The year was 1995 and I was living in Wisconsin, my first real encounter with the mid-west having lived all my life on the coasts (California, New York, New Hampshire and England) with my first husband (which clearly implies at least one of two) and two fairly young children: Elena ten and Zach six. I was pretty much what you would call a stay-at-home Mom, who spent all her free time weaving tapestries sold through galleries and commissions. I wasn't exactly getting rich, but that wasn't the point. I just loved weaving and it fit into my lifestyle, whatever that was.

By 1995 I owned two large vertical tapestry looms and a metal Hagen (no longer imported to the U.S.) None of these looms (even the Hagen, which was about 24 inches wide) was really small enough to take places and use, like watching my kids at gymnastics practice or at the beach, in a hotel room or in a tent, etc. I wanted something little, something light, something I could carry in a bag on my shoulder and that would not scream: “This lady is hauling around some big piece of strange equipment and now we can all stare while she whips it out and weaves a few lines.” So I talked to a friend's husband who was quite handy (mine was not) and we came up with the first prototype for the Mirrix Loom, which looks nothing like the current Mirrix. It was made of metal tubes, had no shedding device, but it was little and it was portable although not particularly attractive. I think I still have it somewhere. It was fine, but it wasn't what I wanted.

At that point my first husband decided I should go into business making small tapestry looms. I thought that was a really dumb idea. I wanted to weave, not make looms. Besides, we hadn’t come up with a great design yet. I had this silly little prototype whose only claim to fame was decent tension and size.

But then another friend’s husband came along and after much discussion he threw together the loom which truly was the Mirrix prototype. Made from “stuff” he had in his garage, scraps of metal from the fire truck company where he was employed, the Mirrix prototype was made from copper (plumbing pipes), aluminum (fire truck trim), steel threaded rods (from the local hardware store). The black tray that holds the spring was also some kind of fire truck trim. A few bolts here and there and we had THE FIRST MIRRIX LOOM. But it had neither shedding device or legs. We spent hours discussing those two pieces. The first legs look just like the legs we use today. But the first shedding device did not have those fancy hand-milled brass pins to hold the bars. It had these funky little wire things. We also hadn’t designed the black clips yet that hold on the shedding device. We had some other complicated and not very functional system. Made from off the shelf hardware store parts. But within six months we had a loom that to the untrained eye looks just like the Mirrix of today.

Six months after Mirrix was just a gleam in my eye, we were in business. I still wasn’t sure I wanted to be in business. I am a naturally shy person who hates making cold calls, has a hard time talking to strangers, and has a desire to run and hide whenever the phone rings. I guess people can change. At least a little. Now whenever I tell someone I am shy they laugh at me. And then there is that political thing . . . that elected position in the NH House thing . . .that really now gives me no leg to stand on when I insist I am painfully shy. Ah, but I am getting too far ahead of myself.

In June of 1996 first husband and I were leaving Wisconsin to move back to New Hampshire. I had known when we started Mirrix that we would be leaving Wisconsin and that the looms would be manufactured there. We got an 800 number, credit card capability and even a web site, one of the first loom web sites. We were ready for business. Sort of.

Before I continue with this story which must have you riveted to your seat, I know you want to know whence the name Mirrix came. I had made it up a few years ago when my first husband decided to start his own management consulting business. It was a combination of a couple Latin/Greek words meaning “to wonder at, to mirror.” I stuck the “ix” on the end. Eventually, I decided to also call my tapestry weaving business Mirrix. The full name was “Mirrix Tapestry Studio.” When we began the loom company we incorporated it under the name “Mirrix Tapestry Studio Looms. Ltd.”

Right before we left Wisconsin I convinced three people to do three different things: a very well-established yarn/equipment catalogue/retailer to carry our looms; another well-established retailer of fiber stuff to take our looms to “Convergence”; and a well-known and wonderful tapestry teacher to endorse our loom. The movers came and got all our stuff and we packed the kids and all the various other family members into two cars and drove to New Hampshire in two days. When we arrived and plugged in our phone I got our first 800 number call from a customer asking to order a 16” loom (which along with the 32 inch loom made up the entire Mirrix fleet). I asked how they had heard of us. They said they saw the loom at Convergence. I asked why they did not buy the loom there. The answer: because all 16 looms that were there had sold out in three days!

We were obviously in business. I was elated.

Ah the changes that were to come!

My first partner, who had quit his Fire Engine building job to both run the manufacturing end of Mirrix and a landscaping company, decided that landscaping was enough, and after two years of long-distant business together, he wanted out. The timing could not have been worse. That first husband and I were no longer together. Mirrix had just started making money, enough to think that maybe it could support me in my new endeavor as necessary wage earner, but I was flat broke. Plus we were just starting to realize that Mirrix is also a bead loom and to explore that market.

I called a friend (in Wisconsin) who just happened to be flush after having sold a lucrative business and gave him the sales pitch of my life. Within a month he had both bought out my original partner and moved Mirrix to its current location: Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin. Mirrix lives within a facility that employees mentally and/or physically challenged adults. We are the only resident business and we love that status. In fact, we love everything about our new digs from the amazing folks who work there to beautiful open spaces and general sense of joy and permeates everything.

The only catch was that I probably over-sold Mirrix. I didn’t really want to grow it into a multi-million company and that really is the point of investing in a company: to grow it and sell it. I wanted to keep it forever. It was my third child and I love it. After a year, I bought out my second partner but left everything except the formal name the same. We became: Mirrix Tapestry & Bead Looms, Ltd.

Within all that drama we invented many different sizes of looms and kits, the wonderful loom stand and treadle, as well as bead patterns, yarn kits, bead kits, you name it. As we grow we change in fun and exciting ways to further serve the needs of our every growing customer base.

I am still wondering at Mirrix and all it has brought me and my family and our wonderful employees. At Mirrix the bottom line is not how much money we can make, but how much joy everyone who touches it can feel. From the world’s best employees to the world’s best customers, Mirrix has a lot on its plate.

Claudia Anne Chase

President, Mirrix Looms

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