We recently connected with Faith Lucille and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Faith, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

FaithLab came together through a series of hobbies. It all started when I decided I wanted to relearn how to play chess and get my kids into the game. I bought a chess set at Target and started playing it with my best friend. I couldn’t get over how ugly and boring it was, so I went to the store, found supplies, and built my own chess board and pieces. It was colorful, sparkly, and something I’d never seen anywhere else before. I posted it to my Facebook to show it off and someone offered to buy it. That happened five more times when I realized that I could make this into a business. I’ve now sold more than twenty customized chess/checker sets to friends and strangers in other states. The fact that my hobby can create something that other people enjoy, excites me!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a mother to three boys, and a wife to one. I don’t feel at my best unless I’m busy creating something, or working on some type of project. My hands are always busy. My business originally started off with publishing a book filled with funny quotes that I’d collected over a twelve year period, with two children’s books published soon after. The chess boards soon followed. I branched off to include checker boards sets, dominoes, coasters, keychains, jars, and all things resin. I also invite my customers to personalize their ideas so they can have something truly unique and completely “them”.

I work with wood and epoxy resin and built creations from a basic foundation. I call my business FaithLab because I literally have a section in my house where there are beakers, saringes, powders, molds, and generally lab-like equipment. I’m the mad scientist seeking to color the world.

I love creating colorful pieces that bring joy to the person that selects it. Life can be so dull and monotonous. The brightness and color schemes I use are designed to spark the inner child in my customers. I think having one of my pieces in the customers home induces conversation and joy.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

My biggest fear is bothering people and being too pushy. I hate being annoying to others and sometimes dull my own shine. Being someone that got a degree in marketing, that didn’t make sense. I am still working on putting myself out there with posts online, or talking up my products when I’m at a vendor fair.

I have to remind myself that this business isn’t going to get anywhere if I don’t push it. It’s not going to grow if I’m afraid to say the wrong things and be timid. My new philosophy is “let them.” Let them think I’m pushy, weird, annoying, or any other negative trait that I feel inside. At the end of the day, the people that may think those things don’t come home with me at night. My business and my thoughts matter. Period.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Social media marketing has by far been the most crucial strategy in growing my clientele. Posting on Instagram with my limited amount of followers still reaches someone. That’s how I made my first out-of-state sale. Through one post on social media, I got a custom order for a chess board that was totally unique. That order was my favorite to date because they asked for a concept that I never would have thought of. After I sent out that order and posted it’s picture on social media, I got several more orders for boards.

Being consistent on social media builds trust and reliability. The more you post quality content, the more likely someone will share your post to others who wouldn’t have otherwise seen it. Social media is the new word-of-mouth!

Contact Info:

• Website: FaithLab.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faithlabdotco/
• Facebook: facebook.com/faithlabdotcom