Unlock the potential of marrying creativity with commerce as we explore the inspiring journey of Karina Gardner, a design virtuoso with a PhD and a CEO's acumen. Balance is not just a concept in art—it's the lifeline for entrepreneur moms like us, and Karina is here to share her master blueprint. From transforming hobbies into profitable businesses to the nitty-gritty of running a multi-six-figure operation amidst the joys and juggles of motherhood, Karina's story isn't just a narrative; it's a toolkit for ambitious parents who refuse to choose between their dreams and their family.
Gone are the days when creativity was boxed within the confines of art studios; now, it's the engine driving innovation in both parenting and business. This episode isn't shy about the obstacles – we confront the myth that mothers must put their aspirations on hold and discuss the societal challenges that come with that expectation. As we lay bare our personal endeavors, we also emphasize the importance of encouraging children's innate capacity for creativity, discussing the role of objective praise and the empowerment that comes from witnessing their parents chase their professional dreams.
Finally, we dissect the landscape of digital entrepreneurship and the secret weapon of maximizing distribution channels. Whether it's leveraging social media giants like TikTok or capitalizing on every small networking opportunity, we dissect how even the tiniest openings can lead to grand victories. This is far more than a heart-to-heart; it's an episode packed with actionable insights for tapping into the digital goldmine and sculpting a brand that resonates and endures, all while nurturing the next generation of creators and innovators. Join us as we celebrate the fusion of ambition and parenthood, and how embracing both can pave the way to unprecedented success.
If you feel inspired please consider sharing this episode with a friend, writing a 5⭐️ review or becoming a Raising Wild Hearts Member here!
Unlock the potential of marrying creativity with commerce as we explore the inspiring journey of Karina Gardner, a design virtuoso with a PhD and a CEO's acumen. Balance is not just a concept in art—it's the lifeline for entrepreneur moms like us, and Karina is here to share her master blueprint. From transforming hobbies into profitable businesses to the nitty-gritty of running a multi-six-figure operation amidst the joys and juggles of motherhood, Karina's story isn't just a narrative; it's a toolkit for ambitious parents who refuse to choose between their dreams and their family.
Gone are the days when creativity was boxed within the confines of art studios; now, it's the engine driving innovation in both parenting and business. This episode isn't shy about the obstacles – we confront the myth that mothers must put their aspirations on hold and discuss the societal challenges that come with that expectation. As we lay bare our personal endeavors, we also emphasize the importance of encouraging children's innate capacity for creativity, discussing the role of objective praise and the empowerment that comes from witnessing their parents chase their professional dreams.
Finally, we dissect the landscape of digital entrepreneurship and the secret weapon of maximizing distribution channels. Whether it's leveraging social media giants like TikTok or capitalizing on every small networking opportunity, we dissect how even the tiniest openings can lead to grand victories. This is far more than a heart-to-heart; it's an episode packed with actionable insights for tapping into the digital goldmine and sculpting a brand that resonates and endures, all while nurturing the next generation of creators and innovators. Join us as we celebrate the fusion of ambition and parenthood, and how embracing both can pave the way to unprecedented success.
If you feel inspired please consider sharing this episode with a friend, writing a 5⭐️ review or becoming a Raising Wild Hearts Member here!
We very often think of visuals as being the only creativity out there, because it's the one we recognize, but truthfully, entrepreneurship is super creative, probably one of the most creative fields out there, because you really have to figure out how to solution build, which is all that creativity is right. Same with building a podcast, same with being a social media maven, same with all the things that we're doing in this life. It's really just different angles for the way we use creativity.
Speaker 2:Welcome, revolutionary Mama, to the Raising Wild Hearts podcast. I'm Ryan Watkin, educator, mom of three, revel at heart and passionate soul, on a mission to empower and inspire you.
Speaker 2:Here we'll explore psychology, spirituality, parenthood and the intersection where they all come together. We'll discover how challenges can be fertile soil for growth and that even in the messy middle of motherhood, we can find magic in the mundane. Join me on my own personal journey as I talk to experts and share resources on education, creativity, self-care, family, culture and more. I believe we can change the world by starting at home, in our own minds and hearts, and that when we do, we'll be passing down the most important legacy there is Healing, and so it is. Hello friends, welcome back to the Raising Wild Hearts podcast. I am so excited to share today's conversation with you. I'm talking to Karina Gardner.
Speaker 2:Karina has a PhD in design. She's the CEO of Design Suite, a surface pattern and crafting design program that teaches designers how to make money as they learn to design. She is also an author. We talk about her newest book a little bit. Also, hang out till the end, because she's giving us an amazing promo code to do one of her masterclasses completely for free, so you guys can check that out. Towards the end of the episode, we talk about a ton.
Speaker 2:Karina is also the mom of three, so, and her kids are a bit older than mine, so it was really interesting, as always, to get her perspective from a mom who's kind of like been through the season of having little kids. And, might I add, when she was in her season of having little kids, she was building a six figure company, which now she owns and manages and is the CEO of a multi seven figure company. So it was really fun because we talked about ambition, we talked about parenting, we talked about transitioning a hobby to a business and we talked about thinking outside of the box when it comes to starting your own business. So if you are someone like me who is ambitious and always has in the back of their mind like maybe business ownership will be for me someday, karina really gave me the inspiration to make it happen present day, regardless of the outside circumstances and whether you really resonate with creative entrepreneurship specifically or not, or design or not.
