Sharon Davidson’s career has always been in graphic design.
At the back of her mind, she had always wanted to set up her own T-shirt design brand.
In the early 2000s, he started as a junior graphic designer at Elgin-based firm MMS Almac.
Then she worked as a graphic designer at Robert Gordon University before going travelling.
This led to work in Australia and Malta.
Fast forward to 2013, she took the plunge to set up Smadug which started with selling novelty T-shirts celebrating Scottish legends.
Since then, the business has been a hit – and evolved to do even more.
She explained: “I always wanted to do a T-shirt design brand at some point.
“When my husband wanted to move back from Malta to Elgin, I thought now is the chance to do it.
“The idea started as I was looking for Scottish gifts for my friends.
“I remember my granny gave me a wee bit of money to invest in the business and then it went from there.”
He added: “It took six months to get six designs with Scottish stories.
“I first launched the website before advertising through Facebook and going to the markets.
“I try to do as much locally as possible, everything is hand finished in Elgin like the labels added and the printing of the tags and the packaging.”
Smadug hats
You often spot people walking around the Elgin town centre with a Smadug hat.
Sharon first sold these products at Belladrum which- she has a spot there every year.
She explained: “In my first time at Belladrum with the business, my mum and granny made some hats.
“There were around 20 hats and they took the label from the hem of a t-shirt and put it on the hats.
“They sold really quickly and it started from there.”
She added: “It is exciting to see people wearing them as it is their personal choice.
“Some people say if you don’t have a Smadug hat, you aren’t fae Elgin.
“It is the t-shirts that I love to do with the designs and putting them together.
“The hats and hoodies help boost income to support what I enjoy doing most – which is the T-shirts.”
Pop-up shop in St Giles Centre
For the past six years, Sharon has run a pop-up shop in the St Giles Centre (in a unit near Subway) during the festive period.
The rest of the year, she uses the shop to organise online orders to send away.
She said: “I have had the pop-up shop for six years in the St Giles Centre during the festive period and every year I get a lot of repeated customers.
“The centre is good for me as Subway brings footfall and people passing through from bus station and getting their phones fixed.”
She added: “The unit I’m in is nice and big so people can wander in and out without feeling the pressure that you have to buy something.
“I operate the pop-up shop in the Christmas period because it is the best time for me and where you make most of your income and more awareness.
“The rest of the year, I rent the unit as a space to store products and organise my online orders to send away.
“It’s useful all year round.”
What does the future hold for Smadug?
She is focusing on ensuring she keeps enjoying it.
However in the future, she might look to grow the business further.
The pop up shop is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays 10am to 4pm until Christmas Eve.
For those further away, there is an online store.
Read more about Elgin businesses
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Conversation