As small business owners, we often wear more hats than we can count — designer, marketer, accountant, customer service rep, and everything in between. Balancing creativity with the demands of running a business can feel like walking a tightrope without a net. I know that feeling firsthand, and it’s one reason I was drawn to my recent conversation with Amanda Stewart, the founder of Mochi Kids. Amanda has built her brand from a handful of handmade T-shirts into a beloved children’s clothing company known for its minimalist design and inclusive themes — all while managing operations, production, and marketing largely on her own.

During our discussion at Adobe MAX 2025, Amanda opened up about how she evolved from selling on Etsy to running a brick-and-mortar store and how tools like Adobe Acrobat and AI-powered assistants are helping her manage the less glamorous side of entrepreneurship — contracts, timelines, and content calendars — with the same creativity she brings to her designs. What stood out to me most was how she’s using technology not just to streamline her work, but to expand her capacity to create.

For any small business owner trying to balance artistic vision with operational reality, Amanda’s story is both inspiring and instructive. Below is our full conversation, where she shares how creativity and productivity intersect in her business — and how technology is quietly helping her do it all.

Leland McFarland: Amanda, for those who may not be familiar, can you start by telling a little about, uh, Mochi Kids and what inspired you to stay, start the brand?

Amanda Stewart: So Mochi Kids is, it started as a children’s clothing brand almost 10 years ago. And we’ve evolved to include a brick-and-mortar store. I started my business super organically. I needed um, an a creative outlet and I wanted to create some tees for my son that matched his interests. He’s always been interested in things like science and space, but I couldn’t find though t-shirts with those designs at an aesthetic that I also liked, and so I used my design skills and started creating my own t-shirts. Um, and I sold them to friends and family, eventually strangers on Instagram started asking for them, and I opened an Etsy shop, and then a regular website, and then, um, a brick-and-mortar store. So.

Leland McFarland: Great. Um, how has design and creativity shaped the way that Mochi Kids connects with customers and builds its community?

Amanda Stewart: I would say design is like central to what I do. We have a very distinct aesthetic and, uh, a lot of people are are attracted to like our minimalist, um, cute designs. And our community is, um, very inclusive and we try to reflect that in our designs that we do. So we will, um, design based on themes that, um, make people feel included and represented. We have a lot of Asian-American themed designs and then designs that are a little more like on the nose promoting diversity and, um, things like that.

Leland McFarland: That’s great. So you’re here at Adobe MAX. Uh, what does this event mean to you as a creative entrepreneur?

Amanda Stewart: Yeah, this is my very first year at MAX and I’ve already… today’s the first day, right? We’re like halfway through the day and I’m already just kind of blown away by all the things that I’ve learned here. Um, I came to this conference with one goal in mind, which was how I can learn more about the AI tools that there are to increase the productivity in my business because I’m, you know, as a small business owner, I’m sure you are aware, we’re just often like one-woman shows and we don’t have full teams of, um, copywriters and marketing professionals and, um, production managers. It’s all kind of me. I’m wearing all the hats and so. Um, I’ve been learning a lot more about Adobe Acrobat this year and I knew that coming here I’d be able to find more tools to use to increase my productivity. So that… I like to just have one goal when I come in somewhere, something that feels attainable. And that was it for me is trying to figure out how to increase my productivity as like a one-woman show.

Leland McFarland: So how do you use, uh, Adobe Acrobat in, you know, your day-to-day?

Amanda Stewart: I use it a few different ways, uh, and I’m sure there are other ways to use it too. That’s one cool thing about coming here is I get to see other people speak about how they’re implementing it into their workflows. But for me, I love to use it as a place to keep all of my contracts. So our brand, um, we not only sell our own products, but we often will license our artworks to other, um, companies who want to use our designs. And that involves like a contract and deliverables and timelines and all of that is a lot to keep track of for one person when that’s just one of the many responsibilities that I have. So, um, I love Adobe Acrobat, um, PDF spaces, which is the new feature that they have, because I can upload all of my contracts there. I can also upload my email transcripts there and just any correspondence or anything I have regarding to the project. And then I can ask the AI assistant there like, “Please create a timeline of deliverables for this project,” and it will give that to me. So that’s one, one way I use it is like as a place to keep all of my contracts and to be able to communicate with those and get quick answers for what I’m looking for, as opposed to having to go back and scroll through my emails and be like, “I know they said something about this here sometime.” Um, and then kind of like the next step that I use it for is like, let’s say I want, I now have a timeline of my deliverables. I can ask it to create like a content calendar around it. And because it’s like an, uh, chat-based like AI assistant, I can really ask it whatever I want. Um, it will even give you like content ideas. So sometimes it’ll come up with like, okay, here’s a content calendar and then I’ll say, “Can you write me like a script for the first one?” and I’ll go in like greater detail to get exactly what I want from it. So, um, using it for content planning is great. And then another thing that I use it for is my production management. So I can go and say, like, you know, my spring launch, I know it’s going to be a certain day. And then I know how long the turnarounds are for each thing. Sorry, this is like so specific.

