We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Whitney Hernandez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Whitney below.
Whitney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?
This is a hot topic! What I have learned from starting DFW Signs is, I am not for everyone and that is okay! That is not to say that I don’t have supportive friends and family, because I do but I have just realized that the people that really support you, you will know. There will always be people who can outdo you and do things more advanced than you can but to me, that is not important. I pour my heart into everything I do and that alone brings me support from my friends and family. When I got started, I had a lot of family members and friends order signs from me and they all still do to this day whenever they need something for a gift or an event. I have never been one to ask for support, I have worked my way to where I am by myself and am always thankful for any support I do get.
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
Growing up, I was always pretty crafty! I remember when Michaels used to host those little craft classes and my mom would always take me to them and we would get to make all kinds of different things. I used to scrapbook all of our family trips when I was in middle school, decorate all my school projects way over the top and stuff so I’d say it’s not a surprise this is what I love doing haha. Really though, my business started when my husband bought me a Cricut for one of our anniversaries in 2020 and I was scared of that thing at first! I didn’t know what I was doing and didn’t know how to get started. I YouTube’d a couple things and looked on Pinterest at things I thought I could make and now almost 3 years later— here we are!
My current focus is customized signs! Whether they’re acrylic, wood, or poster board, I make a lot of event signs and business products for vendors! I’m sure people have noticed but balloons and backdrops are such a big thing now a days and if you are going to go all out with those, why not add a sign to go with it! My specialty is custom! If you are having a Spider-Man themed birthday party or an elegant wedding, I can do it all. I design everything you see and I love the creative freedom that comes with it. I’m probably most proud of my poster boards because sometimes I’m my own biggest fan and I’ll finish a mock up for a customer and I’m like “dang I really did that” lol. It’s just really fun to take someone’s ideas that they are thinking but don’t know how to execute and help do it for them and create something they will love!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I would definitely say it takes a lot of patience to grow your following and your audience on instagram and other social medias! When I first started, I felt like I was stuck at 100 followers forever and majority of them if not all of them were my friends and family! I’m not going to sit here and tell you followers aren’t important, because they really are but it’s what you do to keep those followers around that will help you gain more. I try to be my authentic self on my business account. I want people to know who they are ordering from and who they are supporting! I’m not a big company with employees, I’m just one person so it was important to me to get myself out of my comfort zone and be more personable! When I started doing reels and videos on my instagram story of me talking, I realized I got a lot more of an audience. It’s hard though because at the end of the day, you won’t be for everyone and you have to be okay with that. Do it for yourself and believe in yourself and the audience will come with time.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding part of what I do is the satisfaction people get when I give them their signs! I do ship things but 80% of the time, I’m meeting up with them in person and “hand delivering” their orders. It’s such a nice feeling when I show them their order in person and seeing how happy they are and just knowing that I helped bring someone’s vision to life, it’s awesome! I do a lot of important milestones for people like baby showers, bridal showers, birthdays, weddings and nursery signs. I’ve done a nursery sign for a family that struggled to get pregnant so that sign meant a lot to them and it’s just a sweet sentimental thing to be apart of. I always look forward to the “reveal” when the order is finished.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @dfwsigns
- Facebook: DFW Signs
- Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/dfwsigns