Marine Fabricator May/June 2022 - 15

Design in Portsmouth, N.H., recalls
that when she fi rst started out, her
work was on display on her boat at the
local marina. The dockmaster started
referring customers to her and as people
got to know her work, they'd stop
her to chat about it.
" My husband would get upset with
me because it would take me 40 minutes
to get from the parking lot to the
boat, " she says. " I told him I can't afford
not to talk to these people. "
Wallace, who left the corporate world
(she was a vice president and controller
for a fi nancial services company) to start
Bear Paw Custom Design, agrees that
word of mouth is her most powerful marketing
tool, accounting for more than 90
percent of her customers. It's kept her in
business for 30 years doing upholstery
for marine, home, restaurant and commercial
clients.
Bear Paw Custom Design doesn't
have a website or social media pages.
Wallace does rely on Yelp and Google
for customer reviews. Now semiretired,
she no longer advertises because she has
enough work to keep her busy.
You're as good as your last job
Matt Forbes specializes in auto upholstery
in the custom car market in his
one-man shop, Matt's Motortrimming,
in Havelock North, New Zealand. He
also does some marine and small aircraft
work.
His skills won him two 2021 IFAI
International Achievement (IAA) Awards:
one in the Marine Interior Upholstery
category and the other in the Technical
Miscellaneous category for a Motion
Force 1 Simulator.
Forbes started doing upholstery because
he's always liked cars, especially
muscle cars, but didn't want to be a
mechanic. His target market is highend
builds and show-quality interiors.
His customers come to him primarily
through word of mouth.
" I fi nd that your last job leads to your
next job. People see what you've done
and talk about it, " says Forbes. " If you
do a good job and try to exceed expectations,
it pays off with word of mouth. "
He points to an interior he did years
ago for a Chevy Chevelle. The owner
wanted an understated look in black
leather that was original to the car. Forbes
says it wasn't a particularly elaborate job,
but it was a nice, clean interior. It led to a
call from the owner of another local shop
who had seen the Chevelle and was impressed.
That one interior broke the ice
with a well established tradesman who
asked Forbes to help him at his shop. It
turned into a signifi cant contract that
Forbes has had for nine years.
In Stitches Customs won a 2022 MFA Award
of Excellence and an Award of Distinction
in the Upholstery category for this Fountain
Powerboats-brand facelift. The project was
challenging due to its multiple concave
and complex shapes. The unique radiating
diamond design required a template
made of acrylic, which was cut on a laser.
The materials for this project included
Sunbrella®
Horizon™
Capriccio by Glen
Raven Custom Fabrics, Carbon Fiber Silver
and Torchfi re by Spradling International
Inc.®
and Aruvo lifetime thread by Fil-Tec
Inc. Photo: In Stitches Customs
www.marinefabricatormag.com | 15
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Marine Fabricator May/June 2022

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