During this episode, Nicole and Claire tell us all about how and why they started this business and the steps they took to get it where it is today.

Here’s What You’ll Learn in this Episode:

  • The story of how Moonlight Makers began (hint: the business looks VERY different from when it first started)
  • How Nicole and Claire knew it was time to start hiring employees
  • What Nicole and Claire do when they disagree about something
  • Why they decided NOT to outsource their production overseas
  • And many other hilarious (and serendipitous) stories from their journey

Enjoyed this interview? We think you might also dig this episode with Gillie Roberts, founder of Ware.

Show Notes

This episode is brought to you by Range Urgent Care, an Asheville-based clinic that offers affordable healthcare, transparent pricing, and streamlined, friendly service. Learn more about Range Urgent Care.

*Enjoy your first month free of annual membership at Range Urgent Care. Use code ‘makingitinasheville’ at checkout. Offer valid for a limited time only.

Moonlight Makers a T-shirt and gift shop based in Asheville, North Carolina. They make silly, often punny T-shirts, totes, dish towels, mugs, and more. In addition to their brick and mortar store located in downtown Asheville, Moonlight Makers is an Amazon Handmade member.

Salvage Station is an outdoor venue featuring live music, a bar, and small bites. During festivals, Moonlight Makers used to park their bus here and sell products.

Leaf Festival is an annual community arts festival that takes place on the site of the old Historic Black Mountain College. This is one of the many festivals that Moonlight Makers attends.

Tag Gun = the one tool that changed Moonlight Makers forever. For a long time, Nicole and Claire were tagging their T-Shirts by hand using safety pins. When they discovered this tag gun, it drastically improved their production time!

Venture Asheville grows Asheville’s startup community and connects high-growth entrepreneurs to talent, mentors, and investors through unique programming and events. Moonlight Makers if a part of the Elevate Mentorship program. They also ranked #13 in the Venture 15 awards for the fastest-growing startups in Asheville.

Jeff Kaplan is the Director of Venture Asheville and a mentor to Moonlight Makers.

Taco Billy was mentioned during this episode because Claire has a small collection of their taco stickers.

The accounting and finance software, QuickBooks, featured Moonlight Makers is in a special series of video commercials featuring small business. You can watch their episode with Moonlight Makers here.

Amazon Handmade is a brand of Amazon that features unique, genuinely handcrafted products created by artisans around the world. Moonlight Makers is a member.

Derren Brown is an English illusionist and author. During this episode, we talk about his experiment on “The Secret of Luck“

Music by Commonwealth Choir

Curious to learn more about what we do?

Making It in Asheville is a podcast where we go behind the scenes with artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs in Asheville. We learn about what they’re making and how they’re making it in Asheville.

Making It in Asheville is powered by Making It Creative, our boutique marketing and business consulting agency. We help passionate small business owners build and improve their sales and communication strategies. Learn more here.

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