Making Do

Today we’re talking to Angie of Overlap Craft. Angie is a potter living in Yellow Springs Ohio. Her business is newer, but her journey as a maker, creative, and pathfinder is many years old. We talk about her vision of social justice, community, and craft as supporting each other… how COVID was the impetus of getting serious about her business… and get a peek into her communal living setup.

Sean and Kathryn are coaches, consultants, and professors around issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Earlier this year, they coached me as we created One Mill School to work on exploring these issues in how we work with members, mentors, and our community. And I will say, my work with them has been transformative, creating subtle and foundational shifts in our work. Although they are not makers in the way many of our guests are, I know that many people in our community are grappling with the conversation around the movement for black lives, navigating the line between business, politics and activism, and wanting to align their business with their values. Sean and Kathryn are joyful, thoughtful, courageous folks who offer a lot of practical, intimidating ways to think about these issues and apply them in the big and small of your business.

Hiut Denim, based in the tiny town of Cardigan in the UK aims to make the best jeans in the world. But their real mission came because the jeans factory in their small town closed in 2002, laying off 400 people. David, along with his wife and co-founder Claire has been on a quest for the past 9 years to get those 400 people their jobs back. His approach to business is powerful, inspiring, and really applicable to any creative business owner who wants to market what they make and tell their story better.

The Rainbow Vision is a line of planners, journals, notebooks that is known for its’ beautiful, soulful designs and for Leela’s open, insightful, and generous spirit. My conversation with Leela ranged wide and went deep. We talk about how The Rainbow Vision has grown, evolved, wavered, and changed over the several years that Leela has been growing the business. And We talk about the huge changes Leela has made, including a rebrand, a shift to outsourcing her package and shipping and then bringing that back in-house, and several moves. Leela shares openly how she balances a need to reinvent and make changes with loyalty to her vision.

Based in Asheville, North Carolina, East Fork designs, manufactures, and sells thoughtful, durable ceramic dishware. We talk about how they’ve grown, Connie’s approach to weaving their values and their business goals, and get fascinating looks behind the scenes of what it takes to run a maker business that has grown to more than 60 employees.

K’era is a Los Angeles-based mixed media artist whose work is based in an intuitive art practice. Her line, K-Apostrophe is focused on the home, with pieces that spring from her artwork, ranging from journals, to woven blankets, to original art and prints. We talk about the practices that have kept her going through big transitions and the surprising ways that COVID has affected her business.

In this episode, I’ll share the power and opportunity I’ve been seeing in email newsletters - for creative business owners - and give you a tour of my favorites. Then we’ll check in with the authors of three really good email newsletters to hear about their approaches, what they get out of it, and how they think about email and social media in their business and life. We’ll hear from ceramicist Amelia Wrede Davis, Leela of paper line The Rainbow Vision, and Dacy from The Mindful Closet. 

This week, Danielle Bliss joins us to talk about her design and letterpress studio, Wishbone Letterpress, as well as the beloved craft market she runs -- Hudson Valley Hullabaloo. Danielle talks about how she’s surviving as a maker, the things she does to stay sane and feel human, and what she recommends for people struggling to stay creative during this time. She also shares a behind-the-scenes, honest look at how COVID has affected the market, and how she’s thinking about steps forward.

Today I’m talking to Sabella Flagg - the artist, designer, and writer of “the monarq.” Sabella is one of those people who seems to produce an incredible amount of creative work, which for her spans creative marketing, thoughtful activism, and fine art. We talk about her incredibly creative approach to marketing and engaging her community, what she’s learned about burnout and sanity and caring for herself, how she produces so much while also staying sane, and the effects of both COVID and the movement for black lives.

Today is the 10th episode of the Making Do podcast, and this will wrap up Season 1. After a hiatus, we’ll be back with Season 2. But we wanted to take this episode to reflect on some of the most interesting insights from Season 1, and share updates from our guests and our community. As you know, we jumped in with creating this podcast at the very beginning of the COVID-19 turmoil. Our intention was to share stories, realities, and ideas from makers -- to help you as you find your way forward. We’ve loved the conversations we’ve had so far and we hope they’ve been useful to you. We’ll be reflecting on what Season 2 should look like and how to be most in service with the episodes -- so please do send us a text if you have thoughts on that - (845) 202-0059.

