We were lucky to catch up with Amber Leblanc recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amber, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success does not happen over night. It involves taking risks, persistence, optimism, discipline, having a support system, learning and evolving, and most importantly, passion. There will never be the “perfect time” to go after that goal you’ve been longing for, you have to just have to start! Will you fail at some points? Probably, but using that as fuel and as a learning experience rather than a downfall is what makes you/your product/business even stronger and better.

Amber, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Yes! I’m a 31 year old wedding stationer and artist. I started off as a small kid with an interest in art, always coloring and creating and had high hopes and dreams to become an artist. I was raised by entrepreneurs who owned several small businesses which helped shape my mindset of one day hopefully owning my own.

I graduated from college in 2015 with a BFA and a concentration in graphic design and I landed my first job after graduating in the Summer of 2015 in New Orleans, LA for a brook & mortar stationery store. This had to be my most creative job. I spent my days designing wedding stationery on crazy fabrics with printing methods I’ve never explored before.
After a year in with the company, I attended the New York Stationery Show in 2017 and the company placed best in show for two of the wedding stationery designs I created. The recognition, feedback and kind words from hundreds of strangers was remarkable. I was so excited and at that point I knew this was my calling for the type of design work I wanted to make a career out of on my own, but how?
I made small and big business goals for myself. Small business goals being things like “enter an online art juried competition” to large ones such as my financial goals. “Once I save X amount of dollars, I’ll go full-time!”
I ended up starting my business on a lunch break while working at my second job out of college for LSU in 2018. I would work late nights and early mornings before work to work on my business.
At the end of 2019 I couldn’t resist the calling to go full time. My first year full time was a bit of a doozy as it was covid times and was a rough year. I turned to painting a lot to cope and escape from the stressors. I had a lot of life changes and at the end of the year found myself more than I ever have before. It was like the year of shedding away of the things that held me back. It shaped me to take on whatever was thrown at me to help me with my business moving forward.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

For being so right brained I’m also a big numbers gal. Before going full time, I made sure to save enough to keep me a float for 3-5 months while first starting out. For me, there’s something about having financial security that helps build confidence and takes the pressure off to create. While I do love to make money from my creations, I don’t like to look at my creations as just an income and still keeping the passion alive and enjoying creating when I do. I do also suggest to create a business account separate from your personal account. In the beginning I had all of my money in one big account and wasn’t giving myself a salary and that was a just mess haha. Once I built up my business account and had a savings for my business, I then put it back into my business by investing in things such as marketing efforts, new equipment, etc.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Being authentic and getting to know my clients on a personal level! For every new client I have a client discovery call. In this call I’m able to connect with my clients personally, sharing their stories and they get to know me as a real person and not just a screen. I like to say after ending a project with every client they end up more like a friend to me — that’s the kind of connection I strive to have with my clients and I think that really goes a long way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amberleblancstudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amberleblancstudio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amberleblancstudio

Image Credits

@cassieporche_