We recently connected with Tasha M. and have shared our conversation below.

Tasha, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

First and foremost – believing in yourself. If you believe it, you can do it.

A strong work ethic and self-motivation is necessary. Owning a business is more than a full-time job, and it’s almost impossible to ‘turn it off’ because there is always something that needs done. I’m still working on that one, myself.

Tasha, 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’m Tasha, a mom and artist. I started as a new mom (during the height of Covid) trying to find something for myself, and digital art became my passion.

I started in textile design, and often did designs for other small shops to utilize in their craft. I then started reading and wanted to start designing book covers, but had no idea how to break into the industry. I decided to start a special edition book box so I was able to get design experience. It grew much quicker than I anticipated, and I’m now starting a second box, and I also do design work for authors for their own books, as well.

We offer a variety of services and products including special edition books, bookish apparel and merchandise, patches, cover design and artwork.

I believe our attention to detail and creative covers help us stand out. We always try to incorporate new and unique things so we don’t get too similar to other businesses. We pride ourselves on being unique and creative.

I am most proud of how far we have come and grown in such a short amount of time. I was a struggling artist, a new mom, and I’m so proud I was able to find an outlet that lets me utilize my creativity and art.

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

When I started, I had just taken maternity leave from my in-office VA job. It was a very toxic environment and I knew I didn’t want to go back after having my baby, and I wanted to try to stay home.

I started with making handmade kids clothing when my daughter was 2 weeks old and grew a decent following pretty quickly. It wasn’t a huge income, but enough to cover bills on a strict budget.

However, because our style was a bit eccentric, it was difficult to find art that fit our brand. I ended up learning how to make the designs myself and taught myself photoshop, Procreate, and other digital art programs.

Once my daughter got a bit older, I had less time to sit and sew, so I started design work full-time and marketed to many I had collabed with in the past. I made a lot more income with this since I didn’t have essentially any out of pocket costs. We were able to take our first family vacation (and first vacation ever for my husband and I) and that’s was a very pivotal moment in my life. I had never been able to afford a vacation before.

When I started reading, I knew I wanted to expand into design. I started as the designer for the book box, then became co-owner and sole owner.

It has been a lot of work, a lot of tears, and a little luck, but I’m so thankful to be where I am today.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

We pride ourselves not only on creative and unique products, but we genuinely try to build relationships with our customers. I believe our customer service and care for others has taken us so far.

We love to follow our customers, interact with them, and form a relationship. Many of our customers have become close friends/admins/teammembers.

We also take our timelines very seriously, and do everything we can to ship on time, and be transparent. That has definitely helped build our reputation in the industry!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.ripbooks.com
• Instagram: https://Www.instagram.com/ripbookbox