Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Natasha Hall. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Natasha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
I like to doodle/draw. That’s where it all starts. In middle school….back in the 80s when we had to use book covers or brown bags over our books, I would draw and doodle on mine. I use to do these crazy bubble letters and cloud letters to add my name to it. My peers liked it and ask me to do there books. Fast forward to high school. We had a youth program at my church. I bought shirts and hand drew our church name on everybody’s shirts and them made a banner out of bulletin board paper! It was crazy!!! In 2001, I started working in childcare and was creating things for bulletin boards by hand, finding creative things for the children to do for Art and always making the parents things for holidays. I loved the looks on the parents faces! I’m not just talking hand turkeys, I’m talking about 3D items, things on canvases or anything that was different. I was doing thus with toddlers! 2 yr olds!!! As I continued working with children, I was able to flex their gifts! My students were creating out of the ordinary gifts for their parents! In 2010, I became teacher/asst. director so I would make things for my staff. Usually it was a customize coffee cup that I decorated, by hand, with markers. I would make hand custom items for special days. In 2014, I began working in Head Start and still loved making items for my co-workers, I was still making cool gifts with the children for their parents and now I was making things for my family as gifts. One of my student’s parents saw the coffee cup I hand made for my co-worker and asked if I could do some for her co-workers, I said sure! She wanted about 30 cups! I think I just charged her what it cost for me to buy the cups. I researched the easiest wat to do the cups because she wanted their initial on the cups. I hand decorated every cup and baked it so it would be permanent! I was tired!!! That was the moment I decided I could be actually selling these for profit. Before I actually dived in, I wanted to meet sure this was something I wanted to do. I prayed about it for awhile before I decided to go for it. In February 2017 once I git mt tax money, I purchased a cutting machine. I then got scared. I let it sit there for 3 months! Unopened!! One night, in my dream I heard a voice say open the box. The next day, I opened it and have been going ever since!
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.
I am an educator who crafts! My business, Mz. Topsy’s Creations, create custom items from A to Z! I am your one stop custom shop! If you are having an event, you can get your custom tshirt created by me plus custom decor for your event! I not only crate custom items, I also create digital designs for other tshirt makers. I create obituaries, fans, car air fresheners, tumblers, underwear and so much more! The main thing I want my clients to know is that I’m here to make sure their event is a success! Most of my designs I create myself so they are one of a kind. When working with Mz. Topsy’s Creations, you will feel respected, as if your words matter and we would be working foregather to make sure your event is what you want.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
I sell Mz. Topsy’s Creations on it’s own website, www.mztopsyscreations.com, but I sell my digital designs on Etsy. Having used both, I have mixed emotions on them. I love that Etsy finds the clients for you. I literally upload my design and it does the rest. The downside is nothings free. Etsy has fees for using its platform and while my design my cost $3.50, I may only see $1.20 from that sell. Why do I stay? Repeat clients, word of mouth and my 5 star rating that brings more clients.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
The initial funding for my business isn’t a mystery. I was a single mother of two living on one income with no assistance from the state. I used my income tax refund. I bought my machine and vinyl to use with it. Each year I would add an expensive machine to my business and I would always use my tax refund.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mztopsyscreations.com
- Instagram: mz.topsy_creations
- Facebook: Mz. Topsy’s Creations
- Other: TikTok- Mz. Topsy’s Creations