We caught up with the brilliant and insightful KARA WARD a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi KARA, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
Our story started back in April 2020, when my husband lost his job due to COVID. We decided to refinish our own bedroom furniture, even though we had never done anything like that before, and I posted the finish product on Facebook. We had such a positive response that we wondered if we were on to something! We began flipping smaller pieces out of our garage and they would sell with in minutes. We quickly discovered that flipping furniture was going to be the way to keep a roof over our head during this tumultuous time. Fast forward a year, and not only did we manage to pay all of our bills from our side hustle, we also got completely out of debt paying off a total of $46,000 of medical debt. Just from flipping furniture in our garage.
KARA, 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?
Lemons to Lemonade Furniture began in 2020 when my husband lost his job due to COVID. Anxious to find a way to pay the bills, I headed to the garage! I began painting and restoring furniture as a way to stay afloat. Not only did this create a booming side hustle, our family was also able to pay off 50k in debt! In 2021, we started a successful YouTube channel to teach others creative ways to find financial freedom.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
My side hustle of flipping furniture turned into my main hustle about a year into the journey. Half of my furniture projects were pieces that I picked up from estate sales and auctions, the other half were custom orders I was redesigning for clients. I decided to start filming the design process of taking a boring, dated piece of furniture and turning it into something that not only could be reused for years to come, but something that would be a beautiful talking point in any home. Something with elegance and uniqueness that truly comes from a one of a kind piece. Quickly, between the furniture sales and the YouTube ad payments, I was making more than I previously was at my medical coding job. A key milestone would have been the day that we hit one million views on my YouTube Channel, Lemons to Lemonade Furniture.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social Media is an interesting thing to build yourself on. I think so many of us have the idea that the first or second post or video you make will take off and go viral. There are those rare accounts that do have that luck but the honest truth for most people is that it will take you a good year if not more of consistency to find your flow and your niche and how to target that. Consistency in posting content, responding to comments and messages, and engaging with your audience helps to keep your brand top-of-mind and ensures that your followers don’t forget about you. Additionally, consistent and regular posting helps to increase the visibility of your content and improve your chances of reaching new followers. You have to be able to stay consistent on the platform(s) that you chose to really build an active audience.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @lemons_to_lemonade_furniture
- Facebook: @lemonstolemonadeTX
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LemonsToLemonadeTXAFurnitureFlippingFamily
- Other: Patreon: patreon.com/lemonstolemonadefurniture