Rengade Craft Fair in Chicago coming soon…

Time is quickly slipping away and I find myself working night after night into the wee hours to make sure I have plenty of fresh, new, fun merchandise available for The Renegade Craft Fair next weekend in Chicago.

If you are looking for something to do and will be in the Chicago area that weekend please be sure to come check us out at our tent.  There will be over 300 vendors there so you are sure to find something that suits your fancy.

The Road to Self Employment

Surround yourself with the right people

I have been doing a lot of thinking about what led me to the path of self employment.  Quite often I am asked the question of how. How did you manage to reach the point where you can tell your boss to take that job and shove it?  While I have experienced a lot of ups and downs with my self employment one thing has rang very true for me, the right partner made this all doable.  I have spent many late nights preparing for craft shows or early mornings working on my shipping which is when my amazing husband has stepped in and picked up the slack without complaint.

Reaching Bottom

The journey however started long before that.  In 2005 I found myself as a single mother and suddenly I was laid off a job I enjoyed.  I worked for a mortgage company as an underwriter that treated me well and always made me feel like I was doing a great job.  I had been with them for years and my co-workers had become family.  They saw me through the birth of my child and shortly after held my hand through my divorce.  When I received the news we were closing our doors the panic set it.  I needed a job, any job.  I was pretty much on my own when it came to my daughter.  I received enough support to pay for half the day care expenses but that was it and I needed security.  I began taking interviews at every company, regardless of reputation.  I was quickly snapped up by a firm but at a 33% loss in pay.  It was a job with benefits however and I was determined to make it work.

I had found a kindred spirit at this company right away but that was about it.  Many evenings I would pick my one year old daughter up from day care and bring her back to the office with me where she would sit well into the evening hours as I worked away.  Going from a place I was appreciated, honored, and respected to a place I was, for lack of a better word, abused was driving me to the edge.  I was cursed at, files were thrown at me, I was overworked, and finally I reached my breaking point.  I thought about taking babysitting jobs, I interviewed at a gallery for a sales position that would have been a substantial cut in pay, I replied to any classified ad I thought I might be suited for but nothing seemed to be the right fit.  

Taking a Leap of Faith

Around this time I received my severance settlement from my previous employer.  At most it would only last me a month without a pay check.  I was an art major in college and had always painted as a hobby.  My boyfriend at the time, (my now husband), sent me a blog post about etsy.  A light bulb went off.  I was sure I had found my ticket to freedom.  I started looking at everything that sold well on etsy and did my best to replicate it… thats right… as I type those words even now I wonder what I was thinking.  I wanted to succeed so badly I thought the only way was to try to re-create something someone else had done with success.  Obviously that was a mistake.  I had to learn that people did not want someone else’s work regurgitated the hard way.  

Stay True to Yourself

When I began taking inspiration from around my life and created things that I saw beauty in, my shop came alive.  It became clear that when you create what you love, it shows and people will be interested.  If you only take away one piece of advice from this article, its find your voice and stay true to it.

Though sales were increasing I still took some low paying freelance work during this time to make ends meet but even with that I admit when emergencies arose, and they did, it was only thanks to my friends, family, and now husband I survived.  It wasn’t long before I decided to take my show on the road.  My very first craft fair was Renegade New York 2006.  Without taking credit cards I still managed to make a months salary in one weekend.  This changed everything for me.  I started understanding what it would take for me to leave all the side work behind and focus strictly on my art business.  Going self employed isn’t easy and its a different path for everyone to reach their final goal but for me it was a journey well worth taking.

Embrace New Challenges

Here I am, five years after taking the leap and I am facing all new challenges.  My husband started a web app company.  He does well with it but its still not at a point where he can make the leap to full-time with it.  Thats where I come in.  He was there to help me with my journey and so now I am excited to help him on his journey.  I am helping organize a tech conference to raise money.  We have just started a new venture making soap as a family to help not only make money but also teach our children about growing a business.  I am trying to grow sales in my other etsy shops while taking on more side photography gigs.  While all these projects are very tiring, and at times can feel overwhelming with my daily duties of raising a family, it is simply what has to be done for our family to obtain our dream.

Evaluate Your Needs

When our family numbers grew to 5 we had to re-evaluate how to reach this goal.  Expenses are much higher for a family of our size.  Health insurance is a huge drain on the family budget but a requirement with children.  We decided the best path for to full family self employment was to secure financial freedom.  We focused on reducing spending and cutting our fiscal responsibilities.  We sold our 2nd car, our primary car is paid off which also eliminates some of the auto insurance.  It still was not enough, so we had to think bigger.

Think Outside the Box

Our home takes up about 25% of our monthly income.  If we could eliminate this cost can you imagine the kind of freedom this would allow.  With $180,000 mortgage your always shackled to this monthly expense.  How do you eliminate your housing though?  That is the goal we are working on right now.  

My parents have bought delapedated houses for the purpose of flipping for years.  We decided to take a page from their play book.  We are crafty people who work well with our hands and with some sweat, tears, and love we are sure we can turn a sad and neglected home into one full of character and personality.  We have a plan and are doing everything in our power to execute it.  We want to purchase a home this spring for cash and begin the rehab while we stay in our current home.  

Find Your Happiness

The purpose of me sharing our path is to bring attention to the fact that the road to self employment is one that is always changing and evolving.  Once you think you have reached it you have to stop and reevaluate.  We need safety and financial security for our family.  Figure out what that is for you.  Get a budget and work towards that making it happen.  Count every penny and you will begin to see where you are willing to make sacrifices and where you are not.

Good luck on your road and I hope wherever it leads it ultimately is to happiness.

A Summer of Inspiration

So I have been away from my blog for quite some time but it has been for good reason.  I was treated to a summer of rejuvenation and splendor not to mention inspiration in San Francisco by my amazing and charming husband.  I think every person who works in a creative field should work this into their schedule.  A sabbatical somewhere to soak in the world and your family.  Its so easy to get distracted by the day to day workings of ones life you begin to take things for granted.  Like the amazing job I have as a freelance artist thanks to the loving support from my superman and the fantastic children I have who bring me such joy each and every day.

With my absence I thought pictures of my experiences would be best.

Climbing the hill in Bernal Heights to our bungalow

There it is, our summer Home Sweet Home

Amazing “Lady Kitty” at the farmers market… the girls LOVED her.  We had to see her two weekends in a row.

Zoe helping pick out mushrooms at the market

Thats right, my one year old digging into some Calamari!

Penelope and I in Napa enjoying the Koi pond

Some fish feeding with Daddy

A lovely picture of grapes taken at the vineyards by my 5 year old

Golden Gate Bridge, a little foggy but spectacular none the less

Brayden got to join us our last week in the city and it was an incredible to be able to celebrate his 5th birthday with him.  He’s a special little man and has a super special place in my heart.

Since we got home the summery farmers market fun has continued. 

Even with all this summer fun it was great to get back to work.  I was so inspired by my travels a lot of it came across in my paintings.  Bonita Cove.

Sausalito

Napa

Well with all this inspiration I hope to fill your future readings of this blog with all kinds of new works of art and projects.  Life is a wonderful and precious gift, I’ve learned to live it to the fullest.