070 | Lillian Farag on licensing, collaborations and the growing pains of being an entrepreneur.

Lillian Farag is a free-form and free-spirited artist, with a love for all things playful and expressive. Pulling inspiration from colors found in life and nature, she adds her own twist and perspective to each aspect of her work.

Along with offering unique hand-painted leather accessories and products, Lillian Farag works on collaborations with both leading industry and boutique brands including: Papyrus, Urban Outfitters, Oh Joy!, Osh Kosh, Flagpole Swim, Talking out of Turn, as well as her recent artist collaboration with Anthropologie.

On today's episode we talk about her multiple revenue streams, licensing & collaborations as well as growing pains of being an entrepreneur.

ON TODAY'S EPISODE:

• The types of products Lillian creates
• Where she gets her inspiration when she's creating
• What prompted her to start this business & how it started out as a hobby
• When Lillian realized she wanted to have her own line
• The collaborations she has been able to do with influencers and brands
• How certain collaborations came to be and what manufacturing look liked for those
• The growing pains of being an entrepreneur
• Her considerations while weighing hiring decisions
• Lillian's challenges with social media and how she has approached it
• The advice she would give herself when she had just started her business
• What's next for Lillian

KEY TAKE-AWAYS:

"Going into freelance, I knew I would be able to have a little bit more flexibility and control over the jobs that I was taking on." - Lillian Farag

"A lot of my partnerships come through my work on Instagram." - Lillian Farag

"I love collaborating. That's one of the main reasons I chose to keep my print business as a part of my business now, is because I really love to work with other brands and collaborate on ideas." - Lillian Farag

"I needed to stick to what I knew best, which was creating artwork and creating it for myself. And then those other things would come later in forms of collaborations." - Lillian Farag

"The growing pains never go away. I feel like you're always restructuring, rethinking about how you want to grow." - Lillian Farag

"I want to find somebody that's excellent in the areas where I'm weak." - Katie Hunt

"It's really important to continue your education in whatever it is that you do." - Lillian Farag

"It's really important to be around other people who are also creative. It's beneficial in ways you don't realize for creativity, and also to connect with other people. You never know what kind of partnerships will come out of it later." - Lillian Farag

CONNECT WITH LILLIAN FARAG:

Website: http://www.lillianf.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lillian-Farag-1331313560221126/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lillianfarag/

LINKS:Surtex: https://www.surtex.com/

NEED 1-1 HELP?

If you need help in your business growing your product line, getting ready for wholesale shows, or maybe you want some help on the operation side - hiring a team, refining your systems, looking at your finances, we have experts and mentors available to help you.

I personally take on a very limited number of new coaching clients each month, and I have one spot left for September and two for October. If you are interested in working with me or one of our other Tradeshow Bootcamp speakers that offers coaching, head on over to tradeshowcamp.com/coaching and let me know what your current struggles are, so that we can get you paired with the right person.

You don't have to go it alone. We have people and resources here to help you!

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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!