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One of the first things president and owner Susan Cain mentions about Camel Custom Canvas, in Knoxville, Tenn., is the people who have helped sustain it for more than 107 years. Employees have decades of service, repeat customers continue to return, and industry peers are an important source of support and shared knowledge. And her grandfather and father, founder and former owner, respectively, remain her inspiration.
More than five years into sole ownership, these relationships are central to how she approaches leadership today.
From early childhood, Cain remembers listening to dinner-table conversations about the business and spending summer vacations in the shop before officially becoming an employee at age 16 and working her way up. “This was always going to be it for me,” she says. “It never occurred to me to do anything else.”
But after a 17-year break to focus on raising her children, returning in 2012 to provide office support didn’t come with the same level of certainty. “Everything had changed. There weren’t even computers or email when I left,” she recalls. “I had to relearn everything.”
A learning journey
A few years into Cain’s return, her father passed away, leaving the business to Cain and her two sisters, who amicably transitioned out of the company into separate careers. “I’ve been on a learning journey every day since, and my employees have had my back every step of the way,” Cain says.
The evolution of equipment and fabric is an industry shift Cain has relished most, particularly as customer demand for durability, protection and performance has increased over the years.
“I love reading about what’s new in the ATA magazines and seeing products in action every year at the expo,” she says, noting that she recently updated her team’s welding equipment to be faster and more energy efficient after reading about it in a magazine article.
Watching others evolve has encouraged Cain to try new approaches herself, such as managing the company’s social media advertising. “We were going to outsource the work, but when I looked at it more closely, I thought, ‘Why not try it myself?’”
Cain has sharpened her skills in this space through simple trial and error, based on best practices available online as well as support from outside partners. The company’s web host has been especially helpful in improving how Camel Custom Canvas appears in search results, offering guidance on keywords and search optimization. Cain’s efforts have consistently paid off, with quote requests notably increasing on the company website when ads are running and decreasing when they are not.
Although she’s likely to outsource the work eventually, the fact that it’s working today is a success in its own right, Cain says. This reflects her overall perspective on running the business, especially as the external environment becomes more volatile.
Leaning into strengths
“Getting through the COVID pandemic was the biggest challenge we faced as a team, and the price increases, supply chain disruption and uncertainty we all face today are starting to resemble some of those same pressures,” she says. “Customers are holding their pocketbooks a bit closer than they would have a year or two ago, so we’re doing everything we can to avoid raising our prices.”
In moments like these, the longevity of the business stands out as one of its greatest strengths. “It’s a huge accomplishment to simply be open today. You can’t exist for over 100 years if you’re not consistently doing something right,” Cain says. And for her, that consistency is rooted in people.
“We are all about the customers. They’re always right — even when they’re not. That’s a lesson my father instilled in me early on, and I’m proud to carry it forward,” she says.
Cain focuses on building trust through responsiveness and reliability. Whether it’s turning quotes around quickly, returning calls promptly or problem-solving proactively, the goal is to keep customers satisfied enough to not only return but also recommend the business to others.
“The small things make a difference. We receive letters thanking us for our professionalism and have had many customers tell us they chose us because we called them back or gave them a quote within 24 hours,” she says.
This commitment is reinforced internally through weekly meetings, where all 15 employees, in addition to Cain, discuss current and future projects as well as any issues that need attention.
Creating a space where feedback is heard and incorporated is a top priority for Cain. “When you walk through our doors and clock in, I want you to be as happy as you can be. And a big part of my role in that is listening,” she says. “I have to recognize when the team knows better than I do, so if they ask for a new tool, machine or process, I do my best to make it happen. After all, I wouldn’t be here without them.”
Deciding what comes next
Cain’s reliance on and appreciation for her team also shape how she thinks about the future of the business and the next generation of workers. “It’s getting harder to find young people to stay long enough to build the knowledge and skills they need to succeed,” she acknowledges.
Cain also has to solve the issue of the next generation of ownership, as her two children will not take over the family business. “I’m proud of the careers they’ve built for themselves and fully believe if this is not something you want to do, you shouldn’t do it,” she says. “It’s not an easy business by any means.”
While Cain doesn’t plan to retire soon, she’s acutely aware that succession is an important decision to make sooner than later. In the meantime, she’s following the advice she would have given her younger self: “Don’t be nervous; you have people who will support you.”
This support extends beyond employees to industry peers and local competitors. “Even though my little circle of industry here is competition, we’re all there for each other,” she says, noting multiple occasions she has asked for or provided help when installs went awry. “We’re all in the same boat, and that’s the type of support that sustains a business, one day at a time.”
Holly Eamon is a business writer and editor based in Minneapolis, Minn.
Photography by Mark Skalny Photography
SIDEBAR: CAMEL CUSTOM CANVAS PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Luxury at scale
Last summer, Camel Custom Canvas completed a nine-awning job nearly a year in the making.
The awnings adorn the Beauford Delaney Building in Knoxville, Tenn., a nine-story mixed-use building with retail, restaurant and event space as well as luxury condominiums. It was developed as part of Covenant Health Park, a multipurpose stadium that opened in 2025.
“The sheer size of each awning was incredibly challenging,” recalls Susan Cain, president and owner. Each awning is 26 feet wide and 6 feet and 2 inches high, with a 10-foot projection. Each frame weighs 1,500 pounds.
“The builders added indented steel attachment points for the awnings, so we needed to fabricate and design the awnings to the exact measurement of the attachment points,” Cain says. “If we were even half an inch off, they would not fit.”
A crowded job site added to the project’s difficulty and length, as the team often had to pause during installation to allow for other aspects of construction to progress.
Overall, 325 yards of Weblon® Vanguard® awning fabric now shade the property’s residents and visitors. “The stadium is a huge deal to Knoxville, and we are so proud to have been a part of it,” Cain says.
SIDEBAR: Q&A
What is something people might be surprised to learn about you?
I am a huge animal lover and advocate, donating to most animal rescues that I come across. It is also the reason I have been vegan for 12 years, and my love goes so deep that my family set up a rescue for dogs years ago. It is still very successful to this day and is a big time commitment my niece oversees.
Do you know an amazing female leader in the textile industry? Nominate her for a future feature in Specialty Fabrics Review!