We were lucky to catch up with Lily Smith recently and have shared our conversation below.

Lily, appreciate you joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

My journey as a small creative business owner began shortly after I finished graduate school. I knew at the time that I wanted to continue my art practice and make a living from it, so I began building and growing my business while working in the food industry. At the end of three years, I was able to shift into pursuing my business full time. I expanded the stores that carry my work, booked many of my weekends with farmers markets and art festivals, and taught the occasional workshop. Lily Smith Studio has been my full time job for 4 years now, despite the last two being particularly interesting navigating the pandemic.23

Not having a background in business, one of the hardest things that I’ve learned is to determine what elements of my business I can tackle myself, and when I need to outsource a task. When I first started my business, I didn’t have the resources to outsource any parts of my business, so I did everything from designing and making my work, to photographing it, creating and maintaining my website, applying to and vending at events, stocking my stores, bookkeeping, designing my print material, the list goes on and on. I am a trained jeweler, I don’t know anything about accounting or graphic design! I am pleased to be in a place now where I can recognize when I need help from other professionals, and be able to hire out for certain projects. This past year Olivia of Let’s Go Studio (another small, Atlanta-based, female-owned business) did a complete rebranding for me and she did an amazing job–I am now so excited to use my brand and know that it’s well-designed and representative of my business, something I could not have done myself.

Lily, 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 craft artist and small handmade business owner based in Atlanta, GA. I began making beaded jewelry at a young age and pursued jewelry and metalsmithing when I attended college, earning my BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and my MFA from the University of Georgia.

My business is called Lily Smith Studio, and everything I sell I personally make by hand. I’m a jeweler, and I work mostly in sterling silver and enamel.

I have a veggie and herb garden in my backyard, so that’s where I draw a lot of my inspiration. My husband and I have been cultivating a little backyard oasis; we built an herb spiral, raised veggie beds, flower beds, and have a fig and a mulberry tree that bring us a lot of joy. Weeds grow like crazy in Georgia, so we spend a lot of time tackling those, and sometimes our veggies don’t thrive, but it’s a fun practice, and the colors definitely inform my work. Like a garden, my jewelry is bold and colorful and makes people smile.

I love making colorful work, so enamel really is the perfect medium for me. I hand-cut and form my shapes out of copper, and then sift powder glass on top. The enamel fuses at about 1450 degrees in a kiln. For my ‘doodle’ line of jewelry, I draw directly on the glass with pencil and then fuse the graphite to the enamel to create drawings of different botanicals, like fruits, veggies, herbs, flowers, and marine plants.

In addition to my jewelry, I make handbound sketchbooks and journals. Making the books is really more like meditation to me. It’s a practice I can do from my home, rather than having to go to my studio, and the process is very relaxing and repetitive, which I love!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Last year, I began taking classes through One Mill School, and everything I’ve learned through them has been invaluable. It’s an amazing program that offers courses tailored to small businesses like mine. This year I took a course through their sister company, Wholesale In Box, that helped me understand how to tackle selling wholesale as a maker, from pricing my work, to creating an effective lookbook and line sheet, and different ways of approaching stores. Their courses are affordable, there’s a great community of makers to learn from, and the classes are very manageable with a busy schedule.

I wish I’d known about One Mill School sooner; when I first started my business, my approach was really trial and error. Apart from occasionally asking another maker for advice, I didn’t have a mentor to guide me so I definitely made mistakes and I think my business would have grown more quickly if I had the knowledge I have now. In some ways that’s the beauty of running a business because you learn a lot in those errors, but it’s always a bonus if you can learn from someone else’s mistakes and avoid those growing pains.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

In a world where costs are constantly going up, I understand that buying art or supporting small businesses can be a financial challenge for some folks and it isn’t always in the budget.

But think about how sad your community would be without art galleries and craft festivals. Without local coffee shops, book stores, plant nurseries, and handmade boutiques. No restaurants with creative chefs using seasonal produce.

These are the places and events that give each neighborhood, town, or city it’s own flavor.

I would urge people to consider where they spend their dollar. Sometimes shopping at a big box store is unavoidable; we all have to do it. But if you have the opportunity and means to support someone directly in your community, I’d suggest you do it. You’re putting money in the hands of your neighbor (a real human being!) and you’re going to get a product or service that is so much more unique than anything you’ll find mass-produced.

And there’s so many non-monetary ways to support creative folks in your community too! Tell your friends about the potter whose mugs you fell in love with, the chef pop-up in your neighborhood, and the artist who does your favorite murals. Share on social media if you had a great meal, got a great haircut, found a new small coffee shop. Leave a good review. Food, jewelry, flowers, music, pottery, plants, clothing, coffee, cocktails…it all can be art! And it’s what makes different communities unique.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lilysmithstudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lilysmithstudio/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lilysmithstudio/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/LilySmithStudi0

Image Credits
The process photos from my studio are by Evelyn Burttram (EGB Photography) Product photos are by me (Lily Smith)