Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ana Jaffar. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?
As an Artist, I believe that so many will retook at your art when you tell them your prices. They don’t always consider the time, quality, money and materials that it takes to do what we do! Sometimes people would rather go gives hundreds or even thousands to brands like Gucci or Prada, but have a problem with the prices their friends have. As an artist, I have to continue to market myself in many places and just find my right audience. When I first started my business in 2020, I thought this is going to be my main income and I’m going to sell out all of the time. Man was I totally wrong. There may be artist out there who just start out and they find the right audience immediately. It’s 2022, and I’m still trying to find my true audience, but the more I put myself out there it will come!
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, my name is Ana Jaffar and I started my business Passionate Expressions LLC in 2020 during the wake of Covid. I had to come home from an internship and didn’t have a job at home because with my illness it wasn’t safe to work. No one knew that a full fledge pandemic would happen. So I started a business doing something that I had already been doing for years and I loved it! Painting and photography gave me a way to escape to be in my own world! I started to advertise myself and doing more research on becoming a business. I found out what it takes and how to do my best to get there. A creative mind runs in my family and I wanted my talents to shine. As time goes by, I started to find out my niche through my paintings. It became pour paints and abstract art. I have a painted a non-abstract arts, but it ended having a splash of abstract. I am proud of myself for not giving up even when I was sick or when someone decided to not buy a painting. I started to remember that my art isn’t for everyone and that’s ok. As they say, there can be that one person who comes to one of my shows and it changes my life. I am always making sure that my paintings and photography sessions are as perfect as I can make them. I want my customers to be involved in every step of the process if they can be. I want my future clients and those who view my platform to know that I truly am there for them. I want them to get a artwork piece that they look at everyday and it brightens their day automatically! In May 2022, I became a author for the first time and I wrote, “Over The Years, Feelings That Change.” It’s a compilation of my poetry that I’ve written since the age of 14. I’ve felt that over the years dealing with a chronic illness that I’ve never accomplished much of anything. I was completely wrong and I may not be where I want to be yet, BUT I WILL!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My entire business journey shows my resilience I believe. As I said before, I thought it the beginning I’m going to do this full time. It was something hit me and was like that’s not how this will go. I went through many non-sales, no one showing up to events, paying money not made back, constantly getting sick, etc. It breaks my heart as an artist to hear, “That’s so beautiful, but I’ll have to contact you.” They never contact me though. Compliments are beautiful, but unkept promises are not. I am so proud of myself for continuing to take that leap through my art and trying different forms within painting.
I currently deal with Crohn’s disease. There were times were I was super sick and in the hospital, so I had to pause my business. I wasn’t able to take orders or do what I love for a while. Once I got better and started to take it slow, painting again brought me so much energy! This illness and constantly marketing myself has brought so much perseverance.
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
I am currently selling through my business Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Etsy and my book is on Amazon. My website is still in the construction phase. Instagram has definitely been a huge way to get my business out and hearing about art shows/events. Etsy has been alright, but it just hasn’t blown up as much as using Instagram. I am always getting new views of my shop, so that’s been very nice! Amazon was one that I was very hopeful for when I sold my book, but I realized I don’t think I want to publish with them again. Most of their rules, their profits and such were not properly disclosed when I started to publish. If I could go back and do it again, I would try another publishing company.
My Linktree is connected in my bio through the business Instagram. It has all of my purchasing links for my book and my art!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Instagram.com/_passionateexpressionsllc
- Facebook: @AnaJaffar
- Youtube: @passionateexpressionsllc
- Other: TikTok: @AnaJaffar