Speaker 2:This episode is chock full of so much wisdom from a woman, a mom, who has, like, been there, done that. She's far down this path of success. She has created many different products and services and is now kind of like giving us the breadcrumbs on the way to do that, and so I just really enjoy this conversation. I know you guys are going to also, and if you think of a friend who would enjoy the episode, please share the link with them. All right, let's get into it, karina, welcome to the Raising Wild Hearts podcast.
Speaker 1:I'm so excited to be here.
Speaker 2:Ryan, so excited that you're here. One of the things since I've started this I'm calling this like the second life of the podcast One of the things that I've been diving into is creativity, because this, for me, is like very much a creative pursuit. I'm deciding where I want the flow of the season to go and what topics I want to come up and who the amazing humans are that I talk to, and it produces this little work of art, and it's not art in the traditional sense, but it is a work of art. So one of the things I love thinking about and talking about right now is creativity, where it comes from, how we can kind of ignite the spark, so to speak. So let's start there.
Speaker 1:OK. So I think creativity is a really big deal, because I think every human is born with a creative spark. I think that very often early on in our lives we decide whether we're really creative, or the word that often gets used in my field, because I'm a designer is artistic. So you know, people at the age of six decide they're not artistic. Why not? Because they aren't artistic, but because a teacher didn't like the way they colored in the lines. A parent told them that they didn't care for their whatever they drew. Or sometimes it's a little further along.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it's in high school that people get their ideas and their visuals squashed. Sometimes it's all the way up in college. So there are a lot of different ways that that creativity gets squashed. But, just like you were talking about, the podcast is a creative pursuit. It's. At the same time. I think we very often think of visuals as being the only creativity out there because it's the one we recognize. But truthfully, entrepreneurship is super creative, probably one of the most creative fields out there, because you really have to figure out how to solution, build, which is all that creativity is Right. Same with building a podcast, same with being a social media maven, same with all the things that we're doing in this life. It's really just different angles for the way we use creativity.
Speaker 2:That's right and I love that you mentioned early on sometimes that creativity doesn't even have a chance to be sparked because sometimes, in some cases at six or 10 or 15, we already put it in our minds that it's not going to happen for us and so we don't even try, so to speak. I am definitely one of those kids, like you know the old like joke about can't even draw a stick figure, that kind of a thing. But as I've gotten older and really found my voice, my passion, my authenticity, like, I realized that that creativity has always been there. But I just had this limited belief and perception about it because, of course, like inadvertently, the teachers and the parents and the aunties and whoever make comments and it really gets cemented in for us. I'm curious how you approach your children, their experiences, their education, seeing that you are who you are running a multimillion dollar business, you're a CEO, you've got a PhD, you're a creative entrepreneur so how do you guide and facilitate your kids in the process?
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know it is insane because we do things differently. I didn't realize that in my house than other places. You know, in a lot of parents, especially, you know, in college, will push their children to get into degrees that will, they will feel, will make money Engineering, go to med school, go to law school, like all the things which listen. I mean, I have a PhD, my husband has a law degree, so like we love education, right, but it also has the means of squashing people's dreams, right. There's something to that. So I didn't really even know I was doing this as I was building my own design businesses. But my children I was a stay at home mom who worked, so it was a really bizarre and especially, you know, at my current age, I have a 20 year old, a 16 year old and 11 year old, so I have a little bit of the gamut right here. But my children saw me, you know, sewing late nights, quilts, designing fabric. They saw me doing all the things and me also being like, hey, kids, guess what? Like I have to work for a couple hours. I need you guys to self play, self soothe, like whatever you guys need to do, because I think I, when I worked out a little bit outside the home as I was trying to pay off some student loans. We had a babysitter who would come help us, but that was probably only for about two to three years. The entire rest of the time I was staying at home with the kids, and so they saw me in pursuit of my dreams, like our entire lives.
Speaker 1:Because I had Siri, my oldest. I had her two weeks or 10 days after I finished my master's degree, and then my second daughter, I had 10 days or two weeks, like it was like in the same time period after I finished my doctorate. So, like, first of all, I didn't have a choice. We had so many student loans, I had to work right. So there was, there was that piece of it. I made that choice. Second of all, I wanted to stay home with the kids and I decided running my own design businesses was the way to do it. So they were with us and the thing that I would encourage for anyone is, first of all, do your best not to squash the dreams, because they're going to figure out for themselves what's going to be the best thing. The second thing is that if you can provide tools for your children. It's. It's all about the tools. So, like, my kids started playing in Adobe, photoshop and Illustrator when they were like eight and nine, like very early on. Then the advent of the, the iPad Pro, which allowed them to start playing in Procreate and Illustrator on the iPad and Fresco and stuff, like the moment those things were available, my kids were in there doing it like drawing in it, playing in it, because it is really about tools.
Speaker 1:The other thing is I think it's easy for parents to squash down the idea of a creative career because they simply don't know how much money it will make. I think because it seems very obvious. In engineering or being an attorney or administration, you're like, oh, you're going to make, you know, $80,000 a year. Well, I was making $200,000 a year as a designer and people were like their mind was blown and I was like this is not hard. You guys, the math is not hard. If you do the work and you get the right clients, if you're doing freelance or you figure out how to do it online, you can make money. It's kind of like, you know, you hear about everyone saying their kids want to be YouTube stars and they're trying to squash it down. The number of people I know who make millions of dollars on YouTube. The number of people I know who make we make money on YouTube with 8000 subscribers, but it's like people have no idea how much money can be made and so, because of that, they immediately squash it down.
