We were lucky to catch up with Wendy Lazar recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Wendy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
I do earn a living with my creative thing full-time, but it took a long time to get there. In fact, II picked the worst possible time to go full-time with my dream job because I was 8 months pregnant. I started I Heart Guts as a freaky lil’ side project to my graphic design freelance work. By day, I created websites and logos. By night, I packed and shipped cute organ buttons, stickers and T-shirts. When I started making plushies, the business side of things took off. Sales went up, I got some nice press and stores started carrying plush organs. The path to doing plush organs full time seemed clear except for one tiny problem: I was hugely pregnant, my husband was a graduate student and both of us were scrabbling together rent through a series of freelance odd jobs. And did I mention there was a baby on the way? The timing was absolutely terrible, but I took the leap and have been making plushie organs full-time ever since.
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.
My name is Wendy, and I make organ plush toys. Stuffed uteruses, stuffed gallbladders, stuffed brains, you name it, we have it. I’m a graphic designer and illustrator by trade and a plush organ maker by accident — I love drawing weird stuff and coming up with weird ideas. My primary goal in making plush organs was that it was funny, freaky and slightly educational. But once I got started, my goals changed. I realized these toys had special powers — powers given to them by the customers who buy an organ to support someone going through tough times, or visualize a health struggle. We love how when people see our organ plushies, they immediately think of others — “Didn’t Olivia have her appendix removed?” or “I have to get a pancreas, my dad has diabetes!” So I Heart Guts makes organ plush toys, but thanks to our customers, our mission is also to help cheer people on their health journey.
How did you build your audience on social media?
We’ve been building our guts online community for many years now. We have so many micro-communities we like to shout out: transplant, IVF, diabetes, dialysis, etc. Every day, we find new ways to make our audience laugh, smile or connect. It takes work every single day. Slow organic growth is good, but takes a really long time. Little bites every day add up to a big ol’ meal. My advice to anyone would be — follow your heart! Do what feels real to you and your audience.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Seeing an idea come to life is really satisfying. Coming up with a product — like kidney slippers, or penis neck pillow, for example — is a challenge because I don’t know how to make it, what I’m doing or how to get there. There is no path. I just have to figure it out as I go along. It’s hard to screw up, but screwing up usually means learning and growth. It never gets old to have a total stranger buy my ridiculous stuff and enjoy it out in the world as an expression of their personality or experience. Making things is fun, and seeing it go from a concept to a real thing out in the world in the hands of a kindred spirit is exciting.
Contact Info:
- Website: iheartguts.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iheartguts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iheartguts
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/iheartguts
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLsEYfkMaQGYMnNKzcB8k0Q
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@iheartguts
Image Credits
I Heart Guts