I accomplished something I’ve been wanting to do for over 20 years. I finally launched an online store!

Back in my day, when Etsy first entered the scene, I dreamt of having my very own little boutique that would of course be featured in their Promininet Sellers Blog. But I never wanted to open my store front with just a few things to sale; I always imagined having a full inventory of product before launching.

So this past March when a colleague hosted an All Womens Market, I felt it was the perfect oppotunity and excuse I needed to gather everything I’ve created over the last few years and host my first market.

It was a blast! I learned a lot in that one day, especially about my target demographic and goals for the brand. Now, I would do it again but your girl is lo-key lazy and you can miss me with the sun and heat. But it was truly a great oppotunity and I thank everyone who came out to support me, made a purchase and sat by my side.

But after the market, I still debated on wether I was ready to open an online store. With all of the recent love and hate over Etsy, I wondered if I still even wanted to use them as a platform.

As soon as I’d take the next step to sign up with Etsy I just felt like I kept running into road blocks. Not only did I want to set up a seperate checking for my business but the fees to just put your listing on the site, had me looking befuddled. Add in my concerns for shipping cost and packaging, I kept procrastinating.

Now I am in no way sponsored but let me tell you… Square is the SHIT!!!!!! I am obsessed. Let me tell you, I nerded out over their Items and Inventory Management system and Catagories and love the fact that I can take sales from my phone without a device. The software is extremely integrated so when I noticed they offer website hosting, I wondered if it could fit my needs.

But I still Procrastinated. I had promised myself after the Market that I was going to rest. So on a desperate trip to the beach, I stopped by the Roayl Bee, a crochet store located in Pacifica, and noticed they featured a lot of local artist work. I talked a bit with one of the employees but it had me wondering if I should ask my local yarn store if they would feature my Yarn Totes.

Pitching is the last thing I want to do, especially in person. But after the market I couldn’t help but realize how important it is to reach your target audience. Let’s be honest, with a cute little yarn tote, the only way I can do that is at a yarn store. So I visited Babetta’s Yarn, located off Winding Way in Sacramento. I figured wth. I stuffed a mini sample in my pocket, walked around the store and dreamt of all the yarn I wanted to buy. And with my one skein in hand and my son by my side proceeded to approach the counter.

I mention this because I noticed I had been procrastinating again. I was questioning the pursuit of art. Do I want to give up and just crochet? Do I want to be an illustrator? Maybe I should just give up. It’s hard. I suck at it. I’m not learning fast enough. I don’t have time. Did I say I suck at drawing and painting? Will I ever be the artist I want to be? Will I ever find myself through art?

But perfect timing is just that. Babetta called me and said she was indeed interested and wanted to purchase a few of my totes for the Golden State Yarn Crawl.

I couldn’t believe it! What a huge opportunity. My first pitch, in person no less, actually resulted in a sale and I couldn’t be more proud of this moment and it seriously means so much to me. After adding my business card and stickers to each tote I knew it was my sign to keep going. To stop procrastinating and see if Square could potentionally host my site.

FREE99 GANG GANG!!!!! That’s me!!!! I ain’t paying a dime for nothing! And surprisigingly, I didn’t have to. I had already set up all of my inventory in the Item Mangament system so all I had to do was choose their free template and make a couple of changes and add a logo. And let me tell you BABIEE!!!! It’s cute!

Now I know I’m not going to make any crazy sales right away and that’s ok. The point is that, I did it. And who knows, I may still put everything on Etsy one day. But till then, I priced my items accordingly and took advice from another crochet artist at the All Womens Market, “I’m not chainging my prices, It will eventually sale online.” Yesss Queen!

Thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout this journey. It means so much to me to finally be brave enough to share my work with you. As always…. this is just the begining; I can’t wait to share what I’m cooking up!

BEautifullyODD