Speaker 2:Isn't that interesting that it's about money. I find that fascinating. In a prior life, when my oldest was being born, around that time I had started my first business. I took this leap. I was in higher education, my husband and I just got married and I said I'm gonna quit my job and I'm gonna start a business. And I was a college consultant and ended up getting pregnant and like worked for a couple of years, realized it just wasn't for me.
Speaker 2:But what I did notice was parents were very let's call it, they liked to really suggest those degrees that had a very professional title and a very clear career path. Like throwing out, like liberal arts education was like saying the F word to these parents, like they did not wanna hear it. And you know, it's one of the things that made me feel like just a little icky about it, for lack of a better word. I was like, oh, this doesn't feel right, because I knew these kids in a different capacity and I saw their college essays and I read what they're writing Like and I was like, oh, this kid could be this, this and this, this kid. You know, there's like this seed of potential there. But the you know, and I also too, get why parents want security for their kids. We need money, we need an economy, we need to pay our mortgage, we need, you know, all the things. So, like there's this fine line that I feel as a parent I'm towing with my kids you know of.
Speaker 2:One of my children wants to be an artist, and that is very interesting. When she shows me a piece of art, I'm very aware and conscious of what my reaction to it is, because I certainly don't want her to create for me. I don't want her to create cause I think it's beautiful, like. Sometimes she'll ask me what do you think about this? And I go, what do you think about it? I mean, like, I'm looking at it, it makes me smile, I love that color that you put there, but what do you think Like? So I'm always trying to like throw the ball back into my kid's court. I don't know if there's like a question there, but how do you feel about that as related to like your kids showing you this project and maybe you think it's crap or maybe you think it's beautiful? Like, what do you? What do you do there?
Speaker 1:Well, I think you're doing it exactly right. I think throwing it back into their court is great. The second thing you can do is literally pick out the details. So I do tell my kids that their stuff is beautiful, like. I look at him like that's fantastic, that came from your brain. It's fantastic because one of the problems is we always think that whatever's in our head, that realistic vision, should be on paper, instead of it creatively coming out the way it ought to, which is just the way it should be. But you can also pick through the details, which is really actually where good, like design, critique and understanding comes from. So that becomes more objective, less subjective, like one of the things you're talking about here is subjectivity. Like is that beautiful if it's not?
Speaker 1:Well, if all art actually has objective elements to it, and most art I mean. Think about even entrepreneurship. There are objective elements in the art, like are you creating a great offer? Are you marketing it? Well? Are you seeing same thing in art, right? So if I see one of my kids pieces of art they're drawing. Very often I have a kid drawing at church and I'm looking over their shoulder and seeing what they're doing, I will say, oh my gosh, that's awesome. But then I will also say usually something to the effect of I'm really liking the detail in that skirt or I'm really loving your color choices of blue and yellow together. Those are nice complementary colors, right, so that those are objective details. That's not anything about subjectivity and whether the art is actually really beautiful or not.
Speaker 2:Right, that is a really, really important distinction, whether our kids are labeling themselves as like artists or not, right? Because kids create, like it's just intrinsic in them. They just create, whether they're creating like something in the mud outside, or they're like creating on a tree or like you know, a lot of it for us is in nature, but they create with the supplies around the house and in the kitchen and just everywhere, like they're like literal, like literal, just like little creators walking around. So I find that to be really, really helpful and useful language. So thank you for that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I wanna talk about ambition and over the years, your kids are a little older now minor two, seven and nine and so I'm still really like in the thick of this, like mom mode.
Speaker 2:I'm still really there, like I'm still sleepless and I'm still like they're still really physically dependent on me, especially my toddler. And I have this ambition and a few of the moms in my circle have it, and you just know it when you start talking to these moms and they're the conversations that I walk away from and I just feel like so lit up and, even though it's like different, you know topics they're ambitious about, but I think there's an idea in the culture, especially the stay at home mom culture, or we homeschool too, so maybe in this homeschooling culture too, that this ambition needs to be put in the back back seat, put it in the trunk. Not sure if it'll come out, but right now your job and this is like society or whoever culture telling us right now your job is to be a good mommy and to sacrifice all those ambitions that set your soul on fire. Tell me how you, kind of like, trudge through that muck, karina.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, this is the hardest thing for moms because they're showing even more. I think I've seen a couple of studies that it's not necessarily, although I do think there's still a bit of a glass ceiling for women for certain things out there but they're showing the biggest disparity is actually motherhood, because so much of what happens and you know, my kids are a little bit older, I still have an 11 year old at home, but well, I have all three of them are at home but like there's still like this whole thing where you know you are spending a good portion of your day heriting right, and I, as I think about it, I'm like this totally makes sense, because it is hard to do anything in life not single-minded, right, and so if you own a business, it's very hard to be single-minded in the business because you know I was just thinking about yesterday my husband was at an all day funeral situation and so my youngest was sick at home and so in between meetings I was running around making him food, getting like getting back onto a meeting schedule. Coming back, my 16 year old wasn't feeling good about something, came home for lunch, turned back I'd made her some scrambled eggs, turned her back around and sent her back to school, right? It's just a little bit nutty, right? And I think freaking goodness that we have the ability to multitask even though it's not my favorite thing because it's and switch, switch tasks quickly, which is actually a really amazing quality. It's hard, but it is amazing quality. So this is what I'll say. I do believe there are seasons for everything. I didn't become a multimillion dollar entrepreneur until my kids got a little bit older, and I think that by just telling people that I did have a multi-six figure business for all the years my children were small, but the key there is literally just knowing your limits, and consistency is everything. So don't leave the field that you're planning on being in. Still spend two to five hours a day doing it, because if you can just do that amount, I promise when the season changes and your kids get a little older and you have a little bit more time, you are able to turn that thing on its head and be able to do some of the things that I've done.
