Interview with a rising star business, Nomadic Customs

        

         Many of you know Hannah Maurer as the owner of local Fort Wayne small business Nomadic Customs but what you may not know is that Hannah is a good friend of mine. We grew up going to the same elementary school and formed a quick bond that has withstood the hustle and bustle of life. I even had the opportunity to model some of her clothing and jewelry in an ad campaign she ran in 2020. 

Hannah modeling in front of local art in downtown Fort Wayne 

Yours truly, modeling Hannah’s clothing 

    

       Hannah started Nomadic Customs during the Covid 19 pandemic and has maintained a steady healthy growth in clients through vending at events, online sales and social media attention. Her shop offers creative bold designs through clothing, jewelry and art. " I've always wanted to pursue art full time, I just didn't know what kind of art or how to start, I am very indecisive. When Covid started I figured it was now or never and dove in 100%, clothing and art just kind of fell into place. Now it's been three years and I'm still full time self-employed. I've created this community of people who support me."  Hannah told me.  Nomadic Customs also takes commissions to help smaller artists bring their designs to life. 

              With large corporations controlling much of the way we purchase it can be really hard to stay on top of everything, when asked what was most crucial in owning a small business Hannah says, " The most crucial part of my business is probably social interaction. 90% of my business is through social media so keeping up with posting content, networking and building relationships with other businesses as well as clients is very important to keep my name out there."  As said before running your own business nowadays is all about customer interaction and content. Being a place people feel safe and comfortable shopping at is a goal Hannah feels she can easily accomplish. "My demographic has always been alternative, queer and feminist."  As a member of the LBGT+ community it's an easy choice to being herself through her designs and styles. 

        In the next five years Hannah hopes to open her own brick and mortar shop with a small warehouse/shipping center so she can reach a larger audience. We are definitely cheering her on for that goal. When asked what she hopes to learn from this experience as a business owner Hannah says, "I think I hope to learn more back business and accounting part of it all. No one really teaches you the nitty gritty, from the outside all you see is the fun stuff, the artsy part. But it truly is a process to understand how to properly budget, price, filling out the books and doing taxes."   

           All businesses have ups and downs but I want to focus on the good things. I wanted to know what Hannah felt her biggest success so far was, here’s what she had to say. “ I would say my biggest success so far has just been connecting with so many different types of people. Being recognized by someone who is my age and alternative and queer but then also being recognized by somebody who’s in their 40s or 50s and still wanting, my designs is a very big compliment. I would say also, the businesses reaching out to me now, rather than me reaching out to them with collaborations.” 

Hannah has had much success selling her shop items in local tattoo parlors like Legendary Ink. 

      Having done a vending event with Hannah before I just had to get the details about her very first event. 

“My first vending event was very small. Just a handful of venders a very small venue downtown. I was super nervous and basically this would be me testing the waters with person to person interaction. I didn’t expect too much. But, it was a really great turn out and I actually sold to every single person that walked through the venue. I was shocked at the support and I knew I was onto something with my work.”

  As of this time Nomadic Customs won’t be attending any summer 2023 vending events as Hannah wants to focus on motherhood but it won’t stop her from pushing out new designs we are excited to see. 

    Hannah recently welcomed a sweet baby girl into the world about 3 months ago. 

“Being a mom really changes your whole perspective so I recently just created two new pieces for my shop. Hoodies for the tatted moms and dads and tees for the alternative heavy metal moms and dads.”  Hannah says. 

Hannah’s routine has changed so much since becoming a mom, what used to be. She says 

“ Well, currently I have a three month old so my whole workday is at night not during the day. My whole day is centered around her and then when she goes to bed, that’s when I go into my office and I will go through all social media and respond to everyone, all my emails. Fill in my planner, make a schedule, make sure all my orders are fulfilled, I’ll check inventory, and when I feel like I have some free time after all that, that’s when I have time to sit and create.” 

     

     It’s no wonder why Nomadic Customs is a rising star business in Fort Wayne. The owner is a wonderfully sweet young woman with dreams and ambition to truly make her mark on the world. 

Thank you so much Hannah for the opportunity for this interview, I look forward to collaborating again on another project. 

With much love, 

Sophie 

Hannah currently doesn’t have an online shop available but is taking orders through her social media. 

To shop nomadic customs go to Modern Primitive tattoo parlor  in Fort Wayne to shop in store. 

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