Turning a Passion for Art into a Successful Handmade Art and Block Prints Business – Emily Kelley of Art and She

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Hey there entrepreneurs, my name is Sushant and welcome to Treptalks. This is a show where I interview successful e commerce entrepreneurs, business executives, and thought leaders and ask them questions about their business story and also dive deep into some of the strategies and tactics that they have used to start and grow their businesses.

And today I’m really excited to welcome Emily Kelly to the show. Emily is the founder of Land and She. Emily is a self taught illustrator and block printer and the artist behind Land and She. Emily creates beautiful handmade art pieces inspired by a love for nature. And today I’m going to ask Emily a few questions about her entrepreneurial journey and some of the strategies and tactics that she has used to start and grow her business.

Now, before we dive into this interview, if you enjoy this kind of content, please make sure to hit the like and subscribe button. And for more content like this, please visit our website, triptalks. [00:01:00] com. And with that, Emily, welcome. And thank you so much for joining me today. I really appreciate, appreciate your time.

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Awesome. I’m so excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: So first of all, let me ask you this. Do you consider yourself first an artist or an entrepreneur?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: I would, I would consider myself an artist. I think only recently did I start to embrace the term entrepreneur. I think that feels a little bit intimidating as if someone went to school for business and entrepreneurship, right?

And as someone that went to art school, actually, when I was in art school to make money, I was a graphic designer for the Entrepreneurship Institute, um, at Temple where I went to school. So, I had, I’m sure that that contributed somewhat to my interest in like starting a business and entrepreneurship in general, but that felt [00:02:00] very much like, okay, if I decided to go into business, I could be an entrepreneur versus I’m an artist first and foremost, and somehow navigated my way into being an entrepreneur, if that makes sense.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: For sure. And I think, you know, we’re living in a day and age now where I think there’s a newfound appreciation for artists, right? Like in the, in the previous world, like, I think artists were kind of limited in, in terms of how they can, I guess, commercialize their art. Right. And make money out of it. But now it’s like, there are so many avenues, not just by selling art, but you know, there’s graphic design.

There’s, you know, so many things that artists can do. I think that even, you know, in the age of AI in the future, I think artists, I think will be. And in the creatives, uh, will definitely have a, uh, a place in the world that artificial intelligence, I maybe not be able to fulfill. I mean, I don’t know if this is going in a little bit of a different direction, but have you seen some of the art [00:03:00] created by AI and do you have any thoughts on that?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Sure, I think that AI has its place, right? I think, you know, I’ve seen it in terms of if you’re taking, let’s say, typography and you want it to be composed of a really like fuzzy looking feel or, um, A thousand little dots or something like that. I, you know, when I went to art school, everything was made by hand and you know, that was a very different process to what we have now.

We have ways of creating things that are super digital and can take ideas. And instead of me, Taking a fuzzy tangible material and trying to form that into typography myself, I can go on and use AI and say, hey, I want pink fuzzy type and they’ll generate it, right? And so you’re saving a lot of time there and you’re getting to a product that might be even beyond what you are thinking.

I mean, a balloon material [00:04:00] is another one I’ve seen where it’s like a shiny type, like all formed into, um, like a beautiful script made out of balloon material, you know, that’s something that you can accomplish that might not be possible if you were to be in your studio and blowing up balloons and informing that, right?

So I do think there is a place for AI. Um, I still do think that there will be nothing that will replace an artist’s own touch and style, but I think if there’s something specific that you’re looking for, I, I think AI is a great tool to bring it to life. So another example is if I’m branding a restaurant and I have this idea for the interior and I want it to look pretty realistic.

I can go into AI and say, Hey, I want this type of, uh, lighting, this type of wallpaper, this type of furniture, and can really get a sense of that interior versus me, let’s say going on to Photoshop and individually placing all those elements and kind of like collaging it together. So I, I think [00:05:00] it does have a way of, um, expressing kind of what we need in a really short amount of time.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah. It’s almost like, you know, it, it can, it can be a starting point to give you ideas very quickly. Right. Like, do you ever kind of, I don’t know what your creative process is. Uh, I would love to know about it, but, uh, do you ever go to an AI to get new ideas or, or are you the kind of person who is like, you know, I’ve heard a lot of artists here, you know, things just come into their, uh, into their brain from they don’t know where.

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Yeah, for me and my specific process, I haven’t turned to AI, um, just because I think the being out in nature and that sort of opposite, um, exposure, like not necessarily a digital approach, but more of just a visual approach. Yeah. The organic, um, way that you can get nature inspired, um, like thoughts and, and how that process goes is where I like to [00:06:00] start first.

