Inspiring perseverance are words that can be used to describe Drayton resident Deb Bossert. She has faced obstacles like cancer and immune disorders to start a successful second business in her retirement.
Bossert grew up in Vernon, B.C., but has been part of Drayton this community since 1996. Over the years she has volunteered in many different areas, all with the mission of serving others. Some may recognize her name from her time on town council, others in the faith community will know her from various events she’s participated in. During her time on council she served on many different boards. Bossert was also a volunteer with Humans Helping Humans and currently sits on the board of Burden Bearers.
On top of that Bossert was also a business owner in Drayton Valley. The store Designs By Deb was a bridal boutique that she built from the ground up.
“I’ve been sewing since I was a young girl,” says Bossert, which she says is 45 years of sewing. She is the fourth generation seamstress in her family, and her oldest daughter is the fifth.
However, life has not been smooth sailing for Bossert. About a year after her youngest daughter was born, Bossert separated from her husband and became a single mother. During that time she sometimes worked a full-time job, but she kept Designs by Deb running.
Designs By Deb was more than just a store for bridal wear. Bossert also offered sewing classes, altered clothing, and spent a fair amount of time repairing coveralls.
In 2009, after hearing encouragement from friends and community members, Bossert decided to run in a by-election for council. She went on to serve as a councillor until 2017.
In 2010, Bossert was diagnosed with aggressive bilateral breast cancer, which led to a double mastectomy as soon as the doctors could arrange it. Four years later, Bossert was diagnosed with a rare immune disorder called common variable immune deficiency.
“I didn’t expect to see 50,” she says and she’s grateful for the eight years she’s had since her diagnosis. “To have survived long enough to meet my grandchildren, and be involved in their lives, and to see where life has taken me has been amazing.”
She did not seek re-election in the municipal elections in 2017. She still worked as much as she could, though she was limited because of her health. However, she lost her job as a teacher for English as Second Language in 2020 when the pandemic hit.
“My health did take quite a decline that spring as well. I was told by my doctors that I needed to retire and just stay home,” says Bossert.
Bossert rarely goes out because her body does not produce antibodies and she has to take an immunoglobulin infusion to keep herself healthy and alive. Any illness she catches could result in hospitalization or death.
“I don’t like to dwell on the limitations of my medical condition. I’ve learned to be very content and very happy at home,” she says.
When the pandemic broke out, Bossert hardly left the house. Determined not to give in to the loneliness and depression that can come with long-term self-isolation, Bossert turned to painting and calligraphy as an outlet.
Bossert says in many ways she’s reinvented herself over the years. “From administrator to town councillor to teacher and to script and copy editor and calligrapher and artist, and now I’ve come back to my sewing.”
She says she was surprised to realize she had any talent as an artist, because she had never done it efore. By selling the water colour cards she was making, Bossert was able to bring in a little money, but nothing major.
It wasn’t until one of her friends, who became a partner in her new business venture, requested a favour from Bossert that she was able to bring in full-time income.
In mid-October 2021, Bossert’s friend came to her with a request for a riding skirt. Her friend had one, but wanted another, and Bossert was happy to help. She first made a prototype to ensure she got it right, and then she built her friend’s skirt.
At the Home Expo at the MacKenzie Centre in late November, Bossert displayed the skirts she had made. From there her business has exploded.
“It just went crazy from there. Within the first month we had 26 orders,” says Bossert.
Since December, when Bossert first started pursuing this new niche market of historical equestrian wear, she has had almost 60 orders. These have been delivered to 14 states in America, and one was purchased by someone from Switzerland via a sibling in Canada.
“Only about ten percent of my clients are from Alberta,” she says.
She says word has spread through social media, and she hasn’t had to do any advertising. If she posts a picture of a new product, she says she gets even more orders. To allow her to catch up, Bossert says she’s been radio silent on social media for a couple of weeks.
“As soon as I launch stuff, then boom, I get even more orders,” says Bossert.
