Let's Meet the Cotton Cuts Team: Teri Powers, Vice President, Operations
Posted by Robyn Thomas on 26th Sep 2023
The Cotton Cuts team is thrilled to have found a spectacular addition to our team. Our new Operations Manager, Teri Powers, is helping the team take Cotton Cuts above and beyond as we continue to grow and perfect our products and services for our members.
Teri comes to us with a strong Operations/HR background. And when asked about what made her choose Cotton Cuts as the team to join, she answered that she "wanted to work for a woman-owned business using my skill set in a new way, and to work in an industry where I enjoyed the product." Teri's great ideas and enthusiasm brings a fun energy to our shop everyday. When not managing the Cotton Cuts shop, Teri spends time with her husband and son and their menagerie of animals. She now calls Defiance MO home, where she enjoys their property, playing Dungeons & Dragons and watching her son in theater productions and fencing competitions.
Teri preparing for her workday.
Teri helping to fulfill one time orders in our shop.
Teri is always eager to help out, even pitching in to die cut in a pinch.
If you work at Cotton Cuts, your level of sewing and quilting experience will quickly become a topic of conversation. Teri will tell you she is not your typical quilter, although she has always enjoyed crafting and creating. Her introduction to sewing comes from her mother-in-law, who has been showing her the ropes, learning about threads, selvages, and paper quilting. She has started sewing her own blocks and has even started a creating a skirt. She says "I've started a quilt-top skirt for Halloween 2024 using our Midnight Magic by Banyan Batiks. It's definitely a work in progress!"
I managed to stop Teri just long enough to answer a few questions about her new experiences at Cotton Cuts.
What does a typical day at Cotton Cuts look like for you?
"A typical day starts by getting the shop ready for the production team. From there, you can find me fulfilling orders, working with vendors, chatting with any of our lovely members who call the shop, or doing one of the many operations tasks that keep our team moving and grooving."
What is your favorite part of your job?
"Hands down, our members are my favorite! I love chatting with whoever calls the store, reading comments online, and watching our gorgeous fabrics come to life. I can spend hours scrolling through our feeds to see what our community is up to."
What has been the biggest surprise about Cotton Cuts?
"The math. Goodness, quilting requires a decent understanding of algebra and geometry which I had no idea about until I started working here. Quilters are seriously math-savvy."
What is your favorite Cotton Cuts product?
"I love all our products, but especially our Stitch Its. I don't usually want to follow a pattern and with our Stitch Its you get all kinds of pieces and can make literally anything (such as a Halloween quilted skirt). I also have to share my secret obsession with our saw. I had never seen a saw just for fabric and it's this 20-pound piece of machinery that can cut like 6 to 8 inches of fabric at a time. I get way too excited when we bust out the saw."
Teri with her favorite toy, our high powered saw.
What about the future of Cotton Cuts excites you the most?
"The members! I love meeting current and new members and learning about what they're working on. Have you seen our Facebook pages? Such talent! What our members do with our products is nothing less than incredible; We have members who create blankets and purses out of our Snippet bags, we have other members who make clothes with our fabrics. Who knows what they'll come up with next, but I'm looking forward to it."
Thanks, Teri, for giving us a glimpse into your busy days at Cotton Cuts. Thank you for all you do to make Cotton Cuts successful and such a great company for all of our customers to enjoy.