We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Samantha Pukanski. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Samantha below.
Alright, Samantha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.
Any business is started or should start because a talent, or passion is discovered in yourself. Something you want as a foundation in your life. And anytime you want to nurture that into a business, it is a MUST to invest in yourself, and invest your time into it. No matter what, it always starts off rocky. Especially if what your getting into is something you had no knowledge of in the first place! I always wanted to use natures gifts to help benefit myself, family, and community. I already had a knack for drawing in detail which came from when I was young, but I wanted to paint. Both of these, I had ZERO knowledge of or experience. I just knew it was something that was meant for me. So when I began this part, I had to begin studying and teaching myself how to make herbal products, study herbs, and painting techniques. Trust me when I say, I wasn’t good at it. My herbal knowledge lead mostly to tinctures, salves, lotions, and lip balms. My painting…well lets say I look back on it and realized I didn’t know how to blend. I started with some craft shows, but with my inventory and lack of knowledge I didn’t do so well. I was also working a full time job. And because I was a new mother with a child and a full time job, I couldn’t invest in myself or my business. I still did a few craft shows a year, but this was almost a hobby than a business. Which that is fine in the beginning, but if you want to really bring your business front and center, you need to treat it like its a job as well. If you only put 5hrs into your business a week, you will get that outcome. If you want your business to be your income and make it your life style, you need to invest into it like you would a full-time job, maybe even more so! If this is something you love to do, you don’t mind working overtime, haha.
My business saw a bit more income adding a few new products, and began working on more painting projects. My art got a lot better, and I met a print maker to start having prints made of my originals to sell. This helps out a lot because we all know original art pieces are expensive, but utilizing prints is a great way to get your art out into the world and make money. However, I was super depressed and stressed out. Working a full-time job that I hated while trying to pour myself into my passions, but I never had time to do it, plus motherhood, is ALOT and can almost feel defeating.
Now Covid hits. That was the big turn around for me. Schools were closing, my son had to be homeschooled, the job let me go, but I was getting unemployment to stay home. For the first time, I felt free. And I decided to use the 2 years I was home to reinvent myself. I didn’t waste my covid time. I studied studied studied, and invested the money I was given by stimulus checks and unemployment into creating trial and error or amazing products. Once I developed a line of face serums, body sprays, tinctures and lotions with genuine purpose. I created a new business name known still today Avalon Holistic Garden and built a website that took me 7 months by myself. I invested myself in online workshops with a visionary artists from Australia and California. This took my artwork into a new realm and now gains respect as mark making technique which helps create art from the subconscious. I went from an acrylic painter to an oil painter. Its very healing to my soul and makes others feel the same. When craft shows came back, I invested in doing more of them and learned which ones were good ones and ones that were not profitable. (keep track of everything). I learned that without investing your time and energy into what you love, you will fall short. I decided to grab a part time job which I have today. I work only 2-3 days a week and I’m quite happy there. My boss will arrange the schedule to work with my business so I can vend at markets during the week and weekend. I don’t limit myself. Every market/craft show is an opportunity for marketing. That has gotten me custom orders for artwork and for herbal products. I now took my vending to 4 day music festivals and event raves at night. Putting myself out there at various places/events have given me more coverage. This year I took an apprenticeship in tattooing and now I am able to do tattoos as well. Not really associated with my business, but you know, it does pay the bills and its another way to create that makes my soul happy! I’m going to continue to keep pushing my boundaries in my creations and travel out to events. Spreading my products and artwork. My goal is to get a small shop, but this is where I build the savings for it. Its going to happen, just not there yet. REMEMBER, YOU DESERVE TO INVEST IN YOURSELF. YOU DESERVE THE LIFE YOU WANT, ITS YOURS TO CREATE.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