I mean, when I started my business, I was all pen and paper. So I really come from, um, the opposite of digital only because I have a graphic design background and I wanted an outlet that got me away from screens. So that was where, um, I sort of turn to, so maybe in the future, who knows, I’ll go to AI if I need to mock up some sort of mural or who knows, you know, right?

Um, but at the moment I’m still very much a, uh, a pen and paper kind of gal and start from there.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: So I see that you’re sitting in your studio and I mean, I’m kind of imagining you just sitting there working. And of course, right now, I think on your website, it says you’re like a one person artist, but is this kind of like your shop as well, where you kind of do your e commerce business from, like, do you have other members of your, uh, team who are helping you out with your e commerce and you’re kind of, you have your own office where you’re doing the artwork.

How does, [00:07:00] how does your process work?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: So right now it is, it does say on my site, I’m a one woman shop and that is very true. I operate just myself. I create all the art, um, myself here in my studio. And if it’s digital art prints, I get those produced at a print shop in Philadelphia called fireball prints.

And I love them. I’ve been using them for years. Uh, if it’s bandanas, I outsource them to pine. print shop there in Fort Collins, Colorado. But if it’s a block print, I’m carving it and printing it from my studio here and everything gets fulfilled here. So I’m packing and shipping everything from my studio, which is essentially just a second bedroom in my apartment, uh, carriage house set up.

Yeah.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Wow. Okay. So I have to say, you know, I’m, um, I’m, I’m a little bit away from the art world. So maybe you can help me explain some of your, uh, the kind of arts that you create. Uh, so on your website, you have something [00:08:00] called art prints and then you have block prints. And, and of course you’re selling some additional goods like bandana, notebooks, stickers.

You have also, I guess, tattoo prints. Can you talk through a little bit of your products and what are, what is kind of your specialization, um, that you sell?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Sure. So the majority, I think the specialization is really conceptual ideas that come from nature and kind of a meditative state and bringing those images together.

And I take from my graphic design background a little bit and doing rebrands and, and branding concepts, right. And bringing concepts into illustration. So that comes out in the form of art prints, bandanas, Really any form that I see would fit naturally to the image. So in terms of my art prints I, I turned to digital, uh, and iPad, you [00:09:00] know, drawing creations in terms of making my digital prints because that allowed me to add color in a way that I couldn’t before.

So you also mentioned block prints and I am. Essentially in that process, carving a linoleum block, a rubber block by hand and inking it and then placing paper down, pressing it, and pulling it so that it creates a unique original print. Um, that’s a process that’s quite from India and it’s been used for thousands and thousands of years and it’s such a unique and wonderful process because you can take the block and print on paper, um, print on fabric, which I love too.

And, um, so that’s been a really great process and outlet as well. So, you know, I’ve got sort of like a digital side of things that allows me to explore and also You know, another whole side of things, which we could get into is my freelance work and working with other brands, other companies, and that has really opened the door [00:10:00] through making this like digital colorful artwork.

That’s been such a great piece of my business too. So I hope that answers your question.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah, for sure. I mean, the thing is, you know, as you mentioned this, uh, block print is, uh, is also in India, and the, the reason I relate to it is because a lot of the, you know, growing up in India, a lot of our bedsheets had like these kind of prints all, you know, yeah.

All the time. And so I, when I look, look at it, I, I definitely kind of, uh, can relate to it very easily. Um, but. The products on your website, is, is it like, what is someone buying, is, are they buying, so you create a piece of art, and then you basically would make copies of it, or is it like original piece of art that somebody is buying, and is it like a piece of paper that somebody is buying, what, what exactly, uh, am I buying when I go on your website?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Sure. So if you’re buying, let’s say, an art [00:11:00] print, you are buying a reproduction of that artwork. So, as you said, sort of like a copy, right? And I, on the back, sign and number all of those prints because I operate in a small batch sort of system. I never want it to feel overly, like, mass produced in any way.

Um, I found that this process of, of ordering things in small batches, but still having it be, able to be reproduced a bunch of times has really been super beneficial for my business because I started out only really doing block prints, which those are hand printed by me one at a time at a time. So I’m only making, let’s say like five to 10 of those in a day.

And I think on my website, it says it takes about a week or even up to two weeks when you order one of those for me to have time to kind of like print it, let it dry, pack and ship it. So You know, that that is the beautiful process, but it [00:12:00] also doesn’t lend itself to expanding and growing as a business, right?

So the art prints are special in themselves, but it allows me to also have wholesale, you know, with those prints. So I’m in retail stores across the country with those art prints and stickers and bandanas. Um, so yeah, you are getting a printed piece that you can frame and put in your home. And, um, I have this little like discount on my shop that says, you know, if you buy two, you get one free because I’ve always noticed that, you know, a grouping of them is really fun in someone’s home.

And, um, you know, people have fun with that. They like to mix and match all the different sizes and the colors together.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: For sure. Um, from a business side of things, um, what is, are you, I mean, I see that on your Instagram, you have like 100, 000 followers, like, are you selling mostly to like individual?

People who are [00:13:00] interested in your art and they’re buying it, or as you said, you know, you’re selling to wholesale and retailers as well. What, what does your business like constitute right now? Mostly, um, um, yeah. Who’s who’s buying from you?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Sure. So I have about. Those two avenues, right? So I have direct to consumer online sales, and then I have wholesale retail sales, those both make up about like half, I would say wholesale has now even surpassed the online sales.

That’s become way more popular, um, in terms of getting, um, uh, these retailer connections and, and them buying wholesale and having my prints and goods in their store. So, but if it’s an online. Direct to consumer purchase. I would say my audience and my target audience is around, um, twenties to forties women in that age range.

Some men as well are in that category too. Um, there are folks who love the outdoors, have an appreciation for the outdoors. Maybe they [00:14:00] have a nine to five that’s in the corporate world, but they went on a trip to Colorado and really connected with that experience and, you know, found my artwork and said, Oh, this looks exactly like the landscape that we saw.

Or this reminds me of something that I love about my hometown or, you know, this or that. And, and that’s kind of the connection that I’m trying to make with my audience. And, um, you know, there’s also folks that are in the yoga meditation space that really connects with my work. And I would say overall, the majority of the audience That is interested in my work has either a creative mindset or they’re just a super creative individual in general and The shops that I’m connected to on the wholesale side of things They really have an understanding for their customer as well.

So I think that’s super beneficial because If a customer has, let’s say they’re in Arizona and they absolutely love this shop, they love the goods, the candles, the, the prints, you [00:15:00] know, they’re going into that shop knowing that they have things that they love. So I’m kind of in a sort of secondary way, getting that connection with that customer and getting right into the persona that is going to To be interested in this work, if that makes sense.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: For sure. I mean, as you were describing this, I mean, I was thinking that as an artist and the pieces that you’re creating, I mean, they’re one of a kind. So you, I probably, you probably don’t think of your business in terms of competition, right? Like it’s, it’s your work, it’s unique, so you can’t, you, nobody else can really compete from you.

And so I think from a business point of view, you’re thinking, how can I find kind of people who can appreciate your art, right? Your individual art. Um, how do you kind of, um, I mean, when you’re wearing your artist hat versus entrepreneur hat, like, [00:16:00] how are you thinking more about your business? More now, like, are you every day, do you like, do you allocate time where you’re thinking who else I can target today, uh, where, you know, where, who, you know, what is the new retailer that I can, uh, share my art with, or you’re like, that’s an organic process now that people come to you and you’re basically focused on creating art.

Like, how do you manage your time between being an artist and entrepreneur?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: I think that’s a really great question. I. I think it’s really important to have a little bit of both. I think that I try to think about my customer pretty much daily and can I embody the type of customer that that gravitates towards my work and do we listen to the same type of music?

Do we like the same type of apparel or the outdoors? And I think about that because I think the more specific [00:17:00] you can be with who you’re, you’re, I don’t want to say targeting, cause it sounds very harsh, but who you’re connecting with, um, is really important because There’s so many artists out there and there’s so many types of illustrators and everyone does it super well, but I think your job as a entrepreneur and artist is to tell your own story.

And I can almost guarantee that there’s somebody else out there that connects to that story. So kind of, as you said, I think a lot of that organically happens. You know, the certain retailers that I’ve seen place orders with my shop, I’m, you know, I, I’m like, I would, I would absolutely shop at those stores.

So I think organically happens over time and the more grounded you are in yourself and in your art and you try to not lose sight of, you know, that by, you know, you, you can easily lose sight of that when you say to yourself, Oh, what’s going to make me a ton of money. What’s going to get me a bunch of [00:18:00] sales, but that’s very fleeting.

