Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Aughtry.
Hi Rachel, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I had always been an “arts and crafts” kid, and my mom taught me to sew when I was 10. I went to the University of North Texas to pursue a degree and career in a creative field and fell in love with Fiber Art. In 2008, while I was still in school, I started selling bags on Etsy and at the local coffee shop. By the time I graduated, it was becoming a real business and I set about making it my full-time job. A few years later, my husband Bo quit his job and we became business partners, running Rachel Elise Studio in tandem. The business continued to grow and evolve over the years, and during the pandemic, it grew to be too large for a home studio to be sustainable. We moved the studio to 10 N Main Street in Mars Hill in the summer of 2022, which allowed us to have a larger studio as well as a public-facing retail shop. Having the studio and store during Hurricane Helene turned out to be a huge blessing– Mars Hill was largely spared, and we were able to act as a community hub in the immediate aftermath. At the start of 2025, Bo returned to his former career in marketing and I now run the studio and store with my long-time studio assistant, Ellie Weiner.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Both the pandemic and Hurricane Helene were huge, life-changing events, but in both cases, the response of our customer community only made us stronger. During both events, folks understood that if they wanted their favorite smaller businesses to survive, they had to step up and support them. During the pandemic, this didn’t apply just to our direct customers, but also to the many small retail shops around the country that carried our work. Their customers wanted their favorite neighborhood gift shop to survive and in turn, those shops ordered from us more often and in larger quantities. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, we definitely felt the love from folks both near and far. Several of the shops that carry our work reached out to say, “Hey, I’m placing a big order– no rush, but I wanted you to have this support when you are ready.” Similarly, folks that had been patrons of our website for years made sure that they ordered their Christmas gifts early and from us, to make sure we had the funds we needed to keep going. And locally, the two shows we did that holiday season were among the best we’ve ever done. Folks showed they really understand and appreciate community– and small businesses and local art are cornerstones of community.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m known for making a line of bags, but my real love is designing and creating the textiles for those bags. The textiles are my art and the bags are the way my art gets to move through the world in a functional way. My goal is for all the bag styles to be equally functional, durable, and beautiful. I design and screen print most of my textiles, doing the screen printing myself, but I also have a luxury line of bags featuring handwoven textiles that I make on a floor loom. I also have a few collaborative collections with other local artists that create their own textiles, utilizing their textile work in my bags. Those artists are Solstice Handmade, Rainbow Haze, and Rutherford & Pug.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I will actually steal a quote from Amy Poehler and say that “Success is deciding what you get to work on.” I love that I get to change the balance of work within my business, as well as its creative elements, to fit my current vision and goals. Of course, even if you have your dream job, it’s still a job! But I’m so grateful to have the autonomy to work on what I want to work on, and for that work to support a comfortable life.
Pricing:
- Bag pricing ranges from a $24 pouch to a $120 backpack
- Handwoven products cost a bit more to compensate for the time and skill of that craft
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rachelelise.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelelise_studio
