We were lucky to catch up with Rachel Castaneda recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Rachel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

From a young age, I always loved art and lettering. I was involved in advanced art classes in high school and into college but never considered art an option as a career. My parents encouraged me to be creative and I certainly owe many of my creative abilities to my mom, but I was also reminded by my parents that art is just a hobby. I loved children and and became an elementary school teacher, which is a job I truly enjoyed. Teaching did allow me to have a creative outlet in many ways and I always used art in the classroom. Still itching for more, though, I found myself painting, drawing, and lettering. When my daughter was born in 2018 I took an online hand lettering class and my love for lettering really took off. In 2021, while still teaching, I started “Rachel Writes” which was a little side business focused on hand lettering. I wanted to do chalkboard art and odd lettering jobs. I got busy really fast and it was very hard to manage the work load between teaching and my two young children. It was just this past June, after 12 years of teaching, that I decided to take the risk and resign from teaching to spend more time on my art business. I went ahead and took the steps to make myself an official LLC and am figuring out the business side of art as I go. Since starting a year ago, my work load has changed greatly. I am still doing a lot of chalkboard art, mostly large scale boards at wedding venues, but I also have gotten into muraling. Most of my murals incorporate lettering in some way, too. I have been painting murals at schools, work out studios, and have a few ice-cream shops coming up. I also recently illustrated a children’s book, Little Siblings, Big Feelings, which was a very exciting project. I have been talking with a few other authors and am excited to continue down that path as well. I am doing so many different types of art at the moment that I sometimes wonder if I really need to narrow my focus and pick just one, but I’ve decided to let those thoughts go and just roll with it! A lot of artists who go to art school learn that in order to be successful you need to follow one path. I didn’t go to art school, of course, and I kind of like that I am able to make my own rules with my business. I have been very busy up through now, to the point that I am regularly turning down jobs. I hate turning down work, of course, but I can only take on so much at a time. The idea of quitting teaching to become an artist really did not cross my mind for years. If I told my former self that this is what I would end up doing, I don’t think I would have believed it! This has been a real dream come true- to get paid to paint.

Rachel, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

The main focus of my business (and if I had to pick just one path to pursue) would be muraling. I have thus far worked mainly with schools and exercise studios. As I mentioned, I have a few restaurant/café type murals coming up soon. A mural has the ability to fully transform a space and change the experience for customers. It also serves as a marketing tool for businesses when customers want to take photos in front of a mural and share them on social media. Murals (both interior and exterior) have the ability to bring in new customers in this way. When I work with a client, I create a mockup of the design and am able to digitally place this on a photo of the wall. This allows the client to see almost exactly what the mural will look like in their space. The design process is the most important step in creating a mural and I love when a client is involved and shares ideas and inspiration.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The leap to muraling was a big step for me. Prior to starting murals, I was doing a lot of work in the privacy of my home— a space where I could make mistakes and fix them on my own time- nobody even needed to know I messed up! Muraling, on the other hand, is very public. People are walking by and observing you work and asking questions. The pressure is on! I was very nervous to attempt my first mural, a bit of imposter syndrome, you could say. It also was in a narrow hallway where I wasn’t able to use a projector- I had no clue how to even get my design on the wall outside of eyeballing it. I took to the internet to learn what I could about muraling before starting my first, and owe a lot of my knowledge to Phoebe and Roxy from Pandr Design Co (@pandrdesignco). They are San Diego based muralists with a wealth of knowledge about the muraling industry. They try to turn around the “starving artist” stereotype and share a lot of information on social media and have paid resources on their website. They helped me with my confidence and the business side of art. In terms of confidence, they reminded me to trust myself and know muraling is just paint! If you mess up, just paint it over- its not that deep. This is helpful for my perfectionist mentality. The business side of art has been a lot to take in this year— from pricing, to contracts, I had no clue where to start. Pandr was instrumental in my ability to get started with all of this! They have guides on how to get started, how to do outreach, etc. If anyone is interested in getting started with muraling, I would highly suggest checking them out.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

I am still in the very baby stages of running my own business. Even so, things have changed for me a lot in the past year. I have been doing chalkboard/lettering projects since about 2016- but mostly for friends and friends of friends. I got enough requests that in October 2021, I decided to make myself a little more “official” and would actually call what I was doing a side hustle. I created my Instagram account and website and was actively looking to book jobs. I was still teaching at the time, and I got busy very quickly. I was definitely taking on more work that I should have, at the time, especially since I have two toddlers at home. A lot of my work was done in the evenings once the kids were sleeping, or on the weekends when I could have some time while my husband was with the kids. This was not sustainable long term. I did a lot of thinking during the spring of 2022 about what was best for me and my family. My mental health was also a huge factor– I was too stressed trying to do it all. I knew I couldn’t keep teaching AND doing my art side hustle all while trying to spend time with my family. The decision to quit teaching was difficult, but in the end, it was absolutely for the best. I am currently earning more than I was teaching, and I am able to be home with my kids, too. I would not say that I am working full time, by the way. I dedicate 2 days a week to art when my mother in law watches my children. I also still do some nights and weekends, but it isn’t stressful like it was while i was teaching during the day. It is really all a dream come true! I get the best of both worlds- running my own business and being home with my kids.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rachelwritesnc.com
• Instagram: @rachelwritesnc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rachelwritesnc/