Speaker 1:I had crazy work hours. My children when they were little. They went to bed at seven. I worked from seven to midnight. Those were my working hours, and I worked all day on Saturdays and I chose that. I chose that over Netflix, I chose that over relaxation. I just chose that because that's where my heart, that's what I really wanted to do and so if you're willing to do the sacrifice, it's totally possible. And I was making multiple six figures and people say it's impossible. And it's totally possible. And I wasn't burnt out. Everyone's like what were you burnt out? I was like no, because I enjoyed it, like it was my time away. But I just chose those hours.
Speaker 1:Now about I don't wanna say six years ago, I flipped it around because my kid starts staying up later. My husband is a night owl, so he would stay up a little bit later with them. I would go to bed early and I started working from five am to seven. Then I have a special needs kid so we had to drive an hour twice a day for school for her. So I had like a two-hour block where I was driving in the morning. Then I would work from nine to two. The rest of them were in school nine to two and then I was back on the driving thing.
Speaker 1:So here's the thing. Like I think a lot of people think well, I have kids, so that's the default is I can't be ambitious or I can't run a great company, and I think the opposite is true. You actually are far more capable. You just have to make some decisions about things. Was my laundry always done? No, do I ever fold laundry? Heck? No. Is my kitchen always a mess? Yes, it is Like I think you just have to make choices and your family is gonna be okay with it, like you just have to make the choices that make the most sense for you.
Speaker 2:Amen to that. I love that. You said I made the choice to work from seven to midnight. It flips it from this like, from a sacrificing or lack mentality, to this like I'm choosing this. This lights me up. I love what I do and I'm making great money while I do it right. And, to be real, that like the laundry isn't folded and the dishes aren't done.
Speaker 2:Thank you, because, like I know that people listening you don't see Karina's beautiful background, but like what we see on the surface sometimes is different than the real life inner workings. Like you're talking about working from nine to two. I mean that's like a half day in most industries. You know what I mean Like, and so to have that flexibility, I think as mothers like it almost I don't want to say it gives us an advantage.
Speaker 2:You did like mention the glass ceiling. There are limitations real life limitations, limitations, and then perceived ones too but in a way it kind of gives us this advantage of like we have to be ambitious in motherhood period. So to get a eight hour workday, a 10 hour workday, done in a five hour span or a three hour span, I mean that's pretty incredible. Like when you see nap time hustle, like you know on Instagram or wherever I know. When my two older were little, I would be like how are these women building these businesses at nap time, like an hour, and it's kind of true with this time blocking and this switching tasks? Did you learn how to do that through your many years in academia, or is that just innate in Karina?
Speaker 1:I think I'm naturally a planner so that helps me, like we have these daily planners we do in design suite. That's my design program that we love to have all of our designers doing, because I'm all about blocking off time and being smart about that time. So, for example, you know, I think people write a long task list and they're they're nap times an hour and they're hoping to get three things done. I don't do that. It's one thing Like I, if I get one thing done, I've won, and so and I choose the thing that maybe only will take me 20 minutes or so, and then it feels like a big fat win if I can get a second thing done. But I really I just I'm pretty good at blocking off my time. The other thing that I would say any creative, anyone who's building a career or business on their own, should get really good at is prioritization. I think we want to do all the things I know I do, but on my list is literally the stuff that has to happen and all the extras go on the wayside. So, yeah, do I want to post on social media today If it's not the priority and it's literally not the thing making me money and that's. I think that's the key.
Speaker 1:Most people don't realize what makes them money. I do the activities that actually make money. If designing makes me money, then I design. If posting on social media makes me money, I post on social media, and I think we've gotten a little confused over the years. There's been a lot of confusion because people see, oh, I need to post on social media, that's going to help me do marketing, right. Is it bringing in money? If it's not? Not an activity high on my list. So I think you have to understand your business model. You know, one of the things we teach in design suite and to our designers is that that their activity is not to be an influencer. If you're an influencer, your activity should be posting on social media. If you're a designer, your activity should be designing, and so it's just a really big switch about what your business is really all about.
Speaker 2:Okay, that is worth its weight in gold. I needed to hear that. That landed somewhere. Really really good for me, because I'm not I'll always say it I'm like not on social media. I'm not consistent with social media. A, I don't like it. B, it just falls to the last thing on the list. See, I find it really flipping, time consuming, like really, and so I don't typically post there and it's a great point. It's not like it's not contributing to the bottom line, it's actually like almost a distraction when maybe not even necessary. We think it's necessary but it's not great, great point. So let's talk about a little in that realm, like hobby versus business. I think you know the old thing that people say I don't want to turn my hobby into a business because then it's not going to be fun if I'm having to do it for money. Let's like, maybe bust that myth, if you think that's a myth, and give us some advice on like hobby to biz.
