I wanted to jot down my thoughts and reflections on the 2024 year that was for Carlita Hearts because a) I haven't done one before, and b) there was a big shift in how I ran Carlita Hearts.
To put some context to this, my husband and I prayerfully decided towards the end of 2023 that I would carve a way to work with the ability to be available in the afternoons after school for our two children. There were two options available, either
+ continue working as a chartered accountant but on a more half day basis, OR
+ take a faith-filled leap and pivot from being an accountant to being an artist and building a creative business
It was something I was torn about - doing the very logical thing I studied for and had experience in, or do something utterly crazy by venturing in to a relatively unknown industry (for me) to grow something that could potentially not be successful.
My husband really encouraged me to do the crazy thing which is a blessing in and of itself! After lots of chats back and forth, we ended up with the conclusion, that if, for whatever reason Carlita Hearts doesn't work out, I still have a CA qualification which I could hurl myself back into that finance space. That, and I eventually thought that if the Lord grants me to live until I'm 80 years old and think back on my life, would I regret not giving Carlita Hearts a good go? And the answer for me was a '(hell) yes, I would regret it'.
I acknowledge there's a big element of privilege in this, so this hasn't been lost on me. But I've been loving running Carlita Hearts for the last 5 years and I am so excited by the vision I have for this creative business' potential.
Intentions for 2024
With that being said, 2024 was the year to transition out of the 'expensive hobby' mindset and build the foundation for a 'profitable business' mindset. So the main intentions set were to
+ explore creating and marketing new offerings
+ take part in 1 local Christmas Market
+ enjoy painting and creating in a way that is sustainable
How It Went
In a nutshell? I'd say great! That's not to say every expectation and goal was achieved, but overall, I'm pretty proud of how the year went.
1. Creating New Offerings
Here I reverse engineered what I wanted to offer at the Christmas Market and brain dumped a list of ideas I was excited about. I eventually settled on offering art prints and stationery.
Because I had no idea how much stock to plan for, I decided to create stationery products that were undated. A flexible way for stationery lovers to purchase all year round and not have pages (or the entire calendar) go to waste. Plus I also wanted something simple yet practical and paper-based to help me with my own planning and that's when the Take Note Monthly and Daily Planner Notepads were born!
Then I designed some new Christmas cards because I felt like something fresh and added some new watercolour art prints too.
In addition, throughout the year I offered new items such as
+ The Finger Puzzle Easter Game for children
+ Gifting sets of botanical art prints, greeting cards and bookmarks
+ In-person watercolour workshops (yay!)
+ New Christmas gift tags which matched the new Christmas card designs I created
+ Hand dyed fabric gift wrap (double yay!)
Some products did really well, and others not so much. And it's OK, it's part of building a business - experimenting, testing and tweaking. It's fun to see what customers connect with while listening to what they need that overlaps with what I'm excited about to create and offer.
2. Marketing Offerings
Carlita Hearts is on Instagram which is the main social media platform to market offerings and share thoughts about being a faith-based creative, in addition to having an online store and email list. I knew having to share consistently yet sustainably is a necessary requirement to achieving sales in your business but I didn't want it to fill my entire to do list with marketing efforts.
Here enters Hannah from HI Communications (not sponsored - sharing my personal thoughts). I have followed her for a while and I just love how she makes marketing your small business simple with a daily 10-minute prompt that's actionable for busy business owners. I signed up for her year long membership to The Best 90 Days and I found it to be so helpful, encouraging and well worth it! What I really enjoyed about it was while you can plan your entire year, rather, she breaks the year into quarters, or 90 days, and you plan those 3 months at a time. Each week is a marketing theme (website, PR, email newsletter, showing up on Instagram stories, etc) and she shares a daily prompt in the morning which you get to do as its supposed to take 10 minutes and tick off your marketing.
The main things I've taken away is that unless you have the budget to hire someone to do your marketing, you are the one who actually has to market and shout about your business - if you want sales, of course. If you don't, no one will know about the lovely things you offer.
