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

Leslie, appreciate you joining us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Starting my handcrafted brand and online boutique is one of the best things I could have done for my mental health! To be truthful, it has been financially tricky at times, which can be stressful. The best decision I made early on was to keep my job with a reliable paycheck. I went part-time for the first four years while I launched and built up my brand. It relieved much of the financial stress to be expected in the first few years of starting your own business. Scaling up slowly also allowed me to learn from my mistakes. I look at my Profit & Loss sheet to see what avenues didn’t pay off, and which might be areas of growth to invest more time and resources into. If I had jumped in too far too fast I don’t think I would have enjoyed the process as much.

I worked for over 20 years in litigation as a secretary and paralegal. While I met some wonderful people and was very interested in the work I did, it was mostly a soul-crushing and stressful experience. When I decided to start my business, I stayed in the field but went from full-time to part-time hours for several years. During this time I created prototypes, educated myself on different aspects of running a handcrafted brand and online boutique, and actually went through the growing pains of launching. The reliable paycheck of my daytime job allowed me to make mistakes and experience setbacks without worrying whether I could pay my basic bills. I am so glad I gave myself that time to learn and grow without taking the entire financial leap.

I am extremely happy running my own business because it allows me to express myself in a way that I was never able to when I worked in the corporate world. I set my own hours (mostly), decide what I want to prioritize, and how I tackle my workload. Being in this line of work also allows me to meet some amazing people. We do a certain number of live events and sales each year, and by far the best part of those events is meeting other creatives and talking to the amazing people that visit our booth. I have made so many new friends and invaluable connections. There’s something to be said about spending time with people who are genuinely excited about what they’re doing creatively.

Being creative in and of itself is something that I firmly believe we don’t do enough as adults. Whether you loved to sing, play the drums, write stories, or color in coloring books when you were little, the time you spent being creative was (and continues to be) vital to your own unique identity. Running this small business has enabled me to reconnect with what truly makes me happy. Being creative is something you do for yourself as it comes from your own inner voice and imagination. When other people connect with and appreciate what you create it’s an amazing feeling. Pursuing my passion in art is something that is vital to my happiness. I can’t imagine going without creative time in my daily life.

Leslie, 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?

The idea for my small creative business began when I was looking for a new creative hobby to relieve stress and keep me sane during the long winters in upstate New York. I stumbled upon needle felting, which allowed me to work on a small craft project while cozy under a blanket on the couch at night after a long day at my office job. I found that stabbing wool fiber over and over again was also quite therapeutic and addictive. I was very proud of my first creation, which was a small gnome. I gave it as a gift to my then-10-year-old daughter, and she fell in love with him instantly.

For years my daughter and I spent countless hours playing and pretending fairy everything. We read stacks of stories about magical fairy worlds. On warmer days outside together, we would craft tiny fairy homes and bridges from cardboard and sticks. We would add then add them to a large garden box with living plants, moss, and pebble paths. Often we would write small notes to the fairy folks that might decide to live there and excitedly check the next morning to see if they had writen back.

The first felt gnome I created was not suitable for outside play; wool is very durable but not meant for outdoor weather. But he was perfect for indoor fairy play! Of course, we quickly named our first gnome. Then we decided he needed his own personal story. We enjoyed thinking up this creative winter project so much that soon I felted several more gnomes, and together we came up with more names and stories. Eventually, we used these to create the bookmarks that we include with each gnome that is purchased.

My love for felting grew from there. I added felted toadstools, then dabbled in felted jewelry, wreaths, hats, and even felted soap. We also added some hand-painted décor items.

Now in high school, my daughter is quite busy but continues to be part of our partnership by filling wholesale orders, helping me behind our booth at live events, and working behind the scenes to handle some of the “high-tech” stuff. She often models hats in our product photos.

Our handcrafted decor and gifts continue to be inspired by our love for all things whimsical and fairy-themed, our love of being outdoors, and our overactive imaginations. We both continue to be thrilled to see that fairyfolk are not only for children. By far the largest segment of our customers are adults, and it touches our hearts each time a “grownup” excitedly picks one of our gnomes to add to their windowsill plants or their bedside bookshelf.