I think it’s important to stay super grounded in your own. I don’t even want to say brand, but cause I am sort of creating a brand, but it feels very much myself. And I get inspired by my customers and my retailers and It kind of is a snowball effect from there.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: I think for any business, you know, distribution is very important.

And of course, right now you’re getting distribution from your direct to consumer and also through the retailers. But at the same time, you also mentioned some sort of a freelance work or working with brands. I mean, have you, do you ever think about getting your art exposed through like some of these bigger, let’s say greeting card brands, or, you know, I don’t know what other brands, uh, where they can appreciate, you know, this kind of art.

But, um, do you, do you have any such partnerships where you’re getting exposure to like a very big brand?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: I do have a [00:19:00] few brand partnerships that I do. And I think it’s an interesting point in my business that I’m at because I am getting to a point where I have to be very conscious about what type of collaborations I I love doing collaborations, but I think in my line of business, it makes more sense for me to align with the branding side of things, the graphic design side of things, like doing rebrands for breweries and small businesses versus, Oh, I’m going to make this bandana for this large brand because I don’t want to compete with myself because I sell bandanas.

So that’s something that I. I’m very conscious of, and I love doing collaborations, but I think right now in terms of where I’m at in my current business, which is very interesting because I think I didn’t really realize how much I would grow the brand versus just being an individual artist creating illustrations, right?

Like I [00:20:00] think it’s now morphing into something else. So I’m, I’m conscious to not put myself in a position where I am giving away incredible designs and then competing with myself. But, uh, I do love collaborating where I can and what makes sense. And I love being able to use my graphic design side and bring that into Land and She and do these brands, um, do these branding projects, these conceptual, um, ideas into brands and, and, um, you know, logos and all of that, because that is the other half of me that I’ve kept dormant from Land and She for a long time.

So I think that is where. my, my future thoughts are going versus, um, you know, I keep my, my, uh, creative product side of things. I’m keeping it a little bit closer to the vest now.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Do you, do you ever, I mean, it almost feels like, Um, you’re, [00:21:00] you’re worried that you are going to run off, run out of ideas. I mean, as a creative, it’s like, I’m thinking that maybe, you know, you, you have much to share with the brand, bigger brands and still have stuff that’s your own.

Do you ever worry about, you know, running out of ideas?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: I think every artist is to some extent, right? I think we all go through periods of burnout and. That is just the creative process. I mean, you will not talk to another creative person or artist that says, yeah, I’ve gotten to a point where I’m like, is there more here?

And I think you constantly have to reinvent yourself, constantly have to, even just switching around furniture in my studio and refreshing it makes me feel excited for new ideas. I think you can really Hit a wall at certain points, but, uh, I think I’ve just always been really, um, like it’s been tough for me to put my ideas out there and let go of some of my [00:22:00] creative ideas.

And I think that’s, I think that I will forever kind of struggle with the control side of things like I, I, I’m a little bit of a perfectionist. And, you know, I love when I have great ideas and sometimes I almost have to play like my own client because it’s easier for me sometimes to come up with an idea, if I have a creative brief from a client.

Versus just sitting down and being like, okay, what should I make? What kind of bandana should I produce? If I give myself my own creative brief and say, these are the parameters, it almost helps in a certain way.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah. And I was thinking about that, you know, as a, as a one person shop or one person artist, like, what is your criteria of selling?

saying, yes, you know, I’ve created this four pieces of art and one of these pieces is more suitable for commercial, uh, commercialization or selling versus these three pieces. They’re good, but I, you know, I’ll, I’ll keep them for myself. Like, do you have other people who kind of help you in [00:23:00] that process or is that something that you do on your own?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: It’s something I definitely do on my own. I would say that the, The retail or collaboration side of things, a lot of the time it’s custom. So I’m not usually in the case where I say, Oh, these, these pieces, I’m going to keep to myself and this one I can give to this brand. It’s usually I’m in a position where it’s a custom collaboration and I’m making that piece for them.

But at the end of the process, I’m always like, Oh, this is great. Like I wish I came up with something like that. But I think again, that’s that. That parameter and that creative brief side of things that I like to direct towards myself, because there’s something about that process that opens up another level of creativity that I, I don’t expect until I see the end product.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Well, I, I was referring more to like, you know, you’ve created something, but you are saying as an artist, you’re, you know, being your own critic, you’re saying, you know, this is good, but this does not meet the, you know, almost like the quality [00:24:00] control where. I, you know, I’m not, this is like 95%, but it’s not, it’s not going to 100 percent where I would want to put it out there to sell.