Secondly, your audience is full of busy people and they may not see every single thing you share, so share repeatedly, and share in a way that's clear for them to know what you do, what you offer and how they can get it.
Thirdly, keep things simple! When things start to feel overwhelming and you're complicating your marketing efforts, think of the simplest thing you can do to share what you do. Reshare a post already shared, invite your audience to sign up to your newsletter, or share where people can buy from you.
3. Christmas Markets
Since this is my first year being a vendor on the Christmas Market scene, I had to audition first in order to be accepted (or not, if I didn't meet the vibe) in May. I only applied to one market yet there are so many others one could apply to. By God's grace, I was invited by two other Christmas Markets to be a vendor! What a compliment, so I applied to those as well because the organizers help run your stall for you for the duration of the market which is helpful for someone like me who still works full-time.
I was accepted at all three which was incredible! And the products I mentioned earlier, the planner notepads, new Christmas greeting cards and art prints were all designed and created during the first quarter of the year! I've been in the Christmas head space for the entire year but it was helpful to think of the end point, namely the Christmas Markets, and then work backwards to offer what I wanted.
My only big concern was determining how much stock I need to keep on hand. Do I need 5 planner notepads or 500 planner notepads? I decided to pick a number, and if I don't sell everything, my stationery products are undated so those could sell throughout the next year. My rather high sales goals weren't achieved, if I am being honest, but I still made some really good sales at all 3 markets. Very pleased with that plus Carlita Hearts has now increased brand awareness and built relationships with the market organizers which has been beneficial too.
4. Painting Consistently
This ebbed and flowed as the year progressed. The busier things became, the less time I had to paint. I've made it a point to put "10 minutes painting" as the first thing on my to do list which I've managed to do at times but not as consistently as what I've liked.
Offering in-person watercolour workshops has been such a fun outlet. Getting to meet others curious about watercolour and refining my own watercolour painting and teaching skills gives me a chance to paint. I hosted 3 workshops at my home and 1 festive one at a venue as well as hosted 2 corporate ones.
It's something I'd like to continue offering in the new year to encourage people to get creative and play, and see how fun and magical watercolour can be!
With my own painting practice, I hope to paint more regularly and follow my curiousity of what I'd like to paint. Being a self-taught artist means that you need to 'create your own curriculum' in order to improve and enjoy the art of creating.
Looking Ahead
In the new year, I'll be transitioning out of my full-time role and getting really stuck into building Carlita Hearts. While prayerfully looking to the Lord for guidance, I'm so excited by the possibilities. When I see other creatives, particularly watercolour artists run wonderful businesses offering work that excites them, it inspires me in a way that supports the idea that one can build a financially stable creative business. Yes, yes, it's still early days but when you see others paving the way, that gives you such an inspirational boost.
What I also realised is that this may the toughest road to embark on instead of relying on a stable income. But I think there may be a reason why it can work - I am a chartered accountant AND an artist! What better way to be equipped than having business and artistic skills?! Hope I won't be eating my words in future, but I've let go of the pressure of "what happens if it doesn't work" because then, I'll have to move Carlita Hearts out of business mode into hobby mode and go be a CA. So all is not lost, and we get to live and learn with the various experiences granted to us.
With the year drawing to a close, I am also reminded that I wouldn't have been able to do both - run Carlita Hearts, work full-time, look after my family, still have time to see loved ones and enjoy some restful time. I could feel I was burning the candle at both ends at times so I'm hoping to work with a few more boundaries and be more organised to manage my energy levels.
So looking forward to what the new year holds, and what Carlita Hearts can be! My heart is so full of gratitude for this last year - for God who keeps bringing along these creative opportunities and for loved ones who have supported me along the entire way so far. I hope this has encouraged you, not to go ahead and start a side business, but to start creating as a form of worship and relaxation. For me, painting is so therapeutic and it brings me such joy and it is from this heart that I love to bring artful goods out into world for you to enjoy a joyful and creative life.