Speaker 1:That's a myth because here's the thing if you are working your hobby all the time, it will always feel like play, it will not feel like work. And I hear this all the time, especially from my design coaches, but from my designers who started this. Because we work them hard, like we do not mess around. We teach them business, we make, we. We love seeing a result within 12 weeks, which is insane, especially for people who've never used software before. We're kind of like crazy about it and we're tracking their results and what we find is that people who are designing or doing the thing that they love, all the time it does not feel like work. Now, there are elements of business that will always feel like work right, like, for our people it's submitting their work and putting the SEO on it. No, like, my designers don't like writing right, if you're a writer, you might not like whatever portion it is, maybe the editing, I don't know what portion you wouldn't like. But for everything that we do everything is there's always going to be an element that we do not like. Okay, but if we can pay attention to like, we have something called the design process model. There's four steps in the model. If you hate the last 50%. Then we figure out how to minimize the time in those things and spend more time in the parts that we like the most. But the beginning, most of it, is just habitual. We're just trying to teach habits of consistency and what you need to do to run your business.
Speaker 1:I forgot what the original question was, but the bottom line is, when it comes to oh, it's hobbies, hobbies it's when you're a hobbyist, you are doing something and spending money on it on the back of whatever you're currently doing. If you're like a full-time working person, you're just using that to like fund the fun stuff you're doing, right? I think if you have that mind switch of like what if this hobby paid for itself? What if this hobby actually made a little bit of money? What if I knew I could do this hobby eight hours a day instead of my current job? Right, and maybe there was two hours of it that sucked, that I did not love, right? That's a different mind switch than just being like I don't want to do this hobby anymore because, like you know, it's not going to be fun, because it's like I have to do things I don't like to do, and it's you know all these things. But I think if you think more of like, hey, what if, for eight hours a day, or six of it, I was doing like something I absolutely loved, and then there was two hours of it that kind of were like things I was like I don't love, this still beats out working a totally different job for eight hours a day. That's my opinion on it.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I just think, turn your hobby into your absolute, like funnest career, because, guys, it's a short life and I think this happens especially as I'm getting older. I will just tell you I'm 44. I have three kids and I don't think I'm halfway through my life. But, like, as I kind of get older, I just start going like, what am I doing? Is what I'm doing going to have impact? Am I going to leave a legacy? Is it enjoyable? Like, are my kids going to remember me a certain way? And it's just too short of a life to be doing something you don't want to do, because it's a lot of your life to be like eight hours a day doing something you don't want to do. Or if you're stay at home, mom, like doing, like trying to fit in things that you don't enjoy doing, do the stuff you want to do.
Speaker 2:Amen to that. Yeah, I love that. So when you say, when you talk about your designers, what are your designers designing? Like, what are the people who are coming to you and saying, help me build a business, help me turn this creative thing that I have into a money making machine for myself? Like, what are they typically designing?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I am. If you can't tell, I don't like fluffy, like I kind of don't love. I love business that has practical steps. So our designers all are on digital platforms so they make money. The way I make money, which is I built a thriving online business working for other platforms doing, in particular, I love die cutting files for cricket and silhouette machines. I love sticker sheets. I really like clip art.
Speaker 1:Printables are really big fonts, dingbats, so things that are going to be used in the digital realm, and so we show the methods for building those types of online businesses. Now the ironic thing about this is, of course, we teach this and then we have like a class. That's like pitching for contracts and we find that a lot of our designers end up working in house at companies. They end up building a huge, thriving freelance career or they build a custom wallpaper business, so they're like all these things that they can do that comes off of this. But once you I've decided this, because I think this is about me as well Once you kind of figure out how to build one type of business, it starts to open your brain to like the different kinds of businesses that you can build and what you're uniquely qualified to create.
Speaker 2:Do you wish your design suite was around before you started all your your college career?
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, not only do I wish it were around before, but I wish my oldest daughters in animation I am dying for someone to build a program exactly like mine, but for animators. I would love to see also a creative writing program just like mine for creative writers Like I am desperate for creatives of special knowledge and knowing, because here's the thing I meet all the time. I met someone who is a creative writer $500,000 a year and nobody knows who she is. She does it all online and it's like there are things you can do to make a lot of money, like just as a solopreneur, running your own little business as a creative but most people don't realize that it's possible because they've been told that you can't.
Speaker 1:And most of the women I know who are doing it are making more than people who have day jobs, who got into regular like HR careers or whatever. They're doing it and they're just killing it. And a lot of it has to do with just knowing how to chase the money right, like finding the platforms, producing at a high level, being consistent, because it doesn't happen in the first year, it doesn't happen usually in the second year. It usually takes three to five years of real high, consistent output and my kids know that and they've already experienced it in a lot of different ways as we've been teaching them. Like we teach them an animator and a creative writer, we teach them the same principles we use in our design program. They use in their creative careers that they're trying to build.
Speaker 2:Wow, you just opened my eyes to a lot Like I didn't really know all this. I didn't know there was such a because I've purchased digital products before you better believe it and I never really considered where they came from or that it takes like a very skilled person to know what they're doing to create that I had never really peeked behind that curtain and I think that's like pretty valuable for someone who may want to dabble in starting their own business and is really interested in hey, what can I make? That's interesting. So many of the people that you're teaching how to design, or designers that come to you to up their game, are going on to create these products. What is your biggest piece of advice or your best piece of advice for somebody who's out there feeling like they're just about to give up, maybe, or like they're frustrated and they're not even sure if this is for them, or maybe they don't even know if they're gonna make it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have a feeling, and I can look at any designer who's struggling or any actually most careers at this point. I can see them struggling. I can almost identify immediately what they're lacking, and almost always I would say like 70% of the time it's a distribution problem, right? So we talk about distribution. If you own a physical products company I owned a physical products company for a long time, and so distribution is how do you get eyeballs or consumers or wholesalers that was my physical products company to buy or purchase what you have? If you are sitting on your own website, you are not getting distribution because you are required to get eyeballs over to your own website to sell things. That's why we teach multi-platform online platforms, because your goal is not to be an influencer, your goal is to distribute your products right, and so one of the number one things you can do for yourself is figure out distribution channels that make sense for your product.
