Jenny Ambrose founded The Makehouse to combine her many years of experience in fashion and textiles with her love of teaching. Growing up, she developed a love for sewing as she watched her mother cut and sew everything from garments to home furnishings.
The Makehouse is a sewing studio and retail store offering sewing and textile workshops and a unique collection of fabric, pattern and notions featuring small Canadian businesses. Jenny has built strong relationships within the sewing community of Victoria and partnered with many local organizations including The Royal BC Museum, BC Children’s Hospital Foundation, and The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.
Jenny scaled her business with two business loans provided by WeBC. She invested in her retail store and website, hired staff and even purchased a vehicle for the business. Jenny experienced a major increase in sales in the year after receiving the loans, so she feels the money was well spent!
“WeBC also provided me with a Business Advisor who has been a tremendous help and support. I am a huge WeBC supporter.”
Jenny describes herself as “a very resilient person and a great task juggler! My brain keeps delivering ideas and my soul has the strength and determination to see them through! Besides patience and resilience, I have also learned how important family support is for business success.”
One lesson that Jenny learned on her entrepreneurial journey was: “almost EVERYTHING takes longer than you planned! Give yourself a break sometimes.”
Jenny has now sold the business to make a new life in a different province. Jenny will still be in the sewing business but in a different way.
After 10 years of change and growth, Jenny worked with her team on a co-op model that would allow some of her staff, along with a few community members, to purchase the business collectively.
Jenny’s new focus is on exiting her business with the same enthusiasm and passion that she started with.
Jenny is working with her WeBC Business Advisor to finish her entrepreneurial journey strong!
Whew! It is December, and The Makehouse Co-op team is thrilled to be celebrating the transition to being the new owners of the Makehouse. As you may know, after many months of preparation and anticipation, the team purchased The Makehouse from Jenny Ambrose, its founder, on December 1st.
We would also like to send an extra special shoutout to Jenny, who supported our vision from the get-go, and whose flexibility and support allowed us to make our co-op conversion dream a reality.
And you! Thank you! We wouldn’t be here without The Makehouse community. 🥂💓
Where to find The Makehouse
Instagram: @themakehousecoop
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