We were lucky to catch up with Candice Luter recently and have shared our conversation below.

Candice, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

I think any creative and entrepreneur wants to have their hands in everything that they do and put out. Social media and marketing in general is key when trying to establish a customer base and growing that exposure. This in itself is a full -time job that requires a detail and attentiveness that most small business owners just don’t have time to manage. I was one of those people. It took me a long time to want to give up the reigns of my social media. Not because I need to control aspects of my business but more so I cared a little TOO much about the overall aesthetics and nit picky details that only I would see or care about. It wasn’t until January of this year that I had to give that over to someone else with more time but also the energy into taking our social media to the next level. However, I had to go through a few changes in order to find the right person that understood my aesthetic, my audience, but more importantly my voice. My advice for anyone wanting to find someone to help them with social media is to first look at what they do with their own social media as well as any other businesses that they manage. Do they all look the same? Do they have their own identity and voice? Don’t be afraid to speak up for what you want, even create a Pinterest board of your vision! In addition, it’s crucial for them to also to have an understanding of how often you would like to have a weekly presence but also to determine on the front end how comments and messages should be handled that way no one slips through the cracks that wants to interact with your brand. Is this candidate personable? Will the represent the brand on a professional level? After giving up hope of finding someone that I could hand my “baby” off to, I stumbled upon another female owned business, who at the time wasn’t doing social media for anyone else, but our team was drawn to the way she ran her own and how she interacted with her audience. When I heard all the feedback, ideas, and questions that were proposed during our initial meeting I KNEW I had found the right fit. Don’t get discouraged if it takes a little bit to find the right person and there is nothing wrong with trying someone out for a few months (let them know before hand) and seeing how it works on a trial basis. It is definitely trial and error and that is OK! It’s all a part of the process in finding the best fit for you and your team. As a result in our own social media journey we are not only seeing a lot more traction/engagement but also in the amount of traffic to where we are pushing our audience. THe proof is in the pudding and there is nothing wrong with setting up expectations with anyone you hire!!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My business was a happy accident. It all started as a hobby for myself in designing furniture and home decor for my own home. At the time I had sort of retired from the market scene and decided I would throw a few things on Etsy just to see what would happen. What came as a result I was not prepared for. Fast forward over the next year I was signing contracts with major retailers, collaborating with celebrities, and found myself in a mess of orders all alone and decided I needed to hire help. That’s exactly what I did with a desperate cry for help on Facebook I had various woman lining up for “Training night” to see how they could help support my business and wanted to be hired on part time. I had no idea that anyone would want to get behind what I was doing!! Forming a team, our own processes, and constantly shifting with everything that came our way (including Pandemic), I am proud to say that we have survived and grown in a major way. We now staff six woman (all part time) that manage, ship, and produce our product line and custom artwork for retailers, designers, and hotel spaces around the world! I am most proud of the community we have in our studio and the collaborative environment we have where I have encouraged them to put themselves FIRST above all else. Family first before the business. It is rare in this day and age where you can show up as yourself in a work environment and leave to go take care of our sometimes chaotic lives with whatever gets thrown our way. Being able to have the flexibility, understanding team, and a relaxed environment…it just doesn’t feel like work but FUN every day of the week! With more retailers and collaborations coming our way on a monthly basis I just can’t see us getting tired of all the fun projects and installations our team gets to execute. All while leaning and learning from each other. It just doesn’t get any better than this!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

During pandemic I was still working a full-time job while trying to maintain this ever-growing side business (that is now my full-time business). It was a scary time for everyone. I had lost my full-time job, I had lost my studio to work our orders out of and it was finally time to leave the nest of security and jump in with both feet. I brushed the dust off, used my vast network locally, and got to work making sure we had a secure place to work from and continual work for my team to continue providing for their families. For the first time, and in a very unknown space with COVID, I put down a lease on a large warehouse, and continued to make sure that we could meet the demands of our audience all the while pivoting sometimes daily to make sure that we could keep up with production in a time when materials were scarce. I am proud to say we tripled our sales that first Pandemic year and continued to grow from there. We came together with a goal in mind and we knocked it out of the park. I am so proud of my team and what we have been able to accomplish together!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn, or rather let go, of my need for validation from those around me in my industry. Being labeled as an “Artist” and a “Designer” was not something I was comfortable with using at all. All the while being successful and landing opportunities to work with people like Target, I still was looking to so many retailers and companies to validate not only who I was but for their nod of approval that I was in fact a designer though I had no designer background. It took over a year of falling down and getting up, showing up when I wanted to hide out, and surrounding myself with people who truly believed in what I was doing. It was all very humbling but a moment of growth that I needed and wanted for my life. Believing in myself and in who I was changed drastically in the way I marketed myself, the way I priced my product, and how I showed up everyday. Now having grown through that experience, I now pass on that to others….you can learn anything you want to about running a business, but learning to find validation in yourself is TRULY the journey that every one needs to go on personally. I promise you the journey is worth it and what comes from that will change the course of your future for the better, that I guarantee!!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.candiceluter.com
• Instagram: @candiceluter
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CandiceLuterArtandInteriors

Image Credits
Dan Rolling Photography