<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"  In 2001, Rebecca Smith left her job as the CEO of a nonprofit devoted to at-risk youth and followed her husband to San Francisco. &amp;quot;I didn&amp;#039;t know a soul in California, my husband was working long hours, and I needed a creative outlet,&amp;quot; Smith recalls. On a whim, she grabbed some of the fabrics she&amp;#039;d been collecting since her teens and started stitching. The resulting handbags \u2014 decorated with antique brooches and vintage images of dogs, horses, and Gatsby-esque sporting events \u2014 immediately garnered notice every time Smith carried one. &amp;quot;Women stopped me on line at the grocery store, wanting to know where I got my purse,&amp;quot; says the lifelong equestrian, who also shows English setters competitively. &amp;quot;And my friends on the dog and pony circuits went crazy for any bag that featured an animal image. At that point, I realized I might be onto something.&amp;quot; By 2004, around the time Smith and her husband moved to her hometown of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, the designer found herself up to her ears in bag orders. &amp;quot;I couldn&amp;#039;t handle the demand alone anymore,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;Outsourcing overseas made fiscal sense, but it was important to me to create a business that has a bigger mission than just selling stuff \u2014 even if that means my products cost more.&amp;quot; Since Chagrin Falls lies just 17 miles west of one of America&amp;#039;s largest Amish communities, Smith reached out to its many talented seamstresses. Today, her company, Rebecca Ray Designs, employs 13 Amish workers, who craft purses, pillows, belts, and more using pedal sewing machines and flame-lit irons instead of electric tools. Sales of Smith&amp;#039;s products are projected to triple in the coming year (to help with the expanding operations, she brought in a childhood friend, Michelle Luciano, as a business partner in 2007). The homegrown company has even found its way to the small screen: LifeStyles with Rebecca, a TV series about people who&amp;#039;ve made successful career changes, premiered on PBS last month. Of course, we&amp;#039;re most excited about Smith&amp;#039;s line of place mats, napkin rings, luggage tags, and new bags for the Country Living Artisans Collection. &amp;quot;The business is really on a roll,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s been a ton of work to get to this point, but even on my worst day, I wouldn&amp;#039;t want to be doing anything else.&amp;quot;  See some of our favorite products from Rebecca Ray Designs.    What&amp;#039;s been your greatest challenge?   Convincing big-city shop owners who haven&amp;#039;t seen my products that a girl from a small Midwestern town can create sophisticated things.   Do you have advice for other women starting a business?  Short-term goals aren&amp;#039;t enough. Write down where you want to be in one, five, and 10 years. When you&amp;#039;ve figured out your aspirations, draw up a business plan. It&amp;#039;ll help you stay focused on your objectives.  Any obvious mistakes entrepreneurs should avoid?   Trying to do it all. If numbers aren&amp;#039;t your thing, hire an accountant or financial adviser.   How about the biggest sacrifice you&amp;#039;ve made?   I could have had my entire line manufactured cheaply overseas, but I&amp;#039;m committed to empowering skilled craftswomen in my area and making sure they earn a living wage \u2014 even if it means I have to charge higher prices for everything the company sells. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.countryliving.com/life/a3218/woman-entrepreneur-rebecca-smith/>