Meet Monique Travis | Seamstress

We had the good fortune of connecting with Monique Travis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Monique, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
While working at Baby’s R US, I saw how much money people were willing to spend on baby registry items, the overall average budget of the customers and what the most popular items were. At the time, my mom would make expecting mothers handmade baby blankets as a gift and would often receive requests to make more. From my observations working at Baby’s R US, I suggested to her that she could have a successful a business making baby blankets and that people would pay good money because they were custom and one of one. We went to Joann fabric store one day, picked out a bunch of different fabrics for the blankets, brought them home and she told me I would be the one to sew them.

Two years into sewing baby blankets, while working at a credit union, I was a victim of an armed robbery. From that, I was diagnosed with PTSD and anxiety. For 6 months, I was out of work, but three months in just decided to start sewing more. It was something I could do to help me escape, while placing my energy into something positive. I would go in my basement and sew for hours, sometimes sewing two to three items a day. From there, I sewed more frequently, at least once a week. The more I sewed and wore my garments, the more compliments I would receive. Over time, people would ask me if I sewed for others and what the name of my company was. Once I was asked about the name while at church and my friend on the spot said, “Made by Mo” and it stuck. For the longest time, I was trying to come up with a one, but when my friend said that I knew that was it!

In 2019, during graduate school, with the help and consistent encouragement of a friend, Made by Mo became an official LLC on my 29th birthday. It all aligned the way it was supposed to because I planned to officially launch Made by Mo on my birthday, and I happened to receive an email on that day stating the 12th would be my official business start date. A seamless beginning.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The visions that I have for my designs and the ways in which I execute and present them is what sets me apart from others; my visions are unique to me. I take comfort and find confidence in my creativity, knowing that I do not feel the need to seek external validation on what I bring to life. It requires a lot of trust in oneself, but that was a personal challenge I had to overcome overtime. Being a creator requires humility because there is a lot of trial and error involved in the process. One must be bold enough to go against the grain, try things that haven’t been done before, work blindly not really knowing what the result will be, but most importantly, one cannot be afraid to fail. It is important to be wise enough to learn from your shortcomings and use them as building blocks to improve in the future. I had to hone in and treat myself as my only competition.

As a business owner, I am most proud of my ability push myself to be better, trust myself in the creative process and trust that others will connect with my work as well.
Getting to this point in my business and sewing ability was not easy at all, as it required countless hours of dedication and most importantly consistency. Consistency requires both discipline and passion which are necessary to “perfect” your craft. Business wise, starting out is very challenging and success does not come over night, but if you truly believe in the vision for your company, passion will drive you to keep going until you see the good fruits of your labor and beyond

I have learned many things along the way, but my favorite and best business advice I received stemmed from a customer issue. I was told to never put myself in the position to give bad customer service or lose money trying to please a customer against my better judgement and knowledge. He told me that I am the expert and have enough experience to have foresight of what the result will be in my business relations. The couple of times that I have went against my better judgement, I hear his voice in my head. It is exceptional advice, but it requires one to know their craft, trust themselves, and value their name and reputation of the brand more than money and more than saying yes.

I would like people to know that I am very mindful and purposeful with my entire sewing process. Whether I am creating for myself or others, I must be content with the project, from the fabric to the pattern, feeling that the custom piece I am creating will make me/them feel like my/their best self. My goal is to evoke the feeling of confidence when one is wearing Made by Mo.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my friend were to visit me in Jersey for the week, I’d definately take them to my favorite Italian spots, Dusal’s (Kendall Park), Romeo’s (Plainsboro) and Sansone’s (Kendall Park). You can’t come to Jersey without going to a mom and pop Italian restaurant nor can you miss out on the best subs at Tastee (Kendall Park). For a fun Friday night, we’re getting dressed up and going to Delta’s (New Brunswick) for good food, drinks and music. Another day we’d head to Liberty State Park, have a picnic then head over to Char House (for dinner) and a good view of NY with outdoor seating by the water. And of course one day we’d travel to NY and another to Philly.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to Shoutout my mother for being a seamstress who strives for perfection, Sade for naming my business, Timothy for having the foresight, Mrs. Cynthia my sewing mentor, Ian who’s always breaking bread, Nick because you gave me the best business advice, all my friends that have allowed me to come to them for advice and share my ideas, all of my supporters, my first blanket and clothing customers, Sharon and Zuri and to Mr. and Mrs. Justin Henderson for encouraging me to share my story.

Website: madebymosew.com

Instagram: made_bymo

Image Credits
Joshua Hagwood