Today we’d like to introduce you to Shea Donavan
Hi Shea, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My girlfriend Meg and I started Nerdhouse back in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. I had been drawing designs and getting them embroidered on hats and apparel for a couple of years through an embroidery shop out in Vista. Eventually, because of how often we were coming out there, they joked with us that we’d probably save money if we just bought an embroidery machine and made things for ourselves (as long as we didn’t open up shop next door to them!).
Meg and I took that advice and ran with it – we had a lot of extra time on our hands because of the pandemic and figured getting an embroidery machine and learning how to use it would be a productive (and fun) way to spend some of that extra time.
We started embroidering random designs that the two of us had drawn on hats for ourselves and our friends. Within just a few months word had spread that we had this fun new art-robot, and we started getting requests from other businesses and creatives to embroider their designs on shirts, hats, bags, shoes…you name it!
We ran the business out of the living room of our granny flat for about 9 months and then needed to make the move to a bigger space because of how many orders we were getting and how much inventory/materials we needed to store. Luckily, our good friend Zach Miller had opened a surf shop in Leucadia (RIP Social) and let us move our operation into the back indoor/outdoor zone of his shop. It was so much fun to share that space with him, we threw a lot of parties where we would do custom embroidery on the spot for guests, and I think that helped spread the word of what we were offering through Nerdhouse.
Unfortunately, all the tenants of that building had to move out about a year after we got in there since the building was being sold. It was a bummer to leave, and we knew we’d miss working in the same space as Zach, but it pushed us to grow. So, late in the summer of 2022, we moved into the first space we had all on our own. It was basically right across the train tracks from where the surf shop was in Leucadia, which felt great to be able to stay in the same neighborhood. Our community was super supportive too; our friend Nora Vasconcellos came in and painted a mural in our new space, our buddy Drew Hastings made a couple of promo videos for us, and everyone had a hand in helping us move in.
Earlier this year, we realized we had grown out of that space, and went on the search for the next Nerdhouse Inc headquarters that would have enough room for ourselves, a couple of part-time employees, and a second embroidery machine. Our buddy in commercial real estate, Adam Kimbrough, found us such a hidden gem in Del Mar, and we moved in this past summer.
We just threw our first big event here, and since we’ve been in Del Mar we’ve seen our clientele expand from mainly the Leucadia-Encinitas area to North County and SD as a whole.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our main struggles have mostly revolved around space for the business (described in all of our moves in the last question). Since we work on embroidery projects that range from unique one-off pieces to very large quantities we needed both a space that was easily accessible for our coastal, North County clients, as well as a space that was large enough to store the sometimes hundreds of items we’re embroidering – all without breaking the bank in rent.
We’ve been lucky enough to find just that, but it definitely took a ton of help finding (again – shoutout Adam) and a lot of patience to not jump on something too soon if it wasn’t exactly right.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Nerdhouse specializes in creative embroidery work. We don’t have any order minimums -something that is normally not offered in this industry – and that tends to lead to some pretty fun, artistic, and intricate jobs (e.g: fully customized outfits for a band’s tour, etc).
We also offer design consultation/services, so if a client comes in with an idea of what they want, but they aren’t 100% sure how to get there, we can help them out from graphic design to finished embroidered product!
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
We personally see a big shift away from online-only merchandise ordering. It can be cheap and convenient, but one of the things we hear most often from our clients is how much they appreciate being able to come into our space and try on a hat, hand-pick their thread color, or talk us through exactly how they want a design to look on their apparel. Even if they aren’t local, just being able to have an in-depth conversation with us over the phone or via email, and not needing to ask questions to an online chatbot makes a big difference.
The main goal is making your client’s art/brand stand out – and we see the whole world appreciating art more and more – so that can only be a benefit to everyone!
Pricing:
- Contact NerdhouseCo@gmail.com for pricing info.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nerdhouseco.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/n_h_w_w
Image Credits
Meghan White, Shea Donavan, Rob White
