Meet Corey Strohmeyer | Maker

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

Hi Corey, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
It was basically a function of me toiling away in my studio and realizing “well what the hell do I do with all this stuff??” There are only so many pillows one person needs. And since I didn’t see myself stopping any time soon, I thought I might try to support my habit by selling the extras. That’s how the denim part of the business came about. With the gift bags it was seeing eco-conscious companies like Patagonia selling gift bags from remnants and thinking “this concept makes a ton of sense, but these could definitely be cuter”. But the gift bags are very straight-forward and there’s not a lot of room for getting creative, so the denim projects fill that gap.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Everybody has a favorite pair of jeans. I had too many, to where I couldn’t even get rid of the unwearable ones. It was a “use it or lose it” threat that lead me to take those 2 old totes and finally do something with them. From patchworked pillows of the darker denim hiding under and inside pockets (usually a lovely gradient of blues), to the yellow threaded seams working across the sides of whales, there is always something beautiful there to be put to use. I love when friends drop off bags of their old denim, either for my use or to make them something special that has sentimental value. I love reusing these items. It’s part of the reason I like making the fabric gift bags…though the fabric isn’t reclaimed, these bags can be used over and over again, and as someone who tries to recycle every little piece of plastic and paper I come across, this really speaks to me. I’d love to find a way to work the reclamation process in to gift bags, but haven’t figured that out yet in a way that isn’t so time consuming the bags are no longer economical (I am open to suggestions!) The hardest part, for me, of having a career where I create things is actually doing the selling. It’s hard for me to be like “I made this and you can have it, but you’ll need to give me money”. Pricing is my least favorite. My ideal situation would be to have someone who says “just go in that room with all your things and make whatever you want, I’ll be back in a month and go sell it for you”. I can do the business-y things–the taxes, the website, etc–but man, I do. not. like it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in Boulder, so any visitors would definitely be treated to a hike, either Sanitas or a Chautauqua trail. If the weather is warm we’d go to a rooftop for drinks near sunset–for something nice, Corrida and for more casual, probably Rosetta Hall–and look out over the Flatirons. If the weather isn’t nice, for sure Steakhouse 316–great food and drinks, and the atmosphere/decor in there is the best. If we’re lucky there will be a concert at Chautauqua and we’d picnic at the park and listen to the music in the distance. I love to browse the Boulder Bookstore on my way home from a happy hour or earlier dinner, I’ve never left without a book and I love going with other people who always have a good recommendation for me. I am not super great at taking advantage of where I live and sometimes I need a nudge to get out of my routine, so I would use the opportunity to explore Denver more and go to some places I’d like to check out but never get around to, like Meow Wolf or the Grizzly Rose, and I would hit up some “best of” lists for a good dining and bar scene…I really need to get better at leaving the bubble, those things have been on my to-do for a while now 😂

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to shout-out my hype crew, aka my friends…on many occasions I have sat there and been like “what am I even doing, to what end is all this for?” and they have reminded me of the why. Sometimes it’s easy to go to a place of feeling like you should be doing something “worthwhile” and they will point out that if one of them said something similar I would shake them by the shoulders and tell them that under no circumstances should they stop putting something special and different out in the world.

Website: www.colorblocks.com www.thegoodbags.shop

Instagram: @corstroh