We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Gable a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nicole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I used a sewing machine for the first time 4 years ago. Growing up, I was around my grandmother and my mom who were experienced tailors. My mom used to make us clothes as kids, she made the bridesmaid and flower-girl dresses for my sister’s wedding. Back then, I was not interested in learning. I was too busy swimming and being a kid.

After my father-in-law visited Portugal, he brought us some cork bracelets. I was curious and asked him about the cork products he saw on his trip. The idea for the court clutch grew from there. My mom gave me a couple sewing lessons, and I found a company in Portugal producing and distributing cork fabric. I was nervous about using the sewing machine. The needle moves fast, it was scary. Now, I have a professional grade machine and it moves super-fast. I LOVE it! I made cork clutches for my family as Christmas gifts that year. Soon after, people began to ask me to design one for them. Sunshine Street grew from curiosity and my desire to try creating new styles.

Here is the thing about learning something new. There is no true way to speed up the learning process. It takes time, it takes muscle memory, it takes persistence, and it takes a love of your craft. I would not want to speed it up. The learning process is one of the most rewarding parts of being creative.

When you are learning anything new, it is not about the skills you have before you start. It is about your drive to keep going, the willingness to make a mistake and the persistence to problem solve when you hit a small or big hiccup. Really, the only obstacle that stands in the way of learning is being able to find time in the day.

Nicole, 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?

My name is Nicole Gable. I am a pediatrician, a wife, a mom of three kids, and the owner of Sunshine Street Cork Designs. I began my business in 2019. It was a tricky time in my life. The COVID pandemic had just started and my work as a pediatrician was transformed drastically overnight. During that time, I was also making a difficult choice to leave the pediatric practice where I built my career for the previous 13 years. There were days where I did not recognize myself. I was overwhelmed by the stress of organizing virtual school for my three young children, keeping up with COVID guidelines that were changing faster than the weather, and trying to ease the anxiety of everyone around me. It was a lot. The time I spent at my sewing machine was restorative. It gave me time to process, it gave me quiet.

I began taking my cork designs to market with my first Bits and Bobs Baltimore Event at BC Brewery. My good friends, Julie Linz and Susan Faint, run an amazing market. I had talked to them about their passion to help makers in passing but not about my personal journey. When I reached out, they were beyond welcoming. Bits and Bobs was my first creative family. I have many good friends, creatives, and clients, that I have met; I cherish the maker community they have created.

My goal is to design beautiful, quality cork products that are loved by the clients who buy them. Each bag is personally sewn by me, and unique. I handpick all the cork and interior fabrics and design the bags myself. I want customers to feel their bag is an expression of their personality. I want them to walk up, pick it out and say, “oh yes, that one is me.”

I am most proud of the personal journey Sunshine Street has allowed me. Finding the artist that was lost has brought me joy. I am a whole person again. I continue to practice pediatrics and have found calm in my medical work as well. I was put on this earth to be a pediatrician; I feel that in my bones. It is a funny thing to say, but it is true. My work in medicine is the most rewarding journey. I believe allowing myself to be creative has made me able me to find my path in medicine as well. For both, I am forever grateful.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Sometimes people ask me if I am going to continue practicing pediatrics? People ask me how I find the time to do it all. Sometimes I worry people think I do not take my job as a pediatrician very seriously because I spend some of my time on Sunshine Street. In the world of medicine, there are a lot of creatives. In the world of medicine, there are a lot of people who spend a lot of time at work. Neither of these choices is better than the other. These choices are our personal, and they are the choice of the person on the journey. My work as a creative improves my work as a pediatrician. I can be my true self, I have empathy, I have perspective, I can see the world and struggle from the eyes of my patients in a better way.

I am a firm believer that all people are born with creativity. Sometimes it gets misplaced or forgotten. It gets dusty. Maybe as a child an art teacher, a parent or a sibling criticized our artwork and we decided we were not good. Maybe our parents were not able to show us creative processes. Maybe we have experienced trauma and shut off that part of ourselves. For those who feel they are not creative, I would like to remind them that we are always changing, we are always growing, and one day they might stumble upon their creativity, and it will be amazing. Until then, make the choices that feel right for them.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

One of the things I struggle with is social media. I wish I knew more about it early on and, to be honest, I wish I knew more about it now. The algorithms drive me crazy, the time spent creating content is hard to time, the fight to get likes, comments and visibility is overwhelming. I would love to be off social media most of the time, but when you are running a business, it is not possible. I really wish I knew a solution for this daily conundrum.

Contact Info:

• Website: 2sunshinestreet.com
• Instagram: 2sunshinestreet
• Facebook: 2sunshinestreet

Image Credits
None. All take by me:)