Meet The Makers: Its Peak

I'm really excited about this week's instalment of Meet The Makers - so much bling and sparkle! We meet Anthony and Sasha, a delightful duo who work together to bring you fabulous and flashy designs in their customized footwear and clothes.

Go on - introduce yourself!

Hi there, we are Anthony and Sasha. We have been married for almost ten years and have 3 children aged 13, 8 and 16 months. We are based in south east London! I make and Sasha does all the networking, sales and admin!

When did your business launch? What was the spark that led you to starting it? 

Our business launched in January 2014. Anthony: "I've always been artistic and flamboyant when it comes to the children's school projects, probably taking over and doing it all myself. It was only once Sasha gave me the push, more than once, and the drive to actually put it to good use.

Show us your work space! Do you have a shop? Strictly from home? Tell us about it!

We do all our work from home, Sasha is the brains behind advertising, social media and getting our name out there. Anthony, is the brains and hands behind the makes. Anthony: "I do all the physical stuff and Sasha does all the thinking. We have regular discussions on what we could customise that will excite people and try to keep up with the latest trends. We also have an Etsy shop that this year has been very successful.

What has been your favourite make so far? What’s been your most popular? 

Anthony: "My favourite make so far has to be our spiked and blinged Dr Martens boots. Our eldest child had a pair of DMs that no longer fitted her, so we thought we would try some ideas out on them. The end product was great, DMs blinged and spiked. This year we sent a fabulous pair to the USA! Our most popular items would be both our Spiked Creeper shoes and Customised Converse, which come in a variety of styles and colours.

How do you generate new ideas for items? 

We have brain storming sessions, where we go over old makes and ideas and see if we can change them or improve them to make them more relevant. We also explore recent and current fashion trends to see whether we can customise these items to give them a bit of the Its Peak flare. We also ask our eldest daughter what new trends are happening in school and what new items her friends are wearing and talking about.

Describe/outline your typical day. 

Our typical day is vary varied as we both work shifts and work nights, sometimes leaving the house or just getting home at 07:00 in the morning. When we are not at work, during the week, it's up early to get everyone ready for school. Most of our work is done during the evening when the children have gone to bed, that way we can focus all of our attention on that particular customisation, ensuring the item is done to the highest standard.

What is/are your favourite(s) social media platform(s) to use for promoting your business? 

Our favourite social media platform at present is Facebook. We have generated more business through Facebook than any other social media platform.

What are your hobbies - other than crafting of course!

As a family, we enjoy spending time with the children, taking them on days out as a family, watching movies and eating out.

What three pieces of advice do you have for someone wanting to start their own small business (and maybe advice you wish you’d had before starting)? 

The advice we would give, would be to be patient things: don't happen over night. Photos, the right picture taken at the right angle with the right amount of lighting, etc. will make the difference between no sales and possibly a dozen sales. Lastly, make something people will want to buy or actually need, just because you like it personally does not to mean to say the masses will.

What are you dreams/goals/aspirations for your business? 

Our goals for 2016 are to get our website set up, hopefully in early 2016. To expand our global sales, having already made sales, in the USA, Japan, Sweden, Italy and Scotland. Also to expand our customer base on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.