Tell us about your background:
I’ve spent close to 20 years in retail and embroidery. While I was at the Fashion Institute of Technology, I interned with an independent brand and focused on the wholesale side, merchandising at stores like Barneys and Bergdorf’s and volunteering at New York Fashion Week!
From there, I ran a tabletop linens company for about eight years. Everything we made was embroidered, mostly cocktail and dinner napkins. Most of the business was private label work for brands like Draper James, and a range of special projects and collaborations for companies like Bloomingdale’s and Max Mara. In 2021, a shop in Austin, TX bought the business and has continued to build the brand, selling to stores across the US and UK!
After that, I joined Tuckernuck as an embroidery specialist and product developer. Earlier this year, I left to focus on High Stitch full-time! I loved my time at Tuckernuck and learned so much from the leadership team and my colleagues.
High Stitch is a Shopify-native app for product customization. We launched in the Shopify App Store in October 2026, and plan to add Etsy and other platforms in 2027. It’s built for fashion and lifestyle brands, aimed at the craft of customization (embroidery, embossing, engraving) rather than only print-on-demand.
The goal is to make personalization easy for buyers and merchandisers at larger brands, as well as small business owners who don’t have an embroidery or customization background. The platform handles the details that come with adding custom options to a site, so you don’t need to know them going in.
I’m originally from Virginia and grew up mostly in Florida, where I live now with my husband and two young kids!
What do you wish you’d known when you started out?
I wish I’d known (and believed people when they told me!) I didn’t need to have it all figured out at the beginning. After college, it feels like your first job is a pivotal point for where your career will go. I never imagined all the twists and turns over the last 20 years, and I couldn’t have planned them!
Best career advice you've ever received?
Starting a business is a lot like throwing spaghetti at the wall. You can plan and research as much as you want, but you won’t really know what sticks until you get going. So make it happen!
What has been the biggest challenge in your career so far?
When I was handing off my linens business, I wanted to pivot and join a team at a larger company. I was shocked to find that being self-employed was seen as a negative, or at best not a selling point, by a lot of brands. With no manager to vouch for me, it felt like a mountain to climb just to prove what I was capable of. One HR manager told me it was a negative that I wasn’t coming from another company and was self-employed instead. After so many years of hard work, that felt like a punch in the gut!
Then I connected with Tuckernuck, and it was a breath of fresh air. From my very first conversations, it had a real entrepreneurial, start-up feel. We were all working toward the same goal, and they valued being a go-getter whether you came from another brand or your own business.
How has networking contributed to your professional growth and success?
Networking has been so helpful throughout my career. Whether I needed advice from someone further along, a recommendation on how to approach a sales pitch, or a vendor referral, there’s always been someone to ask.
I’ve always worked remotely, so I really value the people I’ve stayed in touch with over the years: the brands that carried my linens or collaborated with me, my colleagues at Tuckernuck, and the people I’ve met at events and trade shows. Remote work can be great, but it can also feel isolating. Having a network I can quickly text, email, or set up a call with makes it feel like there’s always a team and support close by!
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/maliapalma
Website: https://highstitch.co/
Instagram: @highstitch.co
