We recently connected with Julia Washington and have shared our conversation below.
Julia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
I needed something that conveyed what I do, and I just struggled so hard with ideas. So I crowdsourced. I took it to social media. First I asked my friends and followers on my own Instagram what came to mind when they heard about what I do. From there I took that feedback and used Chat GPT to create specific prompts to help develop business names. I took the suggestions, reworked them, researched them, and then took them back to IG to vote on their favorite. Prose & Glow won.
Julia, 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?
I’m a writer, artist, and now pop-up shop owner. I design greeting cards, and literary-themed candles and host book parties. I started my business after spending months trying to gain full-time employment. I was downsized in the summer of 2023 and I just couldn’t take the rejection anymore. It was getting to me. And I need to be productive. Being idle just leads to trouble.
Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?
I recently decided that starting a business with eighty thousand dollars in student loan debt and some credit card debt while working a part-time contract was probably a really bad idea. Year one of business is so expensive and having cashed out every retirement I have ever had (which honestly wasn’t much) to invest plus sometimes using funds from my part-time contract because money earned when we do pop-up goes right back into the company. I’m constantly reminded that it can take 3-5 years for businesses to be profitable and I tell you what, it takes gumption to last that long. My one-year anniversary is November 2nd and what keeps me going is the constant rejection letters I receive from full-time jobs I apply to. So I guess short answer is I cashed out my retirement and hope for the best.
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.
Well, I make everything that goes into the shop. I buy the cards from a supplier and paint each one individually. Each candle is hand-poured. I do have some printed cards that come from an original piece I designed, but for the most part, every card is hand-painted.
I did a fair amount of research about materials because the cards needed to be sturdy enough to handle watercolor and not warp. For the candles it was important to me to find ingredients that wouldn’t give me a headache regardless of whether or not the candle was burning.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.juliawashingtonproductions.com
- Instagram: @proseandglow
