We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emma Spellman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Emma, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I couldn’t tell you how many names I went through before I settled on Stellan, but funny story – it was actually my sister who came up with it!

We had a joint note of names we liked with really cool meanings and when I saw Stellan I just knew that was the one.

Stellan is Swedish for “calm” or much like looking at the night sky and that perfectly encapsulates the vibe I was going for with my brand. I wanted something that was calming, aesthetic, simple, and just all around good.

Emma, 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?

My name is Emma I am the founder of Stellan. Stellan is more of a brand than a single thing, but for now I’m focusing on stickers and stationary. The dream was to create something that had a little bit of everything I love in a simple, aesthetic, and environmentally conscious way.

Stellan kind of came to life after searching online for months for brands that match my aesthetic, are leaning green, and honestly, aren’t going to break the bank. It shouldn’t have to be expensive to be good! So, I said to myself, “Why not just do it yourself?”

And here we are! Since I’ve always wanted to run my own business it feels a little surreal that I was able to bring Stellan to life. As a Black woman, I love that I am able to share my love for simple beautiful things while promoting shopping responsibly.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Don’t worry about everyone else – focus on you. When I first began I was so nervous to post anything because I didn’t want anyone in my “real life” to know. I literally almost blocked everyone I knew just to make sure they wouldn’t stumble across it on Instagram. But after a few chats with friends who also have small businesses (and my therapist) I was like “who cares”? Does it really matter if someone from high school finds out you have this amazing small business that you spent hours, days, and months creating? Why is that a bad thing? So keep doing you and creating what you love. Don’t be afraid to post or promote or talk about your brand. You should be proud of what you’ve created!

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I was originally going to sell just on my site, because I didn’t want to deal with other platform fees. However, as I’m starting out, I don’t have a huge audience yet and using a site like Etsy is a great way to get discovered by new customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shopatstellan.wixsite.com/stellan
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopatstellan/