We recently connected with Blair Christianson and have shared our conversation below.
Blair, appreciate you joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
This year marked 10 years of having my Etsy shop & for 8 of those years it has been my only income source. Being a mom to my 3 babies is my most important full time job, but my business has also been a full time career for many of those years which was challenging but rewarding. For about 4 years, my business did 6 figures in sales with me being a one-woman-show & taking care of my kids full time as well, so you can imagine I didn’t get much sleep lol! Things have been slower the last 2 years since I got pregnant with my youngest baby, which I see as a blessing because I wouldn’t have had the ability to keep up with the workload like I did when it was just my older twins, but yet I do still work & can still contribute to our family without it being overwhelming.
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.
My name is Blair & I started my business 10 years ago this past April! I was desperate for a creative outlet so I started an Etsy shop doing hand lettering. Once I got married the next year, my shop evolved into more of a boho vibe with flower crowns & dreamcatchers after I made my own flower crown for my wedding. Those items & more floral art made my business really take off, so when I had my twins in 2015, I was doing enough business that I didn’t have to go back to my 9-5 after my maternity leave! Somewhere in those years I started making bouquets & that’s what led into my biggest sales years 2018-2021 doing a ton of wedding packages. Things started slowing down when I got pregnant again in early 2022 & have stayed slower since then, which is a blessing with the new baby lol. I still do wedding packages & floral art, but this year I’ve also started renovating dollhouses! That has been so much fun! I have so many ideas of new & fun things I want to add to my portfolio but for now I’m enjoying the slower pace & these baby days that go by way too fast because babies don’t keep 🥹
Have you ever had to pivot?
I would truly say now is that time! My business had gotten to such an overwhelming point in 2020 & 2021 & I was praying for God to show me how to make changes because I was burnt out. I didn’t want to give up on what I’d worked so hard to build, but at the same time I wanted more quality time with my kids & I wanted more sleep & less stress. Being able to work from home & not miss anything in your children’s lives is such a blessing that often it goes unsaid just how hard it can be. When daddy is off at work, my boys were just so happy when he was back & they didn’t see it as daddy choosing to work instead of play with them. But since I worked from home as I was also taking care of them, they often didn’t get my full attention because I was having to finish an order due to ship that day or whatever, so they started to see it as me wanting to work instead of play with them. That broke my heart because of course being with them is what matters most to me. So I truly feel like my surprising & later-in-life pregnancy was the most wonderful answer to my prayers. It forced me to slow down, I had no option because I was 37 & pregnant so my energy was in the negative lol. And little by little new creative endeavors have grabbed my attention over this period of time where I haven’t been as consumed with order deadlines every moment, which was another thing I had prayed for because I missed creating new things. I had gotten so overwhelmed with orders for years, that I never even had time to create new things. So now I can see a new light at the end of the tunnel. Business is still slow from taking maternity leave, but I truly believe that’s by God’s design to give me the time I’ve needed to soak in the days with my baby & have a clear vision for how I want to proceed forward & I’m feeling so excited & optimistic for what is to continue to come for my little business in the future!
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I’m not sure if this is the right answer to this question but I just have to let creatives know that absolutely nothing gets me more motivated than going on Pinterest! Go on & just search some things you are interested in. Next thing you know, the next time you’re on, your feed will be full of a variety of those things & more. Then one interesting thing will lead to the next & the next & truly it can be life changing! When I’m in a creative funk, or even just a bad mood, Pinterest is seriously a godsend!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Etsy.com/shop/Blairbaileydesign
- Instagram: @blairbaileydesign
- Facebook: Blair Bailey Design
Image Credits
All photos were taken on my phone, edited my me, I own all rights to them all