We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jessica Baskin. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jessica below.

Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents have been my biggest cheerleaders. They never questioned my decision to pursue an art career. (At least not to my face!) From a young age they encouraged me that with hard work I could become whatever I dreamed of being. I know it might seem overly wishful to some, but this idea brought me confidence and more freedom: I think life would be depressing and restrictive if we didn’t believe that our dreams were ever attainable or worth working towards.

As I grew up my parents valued my interests, offering encouragement when I wanted to try out different activities, classes and jobs. They also gave me freedom to just be a kid. And they were there to talk when things weren’t going so well. Their presence was always known, but not in a smothering kind of way!

Thanks to my parents’ guidance I became the first in our immediate family to earn a four year degree, and I owe my work ethic that got me there to them both. My dad worked two jobs and my mom did everything imaginable to take care of our home, myself and my two brothers — perhaps the hardest job of all! Their love and support has ultimately helped me play to my strengths in choosing my career as a graphic designer and artist, where I have the privilege to continuously find fulfillment and growth in my work.

My parents continue to be supportive, even helping take care of my children while I work. I feel beyond fortunate for this and I’m eternally grateful to them.

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

Hello! I’m Jessica Baskin, a New Jersey-based artist and mother surviving on coffee and dark chocolate and the woman behind Joylark Studio. As a child I loved drawing and writing poems. Today that’s morphed into hand-lettering and illustrating, mostly for stationery and art licensing. I love the creative journey and the fact that it allows me to foster more joy and compassion with my art.

A large portion of my products are greeting cards. I’m a graphic designer by trade working in the marketing industry for 15 years. In 2017, I officially began Joylark Studio, but I began dabbling in stationery in 2013 when I had an itch to start creating more personal art on the side. Eventually I wanted to share this art with the world. Greeting cards were an easily accessible first product for me to venture into since I was so familiar with print design, and they’re not very expensive to make. I also felt like cards were a useful way to connect with others through my art.

I enjoy selling my products both direct-to-consumer and wholesale, often to other small businesses. It’s a full circle feeling to see the art I hoped would bring others joy in the hands of those who resonate with it and equally want to share more joy.

I’ve also begun licensing my art which is a great way to make passive income and reach a broader audience, plus collaborate with other brands. I have a licensing agent and together we work with other companies who handle the manufacturing, distribution, etc. Licensing gives me the potential to also see my art on a wide range of products in both boutique and big-box stores. I’m looking forward to continuing to grow this part of my business and the relationships that come with it.

Within my Joylark Studio line I aim to be eco-conscious and I’m always working to improve: Most of my manufactured Joylark products are made in the USA utilizing 100% recycled or cotton paper, and I choose compostable and recyclable packaging.

I also proudly donate a portion of sales on specific products to childhood cancer research, the Vascular Birthmark Foundation, The Conscious Kids Anti-Racist book fund, and the SPCAI. I really value the fact that my art can allow my customers and I to support these worthy causes together.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I’ve really had to unlearn being a perfectionist and still am! I’ll catch myself spending way too much time toiling over tiny details and overworking my art. There’s times when these details and criticism matter of course, especially for client work, but lots of other times when I’m just feeding into my own doubts. I find if I give my work too much mental weight, the pressure builds to make each project the best thing I ever made and for others to think it’s “good” too. As Seth Godin says, it’s better to just “ship it” and release it into the world, instead of holding onto our work in fear of failure. With each piece of art we make there’s something to learn.

I’ve found that listening to podcasts like Andy J. Pizza’s Creative Pep Talk, Katie Hunt’s Proof to Product, and working with mindset coaches like Tammie Bennett of the Show Up Society, have been super helpful to get me out of that perfectionist mind loop and avoid burnout.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My oldest daughter was diagnosed with leukemia in November of 2021. It was the day after her 6th birthday, and as you can imagine, it was the last thing we expected to hear that day.

Leading up to this point, I had slowly been gaining traction with my art, but working late into the night on a daily basis to get it done. One night as I closed my laptop at some ungodly hour, I remember thinking that something had to give, but I wasn’t ready to do something about it yet. As a mom with little free time, despite a ton of help from my husband and family, it felt unavoidable to trade health and sleep for working towards art goals while my family slept.

Days later we found ourselves in the hospital with my daughter’s diagnosis and nothing else mattered but our family’s health. This terrible circumstance is something I never would have wished for, but it did give me the permission I wouldn’t have previously given myself to let what could wait fall by the wayside. My work was moved to the back burner.

I still cared about my art, in fact it became a meaningful outlet for what I was feeling and sometimes a welcomed distraction from our day-to-day. I remember taking out my laptop in the hospital out of desire to finalize some art I had started before her diagnosis, but this time with self boundaries. I was only going to work on this when it was beneficial and not running me down. I realized that this was a tipping point into a healthier relationship with my Joylark business.

I’m also fortunate in my situation that we have my husband’s income and my day job as an art director to feel supported where I could take the break I needed without being too stressed about it. I gave myself grace and reminded myself things take time in art — there’s no entrepreneurial ladder worth climbing above my family’s health.

Today my daughter is doing wonderfully and is in remission, though her chemo treatments still continue a little while longer. My experience as a caregiver and witnessing her prevailing resilience through ups and downs has brought inspiration to my art and insight I did not previously have. It’s lead to some of the work I’m most passionate about, like an inspiring journal I licensed, new cancer support cards in my line, and new encouraging bandanas that donate to childhood cancer research.

I still have times that I find myself slipping back into old routines of burning the midnight oil. It’s difficult to avoid as a mom, especially when deadlines are looming and kids get sick, but I’ve been more consciously checking myself on art-life boundaries. I’ll continue to reevaluate what’s working, what’s not, and when it might be time to let more things go. Something I wasn’t as willing to do before my daughter’s diagnosis.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://joylarkstudio.com/
• Instagram: instagram.com/joylarkstudio
• Facebook: facebook.com/joylarkstudio
• Other: etsy.com/shop/joylarkstudio joylarkstudio.faire.com

Image Credits
Headshot by: Hello Pinecone Photography