Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Autumn Bodie. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Autumn , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
This is such an interesting question for me to think about. I remember as a teenager repainting basic picture frames with fun designs and attempting to find local stores where I could sell them. Without a clear plan or any idea how to do what I was attempting, I was overcome by self doubt and I abandoned the idea at the time, but I never really lost the desire to have a creative business. Rather than focus on business, I put that creative energy into gift giving every chance I got. I love to give gifts to others that they truly love and find useful. Anytime I had an idea or saw something that made me think of a specific person, I would give that person the gift. I’ve never felt it necessary to wait until a certain time or event to do something special for people. That thinking would come back as a major influence in my business. I never really lost the desire to find something I could create and sell – I loved the idea of being a vendor at fun markets and seeing people interact with things I created.
Fast forward many years later and my gift giving projects inspired me to by a Cricut machine so that I could personalize the gifts I wanted to give and explore a new creative path. Around the same time I was learning my new machine an ankle injury forced me to rest and stay off my feet as much as possible for a period of time. I used this time to really dive into teaching myself more graphic design software and had the idea to open an Etsy shop to sell digital products. However, this didn’t really take off either. It turned out I really just enjoyed creating physical items and interacting with customers in the community and I decided it was time to try and turn this into a business for real once and for all.
So I built up some inventory and started applying to local markets. Immediately I was hooked!! I loved it!
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.
I’m a 30 something year old with ADHD, mom to a teenage daughter and wife of a male nurse. Originally my husband and I are both from the coast of northwest Florida, and we dearly love the culture and beauty of those small, picturesque beach towns. However, since 2016 we have enjoyed raising our daughter in a peaceful and beautiful part of Georgia. All of those things heavily influence my design and the products I choose to feature. You’ll see my love of coastal designs and colors, my southern roots, my unique and quirky sense of humor, my love and support for the medical community, and all the other things that make me who I am. You can really get to know my through my work.
My business name, Blooming Ivy’s, is a tribute to my upbringing and the core values that have shaped me over the years. Blooming reminds me of growth, youth, bright colors, and happiness. It’s also a subtle tribute to my daughter who is named after a flower.
When I think of Ivy I think of the vine and how it seems to grow and spread easily and effortlessly, overcoming obstacles and planting roots wherever it pleases. Ivy also happens to be a family name and also represents the roots and freedom my family gave me when I growing up which helped my become who I am.
So taken altogether, Blooming Ivy’s hopes in invoke thoughts and feelings of happinesses, youth, and the ability to grown and wander while overcoming challenges and staying grounded and humble.
In pursuit of bringing all those ideas and designs to life I’m constantly researching and learning new crafts, I’ve branched out into sublimation and wider variety of materials to create some really fun and interesting designs. As a person with ADHD learning new skills and looking for new ways to bring my products to the community keeps my engaged and interested when things get difficult or boring and that keeps me going forward this time!
Like I mentioned, I’ve always loved gift giving and bringing joy to others and that is the same spirit that drives my business. I want you to find useful items with unique designs that immediately bring a smile to your face or remind you of someone in your life who would love that item as a gift. I think everything we use during the day should be a reflection of our personal tastes or bring us joy – why use a plain, solid color tumbler all day when you could have one with a fun print and meaningful, or just funny phrase on it? Why wear a regular graphic tee when you could wear one with a multi color glow in the graphic? Even better if you buy those items from a local small business!
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Interact in a positive way on social media. It’s annoying sometimes to hear it so frequently in videos and posts, but like, subscribe, follow and comment – it really does help and doesn’t cost you anything. Also I think it’s important to remember the costs involved for individuals and small businesses to operate, our products have to be priced accordingly. As much as I would love to just do this for fun and never charge for anything, the reality is this is a business and we all have expenses to cover for both our business and ourselves as employees of our business, we are doing this to earn a living wage for ourselves. So even if an artist’s products seem pricy, please don’t complain about it or compare our price to something you saw elsewhere. Most creatives and artists I’ve met have already researched and crunched the numbers and have set their prices as low as the reasonably can. Find a local vendor you like and trust for whatever items your purchasing, and then trust their prices as well.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Not to be repetitive, but my favorite thing really is seeing people enjoy my work. I absolutely love it when I’m at a market and I watch someone lock eyes on a certain item and it just pulls them in, they walk straight up to it simply because the art of the design drew them in. That’s incredibly rewarding! Seeing people be willing to spend money on what I’ve made, hearing them talk about the person they intend to gift this item to, all of that is very validating and builds my confidence to keep going.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BloomingIvysDesigns
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/bloomingivys
Image Credits
not applicable