Speaker 1:If you're in physical goods and you're a wholesale, then you've got to figure out sales reps. Right, we use toy store sales reps and they're the ones who got us into Nordstrom or peak clothing or independent toy stores or museums right, they're the ones. They were the channel and I was willing to pay for that to get the sales right. If you're doing digital sales and you're online, what platforms are there out for that you can sell on that will go ahead and get the eyeballs for you. That means your SEO skills have to be pushed up. You can be creating, but you need to spend some amount of time on keywords and SEO right. So distribution channels are almost everything, but so few people look at that. They're so busy creating the product that they're not paying attention to where they're actually placing it.
Speaker 2:And, like you said, the activities that make you the money are the ones that you need to be doing the most of, and of course, there's the designing behind the scene. But you don't just design and then sit and hope someone buys it. So what do you feel about? Like an Etsy? Or like is that a space thing? Etsy is one of our favorite places.
Speaker 1:Okay, we personally know so many people who are making $300,000 a year just off Etsy alone and people just don't realize it because they don't understand how the algorithms work and they just need a tiny bit of education. They just have a gap in their education to know how to push. I also think part of the reason I do podcasts and I'm so open about how much people can make is because most of the time when you don't know how much something makes, you don't even try for it right. Like if you only see a bunch of people on Etsy who have like 20 or 40 products up there and they're making like maybe a dollar every month, you're like kind of like well, this must not work, right. Instead of looking on lots of platforms and being like I know that someone makes $30,000 a month there, I know someone makes $10,000 a month there, I know that someone makes $20,000 a month there. The moment you realize what the possibilities are, your mind is open to what is possible.
Speaker 2:Yes, love, that you have to see it to believe that it's possible. I think, like, if we don't know that something is an option, we have to seek out these like expanders, these like hey, I see someone doing this, I see someone making that money. So I would urge all of you to, regardless of if it's in your business life, whatever your motherhood, your relationship, seek someone who's doing the thing that you want to do that you're not quite sure if it's possible. That's a great, amazing point. Okay, so as we start to wrap up, I'm gonna ask you the three questions I ask everybody, but before I do that, I wanna talk just a little bit about thinking outside of the box. Like, coming to, I'm a mom and I'm a stay-at-home mom and I would know I wanna contribute financially for my family, and maybe there's something out there that I hadn't considered. Like, how do we think outside of the box when we decide, maybe I'm gonna be a business owner?
Speaker 1:I think, unfortunately, we're in a place and time where most especially stay-at-home moms you go to social media to decide what you're going to do, like so in my industry, if you go on social media, you'll see all these fabric. If you were like I wanna be a designer, you go see all these fabric designers. You're like that's it, that's the thing I wanna do, and so then that's the thing that drives you to be like I need to learn how to design fabric and I need to like you know all these things. That's actually the worst place to go, because thinking outside of the box is not what we do on social media. It's actually thinking inside the box. What you see is a whole bunch of people with their highlight reels, including mine. If you go to my Instagram feed, it's just Karina Gardner. I promise you it's a highlight reel. Okay, it's like me crafting, me showing you how I design stuff, Like it is a beautiful look. It is not me and my pajamas, which is how I actually prefer to design. You know, with my hair in a bun, eating crackers and whatever you know, like as, and watching Gilmore Girls while I'm designing, right, you just don't see that, right? Yeah, so I think social media has actually put a bandaid on us because we think that everyone must be an influencer and that and get sponsorships and make money.
Speaker 1:All the good businesses out there are almost secret at this point. You know, we used to like go to parties and meet new people and you'd start talking to them and they would do things we'd never heard of right Before, like they would be a strategist at a you know a big box company doing like stuff for like radios or something you know. It's just like this tiny niche field and so if you're trying to figure out how to design or create a business for yourself, don't go to social media for it, because they're just going to show you all the pretty stuff there is. Most of the great businesses out there are actually down and dirty. It's like you're doing like analytical something or other for some company who desperately needs you know this X, y and Z thing. So what I would say is tap into the things you know how to do really well, because that's where you become an expert at things and then dig into the industries and fields out there that they might need something from you and at the beginning it might be that you're spending all the time on your website or on your blog talking about what you're expert in, what you're good at, and you might, if your SAO is good, get some hits on that. There's also I can't recommend enough.
Speaker 1:Online education has changed my life. Now I do have a PhD in design, but I am going to tell you that the online education, the masterminds I've joined, has opened my eyes to so much. I was in a mastermind for three years and I met so many women who were CEOs of such different things and the moment I dug into that I was just like, oh my gosh, that's amazing and that's amazing, and that's amazing, and that's amazing. And I'm gonna draw a little bit from that. The other thing is those networks. They're really strong.