Um, do you have any such, uh, any such thing where, you know, I think even, even the great artists, they had, they created several iterations of a certain thing. And sometimes, you know, they may not even have put the final piece out. Sometimes they find like their, their, uh, uh, piece, uh, hidden somewhere.

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Sure.

Yeah, that’s, that’s a great, that’s a great point. I think for every artist there’s always those hidden pieces that you try to get an idea out of and it doesn’t fully feel finished and it just doesn’t see the light of day. I, I try to put my art pieces out there because sometimes the idea that you’re like, I don’t know if [00:25:00] there’s, if this is totally finished or if this is completely right for my style or my business, but then I, You know, put it out into the world and I get a really big response from it.

It’s always those pieces that you’re not too sure of, or you could just run it into the ground and keep working on forever. But I’ve sort of now gotten into a space where I just pushed myself to put it out there and just see what the feedback is and go from there. And more often than not. It’s more well received than you think.

Now, if there’s a piece where I’m like, Oh my gosh, this is amazing. I love it. Sometimes that doesn’t even go as well as you would think. It’s always, you know, such an interesting process when that happens. But, um, yeah, I think that every artist has that moment where you have all of these drafts saved that just never.

come out of anything. And sometimes that’s okay because it’s the idea that you’re working through and maybe that gets processed [00:26:00] in a totally different image or a totally different artwork, but you’re working with, you know, your original thought that you were processing and working through that didn’t come to the final piece that you were, you were super happy with, if that makes sense.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah. I mean, it’s so interesting to me that, you know, you as an artist. And create something that you would think is like a really, um, intricate piece of art or, you know, really something beautiful, but it doesn’t appeal to the mass market. And, uh, yeah, it’s, I think, I guess that would be a dilemma and, and I guess an instinct to be developed, you know, as a, as a business person to what is going to appeal to mass market versus what is something that I, I would like myself or another artist would like, um, Do you, do you think mass market has different taste versus, you know, what an artist would like?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: I think it’s [00:27:00] interesting to think about mass market versus an artist because sometimes a piece is so personal to an artist but doesn’t relate to people in the mass market and I think it’s also interesting to talk about, you know, my art versus mass market because these are prints that go into people’s homes and We’ve even seen just on social media within the last five years that there’s been a shift in decor and, you know, we went from minimalism is the most, you know, is, is the best, you know, highest achieving goal for your interior space, right?

Everyone wanted to be a minimalist. Now people are excited about maximalism and having these curated pieces in their home that they’re just excited to collect. And so that’s great for me because they probably want more framed art [00:28:00] pieces. But I do think about that in terms of the style of which I’m making my art and I try to not let it inform me too much.

But in terms of the mass market, I think that is where the artist versus the mass market in terms of what I do could sway because if I have a really intricate piece that seems like it’s overworked, maybe too much detail, it’s not really going to go in someone’s home that likes very like clean lines, abstract shapes.

Um, you know, maybe they’ll go for another piece of mine that’s like very simple, bold. So that I’ve noticed could be the translation from me personally and my pieces to what’s going to appeal to mass market and how that changes over time.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: For sure. Uh, I’m very curious about your, you as an artist yourself, um, at what point in your life did you realize that you, you, you, you liked art or you liked drawing?

I’m assuming this was like your childhood, like [00:29:00] since childhood, you knew it. And, and at what point you kind of realized that you can, you can sell your piece or somebody’s willing to pay for it? Like, when did you make your first sale, I guess, as an artist?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Wow. Okay. We’ll have to go back to childhood. Um, so I, of course, yes, when I was a child, I wanted to be an artist.

I think, originally, I wanted to work for, like, Pixar and be an animator. Whoa. loved Pixar movies so much. We would go to the movie theaters every birthday and I would see a Pixar movie. Like I was obsessed with Bugs Life and I was just like, that’s what I want to do. Um, I think when I went to art school, it became more clear to me that I wanted to go into graphic design and that was even not as popular as it is now.

I mean, you say graphic design and, and pretty much everyone knows what you’re talking about, but, um, at the time it wasn’t as super popular. [00:30:00] But in terms of selling my first piece, I remember trying to make a little bit of money while I was in high school and my parents lived by a golf course. And I think that was the start of a little bit of an entrepreneurship spirit in me.

