We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Adele Moore a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Adele, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I have always wanted to do something creative – whether it be creating a product such as stickers or doing photography or creating content for brands. Over the years, I had gone through plenty of names. Though, after I had gotten married, I decided to use my last name!

My last name is ‘Moore’. My husband is in the military. He’s constantly away from home and one of our ways to contact each other is through text message. It’s silly, but my husband and I would always say, “I love you” and “I love you Moore” to each other. Then one day, it just clicked. I starting creating content under the username ‘__mooretolove’ and now I also have a blog under that name. With my small business making stickers, tea towels, and prints, I go by the name ‘Moore to Print’. I use my last name to accentuate how much more I can do or how much more I can make or how much more I can love.

Adele, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The way I had gotten into my line of work is a typical norm for most military spouses. I love being creative and doing what I do gives me that creative outlet. After my husband and I had gotten married, I decided that I would like to bring in some extra income because we were your typical young and broke married couple. I started with having a small photography business that bloomed for quite a few years. Though, after I had my first child, I was hit hard with post partum depression and ended up losing interest everything I was once passionate about. Some years passed, and I fell back in love with not just photography, but all of my favorite things. From then on, I ended up becoming a content creator who also did graphic design on the side. And now, I sell items on Etsy.

Through content creating, I was able to provide photos and videos for multiple big brands! Creating this content involved my love for photography. With graphic design, I had done some freelancing for some small businesses. I was also able to design my whole blog and branding for my small shop. And then on top of that, I also design and make my own stickers and prints from home.

The one thing I am most proud of is myself. And I don’t mean that in a cocky way. You see, for a very long time I had really bad social anxiety. Speaking to other people, speaking up for myself, promoting myself/business, etc. was hard for me because I could never find the words to speak that matched my thoughts. This sadly took many many years to overcome. On top of my social anxiety, I was also afraid of failing and of the rejection I might face in my future. Looking back, I wish I had someone to guide me through some of the challenges I faced; someone to help me through the hard times that I was stuck in. It’s definitely a case of, “I wish I could tell my younger self what I know now”. But knowing now the lessons I have learned, I can easily help the next person who might be experiencing the same situations as I had been or even help my own children through their own tough times. I can proudly say that I have overcome my social anxiety and my fear of failure. Because even if you shoot for the moon and miss, you’ll still land amongst the stars.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I am definitely the type of person that if you tell me I can’t do something – I’m gonna do it.

Growing up as a child of immigrants definitely played a huge part in what I’ve chosen to do with my life. I was told a lot about what I should do once I became an adult because they wanted me to have more for myself than what they could give me. Now that I am a parent, I truly understand where they were coming from but it’s definitely difficult to understand as a child. Constantly being told that I was “great at being creative” and I was “so artistic but that I should never make a career out of it” was not something I was gonna stand for. And at a very young age, there was no doubt in my mind that I knew I wanted to do something different with my life.

In the words of Charlotte Eriksson, “So many people will tell you ‘no’ and you need to find something you believe in so hard that you just smile and tell them “watch me”. Learn to take reiection as motivation to prove people wrong. Be unstoppable. Refuse to give up, no matter what. It’s the best skill you can ever learn.”

And I’ve now stood by this for many years.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective strategy I have found is simply being my authentic and honest self. Embracing who I truly am has brought amazing people into my life, and those who appreciate me have stuck around for years. It’s truly heartwarming!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://blogmooretolove.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/__mooretolove/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/moorestolove/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adele-moore-824a13208
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/__mooretolove
• Other: Etsy Shop: MooreToPrint || https://www.etsy.com/shop/MooreToPrint

Image Credits
I, Adele Moore, have taken every photo.