Sara Berks, Founder Minna
I’m excited to introduce Sara Berks to the podcast! Sarah is the founder of Minna (a brand I have become obsessed with!). Minna’s textiles and home decor has been taking over my New York City apartment and I love their shop in Hudson, New York.
In today’s episode we talk about Sara’s backstory into how Minna came to be, working with fair trades, and Minna’s vision and much more!
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Kelly: Hi everyone. I am really excited. I have a special guest who is a founder of a brand that I am a big fan of. I've been posting about them. I went to their shop in Hudson, New York, and Sarah, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. You're so welcome. So if anyone who's new to Minna and is curious about just the backstory of how you launched this brand, can you tell us about it? Cuz I genuinely love how you've been storytelling and your curation of your products and how you connect the dots in a new, cool, intentional way. So I would love to hear the backstory of how you launched the brand.
Sara Becks: Yeah. So Minna. For those who aren't familiar, Minna is an ethically handmade home goods brand. We specialize in textiles, so anything soft for your home. Blankets, pillows, rugs, kitchen textiles, dining accessories, bedding. And we design all of the textiles and then we work in collaboration with artisan groups throughout Latin, Latin America. So everything's hand woven or hand knit sometimes. There's naturally dyes, naturally dyed materials. Everything is a natural material. And yeah, we've been around about eight, nine years now. We're based in upstate New York. Um, how things got started was a total accident
Kelly: Really?
Sara Becks: No, I mean, yes and no, but, when I was first starting Minna, my background is in graphic design and branding and web design. Ao I'd been working in that world for, for quite a while and got really burnt out. And kind of disheartened with the world of web design and graphic design. And in 2013, I quit my job, without really much of a plan. I wanted to take like a couple months off and then freelance. So I lined up freelance work and in those few months off, I taught myself how to weave. And yeah, I was always interested in textiles, but don't have any formal training in it. I was always a designer, but also an artist. So weaving kind of became my art practice at that time. And I started. you know, this was back in 2013 when there was no algorithm on Instagram, so you could. Something, use a hashtag and
Kelly people would find it
Sara Becks and people would find it and follow you. It was amazing.
Kelly: Back in the good old days. Yep.I remember!
Sara Becks: Yeah. So I was able to really garner a following that way.
Sara Becks: And I was making one of a kind weavings and you know, mostly selling them through Instagram or through a website, since I was a web designer, it was really easy to get online. So those online,
Kelly: So, you used your background of web and design to get the brand up and going and then utilize social media to start getting a following for the products?
Sara Becks: Exactly. Yeah. And then about a year and a half in, I was starting to get commissions from larger brands such as One Kings Lane need supply, RIP. So brands like that were commissioning a weaving series. And I thought, this could actually be something that I do, but I, the designer in me, wanted to make things that were bigger than what I could actually make. So like rugs and pillows and blankets. And I knew. doing that myself wouldn't be sustainable.
Kelly: I have a question. Because a lot of makers that I work with and a lot of artists that I work with, that transition from doing it themselves to even wrapping their mind around having it manufactured in some sort of way is really hard. Because they're like, well, it's handcrafted. It's my design. I wanna be making all of it. And I'm like, yes-and in order to grow this as a business, Just wrapping your head around that there could be some ways that align with you still creatively and as an artist, but give you some scalability just for the business, but again, still doing it in an ethical way. So, can you walk us through like how you started connecting those dots? Cuz I really admire how you have done that transition. Can you walk us through like just what helped you do that?
How did you transition from a small artist to manufacturing your art?
Sara Becks: Totally. Well, I guess, I never actually produced the, like, art pieces in a more, um, artisan manufactured way. So I was never actually doing the wall hanging, trying to replicate the wall hangings made by someone else. I was going into totally different categories because I wanted to do rugs and pillows. And blankets and kitchen textiles, things. I couldn't do. And I knew that there were weavers in the world that could do far better than me. And I wanted to collaborate with them. So I think it was the difference between my designer brain and my artist's brain, like I wanted to keep the weavings, the one of a kind pieces. The art practice at that time. And then the designer brain was like, let's make, let's go big Let's make actual products and functional goods.
Kelly: And then how did you start finding the makers behind the products, the artisans that you're working with, because again, it's really great in how you have that transparency and on your social. I love how even like I'm really in your social. Well, you had a trip recently and I love how you were showing the behind the scenes and there was just a piece of content of one of your weavers. And she was talking about her practice. So how did you start making those connections and making sure that people are paid fairly and all of that really important stuff that is still growing, but people are being a bit more aware of it. I'm sure even from when you started to now. But how did you start making those connections?