Leland McFarland: Go for it. Go for it.

Amanda Stewart: And I can just write exactly what I want, like, you know, “Please make a, um, production calendar for our spring launch.” Like, I, I know like production is two weeks, um, I have to order my materials like three weeks before that and just map out the whole year of like deadlines. Okay, I need to order my fabric for spring this day. I need to have items in hand by this day for my photo shoot this day. And, um, you know, throughout the year. So it’s a lot to manage as one person. Like how do you, how would I be on top of that? And before what I did is I had a paper calendar on my wall and then I would, once a year, fill out the whole calendar. And then I get behind, then my whole paper calendar system is messed up. Right? But this, I can very easily be like, “Okay, we got to move everything by two weeks. Move all the spring launch dates, everything.” So.

Leland McFarland: So it’s kind of become sort of a secretary, you know, like assistant, uh, overall.

Amanda Stewart: That’s like what the AI assistant is, I think is like, you can ask it to do things like that, like administrative, like planning kind of things and it does it for you. So. And I’m still, you know, learning how to implement all of this into my workflow, but it already it’s been changing my productivity and helping me to feel like more efficient and more organized.

Leland McFarland: Were there any kind of growing pains when it came to implementing this and and learning how to use it or was it fairly smooth?

Amanda Stewart: So, I would say, I think Adobe puts a lot of time into like the user experience and trying to make these intuitive. So I feel like on that front, it was really good. For me, personally, I’m not like a tech-savvy person, right off the bat, but um, I, I don’t think it was, like it was much easier than I was expecting it to be.

Leland McFarland: That’s good to hear. Yeah, it is not.

Leland McFarland: How does Adobe, uh, fit into the broader, um, creative toolkit, uh, alongside or Acrobat. How does Acrobat fit into the broader, uh, creative toolkits along with other Adobe apps like Illustrator or Photoshop? Do you use those as well?

Amanda Stewart: Yeah, so I use Illustrator and Photoshop all the time, like on a daily basis. And when they asked me to be an Acrobat ambassador, I was like, “Oh, I guess I use Acrobat too,” but I I wasn’t as familiar with the software and all of the capabilities. So, but I was a little surprised. I was like, “Oh, wouldn’t like Illustrator be a better fit for me?” But, um, yeah, I use Adobe Illustrator, um, Adobe Express, Photoshop, and, um, now Adobe Acrobat all the time. I would say like as a creative person, I, I had this reaction that I told you about that I was like, “Oh, you want me to be an Acrobat ambassador? Okay.” But as a small business owner, it makes so much sense. I wasn’t seeing it from like a productivity and like workflow standpoint. I just kind of seeing it as like a design creative standpoint, but every like creative person that I know struggles with the keeping deadlines, planning, managing contracts, managing files. So they really do go hand in hand, like as far as creatives also need this tool to administratively be able to keep on top of things.

Leland McFarland: I see. Good answer on that.

Leland McFarland: Do you use, uh, the, uh, features in Acrobat such as e-signatures, commenting, um, reviewing PDFs together with, uh, teams or customers or anything like that?

Amanda Stewart: I definitely use e-signature all the time. Um, before I started using that, I would like paint my signature on using Photoshop. But now it’s like much more legit and I can send it securely and I can ask for someone’s signature in a way more like official manner than just like, “Okay, here’s the JPEG, like sign it and send me a photo back.” But this way, you know, it has an electronic signature and they can’t the document can’t be altered after it’s been signed. So yeah, I’ve been loving that tool. Um, I don’t use as much like team collaboration because like I mentioned, it’s mostly me doing all of the work, but, um, hopefully someday I will get to that point.

Leland McFarland: I’ve ran into that too. Uh, I used to have a salesperson who would send an Excel file, not a PDF or anything like that, an a raw Excel file, and one time it came back differently. So, I, yeah, and someone had modified the contract in their favor and…

Amanda Stewart: Ooh.

Leland McFarland: Yeah, so I I get it. You know, I I love the age of these digital signatures and you know, glad that Adobe has that as well.

Amanda Stewart: And one nice thing about PDF spaces is you could upload both of those contracts and you could say, “Please find me any differences between these contracts” in case someone does, like through their revision process, sneak a change in.

Leland McFarland: Yes, that that would be nice.

Leland McFarland: Um, many, uh, creative entrepreneurs struggle to balance, uh, artistry and uh, business paperwork. Um, how has Acrobat helped you bridge that gap?

