Luckily, there weren’t a lot of digitizers back then. Steve had no idea what he was doing. But he was young and, whenever a job came in, he would stay up all night learning how to do it. He took every class, went to every trade show, and spent every minute digitizing over the next two years. Over the next several years, Steve worked with several licensing clients and created embroidery for Disney, the NFL, Nickelodeon, MLB, and a host of others. During that time, he won dozens of awards and was traveling around the country teaching digitizing classes. One day a woman came up to him after a class and said her mother owned a store in Florida and that he should come teach a class there. Steve said, “What kind of store?” She then explained that people embroidered as a hobby and had machines, software, and everything at home. Believe it or not, this was the first he had heard about home embroidery. So, he went to Florida, taught the class, and had a great time. During that class, he was introduced to representatives from a machine company who hired him to teach at their convention. He then met sewing machine dealers from around the country - it was like a new world! As Steve traveled around teaching digitizing classes, he was asked the same question from every dealer he met: “Why don’t you have your own designs to sell?” After some thought, he contacted one of the artists that he was doing freelance with to draw some artwork for him. The artist’s name was Ginny Vela and she still works with us today. The first collection she created was called ‘Americana’ and it was released under Artbox Digitizing. Steve was still traveling the country and teaching digitizing at the time, but wanted to create a company where he could teach software and create designs. So, in September of 2004, Artbox Digitizing was dissolved and Anita Goodesign was born! Steve soon relocated his business to Charlotte, NC with three of his employees. Over the next 12 years, Anita Goodesign would grow at an exponential rate to the company you have come to know and love! Now to answer the most popular question we get at events, where did our name come from? His grandmother was always a source of inspiration and supported everything Steve did as she worked in the sewing industry her whole life. Her name was Anita Pieroni. Of course, the second part of our company name is a play on words, making it “I need a good design.”
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