Sara Becks: Yeah. Well I think, you know, when I was leaving the digital world, something that was really important to me. Actually being able to hold and touch the things that I was designing. And also know the people who were making them. So I started traveling to Central America. I went to Mexico and to Guatemala. And the first trip I took to Mexico, I was really going there to learn. I was taking a workshop on natural dives. I was taking a workshop on rug weaving. I wanted to learn about the processes and how they were making products. And during that trip I met two families of weaves. One, a cotton weaving family, and then a rug weaving family. And they were the, they are still our, like, longest standing partners and produce a large percentage of our goods from Oaxaca. I just kind of went for it. I designed the first rug, like there in the workshop. I sketched out a couple blankets and just tried to see if they could make what I had in my head and it worked. And from there, you know, things kind of snowballed. I was lucky enough to launch the collection right at a wholesale trade show. So the first collection was four blankets, four pillows, and four rugs. And things have grown significantly since them. It was in partnership with two families in Oaxaca and two weaving groups in Guatemala. So pre- those trips, I was doing a lot of research on the artisan sector and different ways of working there. And, once I was kind of into that research, I learned that the artisan sector is really small and once you're connected to someone, you're connected to someone else. And then Right. Word of mouth is kind of how we find each other But we work in a few different ways. So like we're working either directly with a family of weavers where like we're conversing with the head weaver and then they're like sending out the production orders and arranging the workshop.
Or we work with like an intermediary organization where their job is to connect rural artisans, often indigenous artisans with brands or designers in a different market, to help facilitate that link and create job opportunities. And I think you also had asked about fair pricing and that was always kind of, the root of, of how we were working and having the artisans themselves set the pricing and then we then determine our retail price from that versus being like, this is what we wanna sell it at, so we need you to make it for this much.Which is an equitable relationship.
Kelly: Which is huge
Sara Becks: Yes, absolutely.
Kelly: And when you were first starting, what was that, 2014? You said?
Sara Becks: 2014, 2015
Kelly: 2015 To now, how have you seen other brands or just industry shifts in general of making sure things are more equitable, more transparent? Because I mean, doing it back then, that's was very innovative. It's still very innovative now, but have you seen more conversations around it? Do you feel like more brands are catching on, like with bigger brands also? Like what do, what is your take on it now?
What’s your take on industry shifts being more equitable and transparent as Minna?
Sara Becks:Yeah, I mean, I think it's, it's shifted a lot since then. And there's a lot more awareness and brands committed to working ethically, and equitably. But I think it really depends on, you know, how things are, how things are made, what those working relationships look like. Right. You know, we got B Corp certified because we thought it was like a holistic measure of looking at our whole business, versus Fair Trade certified.
Kelly: Um, okay. So walk me through that. What do you think is the difference there?
Difference between Whole Business vs Fair Trade Certified
Sara Becks: Yeah. So Fair Trade really just focuses on how products are made. And it doesn't think about redistribution plans or sustainability measures in your office or your employee handbook. Like, whereas B Corp looks at all of that. And the fair trade process is really expensive and it's often cost prohibitive for artisan groups to even go through that process because it's so expensive and you can, it's kind of similar to how, how you look at organic foods like it's one thing a farm is certified organic. It's another thing if a farm is doing everything. Technically organic, but they can't afford the application. So we wanna make sure that we're working with groups who are committed to working ethically, even if they're not certified. We don't think there's that need for that governing body to be like, yes, , this is fair trade.
Kelly: Totally. I've heard that feedback before and thank you for breaking that down, because I think that will also help creatives who are starting in this space or thinking about it, just different ways of approaching it so that it doesn't feel like such a big barrier to entry into this space. Like there's other ways of going around it and thinking it, thinking about it in a more holistic way, which it sounds like, that you are, and again, one of the things that really resonated with your brand was like they're really connecting all of the dots. And I love that piece. And also your products are just stunning and beautiful. When I went into your store in Hudson, it was literally like my mood board in real life. I was like, oh my gosh. Cuz I have some pieces too. Like even from Virginia Sin, I have some of her candle holders and like her fruit basket and I saw how you style the store. I'm like, this is literally my dream home curated. And so, from 2015,14, 15 to now, what do you see the vision of Minna moving forward say in this year ahead or few years ahead? Like what's on your radar now?
