Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Elizabeth Hudy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Elizabeth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I began my creative work as a side hustle to keep me sane while pursuing a career in tax accounting. Not the most common mix, but it worked really well for me. It was a very slow and steady journey from getting an order or two a week, to now getting 10-20 every day some six years later. Getting fired from my tax accounting job during the pandemic was the best kick in the rear I could have ever asked for as I was just thrust into devoting all of my attention to my art. I got another accounting job as I wasn’t able to support myself on my art alone yet, and a few months into that job, I was making more as an artist than I was as a CPA, and I finally made the decision for myself this time to take on art as a full-time gig. The first big product launch I had after quitting my 9-5 sold out in just seven minutes. MASSIVE delivery of validation there. I think I could have sped up my ascent to full-time artrepreneur if I simply had more faith in myself, realized my autonomy sooner, and had any idea that the “starving artist” trope is NOT the only possible outcome.

Elizabeth, 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?

When the world shut down and I lost my job as a tax accountant, I finally had all of the time in the world to dedicate to my art and what is now my “main hustle”. The pandemic really radicalized me, as it did for many, and I quickly realized that my propensity for using clever visuals to explain complex topics was actually pretty effective at both demystifying these causes, and more importantly, raising a decent amount of money for bail funds and mutual aide orgs. Toni Cade Bambara once said “The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible” and I felt that was what I could contribute to these causes I cared so much about. I am tremendously privileged to be only a spectator to many of our nation’s injustices, but that is exactly why I feel so passionate about utilizing this privilege to at least do SOMETHING.

As I have expanded to other topics like self-care, reproductive justice, and income inequality, my goal has always been to make activism and expressing your beliefs accessible and fun. I know there is very little “fun” about actually being in the trenches organizing efforts to combat police brutality or the 100 companies responsible for over 70% of global emissions, but if having a sticker on your water bottle sparks a conversation with a family member about why being anti-fascist is actually a good thing, maybe we can make the job of those community organizers a little easier. And if I can get those stickers in over 250 stores across the globe, maybe the idea that you should care about what happens to other people isn’t as radical as politicians and the media want you to believe.

I am a huge advocate of resource sharing and putting community building ahead of any competitive edge, so I am really excited to finally have more of the successes and related knowledge to share with other small business owners and artists so that they can hopefully avoid some of the challenges I have faced and join me in making the change (and the art) we want to see in the world.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

Bad for the environment and just another way for rich people to launder money and harvest more ill-begotten gains. Hard pass.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I used to try to kick up dust on instagram and tag #maga on anti-fascist posts just to get a rise out of people and benefit from the engagement their mud-slinging comments and arguments would bring. It certainly worked for a while, but the toll such negativity took on my mental health was just not sustainable.

The best thing I ever did was make the switch to community-building agitprop rather than the adversarial approach I had taken previously. I still focus on education and political awareness, but now that is woven through resources I provide for fellow small businesses and artists. I never really understood why it was improper to ask others how much they made at a craft show or where they get their packaging materials. A lot of this information is gate kept as a result of capitalism’s hold on our brains telling us we MUST protect our competitive advantages at all costs. As it turns out, people are super willing to help you and appreciate you helping them (a revolutionary concept, I know) This new approach has been far more successful at growing my community and just growing my business overall. People value authenticity and transparency, and I’ve always said there is no difference between “casual Elizabeth” and “professional Elizabeth” so the transition has been SO rewarding and now I get messages from people telling me they did their first craft show or got a wholesale account after reading my resources instead of logging on to death threats so it’s definitely a better experience now.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thepeachfuzz.co
• Instagram: instagram.com/thepeachfuzz.co
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thepeachfuzz.co

Image Credits
all studio photos are taken by Marisa of IfOnly Creative