Made in Michigan: Yana Dee's Journey

It wasn’t quite rags, and it still isn’t riches (at least in the monetary sense), but Yana Dee Powers still pinches herself at times when she takes stock of her life. 

Growing up in the northernmost reaches of the Upper Peninsula’s Keweenaw Peninsula in a home hand-built by her “back to the land” parents, she was homeschooled and had to fill a big pot on the stove if she needed hot water. Around her in this depressed and very rural community was rampant opioid and alcohol abuse, poverty and a general disconnect from the culture and conveniences of the modern world.

But even in this hard scratch world where virtually nothing was given, there were people driven by the joy of making art. Powers, who started earning a dollar an hour babysitting at age 11 and has worked ever since, would encounter them at art fairs as she sold handmade trinkets to earn extra money.

“There’s the term starving artist, and that really applies to the Keweenaw,” Powers tells The Ticker. “There were a lot of people there who made their art and lived very close to the bone, and that was really inspiring.”

Today, perhaps because of the “relentless” work ethic developed during her youth, Powers is far from starving. She’s thankful every day to own and run a handmade clothing business (Yana Dee) in the heart of downtown Traverse City, a place she says possesses a tremendous sense of community and good vibes. And she feels fortunate to make a living doing what she loves.

“I feel like there's so many ways that we all try to find a sense of purpose,” she says. “To get up every day and having a strong drive to create, and to be able to combine that with something that real people respond to and are desiring of, is just the perfect combination…I’m just honored to be of service.”

Finlandia to Front Street

Powers, 41, started her business in 2004 after working her way through college studying production design at the now-defunct Finlandia University in the Keweenaw. For many years she traveled to art fairs and sold through various retailers, moving to Leelanau County in 2008 and shortly thereafter getting a break from local developer Ray Minervini, who set her up with a place to work at the Village at Grand Traverse Commons.

“That was a big turning point for me, to actually having a place to grow from, a real studio,” she says. “I was just really trying to get a leg up and make the business work.”

Powers opened her Front Street shop in 2014 and now has her own Traverse City production facility where she and her small staff (nine between the store and production) work on a “fleet” of sewing machines to make almost every item sold by her company. What isn’t assembled there is made up in the Keweenaw by her mother, who is glad to chip in.

Together they make some 300 pieces a month, which sell at the store and to customers across the country in a growing online business. Powers’ sister, Abby Rose Weglarz, runs the store and the online operations, leaving Powers free to design and create.

“We have a pretty dynamic sister session every Monday where we sit down and hammer out all the nitty-gritties about what’s going on,” Powers says. “Which products are selling the best? Which should we make more variations of? Which should we let go?”

Those sessions are more important than ever as business is getting tough, Powers says. Higher costs across the board for supplies, labor, rent and more means tighter margins and more room for missteps that could damage the growing company.

“I don't want to be dramatic about it because we're making it and we're holding it down. But it's definitely gotten to the point where if I don't keep a closer eye on things, it's amazing how quickly we can get in a pretty tight spot,” Powers says. “We're really trying to be efficient right now and batten down the hatches because the winter's always slower, at least in the store.”

The sisters are grateful to their dedicated customers and encourage everyone to support their fellow downtown retailers.  

“We work really hard to keep the business working, and it only works because enough people who love this place shop here,” Weglarz says. “A lot of small businesses are in trouble, so shop places that you love – it's so needed right now.”

Sustainability and ‘real people’s bodies’

Yana Dee brands itself as “ethical apparel made in Michigan,” and what that means is natural, organic fibers, ethically sourced materials, recycled shopping bags and packaging material and good wages for workers.  

“We don't push it down people's throats too much. People walk by regularly and kind of sneer about ethical and organic,” Powers says. “So there's a little bit of a rub there for people, actually, which is really sad.”

But it means a lot to Powers, who talks about the enormous reams of waste produced by discarded polyester and other synthetic fabrics.

“The majority of material produced is literally made from an oil derivative, so it doesn't decompose, and like 85% of it ends up in a landfill really quickly,” she says.

She sources organic cotton, hemp, linen, silk and other materials from a variety of suppliers across the country. Some of it is “deadstock” material that would otherwise be discarded by major producers.

“It's really fun to have found a direct line into this fashion waste in Los Angeles and have a couple of connections with people that have a really good taste in fabric,” she says. “And right now I'm looking at getting some all organic, grown, spun and milled in the USA fleece that was (not used by the major brand) Champion.”

Still, Powers is pragmatic about all of this. Though some customers really appreciate the organic and ethical aspects of her clothing, a business like hers will only succeed if people like the designs and prices of her products and want to wear them, she says – everything else is just a bonus.

To that end, she’s worked over the years to refine dresses and other apparel that are attractive, functional and comfortable on “real people’s bodies.”

“The foundation is probably playing dress-up when we were little girls, and then playing dress up at shows for years and years” she says. “How does it feel? How does it flow? Can you twirl in it? Can you also go out and dig in the dirt or whatever?”

She’s happiest in her studio, which she says is the perfect, creative-friendly blend between organized and chaotic.

“Every time I go to the studio, I learn something. Every little batch creates some sort of dopamine thing in my brain. I don't know why I like fabric so much, but it’s fun to collect, and then it tells me what it wants to be or shows me,” she says. “I might have something for 10 years before I'm like, “Oh my gosh, that's perfect for this particular thing.’”

At home, she's the mother of three foster children, something that also gives her great joy.

"I'm not wealthy by any stretch, but with the security and abundance that I've been able to cultivate in my little world, it was just a natural progression to see who around here needs help," she says. "Out of all the things I can do, to take responsibility for a few kids that come from bad scenarios (made sense)."

Pictured: Powers (left) and Weglarz.