020 | Julie Richardson, Julie Ann Art on building community with customers, dealing with copy cats and why she's focused on creating products with purpose

TSBC alumni, Julie Richardson started Julie Ann Art in 2008 as a side hustle and has seen great success over the last nine years. She got her start on etsy where she's had almost 70,000 sales to date! Julie also sells to the wholesale market.

On today's episode, we're talking about building community with customers, how she handles copy cats and why she's focused on creating products with purpose.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:

• The start of Julie Ann Art as a side hustle while she worked a corporate career
• The catalyst for Julie Ann Art becoming a full-time job
• Julie's decision to start wholesaling & what caused her to go in that direction
• The benefits of craft shows
• Her inspiration for new designs & sayings for her products
• Making the decision to move forward on new products
• Dealing with people who copy her work
• Nurturing her online following to make them really feel a part of the Julie Ann Art brand
• Making the transition to outsourcing work
• What's coming up for Julie Ann Art

KEY TAKE-AWAYS:

"...It's a combination of doing the hard work and trying to be as strategic as we can, but there is an element of luck to it, as well." - Katie Hunt

"Some people are like, "Ugh, craft shows are so much work," but to me, I feel like they are my bread and butter, because there's nothing like seeing a person's reaction to your product." - Julie Richardson

"If you've seen my stuff, I go a little outside the box, and I enjoy doing that. It's a little risky, but I would rather take the risk than be the same as everything else." - Julie Richardson

"If it's one thing that I've learned through all of this, it's that regardless of what they're doing, my business is just fine. I'm doing okay. They're not taking me down." - Julie Richardson

"I feel like I know so many of them, people that I have never met, because of what I have shared with them and their response to it." - Julie Richardson

"We needed to know that what we were doing had a purpose and was good for something that we're passionate about." - Julie Richardson

MEET JULIE RICHARDSON:

Julie Richardson created Julie Ann Art in 2008 as a creative outlet on the side of a corporate 9-5 job. With her refreshingly honest take on life's occasions in greeting card form, people began to take notice. What began as a hobby organically grew to a budding business thanks to the support of a wide social media fan base. Today, Julie Ann Art products are sold internationally, and can be found in stores across the country.

CONNECT:

Website: https://julieannart.com

Facebook: https://facebook.com/julieannart

Instagram: https://instagram.com/julieannart

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/julieannart/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/julieannart

JOIN THE TSBC FAMILY:

Our Paper Camp E-Course is now enrolling! If you'd like to see your products on the shelves of your favorite retail shops or if you're considering exhibiting at large scale wholesale shows, join us this fall for our virtual Paper Camp course. Get more details and snag your seat here.

ABOUT PROOF TO PRODUCT:

Proof to Product is brought to you by Tradeshow Bootcamp and hosted by Katie Hunt. Since 2011, TSBC has worked with hundreds of product based businesses to help them up level, scale, and build profitable sustainable companies. You can find our show notes and additional resources at ProofToProduct.com. If you like what you heard today, please head over to Apple Podcast to leave a five star review and subscribe. Thanks so much for listening. We'll be back next week with a new episode.