We were lucky to catch up with Dana Coleman recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Dana , thanks for joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

Absolutely! One specific area that was incredibly impactful was in the realm of my schooling. I grew up in a homeschooling family, and was educated at home all the way from kindergarten through high school! I am incredibly thankful for my homeschooling experience for so many different reasons, but one of the biggest things I’m grateful for is the way that it prepared me for the business that I now run.

Because I was educated from home, a few of my classes were able to be individually. tailored to my unique interests, allowing me to study things that I loved — hand lettering being one of them. (Don’t get me wrong, we still had to do all the normal math, science, history, etc. classes too! ;) )

I know my parents laid down a lot of things in order to homeschool my siblings and I — my mom stayed home and was a full time teacher for her children, my dad worked hard to provide for our family so my mom could be home with us, and they chose to put finances into our classes and curriculum that could have been spent on other things. Many people thought my parents were so strange for their decision to homeschool, and yet they chose to do it anyway. Both my mom and dad went to public school when they were growing up, so to start a completely different path for their kids was a huge leap of faith! My mom pioneered this journey without having ever seen it done before, and she read endless amounts of books and sought advice from other homeschooling moms that she connected with, to try and give us kids the best experience possible.

Our journey definitely wasn’t perfect, and we all learned lessons and things that we would do differently now, but I am SO thankful that my parents made the decision to homeschool, and my siblings and I have richly benefited from it!

I remember one specific school year, my mom did something that was incredibly helpful for me and helped me determine that I loved lettering. When I was a freshman in high school, she told me to pick several different things that I had an interest in, and my assignment was to research each topic, write an essay on it, and if possible, find someone I knew who worked in that specific field and ask to shadow them for a day. So I chose a few things like photography, floral design, and hand lettering. It was so helpful for me to explore some different areas, and figure out which things I was actually interested in, and which ones wouldn’t be a good fit for me as a job. That was the year that I first started researching some lettering tips + fonts online, and really just taught myself how to letter from photos I would see! Though at that time, I had no idea that I would end up turning that skill into a whole business of my own. I just knew it was a newfound hobby that I loved.

If you were to go back through my high school textbooks, you’d find random words and phrases lettered alllllll over the pages. Once I started learning, I would practice all the time! I grew to love lettering so much and have been doing it ever since then, refining my style and developing my own unique font along the way!

But it all began because of a decision my parents made a long time ago, and I will forever be grateful for the way that homeschooling impacted my life.

Dana , 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?

Hi there, I’m Dana — a hand lettering artist, small business owner, and lover of all things feminine and beautiful! Here’s a bit about my business story below. When I first graduated high school, I was the classic teenager who didn’t know what I wanted to pursue or if I should get a college degree or not. But I knew that my greatest desire was to one day be a wife and a mother, with the flexibility and set up to be able to stay at home with my children. So with that vision, I decided to take a skill that I had spent several years developing — hand lettering — and turn it into an online business that could be fully managed from home and on my own schedule. It has been quite a journey of growth since then, and though there have been many challenges that I have had to overcome in being an entrepreneur, I wouldn’t trade it for the world! I am so grateful for the opportunity to work from home, and I love being able to use my creativity not only as a means of income, but more importantly, to make a difference in the lives of others.

I began my business in September of 2019, and at the time, I had no idea how to run a business, I had never made a social media post in my entire life (what on earth was a hashtag?), I didn’t have my own website, and I had only two products that I was launching my Etsy shop with.

Bella Marketplace started very small — with a few online followers, several orders from sweet, local friends, and not much of a business plan.

As I experimented with different products and designs over the following years, my vision and purpose in my business became more defined, and my passion for the things I was creating grew exponentially.

I started researching all kinds of business-related topics, trying out new ideas, and asking questions of people who were further along in their business-journey than I was.

I’ve found that the people who grow the most in their life ventures aren’t because they have all the necessary skills in and of themselves. They’re the ones who exercise their gifts and talents, but then know how to seek advice and help from others who are strong in the areas they are weak in. And that lesson has been absolutely crucial in getting me to where I am today in my business.

