Meet Peg Koerselman-Kohl | Small run production sewing and Teacher

We had the good fortune of connecting with Peg Koerselman-Kohl and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Peg, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I believe the saying “necessity is the mother of invention” is the thought process behind starting my business. I wanted the flexibility to spend time with my kids. They came pretty late in my life. I think I wanted to be with them as much as possible, whether it was volunteering in their kindergarten classroom, or sitting in the bleachers at the high school football game to watch my daughter perform during half time on the dance team. Their dad wasn’t much interested in being involved with them once he found out that parenting came with responsibilities, so I wanted to be flexible for their emotional needs also. That said, anyone who has started or started and still has their own business knows we end up working a lot more than if we took a 9-5 job somewhere, and often with less financial payout for the amount of hours we end up working. But, I wanted the flexibility that came with working for myself and eventually the financial part worked out also.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I wasn’t sure if I should choose “Other” or “Artist/Creative” to tell you more about my work. I chose “Other”. I did go to art school, I did study design. I use principles and skills I learned at University of Cincinnati while in the Design, Art, and Architecture (DAA) program, all the time – even though that was a long time ago. I guess if you really learn something and continue to practice it; it becomes a part of who you are. But, I also returned to college 27 years later with the goal to change careers. Because of timing, and who I am, I ended up combining both degrees with what I do in life.

I think the lessons I learned with that are, that if you want something bad enough and are willing to put the work in there are a lot of things one can achieve. And, may I emphasize, put the work in! I might have taken off in the middle of the day to volunteer at one of my kid’s schools or drove them to dance class, and made costumes in trade for lessons, but I still had to get my work done, even if I started at 10 PM to make a deadline the next day.
Was it easy?
No.
Has the path I’ve chosen for myself been worth it?
Yes, for me.
How did I overcome challenges?
Always have a plan, then a backup plan, and then a backup-backup plan. Stay motivated. See the end result instead of only looking at all the little things it takes to get there.
As I’ve gotten older – I can relax a little bit. But, I’ve learned if I don’t have a challenge to figure out, I’m bored.
I’m really always so excited to start a new cohort of the class I teach at Denver Design Incubator. I have students who range from wanting to learn to alter or make their own clothes because they don’t fit the mold of ready to wear; or are getting ready to go to college to pursue a career in the needle trade (often fashion) industry; want to start their own sewing business; or have graduated from college and realized they don’t have necessary basic skills that allows them to convert what they learned to do on a computer, to a physical thing.
A friend gave me a plaque with that saying “Not all who wander are lost”. She presented it to me and said this. “Until I met you, I never understood this saying.”

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
So, if my best friend or family members were visiting and I wanted to give them an interesting visit I would have to mix it up between what I do and my favorite Colorado places. I love watching the expression on people’s faces when they walk into my little shop in Colorado Springs. I’m tucked away in a building close to Colorado College. There are landscape architects, property managers, a hair dresser, an esthetician, and a whole bunch of therapists and counselors in my building, so when someone opens the door to my shop, and there are multiple industrial machines, a large cutting table, stacks of cut fabric ready to be sewn or cut, an entire room of fabric their eyes get wide. It’s the same when I stop someone by DDI. People don’t think about the fact that there are so many different kinds of sewing machines and quickly learn differently. I posted an Instagram photo of myself sewing on a Merrow Purl-Stitch machine once. The caption read, “Not your mother’s sewing machine, unless I’m your mother.” Industrial sewing machines are one of the coolest things in the world to me – so I like to share them with people. Though I do have a couple of favorite places I like to eat while I’m in Denver (The New York Deli News being one of them), I live in Colorado Springs. I love taking out of town guests to La Casita in the Springs – at least the one by my house is really good and authentic to food I remember in Mexico. There is a really out of the way roadside restaurant on Hwy 285 in Villa Grove called the Villa Grove Trade. When my brother and sister-in-law came to visit, these are the memorable restaurants I took them to on the way to Durango. Before, and even after my brother entered each one, he looked at me and had that “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding” look on his face. Then the food was served, and he was amazed. (You have to understand that he used to own a restaurant and would have food flown in fresh from different parts of the country daily to be served in his restaurant. So, how could these places be any good?)
Denver and Colorado Springs, and actually much of the Front Range have amenities. But, Colorado is a really big state, and lots of places don’t have the amenities readily available on the Front Range. The people in those places have figured out a way around that for what they need for their lives. I’ve met very innovative people all over this state.
I love to take people that come to visit on a drive to the only real rest stop on Hwy 24 between Colorado Springs and Hartsel, where one sees the backside of Pikes Peak behind them and South Park lying out in front of them. That’s the Colorado I love to show people: Especially when it starts to snow/graupel in late May on family members who just flew in from Florida. Ha!
I think some of the most fun, interesting,exciting people I’ve met in Colorado are a mix of small time entrepreneurs from both the large cities and in the little mountain towns. These are people with imaginations that allow them to invent, create, produce. How could we be Colorado without that diversity and that kind of energy?

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Denver Design Incubator and all of my awesome students! My students have helped me slow down and make me think and not assume things. I’ve been told my brain works a little different than other people and I’m usually thinking about 4 steps ahead of everyone else.

I think about other women I’ve known in the past who have inspired me to be my own person.
Lou Smith – who when she retired started the most fun and creative company called Smith and Associates. I became “and Associates”. She really helped me realize I could start my own business.
Maria Alejandre – who started her own sewing business after working for a giant corporation for years. She hired me to help her when the business kept expanding. I learned that when one has a niche skill set there is a lot of potential for success if one is willing to put the work in.
Betsy Acree-McClenahan – who as a one woman powerhouse, and to keep her kids close to her, opened a dance studio that took in all kinds of kids who would never have had the opportunity to take traditional lessons. Her goal wasn’t to make a huge financial success, but to give to a part of the community that would have never been able to perform or explore their potential creativity without her. She continues to work with young people through the Imagination Celebration program and a Colorado Springs Charter School.

Website: denverdesignincubator.com

Instagram: mandyandautumn@Instagram