Sylvia O. Spence, owner of fine home furnishings company Silverado Home, knows how to reinvent her business. She's done it before when she transformed her company from a four-label women's clothing brand into a home fashion line. Now she's launching a commercial division and taking on hotels and resorts as clients.
It sounds tricky, but Spence says there's one simple rule that has seen her through the transitions that come with 28 years in business.
"I've always said that if you're going to reinvent yourself, try to stick with what you kind of already know," she says.
What Spence knows is fabric. She grew up in Las Vegas, N.M. and is a seventh-generation weaver with ties to the Ortega family, owners of the renowned Ortega Weaving Shop in Chimayo. In 1981, she left a full-time job with the University of New Mexico to go into business with her sister. Spence wove her own fabric designs and her sister handled the sewing, turning her creations into womens apparel. The business flourished, and eventually was best known for blanket jackets made from lap throws and embellished with Southwestern silver buttons, clasps and conchos.
Do you have a question for Sylvia?
She'll be glad to help...
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