So I went out, took photos of the golf course and painted watercolor, uh, pieces of each of the holes and Um, would sell them to people that were members of the golf club and they were pretty popular and I, you know, made a little website for myself and that was probably the first iteration of selling art and my first purchase.

And I think that was probably one of the first times where I learned how important it is to have kind of an audience, right? Like a target audience of what you’re selling. And it’s certainly different than what I do now, but that’s probably the first iteration of selling my first piece.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: How do you [00:31:00] price your art?

I mean, it seems like you have kind of a standard price for your art prints. Um, how do you define what your art, uh, It’s worth.

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Yeah, I think that’s a really interesting question in terms of my shop. I’m really cognizant of affordability and inclusion in terms of my prices and how I sell my art. I take into accountability the the reproduction of the art prints.

So those are like fairly more affordable than a block print where I’m carving it and printing it and the block prints. Those are priced in terms of how much. Um, time I’m spending on the block and the bigger the block is, the, the bigger I’m carving and the more time that’s spent so that, that time goes up.

I’ve given myself sort of an hourly rate to work off of in terms of freelance because that just gives me a gauge for, how much to [00:32:00] charge. And it’s taken me about, you know, six years to really kind of get a hold around how to price things and price things fairly so that I’m fairly compensated. And again, in terms of a shop, just going back to that, I’ve really learned how to Make sure I’m, I’m being cognizant of my own profit margins and taking shipping into consideration and making sure that I make money at the end of the day, cause that’s really important as a full time, uh, shop owner.

Um, but yeah, I think what I love about my shop is that it’s got a range, right? So you can spend anywhere from 3 to, I think my highest item is probably 75. So it really allows a lot of flexibility for. the, the average consumer to come in and say, okay, I only want to spend, you know, a certain amount of money versus, okay, I’m selling a thousand dollar paintings and that’s all I sell.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Do you ever think about [00:33:00] collaborations or collaborating with other artists where, you know, you, you, you’re taking more of the business persons, um, role and, you know, giving voice and exposure to other artists through your business.

Emily Kelley of Land and She: I have in the past. I think it’s really important to make sure that you are.

Doing that and giving a voice. I have, um, compilated reels on my Instagram, or I should say posts where, you know, I’m tagging artists that I’m inspired by. I also love to reshare other artists work to my stories. I think it’s really important to. give space and opportunity to all different types of artists.

I can’t remember the last time I did a collaboration with another artist. I think the closest was when there’s giveaways on Instagram. I’ve worked with, um, a jewelry maker and a ceramic artist or a metalsmith artist, and we [00:34:00] all collaborate on one piece and, and And work on a collection that makes sense for all of us and that’s what I love is like crossing over with different mediums of art Um, but yeah, I think it’s super important to Have a community of artists that you’re excited about and to talk about them.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Are there marketplaces? On the internet that cater to just art pieces like these kind of art pieces and, you know, other artists who create these kind of pieces, put their art out there. I mean, what I think about is Etsy, but Etsy is a very broad. Are there similar marketplaces that cater to just art pieces as well?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Yeah, there definitely are. I mean, I’m, I’m blanking on some other names. I know society six is a type of artist focused website where you’re creating your art. It’s actually kind of a great place for early artists. I know I had some of my work on society six early on because [00:35:00] they are taking a lot of the The work out of producing the product and just taking your art and putting it on a shower curtain or a rug or a tapestry and you can get your work out there if you’re new to the space and they’ll take care of the production.

Now, it’s not always the best when you use these like third party sites, because they’re taking a lot of the, the, the money away when you purchase, you know, one of your products. So I would just say to any artists out there to be careful about like looking into the fine print and just making sure that you’re getting compensated fairly when you put your art on some of these sites.

But, um, there certainly are websites where you can sell your print. You can sell t shirts through a third party site. Um, that’s become very, very popular now to do.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah, it probably, um, Probably very easy also, right? Like it takes a, it takes, uh, um, I guess the aspect of, uh, [00:36:00] creating t shirt or, you know, some, some of those products away, so all you are doing is really focusing on the art and then they give you distribution through, through printing it through on, on other items, um, So you said that you do your own fulfillment, how everything is through your, uh, I mean, for something like this, I guess you don’t need a big warehouse.

Uh, how do you package everything yourself when you, when you get an order?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Sure. So the nice thing about the platform I use is Shopify. So my, uh, obviously my online sales come through Shopify, but also my wholesale, I use a platform called fair and they’re integrated with Shopify. So any wholesale order that’s gets placed on fair by a retailer flows automatically through to my Shopify.

