We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Wendy Barnes. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Wendy below.

Alright, Wendy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

Listening to others’ encouragement was key from the start. I drew a few pictures for our newborn daughter’s nursery in 2012 and nearly every visitor commented: make more, do art shows and sell them. So, after a little while, I did.

However, I quickly learned the challenges and competitiveness of selling fine art at local craft shows. Also, with a new-found motherly love for all living things, I wanted my art to go further and actually make a difference in protecting endangered species and beyond. After thinking through strengths, weaknesses and passion, a combination of prior experiences in design, manufacturing and wholesale/retail settled on the brand known today.

Needing to be home more than out selling every weekend as a mompreneur, e-commerce was a logical and exciting fit. After devouring books and videos on what it takes to set up a shop, I moved forward. I needed to register my LLC, make inventory, photograph and upload onto my new site. Then, I had to figure out how to get customers to find me- social media, a few local shows, advertising and coaching; and how to get product to them, packaging, shipping and customer service.

After several years of having an online store, I still find myself tweaking and updating regularly. It is an ongoing organic process of paying attention to what your customers want and are looking for you to provide. I love every minute of it!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I design and produce everyday household accessories to avoid common disposables and raise awareness for wildlife conservation. Each product is created with fabrics from my pen & ink artwork of animals and plants. The patterns are then paired with conservation organizations and 10% of each retail sale gives back ($1 for every $10 – not just profits).

Through my planet-friendly gifts, I hope you delight in use and purpose! If I am going to build a business from scratch, it is important to me to structure it around my core values. These values include being:

1. Impactful- producing a marked impression for customers to deeper sense of participation in wildlife conservation simply by shopping through partnering and giving back to wildlife conservation organizations.

2. Intelligent- having the ability to learn, understand and deal with new trying situations and giving customers educational opportunities to learn about animals and partners,

3. Intentional- doing something on and with purpose in service to our planet.

4. Inspiring- to fill with courage and strength of purpose as a roadmap for other brands to emulate and to stimulate customers to want to do more to help wildlife.

5. Improving- to enhance in value and initiative while always looking for new ways to avoid disposables and meet customer’s needs.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

When the pandemic began in 2020, the quest to skip plastic straws and buy my Reusable Straw Cases switched to frantic and frightened customers looking for handmade, reusable masks. Luckily, I was already set up with a handmade sewing business that could take orders nationwide and ship, so I developed a pattern and put a dozen up for sale. Within seconds they were sold and I went on to sew thousands of masks.

At first, I was conflicted about selling masks even though I most certainly would go out of business if I gave them away in my fabrics to healthcare professionals. I had several customers explain to me that they literally could not find masks and I was doing a service selling them to the general public as quickly as I did.

Another benefit was that through my customers buying the masks (priced as modestly as possible in 2020 $8 adult / $6 child), I was continuing to generate donations for my partner organizations now struggling as regular donations dried up.

I am still selling masks and I will forever be grateful to the amazing, loyal customers gained during this unsettled time.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I have always been reluctant to take on too much debt with my business. I went the slow route of making a little income and using most of it to invest back into the business for inventory and operational expenses. I still follow this model and it has served me well. Over the years a few opportunities have popped up requiring quick cash to buy fabric, etc. and I have used credit cards and (sometimes painfully) paid them back.

I use an app called YNAB (You Need A Budget) to manage my business income and expenses. I find it very helpful to fund expenses categories with income as it comes in and to know how much I have to spend at any given time. I have categories set up for Inventory, Taxes, Profit, My Salary and Operational Expenses. I set this up in tandem with the ideas from the book Profit First. As income comes in, I allocate it to each category based on overall percentages of how much I want to spend in each area.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wendybarnesdesign.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wendybarnesdesign
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wendybarnesdesign
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendybarnesdesign
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXkMqm7pcInmLbhu-N3v0sA