Meet Megan Peralta of Copper ArrowZ Creations in Cave Creek

Today we’d like to introduce you to Megan Peralta.

Megan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
We are a mom and daughter team who officially started our hobby in 2018, but it was years before with creativity. I, Megan am the front of the shop, working with the customers and making sure we are running well. Diane is my mom, and is sort of the one in the background; she does majority of the skirt and dressmaking while keeping my stress levels down. We really are a good balance in that aspect. I stress, she doesn’t.

When we first started, we had no idea what we were getting into, or what it would turn into, but it was fun and we wanted to keep going, so we decided to turn it into a side business. We didn’t have a plan, but as we started creating dresses and more designs, it started becoming clearer and we started getting orders! One order turned into another, and another! We could see that we were on to something, and the next step was to focus on how to market ourselves. It’s still a work in progress, but we are growing in leaps and bounds and heading into our third year of being open. When my daughter was born, I decided to leave my job in the medical field and take on Copper ArrowZ to its full potential. Our business was showing promise, so this seemed like the right time to really get things moving full steam.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has not always been easy, it feels like there are still many times where we have to pause and re-evaluate. When we made our first skirt, we had no idea what the heck we were doing and thought there would be no reason that we would need to buy anything in bulk. We still joke about that frequently as some of the dresses can have over 600 yards, in ONE dress! In the beginning, we dabble with other items when we went to markets. We sewed bibs, changing pads, diaper wetbags. We weren’t really sure what people would want to purchase from our shop. When we realized that we wanted to focus on tutus, we dropped the accessory products and really focused on what we had envisioned when we first started. When our Etsy shop first opened, I think it was a good three months before we even had one sale. That was a little shocking because we had the products, but what was holding folks back? I learned that it was only a matter of time before the sales would take off, and they did! I believe at the last check, there were over 400 sales on Etsy alone. All that worrying for nothing, because it did happen. We also learned to broaden our inventory. Tutus are not just for newborns, older kids and adults love them too! We still struggle with getting ourselves out there and having our name be the first to come to mind for when folks need a tutu, so planning events around children’s events is now our focus.

Please tell us about your business.
Our shop quote is “there’s a tutu for every occasion”, and we truly stand by that. When we started, we began with the basics of skirts, but it has transformed from those early days. Now we are making full gowns, costumes, sets for birthdays and everything in between.  We can create anything, from Princess gowns to strawberries and everything in between!  We upcycle Goodwill and thrift store finds into classic elegant gowns. We have sports themed overalls for your tailgating parties. every item is handmade with love and can be customized to your specifications. We take pride in our work, perfectionists. Everyone needs a tutu!  Halloween is pure chaos no one expected the growth over a year, this year, for example, we estimated 60 orders, and we ended up just shy of 100. That was madness.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Probably not, it’s been a continuous learning experience, and the tutus seem to be the constant. we had an idea, we figured out the best way for us to implement the idea and just went with it, the business has grown itself and we like the direction it’s moving.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 6025745503
• Email: CopperArrowzCreations@gmail.com
• Instagram: CopperArrowZ
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CopperArrowzCreations/
• Other: etsy.com/shop/copperarrowz

Image Credit:
https://www.facebook.com/Henhouseimagery/
instagram.com/drew_salome

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