Have you ever found yourself mindlessly watching DIY videos on TikTok and the next thing you know several hours have passed, it’s 2 a.m., and suddenly you feel incredibly empowered to tackle every project in your home? Who are we kidding? We all have. Joey Arvey and Abby Workman, the husband-and-wife tie dye-making team behind DBeach Tie Dye, capitalized on the craze during the height of the pandemic and have since garnered more than 670,000 TikTok followers. Both locals, Workman grew up in Georgetown and her family has lived in the area for generations, while Arvey, who grew up in Wilmington but summered at his family’s beach house in Lewes, eventually settled here at 18.
The origins of the crafty, tie dye business began as a means for Workman to update her old clothes. When friends and family came knocking to purchase her work in 2018, she opened an Etsy store, Dewey Beach Tie Dye, to begin selling them. When the pandemic hit and everyone spent the summer of 2020 quarantined, on their phones and looking for new hobbies to try, the pair started making short video tutorials on TikTok. It was pretty good timing.
You have grown quite the following on social media. Can you talk a bit about that and how you got here?
I wanted to make tie dye videos that stood out from the others, so we invested in some professional lighting, and set up a mini video studio in our attic. At first the videos did alright, but when Joey added his voice overs, describing the tie dye process in a fun way, the videos really started to take off and go viral.
I think there are a few reasons why our channel has grown so much so fast. We do have the huge advantage that tie dye is really the perfect subject matter for short-form video. We also try to start our videos in a way that grabs people’s attention. The goal is to get people to watch through to the end. We keep videos under 30 seconds and have found that most viewers will stick around that long, which is great because longer watch times equals more views.
Plus, tie dye is just fun, it’s super colorful, messy and the results are always a surprise. Tie dye is something that is very universal and lots of people from all different walks of life seem to find pretty cool.
What is it REALLY like being a husband and wife team in business?
It’s mostly really great, we are basically BFFs which makes it easy to bounce ideas off one another and feed off of each other’s creativity. If we have disagreements, it is usually when we are editing the videos, which can slow down the production process. But we always respect one another’s opinions and compromise to work it out in the end.
What are some of the best and worst parts of being business owners?
The best part is the community of people online who enjoy our videos and just all of the positive feedback. We especially love it when people make a tie dye from one of our tutorials and then tag us in their video.
The least-favorite part would be the negative comments and the people who are rude for no reason. It is hard to hear at times when people say “that tie dye is ugly” but for every comment like that there are a hundred more saying the exact opposite.
What’s something interesting most people don’t know about you?
Joey was his high school class clown, which helps him in making entertaining voiceovers, and I am a former sushi chef.
What’s next for you two? Anything exciting that you’re looking forward to this summer?
We really want to expand our presence on YouTube, and we would really love to hit one million followers on TikTok. It would also be really amazing if we can get our tie dyes in some of the cute, local shops.
ABBY & JOEY’S LOCAL FAVS
- Sunset Spot Lewes Beach (off-season)
- Dish Abby: Firecracker Roll from Cultured Pearl; Joey: Original Nic-O-Boli (well-done)
- Coffee Rise Up
- Trail Pinelands Nature Trail
- Dessert Abby: Peanut Butter Pie at Big Fish; Joey: Kohr Brothers
- Shop Quiet Storm
- Lunch Nectar
- Happy Hour Abby: Purple Parrot; Joey: Fins Ale House
