Delaware Silkscreen Studio offers designs and opportunity for people with disabilities

Emily Scott co-founded her Wilmington, Delaware, studio, Dance Happy Designs, for one simple reason: Her friend needed a job.

Scott had first hired Julia Tyler, a 17-year-old with Down syndrome, as an intern in 2012 to help at a boutique she owned. “She was my first paid employee, and we really connected and became friends,” Scott says. Tyler came to Scott through a program with the advocacy group Community Integrated Services, which helps people with disabilities find meaningful employment opportunities.

When Tyler turned 21, she was struggling to find a full-time job. Scott wanted to help her. “I knew she was capable, and I wanted to help her find an opportunity that leveraged her strengths,” says Scott.

To make this happen, Scott turned the basement of her boutique into a silk-screening studio, and Dance Happy Designs was born. “Julia has a real knack for screen printing,” Scott says. “It’s a very physical art, but Julia is a natural.”

In 2016, Tyler’s designs landed the business its first large wholesale contract, and Scott closed her boutique to focus full time on Dancy Happy Designs. Today, the studio sells screen-printed bags and other accessories direct to consumers online and to the wholesale market.

Dance Happy Designs is a winner of a 2024 Citizens Small Business Community Champion Award, which recognizes entrepreneurs striving to improve their community with a $10,000 award.

Scott recently shared the story behind her business success including how she has learned from her mistakes, stood firm on her quality standards, and kept true to her mission of inclusion.

Tip: Making mistakes is part of the process.

In 2019, an executive with behemoth clothing retailer Aerie® heard Scott speak at an event when she was part of the Tory Burch Foundation Fellows program for female entrepreneurs. This led to Dance Happy Designs’ first large contract.

It was a small order for Aerie, but it was the biggest order ever for Scott and Tyler’s new small business. The mistakes Scott made in fulfilling the order also taught her a lot about what she needed to do to be successful.

At the time of the order, Dance Happy Designs was still creating handmade items, screen printed in-house. Since Dance Happy Designs didn’t have a background as a vendor for a large chain, Scott didn’t realize that Aerie had specifications for the type of polybags, hand tags, carton labels, and other items that could be used.

“We ended up having to overnight the polybags from China in order to meet the order deadline, which was expensive,” Scott says. “But, we learned a lot from the experience, and it helped us be prepared for the next big order.”

Now Scott knows to ask about all project specifications up front to serve large retail customers without a hitch. Learning from her experiences has made her able to seize opportunities with other top retailers such as Madewell® and Nordstrom®.

“Nordstrom reached out to us after seeing our products in Madewell. They’re very selective of the brands they bring in and work with, so it’s an honor that they sought us out,” she says. “Having worked with them is a gold star for our résumé, which we can leverage for other opportunities.” Mastering timeline management and gaining an understanding of the very long lead times involved in overseas production has been another key learning for Scott and the Dance Happy Designs team.

“Once we get samples approved, production takes four or five weeks. But, then delivery by boat can take three months,” she says. “We’ve learned to push our production calendar out much further than ever before.”

Bottom line: Business mistakes are only bad when you don’t learn from them. When you falter, remember that many companies face these tough moments. Assessing what went wrong and identifying the changes needed will result in a much stronger company prepared to succeed the next time.

Tip: Scale on your own terms.

As Dance Happy Designs has grown to keep pace with demand, Scott has worked hard to stay true to her standards. This commitment has required her to carefully vet partners to find companies she can work with long term.

For example, Scott is committed to ethical work practices and sustainable production and is determined to maintain that focus as she scales. To accommodate an order from Nordstrom in 2021, Dance Happy Designs contracted with an outside production partner that helped her complete the order on time, but it was not completely aligned with how Dance Happy Designs wants to operate.

“I learned from that experience that I need to hold firm on my work specifications and speak up about what we need from a partner,” Scott says. “As a small company you can get pushed aside if you don’t do this.”

Dance Happy Designs is currently outsourcing some work to a Fair-Trade partner in Mexico and is vetting another partner in India.

Scott’s quality standards for production have also required her to search far and wide for a partner that uses non-toxic, water-based ink — a requirement that she acknowledges makes things complicated for her vendors.

“It's very expensive; but we love the quality, since when the ink dries, the water evaporates and the pigment is left in the fibers,” she says. “It has this beautiful feel to it, but they’re a lot harder to use, since you have to keep the ink moving quickly because it dries fast.”

Scott’s commitment to quality products is part of how she gives back to the customers who support Dance Happy Designs. She expresses her gratitude with a message included with every item Dance Happy Designs produces. “We put a handwritten thank you note signed by both Julia and me in every order,” Scott says. “We want our customers to know how important their order is to creating meaningful employment for people with disabilities.”

Bottom line: Knowing what standards are important to your success will help you maintain focus as you grow. When you have a well-defined set of company commitments, it also simplifies decision-making and choices.

Tip: Have a North Star that keeps you motivated.

All businesses face hard times and need motivation to keep going in the face of challenges. For Scott, that motivation is Tyler and other artists who need opportunity to use their skills.

“Julia is my North Star,” says Scott. “People with Down syndrome are often isolated, lack work that is meaningful, and don’t have a lot of friends.”

The pandemic was a hard time for many companies, and Dance Happy Designs was no exception. It was also a difficult time for Tyler, who was going through intensive rounds of chemotherapy for leukemia. Scott knew she had to keep her business thriving so that Tyler would continue to have a job she loves.

“She’s doing well now, but it was really scary and hard,” Scott says. “I knew that we had to keep the business going, because Julia is so proud of what she does, and the work motivates her to keep going.”

Scott’s ultimate vision is to grow the business to create more opportunities for marginalized artists.

“We want to show the world what’s possible for people like Julia,” she says. “People with different abilities can be very creative and capable, you just have to home in on their strengths.”

Like other Citizens Small Business Community Champion Award winners, Scott has access to the Luminary education and networking platform. This will be a resource as she works to achieve her goal to expand the business and keep production and fulfillment in-house.

“We’re big on integrated inclusion, so people with disabilities can work alongside fully abled peers and feel like they belong and are valued,” she says. “That’s our ultimate vision, and it keeps me going when times are tough because they deserve that.”

Bottom line: Knowing what motivates you will continue to push your company through good times and bad. Understand your motivation, whether it’s lofty or as fundamental as smooth cash flow, and stay focused on how you can continue to deliver on that commitment, even when you face challenges or tough times.

Do you need guidance on your small business journey? Schedule an appointment with Citizens to receive personalized assistance for your business.