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

Hi Skye, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I constantly wonder what my life would be like if I had a regular job. The clarity of a traditional career path with more straightforward tasks and duties, built-in routine and structure, the greater population generally understanding and recognizing what I do as actual work with inherent value, and of course regular paychecks and more financial stability are all incredibly tempting arguments for me to quit my creative work and sign myself up for a regular job tomorrow. And yet somehow those are also the reasons why I can’t and won’t give up my creative work for a more conventional position with an unambiguous job title and a list of predefined responsibilities. A big part of why I do what I do (and it’s always slowly evolving as both I and my work change) is the adventure and challenge of figuring things out for myself and piecing together projects, opportunities, and explorations into my own career path. There’s an ebb and flow to my creative practice that provides it’s own kind of rhythm, and while it can feel like everything is always fluctuating, ultimately everything is always slowly building and developing over time. Throughout the past decade of building a career and life as a creative person, I’ve learned that the moments when I most long for that regular job are just the lowest points of each wave, and typically just a temporary juncture before the next big breakthrough.

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?

I’ve spent my entire life creatively engaged with my surroundings in various ways, but my love affair with textiles developed early on and stayed strong. Growing up with older sisters, I received my fair share of hand-me-down clothes which I eagerly cut apart, embellished, and sewed back together to suit my ever-evolving style. I was also raised in an environmentally aware household: my dad worked in waste management and my mom was an avid and prolific gardener, so I grew up learning and thinking about materials from the perspective of circularity and interconnectedness. I always knew I wanted to study and create art, so off to art school I went without a second thought.

After earning a BFA in fiber arts from the Kansas City Art Institute, I spent years traveling around the country attending artist residencies, making art and exploring my personal creative practice amidst a changing backdrop of varying cities and landscapes. Throughout this time, I developed my natural dyeing skills as I deepened my connection to my natural surroundings; learning about the local flora and honing my foraging skills in each new location. Eventually I landed in small-town northern New England, where my desire to make fine art for galleries and exhibitions waned while my interest in creating utilitarian objects grew.

I started Hello Hue Studio with the goal of creating textile goods that are both environmentally responsible and visually appealing. Often (and unfortunately) products that are sustainability-focused tend to fall into a kind of drab aesthetic, with muddy earth tones and clunky designs. But I wanted to create pieces that combine ethical practices with modern aesthetics and meticulous craftsmanship for longevity, functionality, and visual appeal. So drawing upon my sewing and dyeing skills along with my knowledge of materials, I’ve intentionally created textile accessories with vivid (naturally dyed) colors, sharp lines, and luxe finishing touches. At Hello Hue, every product is a timeless statement piece that’s suitable for everyday life, environmentally responsible, vibrantly colorful, and uniquely wonderful.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After a year of experiments, test runs, and business classes, I officially launched Hello Hue Studio in February 2020. I remember meeting with my business advisor to review my business plan, and she eagerly told me that my product and strategy were solid, and she even said my revenue projections were too conservative.

My entire plan for my first year in business was dependent upon a series of carefully selected in-person events, brick-and-mortar retailers, and long standing craft fairs. But of course everything completely shut down a few weeks later, and suddenly I was building my business in entirely different circumstances than I had planned for.

Everyone had to manage their own set of challenges brought forth by the pandemic, and mine included moving to a different state, setting up a new studio, and attempting to navigate e-commerce way earlier than I wanted and intended to. It was a rough start and a very bumpy road, and I’m still dealing with some consequences of so many unexpected factors, but overall I’m proud of what I’ve learned and how Hello Hue Studio has fared throughout this journey.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Like many people, I have a love/hate relationship with social media. When I first joined Instagram (ten years ago!), it was an awesome place for inspiration and sharing your work with your friends. Now the stakes feel so much higher, especially for small businesses and brands trying to utilize social media platforms as their main marketing and e-commerce strategies.

People often compliment me on my Instagram account – specifically the videos highlighting my studio process. It’s flattering of course, but also I find it funny and a little surprising because I feel SO behind and stupid when it comes to social media. I’m actually incredibly self conscious about all of my posts and tend to overthink everything every time I post. But of course people don’t see that part of it – they only see the finished post, and typically just for a few seconds, so I try to remind myself of that when I feel nervous or hesitant to post.

If you’re just starting out on social media, it can be really discouraging if your follower count doesn’t grow very much, but that’s actually just a vanity metric. The real power of social media comes from connecting with your audience (of any size), because it doesn’t matter how many followers you have if they’re ultimately not engaging with or even seeing your content! It takes some time to develop your own voice and style of posting, but try to maintain some consistency and don’t feel like you have to post something entirely new each time because you can definitely rehash and repeat previous posts.

Currently, I’m reevaluating my relationship with social media and trying to deemphasize its role in my business. All of the constant changing of the algorithm and various platform features is exhausting! I don’t ever foresee leaving social media entirely, but I do want to establish better boundaries with it to protect my time and mental health. Thankfully, announcing and taking breaks from social media has become more common and accepted, and it’s definitely beneficial to step away from it every now and then.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hellohuestudio.com
• Instagram: @hellohue_studio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelloHueStudio/