We recently connected with Nikki Carter and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nikki, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

I would change a lot about the educational system. While I understand ensuring the population is educated, I think we are doing this at the expense of the very people we are supposed to be helping. I have one child who picks everything up very easily and another who has Apraxia of Speech. As my neurotypical child has worked their way through school it has been very easy for him. The neurodivergent child has faced obstacles every single step of the way and it has required a new level of understanding for me and certainly escalations involving the superintendent and other members of the administration team.

In most schools we are “teaching to the test”. Kids are being taught to answer and think exactly like a book/teacher/poster/video tells them to. There is little critical thinking and deductive reasoning taking place. Creativity is totally out of the question in many circumstances. In the case of my Apraxic child his creativity is not fostered because it is more important that he meets the expectations of those creating the standardized state testing.

My wish for all students is that we teach to their strengths. This would require somewhat of a mini overhaul of what we currently do, but I cannot imagine the many different talents that would come out of the public school system if we did this.

I believe that refraining from telling every student to go to college would certainly help in creating a more fulfilling career. College is incredibly beneficial for some people, but not all. If someone wants to be an artist, a cook, a plumber we as parents (in addition to those running the educational system) need to support and foster that dream and understand sometimes college is a great choice and sometimes it is not.

Nikki, 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 am a wife, a mother, an advocate, and try to do things that not everyone has done. I have been in the military, an egg donor, and a surrogate. I was raised by a single mom with my sister. Being raised by such a strong woman taught me to go after what you want, help others, and if it isn’t kind it isn’t worth doing. I have been with my husband for 18 years and he is incredibly supportive and just the best person I know.

Growing up my Mom would always get me art kits, drawing pencils, canvases, paints, and whatever else she thought would support my creativity. Turns out, I am not actually very good at most of those mediums but bless her for never giving up. She did however buy me a container of Debi’s Design Diary DIY Paint in Bohemian Blue with a gift card she had because she had nothing she wanted to spend it on. I looked up what the heck that was and how I use it because I loved the color. I went ahead and painted a dresser with a fairy on it (using decoupage) after the paint sat in my closet for about a year.

I had a lot of fun and lo and behold somebody drove fifty miles to come get it! I was shocked and so excited. I figured let’s keep going. I actually would get annoyed growing up because I would make things and they weren’t functional. I did not want to make art if I could not turn it in to a career. I wanted to create something functional, even as a kid.

Now it has been close to a year of doing this and I love making over-the-top “extra” pieces. I have done several desks, tables, and dressers. I use paint, decoupage, transfers, stencils, moulds, and anything else that I feel will add to the piece. The struggle, like all artists face, is finding someone your piece speaks to. If the piece feels like a little much to some then it is just right. My hope is that someone sees a piece, falls in love with it, and when they bring it home it sparks joy every time they enter the room.

My favorite client story is from a child psychologist who bought 3 tables from me. She said the kids who see her have some traumas they are working through and she wants the room to feel over-the-top and fun. So these tables were placed in a gorgeous room that looked like you stepped back in time to the French Court in the most fun way. This mattered to me because what she did not know is a saw therapists and psychologists several times growing up due to some stuff with my Dad. She had no idea how much her patronage and the opportunity to bring some light to these kids meant to me.I would love for anyone reading this to know I love color, I love different, I love weird, and I love bringing people’s dreams to life. That being said, you want white then no problem. We can do that too.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Do not spend other people’s money. I actually learned this many years ago, but it certainly helps as a small business owner. Growing up there was not a lot of money so it became common place to assume you/they/I cannot afford something. I was in sales for many years and I had a boss I enjoyed working with and this was a lesson he drilled into my head. I always had a rebuttal. Sometimes it was the economy, other times the item was too expensive, sometimes I knew the person blew their money on something else and he would always make it a point to ask if I had access to their funds, accounts, etc. Obviously my answer was no and he would tell me then you don’t know. To further illustrate his point he would then take care of the customer and make sure we all knew when he made a sale.

Later, he explained it in different terms. He would ask about something we bought for example and then say, “Ok, what would you do if someone told you you could not have that because of one of the reasons you mentioned before”. I thought that was a good point. Let me spend my money. He would make sure we knew it was a disservice to assume anything for anyone and that stuck with me. So now, I never assume someone can or cannot afford anything I create. If someone wants it they will find a way and if they do not that is fine to. Sometimes others just want to appreciate the art but do not have a space for it or whatever the case may be.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I do sell on Etsy and Facebook Marketplace. I do not love either platform but social media is how people connect today. I love the ease of Etsy. I think the fees are reasonable and I can reach anyone on Etsy in the US. Downside is it is fairly saturated. People can also leave ratings that sometimes are nonsense which can impact how you are viewed on the platform.

Facebook Marketplace is nice in the reach it provides, but I do not ship on their because I have had Facebook keep funds and reaching out to get it back is a hassle or they just never give the money to you. I only do local pickup and delivery and if someone wants something shipped outside of Facebook I will send them an invoice through Square or Shopify.

Furniture is a struggle due to the shipping as well. Roadie is great for items within 350 miles and outside of that shipping is difficult. Uship is a great option for shipping large items, however companies bid on your item to ship so if no one wants to ship your 300 pound solid wood buffet you are out of luck. That is tough when pricing items on a platform like Etsy in particular because there is no way to account for shipping such a large item. Etsy will not calculate that.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinyhouseopenwater/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tinyhouseopenwater
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TinyHouseOpenWaterCo