We recently connected with Ava Wolf and have shared our conversation below.

Ava, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I went to college I thought I wanted to do something in the music business, which is why I ended up in Nashville. After graduating college and struggling to find a job in the industry, I started drawing more and making greeting cards for friends. Art had always been an interest of mine, but I didn’t realize how many opportunities there were in the field – I didn’t even know what an illustrator was! As I started creating products and honing my illustration skills, I met some other artists in the Nashville area. This is when I discovered how you can make a living as an artist. I joined a co-working space and learned from the illustrators I sat next to in the studio, where I went after one of my many part time jobs. Seeing other illustrators succeed and learning from them was what allowed me to believe I could do it too.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m the owner/illustrator behind Aviate Press – a lifestyle and paper goods company with a mix of sassy cards and self-care inspired art. I started Aviate Press with a vision to help people connect through punny greeting cards and colorful doodles, but over the years it’s also become a place to bond over deeper, more meaningful illustrations about self-reflection and growth. I started really connecting with people once I started illustrating about the anxiety I was going through and lessons I had learned from therapy. I hope to make people feel less alone through my illustrations.

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

After working several jobs to pay the rent and make my side hustle become a full-time job, I realized I didn’t have the best relationship with work. I am glad I worked so hard to get where I am today, but I am constantly having to remind myself that I am more than my work and that productivity is not what life is all about. There were times I wish I would have spent time with friends, or not gotten so caught up in checking things off my list, but I think I’m better at balancing those things now. It’s important to work hard, but I now realize some of the habits I have formed around productivity/work ethic were more about busy work and less about smart work.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

I wish I had gotten connected to an accountant earlier! My accountant is amazing. Keeping up with your books and paying taxes properly is a huge hurdle for small businesses, but it’s really important to get things set up properly as early as possible. I really didn’t know what I was doing in this category for a while, even though I was trying! The best advice I got was to create an LLC and a separate business bank account for all business expenses.

Contact Info:

• Website: aviatepress.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avamariedoodles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aviatepress
• Other: tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@avamariedoodles?lang=en Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/aviate_press/ Other Insta: https://www.instagram.com/aviatepress/

Image Credits
Alex Crawford