We take pride in offering products that are eco-friendly and made from ethically sourced materials. Because each item is handcrafted, no two are alike. Whenever we can we incorporate little bits of nature such as wood slices, acorn tops, pinecones, and preserved moss. Most of the material we use is wool fiber which is a renewable resource as it is shorn from sheep in order to care for them. Wool is biodegradable and kinder to the environment than synthetic-based materials. It is also naturally flame and heat-resistant while being extremely warm and durable. We source our wool from small family businesses that follow cruelty-free practices.

All of our products embody the belief in life you need to make your own magic, and that daydreaming is never wasted time… no matter how old you are!

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

The biggest lesson I have learned is often the best growth for a small creative business is NOT linear, and that’s okay. In fact, it may be the best way to grow sustainably.

From the start, I’ve wanted to invest money that I didn’t have into my business on a monthly basis. But I didn’t have the luxury. Initially, my handcrafted brand was financed only with the extra spending cash I had available, which was often $20 or less! I didn’t realize it at first, but this kept me in check and may have been the key to scaling my business sustainably.

There are so many aspects of running a business that are not associated with creating your actual products. At least half of a small business owner’s time is spent on the nitty-gritty business side, and it’s often really a drag strewn with lots of pitfalls. Unless you’ve gone to business school most it might be completely new to you.

The “administrative” list of tasks includes things like running a website, learning how to balance your books, how to safely maneuver sales tax, filing taxes, establishing a social media presence, and on and on. Most of this was knowledge I didn’t learn in college and I had to learn the hard way. But each step I took taught me more about my business and where I wanted it to take me.

Similarly, for each handcrafted product that does end up in our online boutique or at our vendor table at a live event, I’ve actually crafted several prototypes. Usually, the first two or three end up in the garbage until I’ve learned what I’m doing.

There is so much learning associated with every single aspect of running a successful creative business that it takes weeks to months (to years) to fully flush out each product, supply, function, and need. It’s been my experience that as a self-employed creative business owner, thinking things through fully and over time, and with small outlays of funding, is often is smarter than acting on your first impulses and laying out funds you may not have.

In other words, slow and steady wins the race.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

As a creative what I want to do is create. I want to put my headphones on and lock myself away in a room and just work. It is easy to be an introvert when you love what you do, and I think lots of other creatives feel this way.

However, the best way that I have grown my business is by “getting out there”.

A few years ago I decided to push past my comfort zone and become a vendor in my hometown’s Farmer’s Market, which happens once a week on Saturdays from May to October. It’s a picturesque village with an amazing high-end farmer’s market and one of my favorite ways to invest in my business.

The five hours I spend at my vendor table each week during the summer gets me out of the studio and into the fresh air and gives me time to felt. Most importantly, it enables me to talk with potential customers that visit my table. I am able to watch them shop my products, hear their comments, and learn what they’re thinking. Also, they learn about who I am and what makes my handcrafted brand unique. Each week I bring at least 50 cards with my website, social media handles, and a special ‘free shipping” code to hand out to interested people. I almost always give away all my cards.

It was quite a time investment initially. I had to craft enough products for a full booth and had to figure out through trial and error how to display everything. However, it has paid off many times over in sales alone. It has actually become a reliable source of income for me. I do find that some of the people that visit my booth to
chat end up purchasing through my website down the road or following my social media accounts. I have people now who look for me at my booth each Saturday to make a purchase or just say hello.

Furthermore, the feedback I receive when talking to potential customers has helped me refine my products and how to display and price my handcrafted products. This interaction has also been a great source of ideas for future products that I might not have thought of on my own.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.craftedbymjandme.com
• Instagram: @craftedbymjandme
• Facebook: @craftedbymjandme
• Other: Pinterest: @handcraftedbymjandme

Image Credits
All photos were taken by myself (Leslie Ameduri) or Zulayra McKim of LuluFox Photo