Amanda Stewart: For sure, that is definitely a struggle. Um, I love like the PDF spaces like I mentioned to keep all my contracts organized. And I also think the Creative Cloud is a great tool. Um, so I can access, you know, designs that I’ve been working on on my desktop on my phone if I need to. And, um, yeah, I I’m almost prefer that to my Google Drive, which is what I I’ve been using before because it’s like, um, it’s just easier to find things, I feel like. Like the searchability is better and I can see like the image preview of whatever I’m working on, because sometimes in Google Drive, it’s just like, you know, a file looks like a file folder and like, sometimes it’ll show the image preview, but not all the time. So then I just have to like click on the photo image till I get to the one that I’m looking for. So.

Leland McFarland: Um, do you find, do you find that, Acrobat makes administrative tasks like invoicing, legal forms, or proposals, uh, feel a bit more manageable, uh, even creative?

Amanda Stewart: Yes. Um, so I do have Acrobat on my phone and I love that I can edit PDFs from my phone. I didn’t know I could do that until this year. So what I was doing before is like, sometimes I’d even like take a JPEG and then I would like Photoshop like a box over it to clear out whatever was there and then a new text box, which was like such a, it’s such a clunky way to do it. But yeah, I do love like on my phone, I’ll edit PDFs and send invoices that way, or I I have to send purchase orders as well, like when I buy um fabric or whatever we’re making. And I love doing that on my phone. A lot of old school people will like require you to have a purchase order from your brand with your header, with the all of your company info before they’ll sell you something. So.

Leland McFarland: Yeah. Well, it helps, make those of, those official orders a little bit easier, right?

Amanda Stewart: Yeah. Mhm. I can just, I just have the it in my creative cloud and I can just edit it real quick to what I want on it to say.

Leland McFarland: Nice.

Leland McFarland: Um, what advice would you give other small business owners about, uh, bringing the same creativity they put into design into their business documents?

Amanda Stewart: Okay, let me ask you that again.

Leland McFarland: Okay. Please. Sorry. What advice would you give other small business owners about bringing the same creativity they put into their designs into their business documents?

Amanda Stewart: I feel like a lot of, um, creative small business owners that I know, we have, like I said, the similar struggle of like staying organized and being on top of the administrative things. And a lot of the times these things are like, for me, it’s like a weight on my shoulders a little bit and it’s like a thing on the back of my mind that is like a nagging that I need to like do or fix. And I feel like just starting a new system of like keeping things organized and, um, it’s like really freeing and can help you in your creative practice to feel like you have more like mental space for that and you’re not as like concerned as much. Yeah, I would say that’s definitely been true in my life. Like the tasks that I don’t like to do as a creative are now feel like a little more attainable.

Leland McFarland: It’s easier to be creative when you’ve cleaned your room first, right?

Amanda Stewart: Yeah. Yeah.

Leland McFarland: A little more order, organized. You don’t have that hanging in the back of your head going, “Oh my gosh, that sock over there. It’s bugging me.”

Amanda Stewart: Yeah, I am someone who has to clean like my entire house before I can get any work done. So, I can relate.

Leland McFarland: I’m I’m the exact opposite. I’m more of the I’ll do the administrative, I’ll do the paperwork. Creativity is not necessarily my forte, so.

Amanda Stewart: Oh, yeah.

Leland McFarland: So, I I can make processes, I can do paperwork. My wife though, she’ll she’ll handle the creative part.

Amanda Stewart: It’s funny, everyone has like their strengths and struggles and yeah.

Leland McFarland: All right. What are some of your takeaways from what you’ve seen so far from Adobe MAX, uh, this year? Um, have have you gotten into like the Adobe MAX or uh, the Acrobat uh, demonstration? Have you, is there anything there that you’ve uh, seen that has piqued your interest?

Amanda Stewart: Um, I will say I did not know anything about Firefly until today. And, um, as someone who has a clothing brand, I think it’ll be super helpful for me to like mock up my designs, um, with Firefly, because I, I use Photoshop, you know, to often like move my design from Illustrator onto like a piece of clothing. And I’ll do it manually, Photoshopping it over, and with Firefly, I can just like “eye drop that, eye drop that” and then it puts it together for me. So it’s going to be way easier to make mockups and do any kind of Photoshopping. So, that was a big takeaway for me. Um, yeah, I think I’m going to save a lot of time Photoshopping things. And then, I, I, I used Premiere like maybe a couple times, but I’m not like super versed in it. And, um, the Premiere app looks like it’s going to be awesome, too. Did you go to the keynote this morning?

Leland McFarland: I did.

Amanda Stewart: Yeah. So that… there’s just so many things. I’m like…

Leland McFarland: I was impressed. Is that how it is every year? There’s just like, oh man.