I had no idea how to build a website — but I have a brother who does. I didn’t know how to handle accounting — but I have a friend who is skilled in that area and had set that process up for her art business and was willing to teach me too. Never be afraid to ask for help — reach out to people who are willing to share their knowledge, exchange skills with them, and buy them a coffee. You will grow leaps and bounds beyond where you could get on your own!

As I acquired new skill sets, I launched my own website, started partnering with local businesses to sell wholesale in their boutiques and coffee shops, and I delved into the realm of markets. I had no idea back in 2019 just how many sweet people I would have the privilege of meeting through my business, and it has by far been one of my favorite parts of this whole journey!

Beauty + Truth — the two words that mark and define Bella Marketplace. I have a love for all things elegant, feminine, and beautiful, and a deep passion for truth. My life has been so affected and changed by Jesus Christ, that I cannot help but share about who He is through what I create. Scripture is a central part of my artwork because I believe that what we place in front of our eyes directly affects our mindset, which in turn, directly affects our actions. And I have experienced first hand the power of surrounding myself with the word of God all throughout my home.

My desire is to use my creative skills to letter designs on everyday products — such as drink ware and home decor prints — to provide reminders of truth all around people’s homes. In a world that is so broken, it is essential that we place things in front of our eyes on a daily basis that are uplifting, full of truth, and will remind us of the hope that we have in Jesus.

Whether you’re looking to add a touch of beauty and truth to your own home, or wanting to find an encouraging gift for a friend or family member, I hope you’ll find the perfect item right here at Bella Marketplace.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Something I’ve learned as a creative entrepreneur is that it’s very difficult to structure and run an entire business that is rooted in creativity and inspiration. When you run a shop that sells physical products, there is this pressure to constantly be creating and releasing new designs, always out-putting new content, and to be ahead of the game when it comes to holiday items. And it all makes sense on paper! But when you are a creative person, you create things when you’re inspired. And inspiration isn’t something that can just be scheduled on a calendar ;)

For example, I try to begin creating Christmas designs in September in order to have them edited and off to production by early October, that way I can start photographing, listing, and selling towards the end of October, that way people can shop during November/early December and ensure that their items will arrive in plenty of time before the holiday hits. And if I keep up with all those deadlines, the timeline works seamlessly! But there are plenty of times that I sit down in the heat of a Colorado September and try to make myself come up with all these wintery Christmas designs, and my mind is completely blank. When creativity hits, I can crank out quite a few designs in one sitting. But when I’m not inspired, it’s super difficult to even come up with one. So what do you do when you *have* to create designs to stay on a business timeline, but you have zero creativity? Haha, it’s quite the journey!

So one thing that I’ve started doing is making the time to create designs whenever I have a sudden burst of inspiration, even if it wasn’t my original plan for the day. That way I can create in the moment, set aside a bunch of designs that I don’t need that day, and have some pieces to pull from when I hit those days where I’m lacking inspiration. It has helped so much! But that is definitely a challenge that I did not anticipate when I started — navigating the tension between having a very creative and inspiration-based mind, while also trying to have a business plan and timeline for my shop!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the designs that I create are so much more than just randomly-chosen words on a piece of paper. Each product I create + each Scripture that I letter comes directly from what the Lord is teaching my heart during that season of life. It’s a way of processing what I’m learning, and a way to share with others what I’m incredibly passionate about. I oftentimes don’t know what other people are walking through when I create a specific item — I just create out of how the Lord is leading me individually, and it is one of my favorite things in the world to see someone pick up one of my products and go, “No way! This is exactly the verse I need in my life right now! How did you know?” I didn’t know, but God knows!

And getting to see the pattern of how the Lord teaches me something from His word, and then how He gives me the creativity to turn it into a design, and then seeing how He uses that exact same lesson and Scripture to meet someone where they are in their life and speak into their individual situation is so incredible!! It is by far one of my favorite parts about this artistic journey!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thebellamarketplace.com
• Instagram: @bellamarketplace
• Facebook: @bellamarketplace
• Pinterest: @bellamarketplace

Image Credits
Rima Pshichenko — Rima’s Photography