Speaker 1:I got a text message yesterday for someone who actually sold one of her businesses for $11 million, which is insane. Like I never thought I would meet someone who had sold their businesses for $11 million right Three years ago. I'd been like what that's crazy. Sent me a text because we became friends in a mastermind. She said hey, I know this person who's designing wedding dresses. I thought you'd be great resource for her. Like, I know you're not in the mastermind anymore, but will you connect with her and I was like sure I absolutely I'll do a Zoom call and kind of talk her through what's going on in her business.
Speaker 1:That comes from network and that's the in-depth education that most of us are missing. It's what we call in Design Suite, the inside scoop, and when you don't have a network, you don't have the inside scoop. You have no idea what's actually happening in the industry. Right now. Most colleges and universities do not have the inside scoop because they have tenured professors who have been there, who have not been running businesses, and I have nothing against that, except for to say you need education past university level.
Speaker 2:That's right. Wow, great point. I love that. Oh my gosh, I'm obsessed with that. I agreed. I did B-School with Marie Forleo. I've done a handful of other little programs and I agree.
Speaker 2:And getting out there, I just went to a podcasting conference and it wasn't that every person there was ideal for my podcast or my ideal client. It was like we had this shared mission and I was talking like of spreading the word, like via microphone and whatever, into people's earbuds and I was talking to someone and what he was doing wasn't related to what I was doing. But we had a very engaging and interesting conversation and he goes hey, I need you to talk to this person. I just talked to her and she was talking about this and that and whatever. I think like getting out there and talking to people about what you do, what lights you up, what's important to you, how you want to change the world Just even that small thing will help you meet people and it's like these breadcrumbs just start to fall in your lap.
Speaker 2:I signed one of my daughters up for guitar lessons. The guitar lady called me. The class isn't filled up. We ended up having a 15-minute conversation about my podcast and her business and the way that we think education is going. She's like oh my gosh, please tell me if you need help. I want to share your mission. What a great thing and I was like I'll post on social media about your guitar class so we can fill it up and make it happen. These small opportunities, if you pay attention to the synchronicity in them and the people that you meet, it's a big deal. Even though it seems small or random, these are the connections that we need to flourish intentionally. So I just oh, I love that you brought that up.
Speaker 1:You never know when a small opportunity is actually a big opportunity, and so the more this is, the more of everything the volume in your life, of whatever volume you're doing. It's kind of like this is, ironically, a social media thing If you put out 10 videos and every 10th video goes viral right, or every 20th video, it's all about all those small opportunities combined, because the right one might be an extremely big opportunity. You just don't even realize it. And so in our design program we're always telling our designers to follow the money. We're like just because we teach you this one business method doesn't mean we won't help you with your other business methods. And so we had a designer who made hardly any money her first year, like seriously like four cells, and I was like this is insane, you're like a great designer. I knew she had a platform problem and she knew that as well. And towards the end of her 12 months, like in her 11th month, it was insane because she was like Karina.
Speaker 1:This weird thing happened. I started doing these like custom wallpapers with my designs I already had, and I had someone ask me for it and they pay me $3,000. And then two more people wanted it, and so now I'm at 9,000. Well, by the end of like, it was like four months later or four months later she'd done like 35,000 in custom wallpaper orders. And it's like, just because you don't see the wins automatically, especially in the first year or even the second year of business, doesn't mean that what you're doing isn't opening up the opportunities for you, because if she hadn't done that year where she made no cells, she would not have built that custom wallpaper business. There's no way, because she didn't have enough design work and she didn't have enough like people asking what she was doing to be like oh I'm doing this thing and I you know, posting here and people seeing her stuff for those opportunities to land for her. So small opportunities are almost always the only way to the big ones.
Speaker 2:So good. So I know people are interested in what you're talking about. I know this has sparked people's curiosity. So how do we find you, follow you and learn more about what you do? And someone who might be interested in design suite tell us how to sign up?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so okay, this is. This is, first of all. I want to give you guys something really fun and free. So my second book came out this year. It's called Make Art that Cells. But I promise you that if you are creative of any type and you want to use the formula in there for something totally different, it works. We just did it actually the formula for my daughter, so like for writing books, we were like, okay, how would we use the same formula? So Make Art that Cells it's on Amazon. But if you go to MakeArtBookcom and there's a second link in there for a master class, I'm giving it to you guys for free.
Speaker 1:It will just it's fun, it's art history. The whole book is like every chapter is a new piece of the formula, so you get the full formula at the end, but like every chapter is an artist, so Vincent Van Gogh, picasso, norman Walkwell, yaya Kusama, like. So it's just a really fun. If you get kicks off of that, it's pretty fun and it's pretty short as well. And so if you just put in Make Art, the class costs money, do not pay money for it. Put in the code Make Art and it will be free and it will log you in. You'll get an email. You can go take their six lessons. They're super fun. It's like a lecture series and I show art and then and then you know it's just a fun way for you to use the formula. There's like a work worksheet there that you can figure it out.
Speaker 1:If you have ever wanted to design or if you've ever wanted to just like understand more about design or maybe even flip it on its head and figure out how you can use it for yourself. I do this thing called design boot camp. It's actually more like business boot camp. It's $27. And if you go to design suite coursescom, which is D E S I G N suite is S U I T E. So design suite coursescom slash design boot camp, you can sign up for it there.
