With the Woman Wednesday series, CatMax Photography introduces you to exceptional female entrepreneurs who have gone through the CatMax Personal Branding Experience. Today, I invite you to meet Renee Scalzini of Scalzini Accessories.

Renee Scalzini of Scalzini Accessories
Photo Credit: CatMax Photography

Renee Scalzini is the kind of woman who, when she sees a problem, finds a way to fix it. Her luxury handbag company, Scalzini Accessories, was created to do more than give women additional purse options. It was launched to solve a specific problem that Renee and the women she knew faced daily – disarray.

“The trouble with downsizing from a bulky tote has been that the smaller bag lacks the compartments needed for organization. Handbag organizational inserts women buy for those larger designer bags just don’t work for smaller bags,” Renee explains. “Women are on the go more than ever, and we don't have time to search for things or leave things behind. We also don't want our keys to scratch our phone or, even worse, scratch our prescription glasses,” she says.

Tired of the same old choices and prompted by a friend to come up with a solution, Renee set out to create a hands-free bag for women that met their modern needs, allowing them to have a place for their most important items and easy access to them. “Being organized is more than just having things looking neat and tidy; it is about knowing where your things are at all times and saving time looking for them,” she says. “There is also a confidence when you know where your things are and that they are safe and protected.”

Creating the Sophia

As a graphic designer, Renee says she’s “always been in the business of problem-solving in a beautiful way.” She has combined layout, functionality, color, and organization on a daily basis throughout her career. What resulted from her applying that thought process to handbag design was a sleek, medium-sized crossbody bag that can be paired with numerous outfits and inside includes a key hook, mini wallet pocket, lipstick holder, pen pocket, and eyeglasses case.

“The Sophia bag is the only bag with a protective built-in eyeglasses case and its own organization system,” Renee explains. “It is just the beginning of a collection of products that are going to address organization in a more specific way than, for example, a slip pocket.” The outer back pocket made for on-the-go cell phone access showcases how functionality and organization were top priorities for the entirety of the bag’s design, which has a pending patent.

Video Credit: Silas Barker and Accelerated Video Production

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Overcoming Obstacles

Much like Renee thought, creating a pretty and practical design wasn’t the hard part. The true challenge was manufacturing.

She first sought a company that could turn her paper model into a functioning prototype. When she failed to find one, Renee turned to the sewing machine she swore she’d never have. “Before I got married, I told my husband-to-be that he needed to understand that I don't iron or sew, and now I do both,” she laughs. After many YouTube tutorials, sewing classes, and hours spent learning to construct a bag, she had a prototype she could take to manufacturers for replication.

Locating a company that could produce the handbags and simultaneously meet Renee’s standards and vision was imperative. She says, “Manufacturing a bag with a complex interior adds a lot of labor costs. I worked with three handbag manufacturing companies making iteration after iteration for improvements, but the end product makes it well worth the effort! Customers have said after using the Sophia handbag they cannot go back to their other bags because they lack the organization and functionality they have gotten used to. That is a tremendous compliment that validates this handbag journey and the need that exists.”

Focusing on Marketing

While manufacturing is a major piece of the business puzzle that has required Renee’s attention, she also recognized early on the importance of marketing for Scalzini Accessories. Enter CatMax Photography. “There are photographers that are good technically and photographers that have great composition and few that do both well. Catrina can do both, and after seeing samples of her work, I knew she was the photographer I wanted to work with,” says Renee.

Her Personal Branding Experience centered on highlighting the versatility of the Sophia bag for formal and casualwear and the impact Renee wants it to have on customers. “There is a photo where my beautiful model, Jackie, proudly held up one of my bags, and the bag is in sharp focus, and she is not, but you can see her radiant smile. It captures the feeling I hope women have when they receive their bag,” Renee says.

Another favorite is when Renee is holding up “her babies,” the brainchildren of her creativity. “Catrina told me that I should be very proud of my ‘babies,’ and I never thought of them that way until that moment, but I realized she was right. From that moment on, you can see that mindset reflected in those shots,” Renee says.

Words of Wisdom

Renee stresses the importance of thinking ahead when planning a product shoot for your business and creating a list of shots you’d like to have so the photographer can be sure to capture them. She adds, “While Catrina is doing her shoot, listen to her, trust her, and let her guide you in what looks good behind the lens. Let her do her job. Don't restrict her creativity because you may end up with images better than you anticipated like I did.”

In terms of entrepreneurship in general, Renee says to think carefully about the people you choose to surround yourself with and share your ideas with. She notes that you are the one putting in the work and taking the financial risk, which are both commitments few are willing to make. “Most people don't look at the world like entrepreneurs do. We get excited. We think of more ideas. We keep imagining how we can make it better,” she says.

Renee advises, “Stay focused, and surround yourself with like-minded people and mentors that understand your journey and give advice and guidance from experience. Remember, everything that exists came from someone’s imagination and determination. The world needs entrepreneurs because we imagine, dream, and think big. Where would we be without the famous inventors of the 20th century?”

Visit scalzini.com and follow @scalzini.accessories on Instagram to learn more and see handbags by Renee.