Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Carman.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started my apprenticeship pretty young, I didn’t realize it at the time! My dad started Vermont Custom Canvas in 1973, my older brother and I spent the summers and after school going to marinas, moorings and private docks all around Lake Champlain. I would help put snaps in, maybe help hold things then go back to fishing or playing with the customers dog. My dad met a woman in CA and started coming here in his off-season, so when I was 16 I would take calls and schedule work for later, or try and do it myself. On my winter break as a senior, I went around to restaurant and gyms to see if they needed upholstery & I ended up with a few jobs!
When I was 18 I decided to go to school for business while working for my dad full time, he was the calmest, patient, greatest teacher anyone could ask for. He also trusted me, he seemed to know when I was ready for a challenge and when I need to sit and watch him sew. I worked with my dad for 8 years before moving to California to start Even Keel Canvas.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I don’t think any roads are really smooth, some projects are more enjoyable than others, some projects are done perfect the first time, but I always spend more time on a project than I charge, I have set prices & one expectation, at the end I have to be proud of it. It’s not easy getting to that point, I make mistakes, but I know perfection is a process, and one way or another I’ll get there.
My first customer got my name from King Harbor, but he moved to Marina Del Rey, so that’s where all my work has been, the first time to meet him, he didn’t show up, so I offered to meet him again. I was disappointed for a while at how many customers I had that were flakey, but I ended up meeting him, getting the job & all my customers were on one dock. It was fun. My second customer wanted another dodger, and he liked the other one I did, so he waited for 6 months for me to give birth to my daughter, then I actually brought my 3 months to the marina with me while I fit the dodger.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I fabricate and repair anything I can fit through my Consew sewing machine. Restaurant benches, rebuilt broken boat seats, full interior, full enclosure for catamarans, and a few odd jobs like cover for some roof top binoculars and a twisty pool slide cover. My absolute favorite & my specialty are dodgers for sailboats. I’m known for my attention to detail, spending at least an hour doing estimates to figure out what they want their enclosure to do for them, everyone is different, and I build to suit. It’s more than “custom” I think the word custom is over-used & misleading, anyone can make a “custom” cover, not everyone knows how to make it look good. My dodgers enhance the look of the boat, I’ve always been artistic and basically now I make artistic, innovative, luxury canvas for boats. My customers care what it looks like in the end, and they appreciate the process.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up my brother was 4 years older, we lived 26 miles from the city in Georgia, Vermont and had hundreds of hilly acres and the lake nearby to play in. We roamed around everywhere, it was a lot of fun.
My dad took me everywhere with him too, I was around adults a lot, watching him talk to customers, sometimes I would practice my French with the Canadian boaters. My dad was artistic, we would sit and draw whatever pictures out of magazines we found with colored pencils. I hung out in my dad’s shop most of the time, I set up a blanket and scrap booked on the ground, my dad bought me a Bernina sewing machine when I was 10, the very first thing I made was a mask with screen in it to run through the corn field without cutting my face. I was always artistic, in high school I told everyone I was going to be a famous artist, my natural eye for design and aesthetics has made me stand out in my canvas work.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.evenkeelcanvas.com
- Phone: 3109403520
- Email: evenkeelcanvas@gmail.com
- Instagram: Evenkeelcanvas
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