Sacer & Savive is a mom-run small business in Clarksville, Tennessee. This custom clothing company is truly rocking it by having their own pop-up shop on wheels! They take the customer experience one step further, and hand print your shirts right in front of you while you wait. Even if you are not based in Clarksville to attend one of their events, you can still buy their merchandise on their website and etsy shop.
Maria, the head mama in charge, runs a team of talented women entrepreneurs who are contributing their time into the Sacer & Savive lifestyle. Sacer is the Latin word for Sacred and it fits with their religious roots that they use in their product designs and ethos. Come read our interview to see where this brand got to where they are today.
PM: When was your company founded and where are you based?
SS: Sacer and Savive started in 2004 with 2 of my best friends (Kristen Prasetyo Utomo and Jayk Mesler) and I (Maria Haycraft).
We had always done projects and crazy stuff together. For example we started a record label and were show promoters and at this point in our lives we had not done something in a while and we all just so happened to be living where we came from. Sorta back home again. One night we just decided hey we are all living back in the same area so lets do something like old times and it didn’t take long before that plan became a clothing line. I personally had just come from Gainesville, Florida where there was a legal graffiti wall and I brought the idea up of stenciling the wall designs on shirts…. it was an instant green light! Everyone got so excited and so began the next step which was what will our name be??
Kristen had taken Latin in high school so naturally she carried a latin dictionary with her :) We looked through and settled on “sacer” pronounced sock-air. It means sacred. We wanted a name fitting to what we believed in which is Jesus. He had given us the desire and talents and we wanted to use it for him so this name was perfect.
From then on Sacer clothing launched! We began our home base in Niagara Falls, New York….fast forward to 2016 and we are based in Nashville/Clarksville Tennessee and have expanded from simply doing t-shirts to boutique styles as well. This made me want to add to the Sacer name to incorporate the boutique side and Savive was a word I sorta made up and it went well with Sacer so we changed the name to Sacer & Savive.
PM: How many are involved in your company?
SS: We have been mostly working as a one man..or woman operation however as of more recently we have had some amazingly passionate people to join our team and bring it up a level so we have an official team again of 5 lovely ladies…. don’t worry we are not against guys. We have our eyes peeled for some guys to join our team as well.
PM: What inspired you to start your company?
SS: The inspiration came from the original desire to do something with my old hometown friends… however now I have a passion to tell people about Jesus through a creative way. I love being able to stand in front of a customer and make them a one of a kind shirt and get to build a friendship with them in the process. I love being able to tell them my story and express how Jesus has saved my life for the better and he gave me this talent to live out his love unto others. So I keep that my main focus all for him and just being apart of this is reward enough. Anymore is just icing on the cake.
PM: Did you have a background in business prior to starting your company?
SS: No background at all. This was my first business. Since I started I have helped with and started myself several other business ventures as well including a creative arts non-profit called Artlink.
PM: Did you run into any problems or resistance while launching?
SS: Not that I recall. We have progressed over the years from hobby to business and I feel because the transitions have all been slow and easing into each step it has made those moves smoother. It was a learning process with all the legal stuff and getting all the paperwork figured out in the very beginning because we hadn’t done this before so there is a lot to learn.
PM: How do you get the most out of your day?
SS: Lists lists and more lists and then actually following them:) I am crazy all over the place so if I didn’t have a list to stick to and add to I wouldn’t get anything done before I was onto my next thought.
PM: How is your family apart of your business choices?
SS: My family is my lifeline! I create things based on our lives with my design inspirations and I make clothing for all of us to wear so they are sorta all my guinea pigs as well. My husband is my best friend so I don’t make any business decisions without his input.
PM: What music inspires you?
SS: I love music!! All kinds! I am the most motivated with upbeat catchy stuff. I’m a big Paramore fan and the cool thing is Hayley wears my clothing! On my site I have a picture of her in our praying hands shirt. But I also love many other styles. I came out of the big music explosion that came out of Florida around 2006ish and I was able to go out on Warped Tour and developed friendships with lots of the bands from being on the road so it’s weird to say but I loved all my friends music the best! Underoath, Mxpx, Alexis On Fire and now City and Colour are some of my still favorite loves.
PM: What is your favorite thing to do when you are not working?
SS: What’s not working like? I’d like to know? Haha I’m always working and when I’m not working I’m still working even my relaxing is working because I love my work it’s fun to me, it’s relaxing to me, it is me. I’m lucky enough to say I turned my hobby into my job.
PM: What do you see in the future for your shop?
SS: I see a possible location and not just mobile boutiques. We have some new print ideas that would require a less mobile option to work out of. Right now we are a mobile boutique and have a website/store. I show up where people are and make shirts for them customized on the spot. and for those who can’t come to me can customize an order online.
Get Some Custom Clothing Using the Coupon Code “punky20” for 20% off in their store!
You can find Sacer & Savive online here:
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