Speaker 1:For our next session, I tell all I'm kind of interesting. I don't really hold a lot back. I'm I pretty much say like these are the things you have to do, here's the strategies you need to use. We kind of get people started and then if you come into design suite, design suite is really all about a year. We try to mash basically four years into one year. It's a little bit insane. Lots of coursework.
Speaker 1:You'll hear lots of business, some of my philosophies on doing things, but more than anything, you will just stay on track. What we see is people get off track because after three months of doing something, you feel like, am I even doing it right? It like, is it working? I haven't made any sales. We've heard from just design boot campers.
Speaker 1:Like I'll see on Instagram, someone will tag me and be like I went to design boot camp. I didn't have the money to join design suite or whatever, but like I did the things Karina said I mean my first sale like one day after I was just like that is insane Because it's like if you just do the work and most people won't do the work right you can do so many things. So anyway, so that's design boot camp. I would love for you to go get the free masterclass. If you just want to come see what I'm up to on Instagram, karina Gardner, come hang out with me and see. Stories is kind of where it's at. Usually all the craziness happens in stories. For me I'm posting about my kids and my dog and all the nonsense there, but if you want to see some fun crafting and fabric design and all that good stuff, it's happening on that feed.
Speaker 2:Awesome. So if you want to be a fly on the wall in Karina's life, go over to her Instagram and check out her stories and we will put that promo code code make art in the show notes below so you can jump in and do that free class. Thank you so much for offering that and for sharing all your amazing offerings. Now, as we're wrapping up, I would love to know what's bringing you joy today.
Speaker 1:Oh gosh, I think the biggest thing is just, I love seeing people win. That's why I'm willing to talk on podcasts and I'm pretty open about what we do. So in our Design Suite program, one of the things we do is Marco Polo I don't know if you know what that is app where you can video chat with people. Yeah, like, even though we have a huge program, we divide people up into groups of 30 or 40 and they chat with each other and they talk all the time about winning and losing as well, but, like, the wins are incredible. It's honestly. When I hear someone's like I've been in this for 12 weeks, I just made my first sell, I opened my first shop, I'm just so excited and so happy that makes me go because, if we're being honest, business is hard. There are things that are not fun. I don't enjoy, right, but the moment I see people winning, I'm like this is worth it, totally worth it.
Speaker 2:Love that. What, if anything, are you reading right now?
Speaker 1:I just finished. Oh, and this is such a good one for moms, buy back your time. By Dan Martell. Oh, so I mean, like it hit the spot. I'm kind of in a stage where we've hit about three years at Design Suite and I'm like it's time to start rocking down the hours, Like I'm not going to do crazy hours for the rest of my life. I'm going to live my life. I think, once again, it's a season when you start a business. Sometimes you really have to put in some hours to get it going, and we're not at that stage anymore. So I have my ideal day in my head. I'd love to be done working at one or two in the afternoon and just being with my kids, and I think we're going to get there. So that is a fantastic book. I've loved it.
Speaker 2:That is immediately going on my list. Yay, thank you. And then the last question I have for you, Karina, is who or what has taught you the most?
Speaker 1:I'm going to tell this really quick story, but once in a while you doubt yourself and you're like is the methods I'm teaching going to work for other people? Ironically, you will doubt yourself even when you've seen lots of people do exactly what you've told them to do. I mean, we've had, seriously, dozens of designers make their money back, make thousands of dollars. It's just been insane. But every now and then I'm kind of like I just I don't know. It's like this is working. Is anyone listening? Telling like are they doing the things I'm saying this thing on? I don't even know. And I think I learned the most from my children, because my middle child said you know, she wants to be an author and unfortunately for her, that means building an audience. First I said okay, well, you're going to have the audience built. And I was like where do you want to audience built? She said TikTok and I said okay, great. I said this is what you're going to do for the next year. You're going to post three videos a day, every single day. You're not going to care if nothing goes viral.
Speaker 1:She had like 20 followers. Like she had no, no followers, right, and at the beginning it's always the hardest. I said you're, you have no followers. And I was like I don't care, you're just going to still post three times a day, okay, cause that's what the TikTok algorithm likes. She was like okay. And I said you are going to see some wins, but just don't expect them, just just do it, okay.
Speaker 1:And I was like I'm going to post six weeks in she was still like only like 50 followers and like I could tell you know, it's like, oh, like, you're doing all this work and you're not showing anything for it, right, and she had a video go viral and I and it took her six weeks to do it and she was like oh, my gosh, mom, she like got a hundred followers in a couple of days and like everything went like. She was like super excited. That was the first bump. But I was like but now your videos are going to go back, you're not going to have a viral video for a while, so you have to keep going and it's going to feel sucky because you just had a high right and now it's going to feel really sucky for the next little bit.
Speaker 1:She was like okay, so she's kind of in that. But she came to me after that video and she goes mom, you're totally right, this totally works. And I was like, okay, if my 16 year old can do it and get a big win from it, then certainly my women who are 40 to 65 can do this and they can get a big win from it. So I think I'm consistently learning from my children because, like that actually gave me a confidence boost, because, even though I know what I'm talking about, it's sure really helps to see the proof of it.
Speaker 2:For sure. Thank you for sharing that story. That's amazing. It's an amazing, great example of the wisdom that you embody and the wisdom you pass down to the clients you work with. So thank you so much for the work you do in the world and in your home and all the things. It was so lovely to have you.
Speaker 1:Karina, thank you for having me on.
Speaker 3:Thank you to every one of theOLDyTOOPS graduates from the world here. Thank you to every one of you.