We recently connected with Brooke Dowler and have shared our conversation below.

Brooke, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

I find owning my own business extremely fulfilling, but there are times often enough that I wonder how much easier life would be if I just gave it all up and pursued a job within my degree field. This thought comes up mostly when the difficult sides of owning a business overwhelm me – paying taxes, struggling for good insurance, being the employee while also being the boss, constantly maintaining a social media presence… but in the end, I realize that what I’m doing is truly my passion, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I once expressed this to my mother, who in response, asked me if I was ever happy in what I was doing prior to opening my business full-time. This made me realize that I wasn’t. I was always changing jobs, chasing that “perfect” schedule, company, boss, etc., and until I became my own boss, I never really knew what I wanted in life regarding my career.

Now, despite all of the stress and inconsistent struggles here and there, I truly love what I do. I may be giving up a consistent/routine lifestyle, but in its place, I get to meet incredible people while loving what I do. I can work as much or as little as I want, because at the end of the day, I get to control what that looks like for me. It gives me more opportunities to look after my own mental health and spend my time where I want to!

Brooke, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’ve been running Sugar Bee RPG since early 2020. I made my first set of dice in late 2019, then quickly realized I had a passion for creating that needed to be nurtured. I’ve wanted my own art business since the day I learned how to draw, and my love for D&D as well as the tabletop gaming community locked in my pursuit for making handmade dice as a small business.

Online sales were my primary source of income for the first 2 or so years, as everything moved online during the peak of the pandemic. Not much later, around 2022, I decided to implement more self-care based items to my shop. Having finished my degree in psychology and rehabilitation in 2020, including the topic of mental health in my craft was vital to me. I quickly went from making just handmade dice sets for tabletop gaming to adding in candles, then body care items, jewelry, and much more. This has not only kept my interest in creating fresh and exciting for myself, but also opened me up to attending more in-person events and makers markets.
You can now find my booth at many events in the Denton area, such as the monthly Mini Markets hosted by me & another vendor at d20 Tavern, the Every Witch Way events, and many city-sponsored events as well, like the annual Arts & Jazz Festival.

My products are made to provide a unique addition to your self-care routine, implementing fantasy elements for those who need an extraordinary touch to their lives. Self-care is our passion, and we hope to make it yours as well!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I am honestly extremely fortunate in how my social media gathered the following it has. Back in 2018, I started playing D&D for the first time, and quickly developed a love for dice sets. I started collecting them, and opened up an Instagram page to show off my growing collection. It gathered about 2,000 followers within a year, which was more than I ever had otherwise on any other social platform.

One day I decided to use my prior resin experience and attempt to make my own dice, so I just switched my collection page into my business page rather than start a new one. Fortunately for me, there were fewer than 50 dicemakers across all platforms, so my work was easily found at the time, around the end of 2019. My following grew quickly, growing over 15,000 followers in a matter of 2 or so years. Once 2020 started, dicemakers started popping up by the hundreds, making the market oversturated and much more difficult to be noticed. I genuinely would have struggled a lot if I hadn’t developed my social media presence when I did.

Not all hope is lost though for new makers! My best advice: be unique. I have friends who started at 0 and surpassed me in a matter of months, due to their work being incredibly unique and beautiful. It is hard to come up with the brand new fascination in a constantly growing community – keep at it, though, and you’ll find your passion. Everyone loves to see an artist love what they do, so as long as you are happy with what you are creating, the following will only build and grow with time.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

In-person events has by far been my most reliable source of finding new customers. I make a lot of scented product as well as dice sets that, in-person, are much easier to see and feel for yourself before investing in them. I’ve found these events to be the most fulfilling, as it gives me a chance to meet my supporters face-to-face and hear their feedback!

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.sugarbeerpg.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/sugarbee.rpg