I chose to feature Lisa from Petite Tuques for follow Friday for a few reasons:
- I’ve gotten to know Lisa through ARTrepreneur, and she’s someone that I always look forward to interacting with.
- She has taken some big steps in the past year, and I’m really excited for her.
- I’m completely envious of her knitting skills. All I can knit is a basic scarf and that takes me weeks to finish.
Mini Interview: Lisa discusses turning knitting into a business, making big changes, and redesigning her shop:
1. Your hand knitted items are lovely. What made you decide to turn knitting into a business?
I had gotten great feedback from my friends and I did a couple of craft sales, and it really boosted my ego, so I decided to open up a shop on iCraft to see if other people would love my stuff. A couple months later I opened my Etsy shop.
2. You have made some big changes over the past few months including getting your own website {congrats!}. I know that some of the changes have been intimidating. What pushed you to make big changes with your business?
I had opened my shop in Nov 2009, and after selling to all my friends and family, I wasn’t really getting “out there”. I had trouble finding a good website builder that I could successfully change the look and feel, and I wanted to be more professional, so that I could attract the buyers that I am creating for. In early 2010, I was really discouraged. I felt lost, and started to look for some answers. I almost quit, but I saw too many shops fold after a couple of months, and didn’t want to be in that situation.
3. With the redesign of your site, you worked with Zoe Rooney {web design} and Mayi Carles {illustrations}. Some creative entrepreneurs hesitate to hire experts to help them with their design, because they have no idea what to look for and they think it’s going to break the bank. Why did you decide to work with Zoe and Mayi? And, what advice would you give to someone who’s considering hiring experts to help with design?
I looked for months for some experts, and then I found you and you were just launching Artrepreneur. It was fate! I got to know Mayi and Zoe through Artrepreneur, and decided to hire them because, well, they were outside of my comfort zone. Mayi has cute illustrations, and tons of talent, but I was a little intimidated. And Zoe- she is super smart, and I had learned so much from her videos, that I knew she was perfect to design my website. I thought that I was tech savvy, (and I am bit more than my hubby) but wordpress scared me. Zoe is like the queen of wordpress!
My advice for others is to look at your business, and take the chance at something new. It might surprise you!
Where you can find/follow Lisa:
Website
Shop
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I’ve noticed something in the last couple of weeks, and I thought it was just me – that people who worked in the sciences were leaving their professions to be knitters/designers in the knitwear communities.. I thought I was weird, for liking science and being a “lab nerd” but I’m now one of many! Just thought I’d share… thanks April!