Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Christopher Butler. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Christopher thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

The best boss that I have ever had is a woman by the name of Susan. This is by a landslide too. Like there is no top 5. It would just be her name 5 times.

I can say with confidence that I was not a fan of corporate America. Who really is though? Who wants to be micromanaged for 13 years? I suppose some people would be fine with it. It’s a job and it’s ok to feel that way. Susan was the first boss I had to not micromanage me. Susan does not look at people as numbers on a spreadsheet. Susan looks at people as people. She is the only boss that I aspired to work for simply because of what I had heard about her and I could only imagine the benefits that I would get from learning from her.

I had fantasized most of my adult life about breaking out of the corporate world and being successful with my art. Susan pushed me in that direction on multiple occasions. When I was too afraid to take that jump she made sure that I was able to do SOMETHING within the company but made it clear that she felt I could do much more on my own. She was right. We are still friends to this day and always will be.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Chris Butler and I am a graphic designer/artist.

I have always been a creative person and have always used art to express myself. My first love was music. Not just the music itself but the whole package. To hold an album in my hand as a piece of art. To listen to the music while looking at the album art or reading the lyrics on the inside. It’s a whole experience. An artistic experience. At the age of 12 I started writing and recording music in my bedroom and would draw the album layout. As time went on I learned more and started designing and recording everything on a computer. I used Corel Draw and then over time started working with the Adobe Suite which I still use today.

I started my business Chris Butler Designs in September 2018 as an etsy shop which then grew to an ecommerce store. I design and sell my own versions of classic Horror movie posters. I give them my own twist. Over the past 5 years I have began creating and releasing other products such as greeting cards, coloring books, a yearly calendar and other fun things. In the past year I have been doing more and more Horror conventions and going to different states all over the East Coast. I also just released my third coffee table book called Oh! The Horror! Part 3.

I think what sets me apart from others is just my overall style. I feel like I have really carved out my own style and create art that a lot of people happen to like.

My first instinct is to say releasing a book, but what I am honestly most proud of is how far I have come with my business and how much of that would not have been possible had I not become sober. I had a bad relationship with alcohol so in 2017 I separated myself from it. Horror movies and designing posters for them was a HUGE outlet for me. It also single handedly helped me regain all of my drive and creative energy that booze ripped away from me. I am really proud of that. I am very proud of my work and how far I have come is a pleasant reminder of what I wouldn’t have if I would have stayed in the position I was in 6 years ago.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think that some people probably thought I was a lunatic for leaving my job this past year and going out on my own. I had the same corporate job for 16 years. The company that I started working for when I was 20 years old was no longer the same company. I was at a point where I did not like what I was doing. I knew it. My boss knew it. My co-workers knew it. I was making more money with my side job than I was at my 9 to 5. So, to me, it made sense to leave that job behind, go all in and make my side job my day job.

Now on the outside looking it you’d say “Chris, you have been at this company for 16 years. You have 5 weeks vacation. You make a healthy paycheck. You have security. Benefits. Why would you gamble that?” But they do not understand the complete drive I have as an artist and now a business person. I love what I do. I have proven to be successful at it which means that others clearly like what I do too. So why not give it a shot? With that said, this is not something I think would be a smart idea to do without sitting down and actually crunching numbers and knowing if it’s feasible and decide whether or not you are TRULY ok with eaten ramen several days a week if need be while you are getting started.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Social media is more about engagement than it is the amount of followers you have. There are different ways you can grow your presence. Sure, you can pay to have your number of followers increase but at the end of the day what do you really get out of that? The number is high but what percentage of those people actually care about what you are selling? What percentage of those followers are even actual people? I have under 4,000 followers on instagram and I have almost 17k sales on etsy. I imagine that you could probably find more than a few people who may do something similar to me that have 15k followers and under 1,000 sales. It’s like, do you want to be successful at what you do or do you want to LOOK successful at what you do?

I have found that the old fashioned being good at what you do and not only that but being CONSISTENTLY good at what you do, putting yourself out there and working hard. Stay humble. Stay cool. Treat the people that love you and your art with the same mutual respect.

Contact Info:

• Website: chrisbutlerdesigns.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/chrisbutlerdesigns
• Facebook: facebook.com/chrisbutlerdesigns
• Other: chrisbutlerdesigns.etsy.com