Vision of Minna Now?
Sara Becks: Yeah, that's a great question. You know, starting a business is quite different than growing business.
Kelly: It really is . Yeah, it really is.
Sara Becks: so we've been at it in earnest since 2015 and yeah, it's, it's been almost eight years.And I think now what I'm most excited about is really like honing in on what our brand direction is. I think last year we started launching some new color palettes and new kinds of, patterns that are a bit more bold and I think historically we've been known for more neutrals, so I'm excited to explore that a bit more. We're also working on, which I'm very excited about, a new website. So hopefully kinda bringing a better online customer experience, but also brand storytelling to, to the website. And that'll probably be launching early this summer. And yeah, we're exploring popping up in a couple locations this year as well. So that should be fun and really focusing on how do we get Minna out there in new ways?
Kelly: I love it. One of the things that I shared in my video, my unboxing of my delivery the other day of Minna products was, a linen napkin, but it had like a really beautiful blue stripe down the middle. So it was neutrals, but it had that blue stripe, and I was like, This is the thing that I personally love about your designs is that they're neutrals, but there's like this little subtle pop of something. And to me that makes it really interesting. And I have a dish towel from you too that I got in Hudson. And just the color blocks of the blues are just so rich and vibrant that it makes my kitchen pop and it's, again, I love home goods and accessories where it's like something really practical and simple, but has that elevated design to it and just the texture and feel. So I could totally see how it's neutrals, but there's some interests. It's not just, it's not boring. There's like, yeah. A subtle hint of something that again, makes it stand out, in my opinion.
Sara Becks: Yeah, that's actually, the thing we always say like, okay, well what makes this piece Minna? Is it having something that's a little off. Something that's either like a grid line. A grid line is a little bit broken or there's a color pairing that is interesting but unexpected.
Kelly: I picked up on that literally in my video. I'm like, this is why I love this, uh, brand, because I said you could have this as a neutral, but look at this strip of blue. And I think it's almost like the same color of my shirt. And this is also your color Palettes is like my color palette. When I say it's literally my mood board, I genuinely mean it.
Sara Becks: I love it.
Kelly: So thank you for making all the dream textiles that I would want for my home. Super appreciate it. And as far as people engaging with the brand, or maybe if they're wanting to start shopping Minna, what are some pieces that you're excited about that would be a good way for people to start building more ethically? Made pieces for their homes. Walk me through that. If someone's curious or they just wanna start shopping for the brand, what are some suggestions that you have?
How do people shop with your brand?
Sara Becks: Well, we think that our kitchen and dining textiles are a nice entry point. Especially if you're shopping on a budget. So just bringing in a set of napkins or. to place mats even as a centerpiece for a table. And then kind of working your way up to the pillows and throws and potentially a rug. The collection that I'm the most excited about for dining right now is the Meridian and Ridges Collections. The napkins come in like a lilac color, a sky blue and a rust, and then like a darker black gray. And they're really simple, simple grids, but then they have this nice color on the edge that makes it pop in contrast. And then the place mats have, really fun textures, but also plays on color in the pattern.
Kelly: I am so excited. I'm going to need to order those. They sound beautiful. And also too, I meant to tell you when I was unboxing my delivery, I feel like, and maybe I'm wrong, but it's one of the few times I've ever seen a queer couple on a piece of collateral for a brand. And I really like mental a lot because I'm like, oh my gosh, it looks like me and my girlfriend. And like I just really appreciated that little, it was very subtle, piece of telling the story of the brand and what you represent, and I just really appreciated that because we need more queer representation in business in general and that I just thought was like really cool
Sara Becks: Oh, thank you. Yeah, I mean we are definitely a queer led and primarily queer team, so it is to us to also include that in our imagery and storytelling.
Kelly: I love it. I'm here for it. I appreciate it. And where can people shop the brand? Where is the best place to go?
Sara Becks:Yeah, so we have ourstore, of course, in Hudson, New York. But if you're not in upstate New York, our website has everything. And still a lot of the brands that we carry in the store as well. And that's, minna-goods.com.
Kelly: I love it. Well, thank you so much for coming on my podcast and sharing your knowledge. You shared so much great information that I know many creatives who are starting businesses are on the cusp of really now taking it to the next level. We'll find so much value and definitely Will be playing this episode and I just appreciate you for coming on. Thank you so much.
Sara Becks: Yeah, thank you so much for this was awesome. Thank you.
Kelly: See you everyone on the next episode.