So it kind of gets processed like. Any order would, and I use Tuesdays and Thursdays now as my packing day. So I’ll line up, you [00:37:00] know, my wholesale orders that need to go out that day. And I will lump in my shop orders into that as well. And yeah, I don’t need a ton of, um, packaging necessarily. I have boxes for wholesale because those are, um, a lot of prints in one.

Um, but I just have mailers and, and, and plastic sleeves and, um, I’ll, I’ll take a, uh, an art print and use a backing board so it doesn’t get bent in the mail and, and package those together. And I have a label maker, which is probably the single handedly best thing I’ve ever bought for my business, which essentially it just prints out a four by six sticker label for your, um, for your, your packages.

And I have a scale, which is. Probably the second best thing I ever bought for my business, which I can weigh my packages in ounces, add that into Shopify, print out my label that comes through my little, uh, print, like my Dynemo. I think the brand is called, uh, Label Printer. And, um, [00:38:00] That’s just how it, how it works.

I make sure that when I’m fulfilling orders, I just go down a list and I write, um, you know, the customer’s name and their order number on the envelope that’s being mailed out. And then I can match that up when I print all my labels out and just double check, make sure it’s going to the right location and it’s become very like systematic for me, which is great because.

You know, in the past, I remember with wholesale orders, at least I would send a retailer, like a word document almost, or like an Adobe PDF, and they would have to print out and write in what they wanted and, and, and scan it in and email it back to me. And now everything can just be processed in one system, which for me being a one person shop that keeps everything very orderly.

I can process wholesale and direct to consumer orders in the same way, and it doesn’t really change too much.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah. I mean, Shopify is definitely a great platform in terms of integrating everything. Um, let’s talk a little bit about your marketing. I mean, I see that you have an Instagram [00:39:00] profile and a hundred thousand followers there.

Um, and of course you’re putting your products on, as you said, uh, fair and, and, um, and you have your own website. How do you get new new customers, I guess, you know, uh, are people coming through your Instagram, uh, account? Are you doing any sort of paid advertising? How, how do you attract new people, uh, or is it pretty much organic?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: A lot of it is organic. I could certainly throw more money at paid marketing and paid ads. I don’t at the moment. That is something on the back burner that I’m thinking about because Instagram has drastically changed in the last, I would say even year. It’s just changed in terms of the type of content people are going to Instagram for.

I’ve been very lucky in the past to just have a lot of my sales come directly through Instagram. Now I’m seeing a shift to Pinterest. [00:40:00] Actually, I’m getting a lot of traffic through Pinterest and I pin my own work to Pinterest and I think why that’s maybe shifted is because a lot of the people that are on Pinterest are excited about maybe updating their interior design space or looking for design inspiration.

And it’s such a visual platform that I think it naturally is leaning, like my work is leaning towards that type of activity going on on Pinterest versus now Instagram is more about reels and videos and all of that. Um, But I, you know, I do sometimes post if I see a post on Instagram doing well, I do push it as an ad to see if it gets, you know, boosted and, and, and get some traction.

But Pinterest is where I will more often than not use a pin as an ad versus Instagram just because it, you know, It gets more traction that way. Um, in person sales, like art markets that I do, [00:41:00] I think are really helpful to acquiring new customers. I think tangibly seeing the items in person is very different than experiencing it online and seeing it digitally.

And then I think my retail sales and being in stores has a lot of impact. I think the way that it’s expanded across the country and the way a customer can go into a store and maybe even they don’t buy one of my prints, but on the back I put, you know, who I am, my logo, my website, my Instagram. So I certainly think I’m accruing new customers through that as well.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Wow. How, uh, so for art markets, like do you travel around the country to to showcase your art, or is it mostly like a local area?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: It’s definitely local. I live in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, and they have an amazing community here, an amazing creative community, so I’ve been very lucky to go to some of the art markets that are here.

I’ll go to a few in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia, some of the surrounding areas. But it’s been a new process [00:42:00] for me. I mean, that is a whole setup in terms of making sure that you are strategically setting up your booth and all of your products are packaged and ready to go. So that is a whole process that I am just sort of diving in before I just sort of ditched my toes into the, into the, uh, art market.

So. space, but it’s been, it’s been great to connect with artists and connect with my customers too. Maybe the people that know me that haven’t met me in person or even just new customers that I can just talk to in person.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Uh, in terms of future, how do you see, I mean, do you want to stay a one person artist entrepreneur kind of a system like five years, 10 years down the road?

