Before launching his lucrative pillow business, Craig Conover was on a much different career path.
When he was introduced to viewers in Southern Charm Season 1 (2014), Craig had just completed his final year at the Charleston School of Law and was looking to start his life as an attorney. The Delaware native reflected on this chapter during a recent Q&A on Instagram, after a fan relayed a few kind words from Craig’s former professor.
“Prof Alexander told me she adores you!!” the user wrote. “I have her for prop lmao & she said you got an A hah.”
“I loved law school and I loved Professor Alexander!” Craig replied.
Craig Conover gets sworn into the South Carolina Bar
The Southern Charm-er went on to post a couple of photos from 2018 when he was sworn into the South Carolina bar.
“A very proud day for me,” he captioned one of the pictures. “I was fortunate to pass the first time but there’s nothing wrong with taking the Bar as many times as you need. I used [Themis Bar] to study and recommend it strongly.”
Craig Conover explains why it took him so long to take the bar exam
Craig’s law career was further explored in Southern Charm Season 3 when his castmates began questioning why he had yet to pass the bar exam. Craig later revealed he was not immediately eligible to take the test because he failed to complete his graduation requirements.
“I’m not allowed to take the bar. I never finished my thesis paper,” he said during the Southern Charm Season 3 reunion. “I walked for graduation but I hadn’t received my official diploma.”
Craig Conover opens his law firm
Craig eventually passed the South Carolina Bar exam in April 2017 and had his swearing-in ceremony the following year. Fast-forward to 2021 when he founded his eponymous law firm specializing in personal injury claims.
“I just opened a law firm and that’s what [Leva Bonaparte] always said. She’s like, ‘I knew it, it was just going to take like two or three years to let Craig kind of get his footing,’” he recalled during a 2021 appearance on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast. “Everyone liked to just dismiss the whole law school thing. And that’s why when people call me stupid and everything, I’m like, ‘Passing the bar on the first try wasn’t the easiest thing for most people.”
Craig Conover's Home Decor and Restaurant Ventures
Craig has since shelved his legal aspirations in the interest of growing his home-decor empire. In 2018, Craig launched his Sewing Down South decorative pillow brand, which has since become an eight-figure business with multiple flagships in the U.S. The career shift was addressed in his 2022 book, Pillow Talk: What’s Wrong with My Sewing?
“As a young boy sitting at a sewing machine in home economics class, Craig Conover had no idea that this hobby would one day change his life for the better,” the book’s description read. “Growing up in Delaware, Conover experienced cruel bullying and suffered from severe anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder that robbed him of his childhood confidence and made him crave success. But while law school in Charleston seemed to provide him the direction he needed, Conover spent years searching for meaning and passion in life."
In addition to Sewing Down South, Craig has also entered the hospitality/restaurant business with his fellow Southern Charm-er Austen Kroll. The two have invested in the NYC eatery Carriage House and are preparing to open their By the Way tavern in Charleston.
