When you start a new adventure, people often want to know the back story and how you ended up where you are.

I’m just like you. I’ve walked many paths to get to where I am today, and I am still learning.

Here we go for those who want to know the detailed version of my journey to starting an art business.

In 2004, I started my quest to make an income from home. I was younger and didn’t have a clue what that looked like. At the time, I wasn’t thinking about owning my own business. I was thinking about making money while being at home.

I started with online surveys because I had no experience; working online was new, and there wasn’t a lot of information. Well, I didn’t know what to look for, so I did a general search: How to make money online?

Unhappy with my lack of results, I did more research and found vacation packages. I would contact people interested in vacation packages and try to sell them a package.

This led to a lot more research because no one wants to be sold a vacation package from a cold caller.

The real estate arena was picking up, and properties were moving. I discovered that you can arrange a real estate short sale between two parties and get a commission on the sale of the mortgage.

Thinking back on this endeavor, I don’t know why I thought this would be a good idea since I didn’t like cold-calling people for vacation packages, but I gave it a try. This led to the end of my desire to work in real estate.

Around this time, I had been flirting with the idea of writing a book. For a couple of years, I wrote books. At the time, self-publishing wasn’t a big industry, and Amazon did not have KDP yet. When I didn’t get picked up by a publisher, I looked at other forms of writing to make money putting my writing dreams on the back burner.

Copywriting was the ticket. I wrote copy for many years and worked with authors to help them sell more books. I enjoyed this work and learned a lot during this time about marketing and what it takes to get your message into the world. I also learned how to self-publish.

This was also when I started teaching myself Adobe InDesign. I was desperate for a custom planner, and I didn’t want to pay someone else to design it for me. I also knew I would be tweaking it constantly and wanted to avoid paying for revisions.

I fell in love with designing planners.

This was the first time I learned that people were making a living from selling their art and digital products.

I had taken art in high school, and while the class was not what you would say was constructive learning, the art show did expose some things.

I was required to submit two works of art. Since I had been doing pencil drawings all semester, I put together a big butterfly on a thistle and a small butterfly on some flowers.

Somehow, my giant butterfly won first place, and my little drawing received an honorable mention. I wasn’t expecting this type of result. I just wanted the art show over.

When I discovered I could sell art and make a living as a creative, I started brushing up on my drawing skills.

This was a slow process, and as I learned new skills and how to use Procreate through SkillShare classes, I also worked on designing planners.

Along the way, I have learned from some fantastic teachers:

• Bonnie Christine
• Sarah Watts
• Liz Kohler Brown
• Cat Coquillette
• Stacie Bloomfield
• Sandra Mejia
• Gia Graham
• Jess Miller
• Brooke Glaser

My mindset has changed over the years as I’ve learned and improved my design skills. I no longer want just to make money while staying home with my kids. I am building a beautiful art business that I can scale and grow for years. It can grow with me as I learn and discover new art forms with no limits.

I am focused on building my art business by licensing my art, maximizing my designs into products, and considering having my own products.

Here on my blog, I have the privilege of sharing my knowledge with other moms who want to stay at home with their kids and build an art business and write fiction. I want to help as many moms as I can avoid the mistakes I made, reach their goals faster, share their art with the world, and discover their own passion for a creative career.

Until next week, Happy Creating.

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