About us

We've spent our careers
in your shop.

Not in a boardroom, and not in Silicon Valley. We've stood behind the counter, taught the classes, and helped independent dealers grow their businesses for decades. Sew Smart is what we built when we finally had the tools to help at scale.

Why we built this

We've spent our careers on the other side of this counter — running sewing retail, teaching the classes, and building the products dealers sell every day.

Then the math changed. The pandemic brought a wave of new hobbyists into sewing and quilting. At the same time, seasoned staff left the industry and didn't come back. Shops ended up with more customers needing more help, and fewer people able to give it.

That gap is what Sew Smart exists to close. Decades of hard-won knowledge — the kind that used to live behind the counter — now available to your customers and your staff on demand, around the clock.

We built the thing we always wished we could hand our dealer friends: a system that already knows this industry, works when you're closed, and puts money back in the register instead of taking it out.

Kay, Ricky, and DJ have been a huge part of my business growth over the years. This new product is an incredible combination of the skills the three of you bring to the industry.

Elayne WestThe Sewing Basket · Plymouth, WI

What we believe

Four things shape every decision we make about this platform.

01

It has to make you money

If a tool doesn't help you sell more, save real hours, or bring customers back, it doesn't belong in the platform. Technology should show up on the right side of your books.

02

Industry knowledge, not internet guesses

Our assistant is built on structured, verified sewing and quilting expertise — not content scraped off the web. It knows the difference between a cut-away and a tear-away, and why it matters.

03

We set it up, you use it

You didn't get into this business to configure software. We handle the build, the training, and the setup — you get a working system and a login.

04

We never oversell what it does

We'll tell you plainly what the platform does and what it doesn't. You've been promised the world by vendors before. We'd rather earn the next renewal.

80+
Years of combined industry experience
28
Tools built for sewing & quilting retail
24/7
Your store answering, even when it's closed

Who we are

Three people who've spent their working lives in this industry — and one platform built out of everything we learned.

DJ Anderson, Kay Brooks, and Ricky Brooks of Sew Smart AI

DJ Anderson · Kay Brooks · Ricky Brooks

DJ Anderson
Co-Founder & CTO

DJ developed and created Floriani Software, and literally wrote the book on digitizing and machine embroidery. He builds the technology behind Sew Smart — the assistant, the platform, and the tools dealers use every day.

Kay Brooks
Co-Founder & Chief Knowledge Officer

Sewing Hall of Fame inductee and co-founder of RK Consulting. With Ricky she built Hands-On Sewing Schools, co-founded RNK Distributing, and created the now-iconic Floriani line. The knowledge inside Sew Smart is largely hers.

Ricky Brooks
Sales, Marketing & Dealer Relations

Sewing Hall of Fame inductee who has spent his career running sewing retail and launching best-selling product lines. He and Kay founded Hands-On Sewing Schools in the 1990s after seeing how wide the embroidery education gap had become — and he's the one dealers know and call.

You've probably already used something we built.
Long before Sew Smart, this team was creating the products, education, and software the industry runs on.
Floriani
Created the now-iconic embroidery product line
Floriani Software
Developed and created by DJ
RNK Distributing
Co-founded by Ricky & Kay
Hands-On Sewing Schools
A national and international education program
Sewing Hall of Fame
Ricky & Kay, inducted

Let's see what it does for your store.

A short demo, your questions answered, no pressure.

Request a Demo