As part of the Morning Lazziness series about empowering women who encourage and do incredible things with their ideas in society, I had the pleasure of interviewing Heidi.
Heidi, known as Sew Heidi, started her career in fashion without a degree or industry connections, yet managed to grow her fashion brand to over $40,000 in revenue in her early 20s. Despite this success, the experience left her broke and burned out. She later landed her dream fashion design role at a lifestyle brand in Denver, Colorado, but the toxic office environment caused overwhelming anxiety.
In 2009, long before remote work in fashion was mainstream, Heidi transitioned to freelancing. Her first year was challenging, earning zero income—literally $0. However, through relentless effort and experimentation, she learned how to secure high-paying clients, design a balanced schedule, and earn a sustainable income doing what she loved.
Heidi’s freelance business eventually surpassed $100,000 annually, all while working a manageable 35-hour week. Since 2013, she has reached hundreds of thousands of fashion professionals worldwide—including designers, technical designers, product developers, and pattern makers—through educational videos, podcasts, books, live trainings, and more.
Her signature program, Freelance Accelerator: From Surviving to Thriving (FAST), has generated over $1 million in revenue, empowering more than 1,000 fashion designers to escape toxic workplaces and thrive as freelancers doing the work they love.
Here’s what we found out about Heidi’s daily routine, followed by an exclusive Q+A.
What inspired you to become an entrepreneur, and what sparked the idea for your business?
I didn’t set out to be an entrepreneur. But back in 2010, I was working my first fashion design job and saw a huge gap in the skills fashion designers needed to work in fashion compared to what they were learning in fashion school. So, I created some video tutorials, posted them on YouTube, and forgot about them. A year later, I logged in and had $300 in ad revenue. People were watching! So, I started teaching in person workshops as a side hustle for a few years. Finally, in 2015, I took my business online, learned how to write sales pages and emails, host webinars, and create content. By 2018, I was earning a full-time income exclusively from my online business.
As a woman navigating the business world, what challenges have you faced, and how did you overcome them?
Honestly, I think it’s the self-doubt and lack of confidence that most women put on themselves. I’ve luckily not had any situations where I’ve felt mistreated or lacked access to resources because I am a woman. It’s more my own limiting thoughts, which I believe men suffer from much less (or power through more easily). Even after years of running an established business, having a small team, and supporting 1000s of happy customers, I still have tremendous bouts of self-doubt. I use a somewhat controversial mantra of, “What would a man do?” If I think I’m playing small, I literally try to think like a man. It encourages me to lean into hard things or start before I’m ready. I also have a tremendous support network within my team, my family, and my business friends. I have ugly cried to many of them during hard moments, and they always pick me up and help me keep going.
How do you balance the demands of running a business with maintaining a healthy personal life?
It’s a constant juggle! I wish I could say I have a great balance, but that’s not reality. There are weeks I do great, eat well, exercise, don’t overwork, and spend quality time with my family. There are also weeks that I’m stressed, stuck at my desk for too long, and stop taking great care of my body. I remind myself that it’s always a give and take, and every day, week, or month can’t be perfect. At a certain point, my body and brain scream at me, and I know I’ve got to get back on track. I continually have to remind myself that more hours at the screen doesn’t mean more productivity. It’s often the time away from the screen that makes you do better work in fewer hours. So, at a minimum, I try to do hot yoga 3x a week. It feeds my soul and helps me keep some balance, even when things feel chaotic.
Which networking strategies have most effectively built meaningful connections within your industry?
There are 2 big ones: LinkedIn and investing in coaching programs/courses. I only got on LinkedIn a little over a year ago, but it’s been an absolute game changer. I’ve connected with so many wonderful people, built amazing business relationships, and grown my network. It doesn’t come magically, however. I post and engage regularly, spending about 3-4 hours a week on the platform. Beyond that, I have invested in myself and my business in various coaching programs and courses over the years. I try to be an active, engaged and supportive student and community member. As a result, I have formed some amazing relationships that have helped me grow personally and professionally.
How do you approach mentorship, and how has it shaped your entrepreneurial path?
My best mentors have come investing in courses/coaching and being the student who shows up, does the work, asks the questions, and engages. You can’t sit in the background and expect to find mentors. You have to put yourself out there, show that you care, and that you’re willing to bust your butt for it. For me, it’s always been a very natural progression of doing the work and building relationships from that. Whether it’s with the teacher or other students, this is how I’ve found my best mentors. (And yes, I was always that student sitting in the front of the class doing the extra credit!)
What strategies have worked best for selling your products and reaching your ideal customers?
Content. Content. Content!!! It was how my business started (by accident) years ago, and it’s how I’ve grown. While I haven’t always been consistent across all channels, I have used YouTube, my podcast, my blog/website and LinkedIn to reach my ideal customers. Within each of these channels, I have optimized my content to get people onto my email list. I lead with a tremendous amount of value there and am constantly sharing free resources, strategies, and advice. But I also learned early on that, if you’re going to sell, sell! So, I’m not afraid to make an offer and ask people to buy it.
Which marketing techniques have been most successful for your business, and how do you track their performance?
Organic marketing has been our biggest driver. We watch our KPIs closely, including website traffic, conversion to email sign up, open and click rates on emails, conversion on sales pages, and more. We keep an eye on all stages of the funnel so we can see where there are holes or where we can test and optimize. We’ve also been testing and working on ads for 2 years, and while we’ve gotten some wins, it’s an extremely hard nut to crack. Even working with some high-level CRO experts, ads have been a challenge, and we’ve not been able to scale up in a way that makes sense. So, our main focus is organic, continuing to optimize that, and reaching our audience through more touchpoints that way.
Can you share a significant setback in your business journey and the steps you took to overcome it?
There have been many setbacks–they are part of life and business! A big one was when I launched a beta offer for a brand-new program that I was really excited about. It was a course on freelancing that I had validated with my audience, done all my research on, and put together what I felt was a great offer. It absolutely flopped. I got 0 sales. It was early on in my business, and I remember ugly crying to my husband. “No one wants what I’ve got. I should just quit and get a regular job.” Instead, I started working with a new coach who helped me repackage the offer, change up the marketing copy, and relaunch it a few months later. This time, the beta spots oversold! Six years later, that program is now my core offer, Freelance Accelerator: from Surviving to Thriving (FAST). We have over a thousand students, and amazing case studies from around the world. It’s crazy to look back and think I almost gave up on it!
What’s the most important advice you’d give to women just starting their entrepreneurial journey?
Get help, make connections, and be prepared to fail. I think most people going into an entrepreneurial journey don’t understand the amount of continual failure you’ll experience. Each one is an opportunity to learn, iterate, and try again. And it’s a lot easier to do when you’ve got the right help and a supportive network. As a self-proclaimed over achiever, it took me a long time to learn I couldn’t do it all or figure it out all on my own. The more help I get, the more business and personal growth I experience.
Is there a mantra or quote that guides your actions and decision-making as an entrepreneur?
I already shared one above, which is, “What would a man do?” The other mantra that guides me is, “It’s a muscle.” Simply put, it means that everything new will likely feel hard, and you have to keep working it to get stronger. If you lack confidence, keep pushing yourself a little bit harder and harder to do scary things, and your confidence muscle will build. If you aren’t good at sales, learn and keep trying, and your sales muscle will build. You can literally apply it to everything in your business or life.