For this episode, I speak with Sarah Omura of SOhandmade, a line of eco-friendly toys for pretend play. Sarah’s products are impeccably designed and made -- and I loved this conversation with her -- she’s practical, openhearted, and passionate. Sarah talks about her journey with SoHandmade, the impact of COVID on her business, and her wild journey into mask-making. It’s fascinating to hear about how Sarah has been keeping SoHandmade afloat, in challenging times, and in ways she never could have imagined a few months ago.

Join us for a deeply thoughtful conversation with Stella Yoon of the Hudson River Exchange. Stella is a wise and contemplative shop owner with diverse experiences in the Hudson Valley. The HRE is a hub, training source, and retail and studio space for makers in the Hudson Valley of New York. Stella brings a unique perspective to her work, combining experiences running a retail space, creating maker markets, and facilitating powerful conversations among makers. We talk about her experience with all of that, as well as the directions she’s taking during and after coronavirus.

Today I am talking to Hannah Armstrong of Quiet Cricket Studio in Austin. Quiet Cricket is a line of natural, handcrafted candles and body care items like natural deodorant and natural shampoo. Hannah has a deep background in ethnobotany, farming, and permaculture and that background in plants and sustainability informs every choice she makes with the line. Last week, in the midst of the COVID crisis, Hannah also started an innovative and generous Pay What You Can program. Today, Hannah tells us about that program as well as the opportunities, financial challenges, and tough choices she’s been facing. One quick note -- the audio quality for this interview is not perfect. But I think Hannah’s insights and experiences are so interesting and important so we’re forging ahead with what we have.

We speak with Meera Lee Patel, a painter, writer, and maker known for her gorgeous art and deep wisdom. As you’ll hear in the episode, she has found meaningful ways to diversify her work -- she sells products, has published two books, does licensing, and has a skillshare class. I was honored to spend time with Meera as she shared very honestly about her struggles through the pandemic and how she has moved closer to the fear to come out to a place that feels like freedom. She speaks powerfully about the opportunity to build for the future and honestly about the challenge inherent in the unknown.

We hear from Elise Blaha Cripe, a small business owner who makes and sells handmade products, creates e-courses, and runs her great planner company, Get to Work Book. Elise has done many things over the course of her career, many of them simultaneously. She is deeply honest and authentic, powerfully insightful, and very practical. She talks about the challenges she has faced in solo parenting and running a business during coronavirus while her husband is deployed… and she shares the perspective shift she had that allowed her to move forward and even bump up sales. I think you’ll love this episode -- Elise is a maker through and through and she somehow takes all the pressure off while also making everything seem possible. 

In this episode of Making Do, we talk with Bekka Palmer of Closed Mondays. Closed Mondays is a textile brand that makes beautiful baskets and bags out of rope and thread. Bekka shares how Closed Mondays grew, including their big push into wholesale and growing a team. She talks about the panic that came with coronavirus, the ways she asked for help, and how this time has brought a lot of unexpected positives in the business, along with a lot of challenges. A couple of helpful ideas from Bekka: Check out Skillshare. They may have great resources for business finances. Think about doing a deep dive into foundational business practices like Holly Howard’s webinar, A Masterclass in Crisis.

We talk to Shawna of Strung by Shawna. Shawna is a maker, product designer, and illustrator who makes string art and string art kits. Shawna has an incredible story to share of how she created her kits and the explosion of orders she’s been seeing since coronavirus hit. Her story is one of persistence and vision and creativity and struggle -- but above all, it’s an incredibly hopeful bright spot of thriving during this time.

We talk to Rachel Calhoun of Windblown Jewelry. Rachel’s line of brass and gold minimalist jewelry has grown from a piece or two being sold in the shop she was working in to being carried in stores across the country and a team of 5 people working on her team. Rachel tell us how she has adapted her team, studio, schedule, launch schedule and countless other things during this time. She speaks to her real struggles but also shares her inspiring optimism and creativity in what she’s doing with Windblown now.