From 0 to 1,800 – This is the number of face masks produced in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
Launching a food blog in January 2009, I began sharing my life-long pursuit of cooking southern cuisine at its best! Since then, I have tested and typed recipes, photographed and written about food for my food blog, www.mytexaskitchen.com.
In 2009, a crazy thing happened . . . my original Blue Ribbon Lemon Cake won ‘Best of Show’ in the State Fair of Texas cake contest. This victory led to competing in Oprah’s cooking contests and a guest appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Several years later, my friend, Grace-anne and I competed on a Food Network Show with Bobby Flay.
On March 17th, 2020 everything changed. The coronavirus pandemic and shelter-in-place orders affected our world. On April 2, a friend called with the news that Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins might soon recommend face masks. Although it was uncertain, I followed my intuition, put my food blog on hold and focused all of my efforts on a new line of stylish face masks. Risky at the time, the quick response paid off by vaulting my face masks production ahead of other startups.
Drawing from my experiences with Susan Apple, Inc., an apparel company I founded in my college dorm room in 1982, I took some tools of manufacturing apparel in the 80’s and 90’s fashion industry and retooled them for face masks production. Drafting a pattern, sewing the first sample, searching for local seamstresses, estimating and ordering fabrics and elastic.
Within days, I posted about my new face mask project on Facebook. Years of dedication to cultivating a large Facebook/Instagram following and food blog following gave me the chance to reach a wide audience. It paid off with steady stream of orders. The first face masks were delivered within a week. Since this day, Susan Apple, Inc. has become known as a reliable source for stylish face masks. Orders have been shipped from coast to coast. New orders are received daily.
The coronavirus has presented me with an opportunity to demonstrate that I have the resources and tenacity to manufacture top-quality products in the USA. Best of all, it has given me a chance to provide employment for local seamstresses.
Seizing this opportunity allows me to prove a thesis that I truly believe: people continue to appreciate better quality products over disposable quality so common in our world today. A fact proven by one face mask returned – and that was due to an accidental snip in the elastic. Such a low-return rate is unheard of in today’s global fashion industry.
Face masks are in stock and ready to ship!
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