About Us

Picture of Janice Hi! I'm Janice Dortch, owner and operator of Hickory Ridge Designs, Inc. I decided to open an embroidery business in the Fall of 2001 after I couldn't find a job. I had recently taken an early retirement from the State of Michigan after working for 23 years as a systems analyst and headed South to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia to join my new husband and former high school sweetheart. Timing was perfect, our kids were grown and it was time for new adventures!

Needless to say starting and running a business is definitely an adventure. Each day is exciting and I learn new things. I have finally mastered the embroidery machine, which in the beginning I frequently referred to as "The Beast", as it ate more garments than producing nice ones. We are now friends thanks to the tech who stops by occasionally and whips it into shape. I learned the hard way that commercial embroidery machines are not the same as the home embroidery machines, for one, instructions are NOT included, at least ones that are understandable.

I started out running this business from my home, which lasted for only 6 months when cabin fever struck so I decided to move into the city's new business incubator. A year later I moved to my own store and stayed for 2 1/2 years. In December of 2005, I decided it was time to close shop and come back home and focus on this website as my web sales were much more profitable than my local sales, besides I'd no longer have to pay rent!  Well it's two years later and going totally on-line has definitely been a move in the right direction.

I enjoy working on my website, probably just as much as I do watching new designs stitch on the embroidery machine. It keeps my mind and computer skills sharp and I learn something new everyday.

I do all the embroidery myself, if I happen to get an order that is too large to handle, I have a backup lined up. I don't do my own digitizing, but send it to some of the best digitizers in the world. I learned the hard way of using cheap digitizers, you get what you pay for. As for myself, I have the software, but lack the skills and patience needed to digitize properly. Skills I'd rather reserve for web design or other things.

Thanks for stopping by!

Janice's Signature


About Us