The validation piece is important. Many of us budding entrepreneurs are one woman or one man bands because honestly, that's all we can afford. V. Mora acts as your team and will validate your ideas or let you know that you may be off course.
I was encouraged by the validation and beyond grateful to the constructive criticism. I needed someone other than my husband to help me sort through my daily activities and ideas.
Heather successfully launched Bergy Bag at www.bergybag.com and it was nearly an instant success. Now, after the successful launch of her original Bergy Bag, Heather is looking forward to growing and scaling the Bergy Bag Brand.
Her first focus is creating a larger target audience and more brand awareness. She plans to become more active on social media and allow her community of followers to grow. She’s on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/bergybag/ and Instagram at: @bergybag https://www.instagram.com/bergybag/.
She is also developing additional colors, sizes, shapes, and accessories that she plans to market online and in her select family of retail boutiques.
Having successfully started her journey as a Fashion Entrepreneur, I asked Heather for some insights and tips that may help others who are at the very beginning.
Q. What 3 tips would you give a New Fashion Entrepreneur?
Answer:
1. While we start brands likely because we are creative or in my case, see a need in the market, you must keep in mind that you are an entrepreneur. You are starting a business, not a hobby. In order to continue to create we must get paid. Everyday I start my day thinking, what can I do first that will get me paid? I need a deposit in my bank account, where can I get that? Once that is complete I start on ALL the other tasks and plans that need to be tackled.
2. Turn it off sometimes. Reset and reflect and give yourself the grace to rest. No one can be at 100%, 100% of the time. There are consequences for operating that way that will eventually need to be addressed and corrected.
My husband loves Shark Tank and feels like I can learn something by watching it. "Honey come listen to this, you need to hear this", he’ll call. Remember, he hasn't been trying to get his 10,000 hours all day so he thinks this after hours learning is fun. He's right. Those are people to glean from but I hide. Yes! I literally hide. I need the rest.
3. Patiently hustle. Rome wasn't built in a day. Amazon was started in a garage. Kate Spade cut patterns out of Cardboard for her purse designs. You've heard that all before I am sure. Now you are following in their footsteps. It may take at least 10,000 hours (10 years) to get there. Hustle! That is what it takes. Be patient because patience is a virtue.
Heather identified a specific problem. The heat kept melting her expensive cosmetics and toiletries. She creatively solved this everyday nuisance that many women experience, and designed a fashionable “cooling purse” for it. That simple problem recognition launched her on a journey to create an exciting fashion success story.
What’s your idea? You can create a success story just like Heather and her Bergy Bag. Your visions and sketches today could lead to your success tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe even a problem that’s driving you crazy could lead to a brainstorm that can result in great success.
You owe it to yourself to schedule a call with us to discuss your idea and your strategy. Find out what your options are. Your potential is unlimited. You just need the right team on your side, and your fashion line’s success is within your reach.
Stuck on product Production? At V.Mora we can help you through the entire production process from designing, to sourcing and so on through our Production Development services. If you are in need of the following Development and Production services:
Sourcing
Technical sketches
Pattern Making
Prototype making
Sample Making
Fittings
Digitizing and Grading
Marker Making
Manufacturing
Please contact us at: vmorainquiry@vmora.com
