Shop Talk: Truly Sanctuary - Graciously Woven

The season is now upon this wonderful blog where I get to really share more and more about small businesses and their endeavors! Truly Sanctuary is a small business run by a husband and wife duo that have taken screen print shirt designs to another level. I have had the pleasure of following them through Instagram and they are hilarious. Not only do they run their business they have two beautiful girls who allow their lives outside of business to show. It’s always amazing to watch how families navigate business and their own lives – they even share a bit about that too!

Currently they have an IndieGoGo Campaign going on to raise funds for their micro-boutique out in PDX! Check out their video and help them along their way. I know you won’t regret it!

https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/8neEyZ2ACs8&source=uds

Q: How is it managing family and small business?

A: Juggling family and a business is awesome, easy, hard and weird. I love not having the additional burden of convincing my boss, switching a shift or loosing money, when something comes up and I have to take care of myself or my family members. Though sometimes it means a workday without breaks or pulling an all-niter to play catchup, having flexibility to be there for my family is huge. What gets hard is expecting your kids to get when it’s playtime and when it’s work time. It’s hard to get them on board with you getting things done that don’t include them, especially when they’re physically in the same room. It’s getting easier now that they’re in school. I have more uninterrupted time to get things done. They’re also realizing that most of their friend’s parents leave the home to work and we have some unique things to be thankful for.

Q: What has been your biggest seller?

A: As far as our most surprisingly biggest seller, I’d say “Take a Hike”. It was even featured in People magazine last year. It’s one of my favorite designs, so I didn’t assume people would hate it…it wasn’t surprising in that sense. I just sort of doodled it in like 5 minutes. I was living in florida at the time and really missing the Pacific Northwest. The Take a Hike Design was simply a reflection of what was on my heart and it came out naturally and simply. I just never imagined it meaning anything to anyone else really.

Q: What is your creative catalyst?

A: Our Creative Catalyst…Ourselves! We design things we would put on our bodies, or our children’s. Not designing for the masses is probably not going make us millionaires, but it does allow us to connect with most people who interact with our business. Finding connection with like-minded people makes this gig more fulfilling than other jobs I’ve had, for sure!

Q: What is your advice for small business owners? (Top Three)

A: If you can see working for yourself as the payoff and not working for money as the payoff, I believe you can have a really fulfilled experience. Be self taught in as many things as you can. There is so much free information out there. Pay people whose strengths are your weaknesses, don’t pay people to do things you can do or learn to do. Oh and excellent photography sells. A beautiful high quality image will sell your stupidest product. It will get blogged, pinned and re-posted…IF…it doesn’t have a watermark. I think sometimes they look cool and I can tell a lot of care went into the creation of them. Watermarks do worse marketing wise than make you look legit or protect your work in my experience. The people you want sharing your products online find them detracting from the feel they’re creating on their blogs, Pinterest boards and Instagram feed. Unless the product your selling is the photography itself, I’d skip the watermarks/copyright.

You can connect with this shop right here!

Indiegogo Campaign: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/trulysanctuary-microboutique/x/826473

Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/trulysanctuary

Instagram: @trulysanctuary

Twitter: @trulysanctuary

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TrulySanctuary