We were lucky to catch up with Caroline Johnston recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Caroline, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I absolutely wish I had started my business sooner rather than later! As an artist, it can take a while to build momentum and find your own unique style. Starting my business in 2020, it was a rollercoaster of a ride, with a huge learning curve amidst such a strange year for many small businesses.

Reflecting on all the ups and downs of getting an art business off the ground, I do think starting sooner would have given me more of a foundation to stand on. The more experience and practice you have under your belt, the easier it is to pick out a niche within the art world that is best for your business. And that’s been one of my biggest pain points over the years! Figuring out my unique perspective, voice, and style was immensely difficult as a young business. There’s such a cacophony of different voices on social media & online, and it was often overwhelming to try to fit in.

And that’s probably the most impactful lesson I’ve learned: I shouldn’t ‘fit in’! As a small business, my unique selling point is MYSELF. That’s the only thing that’s unique and sets me apart from everyone else, which is exactly what is necessary to build my own brand. My business is to create cheerful watercolor cards & gifts for your home & life, and I do wish I had narrowed that down sooner, so that I could focus in on creating a one-of-a-kind brand.

Caroline, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

As a watercolor artist and greeting card designer, I create cheerful, kind cards & gifts for your home and your life. My goal is to help you celebrate life’s every occasion, big or small. I believe there’s something personal about a hand-written note that just can’t be captured any other way. In a world that’s continually moving faster and faster around us, taking the time to sit down a write a meaningful note has even more value.

That’s what led me to focus on greeting cards when I started my watercolor art business three years ago. I grew up watching my mom write letters. Each note thoughtfully crafted, her notecard collection was always full and ready for use. She is the master of celebrating every occasion, no matter how small. Continuing that tradition, By Caroline Ann cards and gifts help celebrate life through cheerful, kind designs.

My hand-painted watercolor designs set my business apart from others. Each card starts as a piece of watercolor art painted in my studio, by hand. My unique style of light, dainty artwork captures the joy of life in a way that brings a smile to your face. My latest product, the 2024 Homebody Desk Calendar, is a perfect example of cheerful, dainty designs. Each month has its own watercolor illustration that is based off of a snippet from my everyday life.

From a quaint windowbox, to cookie baking, to a lovingly messy family room, the 2024 Calendar is full of light-hearted illustrations. As with everything I create, they communicate a feeling of joy and cheerfulness, in a hope that you can kindly pass that on, through gifting or sharing my designs. We’re all about spreading cheer here at By Caroline Ann!

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Since day one of starting my greeting card business, my biggest hang-up has been confidence. When I first launched in 2020, I was intimidated by all of the other talent surrounding me in other small business owners. It felt like all I saw was hundreds of successful business owners, with no room for me and my ‘tiny’ ideas at the table.

The un-learning process has been a repeated practice of replacing my self-deprecating mindset with an abundance mindset. I have to remind myself each and every day that there is room for me and my products, and not only is there room for them in the industry, people actually want to see them and purchase them! My unique style and perspective brings a valuable product to the greeting card industry that no one else can provide. And if I don’t continually push myself to show up in new, big ways, then no one else is going to do it for me.

Confidence in what you create is hands-down the biggest asset for any artist or small business owner. Showing up day after day takes resilience, and a knowledge that your work brings value. It’s still an ongoing lesson for me, to speak about my cards & gifts with confidence & value, and something I strive to grow in daily!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I started my business, I primarily focused on selling my watercolor cards & gifts to the retail market, aka end customers, that I reached through social media, email lists, or organic word-of-mouth. This is still a key pillar of my business, but since then, I’ve grown to launch a wholesale side of my greeting card line as well.

Selling greeting cards wholesale means that I am constantly reaching out to new shops & boutiques that I think would be a great fit for my line. I’ll contact them, present my product line, and ship them directly to their store so that they can share my cards & gifts with their customers.

Sounds simple, but this process requires a massive amount of resilience. I reach out to about 25-30 stores a week, and there’s a lot of silence and/or rejection from all that outreach. It can be daunting and defeating to connect with so many stores and be met with a ‘no’ or ‘not yet.’ But selling wholesale is a numbers game! The more stores you reach out to, the more you’ll hear ‘yes.’ I’m connecting with stores all over the nation, and the shops that carry my goods are what keep me going!

It’s the most rewarding feeling to have all of my hard work pay off, and actually see my greeting cards & gifts on the shelves of in-person stores. It makes any rejection more than worth it, and simply grows my resilience to continue to share my cheerful watercolor cards & gifts with more shops. So anytime I hear a ‘no,’ I remind myself of all of the kind words & encouragement I’ve received from other shop owners, and it helps me continue to market my business in confidence.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bycarolineann.com/
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/bycarolineann
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/bycarolineann
• Other: https://pinterest.com/bycarolineann

Image Credits
Owl Eye Creative Molly Pitkin Photography