I'm so excited to share Katie's story with you! Katie's my pen pal and we were both at a loss for words when we realized we went to the same college, and live only a couple cities away. I cannot wait to meet Katie in person this summer! 
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS : I really love that every day I can work on something that interests me and allows me to be so creative. Getting to draw pretty things happens to be a pleasant way to spend my days :) I also particularly enjoy that my daily tasks vary. On certain days, I'm working by hand doing illustrations and lettering on paper, some days I'm doing freelance graphic/web design work, some days I'm packaging up orders to send to my Etsy customers, and then other days I'm dropping off cards at local shops and interacting with customers face to face. I like how that keeps me from getting bored.FAVORITE CANDY/TREAT : Swedish Fish! They are my weakness, and also my favorite thing to sneak into movie theaters (shhh).
WHAT'S A RECENT FAVORITE FIND : I recently discovered the website for the jewelry shop "Catbird" in Brooklyn (
www.catbirdnyc.com). I'm really into simple and small earrings and rings, and this shop has a ton of those. Lots of pretty rose gold things (anything pink is my favorite), and they also have a couple categories dedicated to cat-related jewelry (I am a cat lady, no shame).
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN STATIONERY : I've made handmade cards for friends and family for as long as I can remember. During college, I studied Graphic Design and loved typography the most. After getting my Bachelor's Degree, I actually moved to Germany for grad school to get my Master's Degree in Design. There, I was exposed to the art of hand drawn lettering through one of my classmates, and fell in love. After graduating and moving back home, I continued to explore it and practiced by incorporating it into greeting cards that I eventually started selling on Etsy. Since then, I've been growing my Etsy shop with stationery products and have been lucky enough to take on freelance work involving lettering and illustration too. Speaking of illustration, my love for that has been growing as well and I'd like to spend this summer incorporating more of it into my stationery products :)
WHY DO YOU BLOG : I have a blog, but I actually post very sporadically unfortunately. It's definitely on my list of things to do though. I really love how blogs can give a glimpse into the personal lives of anyone, especially illustrators and designers. I think it makes me feel connected, as if I'm almost actually friends with that person, and it really gives a nice sense of community. I love reading blogs that have a very "down-to-earth" and humorous tone. I'd like to be able to do that in my blog eventually. It'd be nice to share the ups and downs with other creative people who might be experiencing a similar journey.
ANY ADVICE FOR FELLOW ENTREPRENEURS : Surround yourself with a small group of supportive friends and family who will cheer you on. I think doubt, fear and negativity can pop up pretty often when you are running your own business. I'm not sure I would be able to handle it all if it weren't for the encouragement of a few people that are very close to me.
WHO'S A FELLOW ENTREPRENEUR YOU'RE CRUSHING ON RIGHT NOW : Kate Bingaman Burt. Love love love her hand drawn illustrations, especially the collection of Daily Drawings.