Brian Domingo: So, yeah, peek behind the curtain. Uh, you know, being PR, we work on these announcements, you know, obviously collaboration with our product teams and engineers for months. So like, just kind of the keynote is a, it’s very celebratory for us PR people because it’s like, we brought it to life with with the product engineers and with the product marketers, and we put their innovations to words and announced it to the world. So, yeah, it’s it’s like that every year. We have like a lot of announcements and it’s just so the labor of love over the course of a lot of time.

Leland McFarland: Is it Is it hard to sit on these awesome new features?

Brian Domingo: Not for me because I get to play with it internally before you guys. But, um, you know, like, I have friends who are also entrepreneurs and small business owners and creatives and they tell me about the stuff they’re working on. I’m like, “Wow, I wish I could tell you about this, or wish I could get you on the limited beta for this,” but, you know, that’s that’s kind of the fun part of it, too.

Leland McFarland: All right. How do you see tools like Acrobat evolving to support creative small businesses in the next few years? I mean, what would you like to see?

Amanda Stewart: I feel like Adobe Acrobat is on the right track as far as, um, like I mentioned, making it easier for us creative people to stay organized and the AI assistant. Um, I’ve been telling so many of my friends about the PDF spaces. Um, yeah, I have a friend who runs a nonprofit in Uganda and she has like a case file on every child in her, um, school that she runs over there. And it’s like a paper, it’s a paper case file. And so I’m like, “You got to get, you know, on this so that when you are emailed stuff about this kid, you can just file it in there.” So I would say just more tools for like productivity behind the scenes, kind of contracts. I think that’s what Acrobat is kind of known for is, um, doing like a paper trail, but electronically. So all that kind of like file management. I mean, if I knew the answer to this, I could probably be rich because I would come up with an incredible software. But yeah, I would love to see just more tools to help with that.

Leland McFarland: All right, final question. What’s next for Mochi Kids and how does technology, especially tools like Acrobat, play in your future plans?

Amanda Stewart: Hm, that’s a good question because I always said that opening a store is like my old lady job. So when I get like burnt out of doing my clothing brand, I can be like a shopkeeper and work in my store. And that still sounds very appealing, um, to kind of, you know, retire but like still own a business and work. Um, but I think I want to get back into doing more apparel. Um, it’s been, like we’ve been kind of going up and down with creating our own custom styles versus buying like blank sweatshirts and t-shirts that are already made. And, uh, yeah, we we are developing some new clothing styles right now. We just developed a new t-shirt pattern that’s really cute. And we have sweatshirts that are being made right now in LA. And then we have pajamas on order. And then we have like a cute woven like unisex kid pant that hopefully next year will come out. So, just getting more into doing more clothing styles. I think, um, a lot of my competitors have gone out of business, which is very sad, in the last few years or stopped making clothing because it’s a challenge. And a lot of the manufacturing in the US in apparel has gone overseas. And, um, and now overseas manufacturers, like with the tariffs, it’s so much more money to create things. So I’ve seen a lot of my fellow clothing brand people close, other fellow clothing brands. So I I do see like a gap in the market for, um, made in the US clothing for children.

Leland McFarland: Well, here’s here’s hoping, you know, you can get into that market and continue to grow.

Amanda Stewart: Thank you.

Leland McFarland: Well, that’s all the questions I had for you.

Amanda Stewart: Awesome. Thank…

Listening to Amanda Stewart talk about her journey with Mochi Kids reminded me how much small business success depends on both passion and adaptability. It’s one thing to have a great idea; it’s another to sustain it over a decade while evolving with technology, market shifts, and creative demands. Amanda’s ability to keep her brand fresh — from developing new apparel lines to integrating digital tools like Adobe Acrobat and Firefly — is a testament to her resilience and willingness to learn.

What resonated most was her practical perspective on using AI and Acrobat as part of her creative workflow. She isn’t replacing her artistry with automation — she’s augmenting it. For small business owners, that’s the real takeaway. Tools that once seemed designed for big enterprises are now becoming indispensable companions for one-person operations. They can help us reclaim time, reduce mental clutter, and refocus on what we love most — whether that’s design, storytelling, or building community.

Amanda’s insight that organization fuels creativity struck a chord: when your digital workspace is clear, your mind is free to explore new ideas. It’s a principle many entrepreneurs overlook until they experience the difference.

For me, this conversation underscored something simple but powerful — technology isn’t just changing how small businesses run; it’s changing how we think, create, and thrive. And as Amanda’s journey shows, the best creativity often grows from a foundation of order and innovation.

This article, “Interview with Amanda Stewart – Founder of Mochi Kids” was first published on Small Business Trends