We recently had the chance to connect with Bethany Evans-Brown and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Bethany, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What do you think is misunderstood about your business?
I think one of the most misunderstood parts of my business is simply just the amount of physical labor that goes into it. Since knitting/crocheting is such a relaxing hobby and many use it as therapy or as a way to decompress after a long work day – I think the hand-dyed nature of yarn can also seem just as relaxing and therapeutic. However – while I love dyeing yarn and there is so much color therapy involved – it’s actually very physically demanding! We are lifting and carrying hundreds of heavy pans a day and after a long day at the studio my shoulder blades feel like I just did a really intense workout!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Woolberry is a family-owned and operated yarn company specializing in hand-dyed yarns sourced from ethical farming practices both in the US and overseas.
Woolberry began in 2016 when I, Bethany, needed a change from my day-to-day life. On a whim, I decided to try dyeing and fell in love with the process! Woolberry started in the basement of my parents’ home with a single burner in a small kitchenette dyeing 1 skein at a time.
Over the years, as Woolberry has grown and expanded, we have kept the commitment to providing our customers with the highest-quality and humanely-sourced wool available. We still create yarn in small batches to maintain quality and focus on the art of the craft.
All yarn is dyed with professional low-impact acid dyes. We try our best to make as little impact on our environment as possible. All water is recycled throughout the dye lots to help reduce water waste and dyes are fully exhausted before any water leaves the dye pots. In addition, all of our packaging material is recyclable. Please recycle and reuse our products.
Along with helping keep the environment as untouched as possible from our dyeing process, We are committed to giving back to those who might not have the same opportunities or resources we find abundant here in the United States. 5% of profits go to either Charity: Water or Handspun Home.
A little more about the organization
Charity: Water – an organization committed to providing clean drinking water to remote tribes and villages around the world. For more information, visit charity: water
Handspun Home – an organization that gives respectable and above fair wage jobs to at risk women in Rwanda. Along with employement, they provide healthcare, education, and counseling for the women and those in their household. For more information, visit Handspun Hope
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My husband. Hands-down. I really struggled with my identity and self-worth in my 20s. But my husband reminded me every day of how much worth I had, how creative I was, how strong I was and could get through all that life threw at me. He was my biggest champion and supporter from day 1 and Woolberry would probably not even exist if he didn’t help me find my confidence to just go for it.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
I think it would be: you’ll get through it. You’ll find hope and empowerment, and a sense of purpose. You’ll look back on those dark times of your life and actually see the healing that was taking place, the people who were around you – loving and supporting you, and that you will get to a place where light is a much more common presence in your life than the dark.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
This, I think, is the biggest struggle of my generation. Social Media has allowed us to really become whoever we want online – creating the perfect persona of who and what exactly we want to portray. I would be lying if I said there weren’t days or moments when I try to curate a better “scene” than what is physically around me – cropping out the laundry piled on the chair that still needs to be folded, muting the volume on a story because my kids are talking super loudly in the background, etc. But I do try to be myself as best as I know how and give myself grace for the moments when I feel like I need to compete with the idea of “perfection”
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I just hope people know me as someone who loved well.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://woolberryfiber.com
- Instagram: woolberryfiberco
Image Credits
Photography: Lisa Joy Co
