Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaime Coast.

Hi Jaime, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?

I started my business in 2017 as a creative outlet. I was working in marketing for a major media company and wanted an excuse to paint more. I knew receiving regular assignments in the form of commissioned work would help me stay accountable.

My passion for painting grew. And so did my desire to turn my hobby into a business. By 2023, I was making enough consistently to leave my six-figure corporate job and try my hand at full-time entrepreneurship. Now, I spend my days at Cotton & Bow illustrating my client’s love stories and providing non-cookie-cutter stationery for weddings and other events.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

The journey from side hobby to full-time business owner has not always been easy. In the beginning, the largest struggles were time and learning what activities moved the company forward versus which were a waste of time. I built my business during lunch breaks and evening hours, and in between nap times and late night wake ups from my two daughters. I took quite a few breaks from it while I was pregnant and shortly after I had both of my babies for maternity leave. After 5-6 years, I was definitely finished working a full-time job, running a business on the side, and being a mom. So one of those things had to go. After much deliberation, I picked the full-time job to ditch in favor of being a creative business owner.

Now, my struggle is still finding enough time to accomplish everything I want for the business, but an even greater challenge is funding its growth. I take a pretty healthy salary from my business to support my family and it doesn’t leave a lot of room for potential new equipment, office space, expanded inventory, or additional help on the team.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

Cotton & Bow is a stationery company that specializes in personalized, illustrated paper goods. We design and paint everything from save the dates, to invitations, to day-of goods like place cards and menus. And we’ve recently expanded into everyday stationery like thank you cards and note cards, all with our signature watercolor look and customizations.
I’m best known for my whimsical illustration style, which I use to create custom wedding invitations that are anything but cookie-cutter. This year, I had the privilege of working on some incredible projects, illustrating love stories for weddings around the world—from California to Maine, and even Portugal and Italy. What excites me most is how truly extraordinary wedding invitations leave a lasting impression on friends and family, sparking their excitement for the wedding. I always strive to capture not only the spirit of the destination but also the personalities of the couple and their unique love story.

Any big plans?

My number one goal is to create a self-sustaining business. In the immediate future, we’ll be working on launching a wholesale product line to sell at retail, as well as building out our portfolio of ready-to-ship goods on Amazon and our own website. We’ll also be working on more licensing partnerships and PR opportunities to get the word out about Cotton & Bow. It’s really important to me to be able to offer my signature style and customization options to more couples next year and for more occasions than just weddings and showers.

I recently read a book called “10x Is Easier Than 2x: How World-Class Entrepreneurs Achieve More by Doing Less” by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan that really inspired me to think bigger about my goals. Instead of inching forward towards a goal like making double what you made the year before or adding one more revenue stream each year, the book challenges you to examine what it would look like to actually 10x your revenue goals, or add a new revenue stream each month, or reach towards some other seemingly-impossible goal. Entrepreneurs are very good at solving problems. By giving your brain a bigger problem to solve, you’ll look at the challenge in a whole new way. And, of course, how you would solve a 10x problem is usually very different from how you would solve a 2x problem (which is usually just by working more hours!) It’s been an enlightening way to reframe goal setting for my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.cottonandbow.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cottonandbowpaper

Image Credits

Bri Cibene
Cotton & Bow
Whitney Rae Photography