Petoskey stone inspires Sleeping Bear Rocks clothing line

By Olivia Jones

Sun contributor

As soon as Sarah Dilley and Suzie Viswat are asked what makes up north living so special, they share an almost childlike smile and simultaneously respond, “Lake Michigan.”

The two women began as strangers, growing up in two different parts of Michigan. Dilley’s first home resided on the shores of Sleeping Bear Bay in Glen Haven, filled with memories of searching for Petoskey stones with her grandfather during the calm of morning. She attended Glen Lake Community Schools, surrounded by people she had known her entire life.

“I wanted to escape,” Dilley admits. “I went to Michigan State University for school and I thought there was no way I wanted to live here, it’s so small.” This was short-lived; the older Dilley became, the more she grew to appreciate the natural beauty of the area, eventually pulling her back.

In contrast, Viswat was raised in Detroit’s urban setting before her parents bought a house up north in 1967. “Growing up in the city was great,” Viswat remembers. “There were a lot of advantages to living in a big city, but this [northern Michigan] is where my heart is. The people are kind, and look where we live!” she exclaims. “You couldn’t ask for a more beautiful place to live in. Every season has its incredible beauty.”

This shared admiration for the beauty of the area convinced the two women to make northern Michigan their permanent home. “I wanted to allow my kids to grow up in a place where you can maintain that naivety about the rest of the world,” Dilley says about her choice to come back to her hometown. “Once that’s gone, it’s gone. I wanted them to grow up believing that people are inherently good and kind and helpful.”

Viswat fell in love with the idea of peacefulness after growing up in the city. “There’s something about being able to walk out your door in the morning and not hear traffic or electronics,” she says. “It doesn’t take longer than five minutes to get to somewhere quiet.” After having lived in Utah for a while, Viswat says that the thing she missed the most was the water. “I think people take that for granted. You go out there and you look at it, but you just don’t really see it for what it is, the largest freshwater in the world. And it’s right here.”

After settling down and making the area they fell in love with home, they began working at Funistrada as waitresses. “That’s where it all started,” Viswat says. “About five years ago, I was looking around and thinking that I work with some of the brightest, articulate, great women.

I was thinking that I’m getting older every day, and there must be something else. I love where I work, I love the people, but you can’t do it forever. There has to be another way to survive.”

Viswat says that Dilley and she felt the same way at that time. “We got together and had a brainstorming session about what makes you think of this place, and we both said the Petoskey stone.”

Thinking that the iconic stone hadn’t really been used commercially all that much, the women began working together, writing down phrases and words that would eventually become their logo for a Petoskey stone inspired retail endeavor: Sleeping Bear Rocks.

“Our first logo was a rush to do something and it really wasn’t right,” Viswat admits. “I think deep down we both knew that, but we just wanted to put something on a physical sticker that we just went ahead and did it. But it wasn’t really commercial enough.”

The path that led them to discovering their current and improved logo was one of chance. “My brother-in-law from Chicago was staying with my family,” Dilley says. “He saw our original design which was made with actual physical stones. He’s an architect and very artistically inclined, so he started just sketching. We just looked at each other and said, ‘yes, that is exactly it.’”

The two began with simple sticker decals in order to gauge a reaction from the public. After having worked at Funistrada for the last 18 years, they had developed a strong sense of community to bounce ideas off of. Luckily, people seemed to like their designs.

“Every step is a huge step for us,” Viswat says about their progress. “We are lucky that it has worked out really well, we’ve just tried to take things slowly. It was the perfect pairing of people to do this,” she smiles. “I’m glad that Sarah is my partner and my friend.”

Taking what Dilley refers to as “the Bob Sutherland approach” to business, they sell stickers, hats, t-shirts, and sweatshirts out of the back of their car. “We’ve had a lot of incredible initial support from people who know us and who have travelled this path with us,” Dilley says. “The retail business was intimidating because neither of us has any idea what’s going on. We are just stumbling our way through this.”

Luckily, both Dilley and Viswat always know who to call when they are unsure of how to take the next step. “We have a lot of people that we have cultivated relationships with over the

years. Everywhere I’ve gone has afforded me someone that knows a lot more about something than I do.”

Despite not having any experience in the retail business, the two women have had great responses from their beloved community. “When you’re starting with nothing more than what you have in your pocket, hoping it’s eventually going to come back into your pocket, its been really incredible to have the kind of support and guidance from everyone,” Dilley says. “The community has been willing to give us a shot.”

Grateful for the opportunity to share ideas near and dear to their hearts, Dilley and Viswat want to give back. “We eventually want to give back to the community by giving back to water conservation, something we both believe a great deal in,” Viswat says. They even have plans for a children’s book in the works.

All they hope is that their products bring out a sense of hometown pride in those who wear them, reminding each and every person about the natural beauty that persuades people from near and far, including Dilley and Viswat, to call this area home.

Sleeping Bear Rocks retail products can be found at Baywear in Glen Arbor and Frankfort, Maple City Short Stop in Maple City, Great Goods in Suttons Bay, Empire Outdoors in Empire, and Lake Ann Grocery.