We were lucky to catch up with Mrs. Carrie Bernard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mrs. Carrie , appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

As a business owner I take risk everyday. For example: when a customer orders a custom made item i take the risk of them loving it and not changing their mind or not paying once it’s complete. for the fact that I cannot resale a custom made item. Also when buying large pieces of equipment from out of country vendor there’s a risk of it arriving pack poorly and broken the risk of loosing money can be very scary.

Fortunately I have not as of yet had the bad side of taking the risk in these matters.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Crafting begin for me in a time in my life when life got a little hard, at first it was therapy for me now it’s a full time business/job.

I started making custom T-shirts for family and friends with a iron, and heat transfer paper a little over 18 years ago, As i begin to learn more about the crafting world I then started to invest in buying larger equipment to fit the needs of pressing images on T-shirts.

My customer based grew and then I started trying other crafts and with more crafts I needed different equipment.
I now do and teach in a crafting grow over 100+ crafts.

The way I solve problems in the industry, is too always do my best to keep the customers satisfied no matter the cost.
What sets me apart is the heart of giving not only do i supply my customers with what they ordered but at times I throw in free shipping and or a free gift of some sort.

I love teaching other how to create custom gifts, such as T-shirt, Tumblers, Mugs, and so much more.
I have a Facebook crafting group with over 5000 members. in my group we teach daily through zoom and or live videos.

Crafting has help me to purchase our first home, pay off credit cards, car note and we’re able to live like I’ve always dreamt of. Happy, joyous, and free.

How did you build your audience on social media?

As we all know advertising and marketing can and is very expensive. The social media platform’s makes it easier for new and or small business owners to grow their businesses free of charge.

The best way to get you business know, is to share pictures of what you have to offer. Sharing throughout every avenue of social media will assist in growing your audience.

There is also options to create business pages where you can invite others to join on the page you can upload what you offer as a business owner.

I tell people all the time use what you got until you get what you want

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

In the year of 2015 I was ask to take care of my only aunt who was injured severely by a hit and run in Philadelphia. We traveled to pick her up and brought her back home and my entire life change due to her injuries. I had to become a stay at home full-time care attendant, care for her around the clock.

Not being able to craft or run the business as much put me in a space of making some serious decisions as of what I should do. After much pray and loving clients who waited patiently. I decided to keep moving forward.

While auntie was resting I would work and complete orders to keep my business running.

During her time with us I also had a store front in which I seldomly was able to work from because of her declining health after a few years we decided to close the store and I now work from Home.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://funenthingscustomblanks.com/
• Instagram: gifted_creations_by_carrie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carrie.j.bernard