We recently connected with Michelle Deuink and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Michelle, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
Honestly, I owe so much of who I am and what I’ve built in Olive Street Collective to my parents. They both had such a huge impact on me, and the way they raised me shaped how I approach life and business. My dad owned his own business since he was around my age, so I grew up seeing what it actually looked like to run something on your own. He showed me by living it that if you want something to work you have to make it happen yourself. No one’s going to come along and build it for you. He took me with him to job sites when I was super little, and growing up I would ride around with him checking on work progress, meeting his employees, and listening to him take work calls in the car. It never felt like he disappeared to work all day and then came home and we had no clue what he did. He involved my sister and me in it all! We even got to go to the company Christmas parties. Watching that up close really instilled this deep sense of ownership and work ethic in me that I’ve carried into my adult life as the business owner of Olive Street Collective. If something needs to be done, I know I’m the one who has to do it. It’s how I’ve grown my business, and that mindset started way back then.
And then there’s my mom, who is absolutely the reason I’m creative and artistic at all. She went to art school in college, and before I was born she had her own graphic design business that she started after realizing the traditional 9 to 5 life wasn’t a good fit for her. Sound familiar? Hearing stories about how she took that leap and created a career on her own terms made such a deep impression on me as I was trying to figure out what I wanted my career to look like. Looking back now, I can see how parallel our journeys have been. She’s been a huge example for me of what it looks like to lead with creativity, trust your instincts, and build something from scratch that reflects who you are and what you want to be.
Both my mom and my dad were my biggest cheerleaders ever and still are. Since day one, any time I wanted to try something – whether it made sense or not – they were all in. I had little markets on our porch where I sold food from our fridge back to them (the going rate for olives was $0.10 each and they paid it without question). I started a dessert business in middle school called Michelle’s Delicious Desserts, where I’d ship cookies across the country to family and friends. I used ingredients from the pantry that my parents bought and they’d still buy the cookies I made to support my little business. Same thing when I started selling my photography prints in high school with business cards, a website, the whole thing, or that one book club I hosted that only lasted long enough to read one book. Every time, they were first in line to support me and they gave me room to figure it out. When I decided I wanted to go to an art institute for college, my parents never made me feel like I had to justify it. They helped me make it happen! When I later decided to transfer to a more traditional university and change my major, they were just as excited and supportive about that too. That kind of consistent support – knowing I could try and fail and would still be loved and encouraged – was huge. It gave me the confidence to keep trying new things until something clicked.
The example my dad set taught me what it means to take ownership and work hard, and my mom taught me the value of creativity and the importance of building a life that feels true to who you are. Their constant encouragement and support paired with it all gave me the best possible foundation. Olive Street Collective exists because of that. I’m endlessly grateful for them and who they’ve made me to be.
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?
Well hi, I’m Michelle, as you said! I own a small design business called Olive Street Collective, and I sell my products on Etsy. I’ve been super creative since I was a kid – always turning my hobbies into little business ventures left and right – so even though it took me a while to figure things out, where I’m at now feels like the natural progression of things. That childhood creative curiosity followed me into college where I studied art and a little bit of business management, and tried to figure out what would “stick” for a career. In the few years after graduation, I tried a mix of things that landed me in the corporate world and nowhere near art. It was no surprise that it wasn’t a great fit for me, and I got burnt out by not using the creative part of my brain. It took me a little while to figure things out, but last year in 2024, I finally chased a dream and started Olive Street Collective.
My hope is that everyone coming across my Etsy shop can find something they love that speaks to them or represents a part of themselves that they want to share with the world. Olive Street Collective started with stickers. I would hear a snarky or sarcastic phrase and think, “I need something that says that” and when I couldn’t find it I made it myself. Since then, I’ve expanded into prints, with sports stadiums and colorful kitchen and bar art being customer favorites, as well as t-shirts and sweatshirts that let my customers wear their sense of humor.
I’ve had a lot of fun figuring things out and making Olive Street Collective something that I’m truly proud of! Both me and my small business are a product of the support and encouragement from the people around me, especially my parents. At the end of the day, I want people to know that this brand is about celebrating personality, humor, and creativity, and that there’s a little something for everyone here.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Etsy does a lot to support their sellers, and even after more than a year, I know there are still resources I haven’t fully tapped into. One of the most valuable tools has been the seller dashboard, specifically the shop performance stats. They’re a bit hidden, but once I found them and figured them out, they gave me really great insights into what was working and what needed adjusting, which helped me grow quickly. Earning the Star Seller badge for my shop about eight months in was another turning point. It gave me access to individualized support and boosted my shop’s visibility, which led to more sales. I wish I’d known about it from the start because it could have helped me scale Olive Street Collective much faster than I did.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
For me, the most rewarding part is having complete creative freedom in what I design and how I spend my day. There’s no red tape, no meetings to slow me down, and no approval process with higher ups. If I want to try something new, I can do it and hit the ground running fast. I’m not designing products to match someone else’s vibe or vision, and I get to have full control over everything I create. That means that everything going out into the world through Olive Street Collective feels personal and true to me! That authenticity is what makes it fun, and I think it’s what helps people connect with what I make.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/OliveStCollective
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olivestreetcollective/
