An unlikely textile art podcaster!
It was early 2017 and I was looking for an embroidery podcast or a textile art podcast that featured mainly UK based textile artists and embroiderers. And I didn’t really find anything. Lots on knitting, and crochet, and dressmaking, and sewing, and quilting, and crafting, but nothing that really focused on textile art and embroidery. An idea began to take root…….
Stitchery Stories is an embroidery and textile art podcast set up by me in July 2017. I am Susan Weeks and I am a textile art & embroidery enthusiast, and now a popular textile art podcaster! Embroidery and textile art is my hobby. I love it, but don’t spend as much time on it as I would always like to. A familiar problem I am sure!
Why Stitchery Stories was launched
So embroidery is my hobby…. why did I launch this podcast? Why did I become a textile art podcaster?
Back in 2017 I was offering podcast production services.
(N.B. I no longer offer podcasting services but am available for advice, training & mentoring)
Anyway, I set up this podcast to showcase 2 things:
- the interesting work and stories of textile artists
- my podcast production skills independent of my client work.
A Popular Textile Art Podcast: A Leader In Its Niche
Since it’s low-key launch in July 2017, Stitchery Stories has consistently ranked within the Top 200 podcasts in the UK Visual Arts podcasts in Apple Podcasts. And not only ranking in the UK! Stitchery Stories can be found everyday, all over the world in the Top200. This alone makes me feel very proud of what I have created.
Did you know there are now over 2.4 million podcasts out there as of September 2022? Literally hundreds of podcasts are launched every day. Sadly, many of them only reach a few episodes and then die off and ‘podfade’. But thanks to a very engaged and passionate audience, Stitchery Stories continues to grow. I am therefore, an established & popular textile art podcaster, with a global audience. This podcast has been mentioned in several magazines and by prominent textile artists, needlework organisations and bloggers. It’s all very exciting, that’s for sure 🙂
The podcast went over the 200,000 all-time downloads milestone in early 2021. Currently, September 2022 I have achieved over 256,000 downloads. That blows my mind. 256,000 times, people chose to listen to me chatting with lovely guests about our shared passion of textile art and embroidery. I took a break of 12 months from october 2021 until october 2022, yes during that time of no marketing whatsoever, over 15 thousand downloads happened, as textile art fans continued to find my niche and enjoyable textile art podcast!
Surprisingly, my podcast episodes are not just lovely chats with creatives. Something that has emerged over time, is that my conversations with artists have also featured business highlights and dilemmas. Plus, some very inspiring stories of how guests have overcome great challenges to succeed and build a life and business they love! Being a textile art podcaster is very enjoyable.
Textile Art Blog
I also decided to start writing the occasional textile art blog post. This is to share some of my textile art creations and other related embroidery and textile art topics that don’t fit within the boundaries of my textile art podcast. Over on Instagram, September 2022, a month long posting theme #septtextilelove has been very enjoyable. I decided to take part, and have enjoyed making short videos, telling the stories and inspiration behind some of my textile art pieces. I will make blog posts around those videos so they get a longer ‘shelf life’ than on my Instagram @stitcherystories_podcast account.
Online Course Creator, Digital Marketing, Online Technology : Mentor & Trainer
Another aspect of my freelance business that you might not be aware of is my long standing professional experience as an IT and Training professional. This was long before I started running my own business back in 2010. All my mentoring services and courses are delivered virtually. I serve global clients from my home office here in Hornsea, East Yorkshire, England.
I teach textile artists & embroidery experts how to create an online course
May 2021 saw my plans and projects come to fruition as I finalised the change towards creating and selling online courses. I have a range of courses coming online. My ‘flagship’ course teaches textile artists, embroidery experts & crafty creative business owners how to create an online course. It is designed specifically for my audience and is quite different from all the other ‘how to create an online course’ courses that are out there. If you want to improve your Canva graphic creation skills, then my ‘Create It All Using Canva’ course will be perfect for you.
You can find out more about my business and online courses here: https://virtualityworks.com/
If you want to create an online course BUT you’re faffing about ‘cos you don’t know where to even start… then I’ve a blog post you’ll want to read and a FREE offer to help you too!
https://stitcherystories.com/crafty-online-course-creators-workbox/
And from 2017 to May 2022, I was a technical trainer, and was also one of a small team of global mentors, for FreelanceUniversity. In this role I supported FreeU students, by answering a diverse range of interesting questions and sharing business advice and technical tips and tricks. It was a role that I really LOVED doing, in an enthusiastic and energising environment to be a part of every day. I have created over 20 online courses for Freelance University covering a range of popular online software, apps and tools. Both these roles came to an end when FreeU decided to restructure and greatly reduce their team of freelancers.
What Help Do You Need, Right Now?
So, I am not ‘just’ an embroidery fan and someone who chats with embroidery artists once a fortnight!
It’s my mission to empower business owners to use online tools and technology, to grow your visibility, improve your productivity and generate more revenue.
With my wide and varied professional background, I can help you make progress using technology in your business.
I can help you get started online, or get better with your digital presence.
And if you are thinking of following your dream and want to leave your corporate career, and set up a creative business instead, then I can also help you with that too!
You can book me for a ‘Power Hour‘ here. https://bookme.name/susanweeks/powerhour
You can find out more at https://virtualityworks.com
Enjoy Stitchery Stories & Thank You For Listening
I hope you enjoy these embroidery and textile art podcast episodes. Please also go and follow the links to the artists websites & pages to find out more about them.
And PLEASE share this with any of your friends who love embroidery & textile art too!