As a child I would play in the backyard and act like a “witch”. Creating potions with random little berries, leaves, flowers, and mud water. I thought it was the coolest thing, and still today love watching movies of apothecary healers and witches. When I would be in my room, I would draw. Mostly copying pokemon cards or anime characters. These were my background building foundations for what I am today. In my late teen age (19) I embarked on a life altering journey by traveling around in my car until I stumbled upon my first music festival. To see these painters/artists and live out in the woods gave me this perception that I have what I need, I just want to live free creating. I decided to take time to give back to the world by hiking and picking up trash for the Earth. I hiked over 400 miles in Ohio with nothing but a backpack and sleeping on the ground watching the stars every night. This rooted myself in a personal relationship with Mother Earth. I learned from people on my travels about different herbs that help for ailments. Once back into a home life and becoming pregnant, I would have vivid dreams about being a painter. So I wanted to pick up paints for the first time and began a journey into the world of paint brushes. My artwork today is known as Mark Making and Visual Art. Its anything but “normal”. My artwork contains creatures, nature, and a sense of humanity. Its my mission to connect humans to their authentic selves and bring the relationship back to human – plant. It all comes from my subconscious mind, pulling from my imagination. These marks in my paintings cause the viewer to have to utilize their imagination and can form their own images from my pieces. They tell stories and can be relatable to the viewer. My products are beyond normal apothecary. Every item I create comes with a purpose for we humans put the meaning and purpose behind everything we do. My tinctures help with ailments, salves for topical ones, lotions/sugar scrubs with benefits, body sprays not just for smells, but with skin properties! My face oil serums are the best I have created and I haven’t used anything from a store for cosmetic purpose in years. My herbal electuary teas are filled with different herbs that benefit the body and mind. I’m not just an herbalist, I’m an enthusiast in my profession that wants to break the barriers of what can be made. I will try to make anything that can be of use. If anyone comes to me with an issue of mental illness, stress, topical issues, I will do my research and make something for you. My herbal medicine products promote vitality, mental clarity, and rejuvenate your body. I began sobriety a year ago from alcohol and with that created Herbal Mocktails! I now vend these at events. I create herbal syrups to make delicious drinks that feel like a cocktail, but contains herbal goodness and benefits. Its so cool to come to my booth and get a mixed drink while shopping. I enjoy doing this a lot. I not only show off my artwork and art prints, but I paint live at events! This gives people the experience of seeing me create in public and get to watch how I do my artwork. Its entertainment and I love doing it! These experiences in my life, created who I am today. This is Samantha Avalon Pukanski. A nature lover who explores with carefree perception of the world, a interdimensional smuggler who brings knowledge from one world to this one in art form. Who cares for the population and wants to give the person their power back by using the our temple as a healing tool with herbs. I am proud of myself for pushing to make something when life has beaten me back so many times, and I want to inspire others to do the same.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
My clientele has grown over the years and I have to say its all due to personal marketing. Going to craft shows, markets, concerts, festivals. That is how you build it. You talk to so many people at these events. And when some of these people cannot purchase at that time, they will use your website, so have that too. I have people who write down in their calendars which events ill be at so they can come back and grab the items they love so much. Take your expensive products and make sample sizes for cheaper price, if your product is good, they will come back for the bigger bang for their buck.
You have to LOVE and HONOR your work. When you are in person talking about what you do, how you make stuff, that is what sells it! When you are in person, explaining everything, how it works, what it does for you, what you did to create it, that is how you get the clients. When it comes to art, bring the originals and have them out for people to see, its like walking into a gallery. Its an amazing experience. Then have prints of your work, people will most likely purchase these and your artwork goes into their homes. People will see you work and then ask for a custom order or maybe even buy the original too!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Fear. Letting the fear of failure go. Letting the fear of life not working out for you, bye bye. Our minds want to always predict the future on everything and most of the time, its always negative. You have to stay open to all negative and positive outcomes. That will allow you the space for opportunity. I lost my little sister Lauren Pukanski 2 years ago due to a doctor error, and it destroyed me. I developed extreme depression and anxiety. I was having panic attacks almost daily. My mind would run in circles like: “what was the point in anything I did if it could all be taken away? I lost my best friend in the world, I’m going to be all alone… What if I made a mistake that would ultimately end my career or my life?” I thought the Universe was against me. It took much soul searching to see I need to overcome my fear and grief to strengthen myself. I was drinking alcohol too much during this period which caused some issues for me in my business. When I needed to grow and let go, I gave that up too. And because I overcame what numbed me, it helped me embrace my authentic self even more. This allowed me to co-exist with my fear. As fear is a teacher to what we need to grow. And once its embraced, I learned to empower myself. I don’t have expectations, I just allow and flow with what happens. Even if I don’t have the best outcome, I know something greater is waiting for me and it will come. I know my sister is so proud of me and I plan to live my best life in remembrance to her.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.avalonholisticgarden.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avalon_holistic_garden/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/samantha.avalon.71/
Image Credits
all images are from myself