While the business is a success, it’s been a lot of work in a short period of time. After 30 years, she has decided to retire Designs By Deb, and has now rebranded her business as The Creative Daughter. This has meant ordering new signs, creating a logo, new labels for her products, and finding the space to make it all happen.
During this time, Bossert has also been down with Covid and another illness, which meant she was unable to work for three weeks.
“These last three months have been an amazing journey,” she says.
Bossert is once again sewing full-time and has been able to hire a part-time employee to help her keep up with her orders. Because she can’t leave her house due to her disability, Bossert says she needs to be careful about how many orders she takes on because she only has so much space.
Her spare room is currently her new studio, and she converted her sunroom into an office/spare room. She has a fitting mirror in her living area, and her dining room table is often used for cutting patterns.
She says when she was first building the skirt for her friend, and displaying it at the Expo, she didn’t expect it to really go anywhere. Her business partner, however, knew it would be a roaring success.
Bossert and her partner have stepped into a niche market for equestrian wear. Many of her competitors don’t offer wool skirts with patterns on them. Everything is one colour. Bossert, on the other hand, offers several different patterns of material for her products.
All of her products are reversible. They are wool on the outside, but if a person is out in rainy weather, they can turn the skirt around and expose the nylon lining. The lining allows water to roll right off it. One client even requested some reflective wear on the inside, so Bossert made a skirt with reflective fabric.
“Some of my clients told me they have been looking for a skirt like this for four years,” says Bossert.
One of the perks her clients enjoy with Bossert is all of the items are custom made. This means Bossert can make clothing for any size of person.
She says her business doesn’t just focus on attire for people who are trail riding. Bossert also makes clothing for hunters, mounted archers, and carriage drivers. “Some of it is really specific stuff, so I enjoy it,” she says.
Her daughter, Michelle, used to be a costumer, but has now followed in her mother’s footsteps and designs bridal wear. Bossert now considers herself mainly a costumer. “We’ve kind of switched places,” she says.
Both she and Michelle work together to help their businesses. Bossert is currently using an industrial serger that her daughter lent to her. She also has an industrial sewing machine that she bought herself for her 40th birthday.
When Bossert ships out her finished pieces, she also includes one of her handmade cards as a gift. She has also sold some of her cards, with the most recent batch going to Tennessee. Since beginning The Creative Daughter, she has had to take a step back from her painting to make her products, and she’s excited to get back to painting.
“I love the art, and the art is my reward to myself for making skirts, but I’ve haven’t had time,” she says. “I haven’t made a card for weeks.”
She’s also being requested to make a landscape painting for someone in Nunavut
Recently Bossert had MP Gerald Soroka and his wife come for a visit.
“He was a great ambassador for the small businesses in Alberta and I was honoured to have him come visit,” she says, “I thought it would only be a half-an-hour visit because he’s very busy, but it turned into four hours.”
Bossert says she loves the life she is currently living. “I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the life I have right now,” she says. She sees her children and grandchildren regularly, and she still sees friends when she can.
She says right now it feels like the end of an era for Designs By Deb, but she felt it was time to start anew.
“The Creative Daughter was a name I came up with to honour my dad, who passed away two years ago. And also because I am a daughter of the King and I am a devout Christian. I believe that it’s He that gave me the talent to do whatever I do.”
Bossert says she was never expecting this turn of events, and was content with being an artist and a grandmother. But one of the hardest things for her with her health and retirement is that she felt she couldn’t serve her community in that capacity.
Now that she has this business, she feels like she’s serving others again. “My life really has been about service, whether it’s as a volunteer, or within the faith community, or as a public figure.”
She says for many years her health limited her ability to offer most services to the community. She says it wasn’t necessarily a physical limitation, but rather a mental limitation because she thought she could no longer serve.
“My health is still as fragile as it ever was. But there are other ways to serve. It doesn’t mean you have to volunteer. There are other ways to serve and I’m very grateful for that.”
