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Pegasus Originals, Inc. |
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| Designer's Name: Stephanie Hedgepath | |
| Location: Lexington, SC | |
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Thank you for taking time to participate in our Friday Feature, Stephanie! Would you start off by sharing how Pegasus Originals got its start and how it has grown over the years?
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Pegasus Originals is truly a “family business”. Would you tell us a little about your family and what role each one plays in your business?
It started out as just me. I was everything from the designer to the shipper. As the business grew, my husband, Jim, started helping with the shipping after he got home from his job. Things just kept growing, so we added a helper for the shipping, Cheryl Brooks, who lived closeby and started out as our babysitter! Things grew and grew and we started adding employees. Jim’s brother, Mark, had just been laid off of his job, so we asked him to come help – just for a little while – until we could ‘catch up’. Of course, he and Cheryl are both still here. Then we asked Jim’s mother, Mildred, to come to work for us to act as secretary, and while she was here, could she help out by translating a Marty Bell design? You see how it all happened – we asked people to come help for a short time and we never let them leave! Jim’s father, Harry, an artist in his own right, did a bit of designing for us for several years. He and Mildred both retired from the firm several years ago to enjoy a well deserved retirement - they are both in their 80’s now and doing well. Our son was recruited into the company when we started a new endeavor designing websites. Jim put our business up on the world wide web as soon as it could support graphics and people in the industry started asking if he could do the same for them. It got to the point Jim was working all day shipping for Pegasus and then all night designing web sites. Patrick and his wife, Karen, have now split Pegasus Web Productions off from Pegasus Originals. Our daughter also works for Pegasus as a designer and also as our book keeper. There would be no Pegasus without the help of Jim’s family!
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I understand you have a passion for show dogs; could you share your background in this area? Yes, I’ve always loved animals of all kinds. I longed for a horse as a child and was 18 before I finally got one. I worked all summer the year I was 16 to save enough money to buy a dog. My parents were not very animal oriented but for some reason, God made me into an animal lover. When I was about 20, I bought my first “show” dog – a German Shepherd. I started showing him at local shows and I’m still showing dogs today, though the German Shepherds were eventually replaced by Pembroke Welsh Corgis. I’ve had lots of different breeds of dog. I often say I’ve never met a dog I didn’t like. I guess that is why I enjoy judging them! I started judging in 1988 when AKC approved me to judge German Shepherds, Cardigan Welsh Corgis and Pembroke Welsh Corgis. I now judge two ‘groups’ – the Herding Group and the Sporting Group and am approved for several Toy breeds, as well. Judging opened up a entirely new slant on dogs for me and I enjoy it immensely, mainly because I’m always learning something new, either about the breeds I already judge or those I hope to judge. Due to my judging endeavors I’ve been all over the US and have had the privilege of judging in several other countries from Australia to Norway. We live on 8 acres in a rural area of South Carolina with seven dogs (six Pembroke Welsh Corgis and one mixed breed), one cat, Rae Rae, who was dumped off as a kitten, two koi ponds full of koi (Jim’s finny children!), various cage finches with one singing canary and an India Blue Peacock, Rajah, and his mate, Jasmine, the peahen.
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Your dog show related travels have resulted in the popular “Journeys With Jimanie” cross-stitch design series. Would you tell us how these two tie in together? Jim and I have always been avid photographers. I started out taking photos of (what else?) dogs and children and now I rarely leave the house without a camera. Jim has accompanied me on some of my judging assignments over the years – usually when there is good hiking nearby as he is an avid hiker. We’ve taken several trips cross country from South Carolina to Colorado and also from SC to California and back. We recently decided to share some of our favorite photos through my cross stitch designs and are pleased that they have been so popular.
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Pegasus Originals, Inc. presents... Hunter House From the aforementioned "Journeys With Jimanie" series, the Hunter House is a well preserved pre-Civil War Victorian located in Madison, GA. This design has a stitch count of 170w x 100h and retails for a suggested $12.00. Grab a tall glass of sweet tea and enjoy watching this antebellum home come to life on your fabric! |
The cross-stitch industry boomed in the mid 90’s but then tapered off quite a bit and many businesses in our industry have gone under or struggled to stay afloat. How do you think cross-stitch businesses will be able to re-attain the success enjoyed in the 90’s? All types of hobbies are cyclical. Counted cross stitch enjoyed a great run at the top of the charts (no pun intended) of all the needlearts for many years. There are still many people who find stitching a charted design a worthwhile pursuit, not only for the heirloom they create, but because of the stress release it provides from the daily busy-ness we all seem so plagued with these days. Most of the independent charted designers found their consumers by way of the independent retailer. This same retailer provided classes in their needlework shops to help teach those locally who desired to learn how to cross stitch. This practice should still continue today – the shop that teaches is usually the shop that succeeds. To take this even further, the designers and shopowners can now teach via streaming videos over the internet as well as via CDs and DVDs. To be competitive in this day and age, the needlework shop has to compete with today’s tools and one of the most powerful is a presence on the web via a website. We must emulate all of the big companies who have used the internet to their advantage by using it as an advertising medium and a selling tool. As with any business, it takes continued effort to stay in business and to make it a success.
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What do you enjoy most about being a cross-stitch designer? I truly enjoy providing an outlet for those with a love of creating heirlooms but with no creative bent of their own. Since charted design starts out with a blank piece of fabric or canvas, the design truly comes to life through the efforts of the stitcher and they should take as much credit for the design as the designer at that point. When Marty Bell had signings for her art prints and canvases, the only items she would sign that were not purchased at the time of the signing was any completed counted cross stitch design brought in by the stitcher.
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Do you have any advice for someone who might be considering getting into the cross-stitch design business? Follow your heart in making your designs. If they are fresh and good designs, the market will find them. It isn’t easy to break into any new market, but determination and a good business plan still work.
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I’m sure our readers would love a good recipe from the Hedgepath family cookbook…would you mind sharing a favorite with us? Since I’m a native of Charleston, SC one of my favorite recipes has to be Shrimp and Grits – two Southern staples! Ingredients: 1/2 pound raw shrimp, peeled 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice Salt to taste Cayenne pepper to taste 3 Tablespoons bacon grease (except we use canola or olive oil!) 1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup) 1/4 cup bell pepper, finely chopped 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour 1/2 to 3/4 cup hot water or stock* (chicken, vegetable, or shrimp – I usually use low sodium chicken broth) Grits (serving for 2 - 4) In a bowl, sprinkle the shrimp with lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper. Set aside. Heat the bacon grease in a skillet and saute the onion and pepper over medium heat until onions become transparent. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir constantly, until the flour begins to brown. Add the shrimp with a little of the juice and about 3/4 cup water or stock, stirring constantly and turning shrimp so they cook evenly. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the shrimp are done and the gravy is uniformly smooth, thinning with a little extra liquid if necessary. Cook grits according to package directions. I recommend cooking the grits in any leftover broth and adding a small amount of heavy cream to them just before serving. Jim and I often eat this for dinner instead of for breakfast. Yum!
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