Like, is that your ideal kind of a situation? And do you. Think about the future and you think about being, uh, a bigger business, you know, having more distribution, like maybe more product types. What, what, what is your, uh, future vision for your business?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Sure. I envision, I [00:43:00] mean, I think about the future a lot.

I think about what type of economy we’re going to have, how artists are going to be able to thrive in terms of their businesses, what types of businesses they have, I would love to stay. just a solo artist with my business. Now I could see myself bringing on someone to help with emails and maybe shipping fulfillments, things that I could kind of give to someone else to help with.

I think that would be the easiest sort of outlet as, as, as well as maybe email marketing. Some of that other side of the business that I could pass on to someone that has more of an expertise in that area. There’s a great book, um, by Paul Jarvis called company of one. And it’s a really insightful book.

And mostly the overall takeaway is that in order to have a successful business, you don’t [00:44:00] need to scale and take on a huge team and have thousands and thousands of products. Really what can make you a successful company of one is. thinking about what your own personal goal is and how monetarily to get there and maybe you are cutting back on things that are taking your time away and putting your time into things that are going to help your business thrive, right?

Um, yeah. He likes it to talk about this story where he went out surfing with a fellow entrepreneur and he, the entrepreneur surfing was like saying, Oh, he can take the rest of the year off because he hit all of his targeted goals and, and sales and, and, uh, profit within the first half of the year, because he, you know, put in processes in place where he was, um, kind of making money that, you know, Um, was either like an online workshop [00:45:00] or things where he didn’t physically have to be part of it.

So I think that there’s smart ways to operate as a company of one and, um, sort of offload some of your resources. And if you could automate some of your parts of your business, you can scale bringing on more people and, and creating even more kind of work for yourself, right? Because that is the, the side to scaling and growing a business that I’ve seen happen where you do more, more and more, but then that takes its own resources and time and that can create even more problems for your business.

So I hope to scale in the future, obviously, but stay, you know, a company of one or a business of one, if possible.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah, I mean, I think technology these days have enabled, uh, people to do so much more just, uh, just on their own, right? I mean, there’s so much skill that you get [00:46:00] through technology itself. Like, you know, you talked about having Shopify and being able to do a lot more through it.

And, and I think the other thing also is that every entrepreneur has their own personal goals. Like, you know, not everybody wants to have global distribution, you know, some people, you know, as you said. Every entrepreneur has their own goals and if they’re meeting their goals and, you know, they’re satisfied.

So yeah, I think it’s a very valid point if you want to be an entrepreneur of one and just maybe outsource some of the operational stuff. So that’s very interesting. In every entrepreneur’s journey, there’s mistakes made, lessons learned, failures. Since you’ve been doing your own business, Um, and, and, you know, coming from like as an artist background, have you, did you run into any challenges, hiccups, uh, failures that you eventually thought that, you know, you should, you could have avoided?

What did you learn from it? What can other entrepreneurs learn from your mistakes?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: [00:47:00] Absolutely. I think that one lesson that I learned and a hard lesson I learned was early, early on in my career when I was working full time as a graphic designer and doing illustration on the side and doing freelance illustration, I did not even think about contracts.

The idea of making a contract before I sold my art to a brand was not even on my radar. I was just so excited to get a job and get paid, you know, a small amount at the time to, to get my work out there. Right. And so I think when you’re a young artist, You don’t even necessarily have that on your radar.

You’re like, I’ll just take anything to get my name out there, my work out there. But in doing so, and the lesson I learned is that, you know, these companies can take your art and make thousands and thousands of dollars off of it. And you don’t have a contract to, to say, Hey, I got paid this much. small fee five years ago, and you’re still using this design and making thousands of dollars off of it.

[00:48:00] And I really have nothing to legally back myself up there because I never signed a contract and they have the design files, right? Well, I would say to any young artists, there are resources available for contracts. AIGA has a great. List of contracts, depending on your needs. And you can even modify those that make sense for you and the type of project I’ve certainly created contracts that I have tailored to make sense for me and in the future, any collaborations that I do, and really at the end of the day, you don’t want, you know, your first collaboration or custom design experience to be one where you feel that you’re taking advantage of you want it to feel.

Like it’s a healthy and um, secure process for both parties and that you’re excited to do more in the future and you’re excited for your work to be out there because you don’t want that feeling when you see someone at the airport walking with your design on a sweatshirt and you say, Oh my gosh, I have a pit in my stomach because I can’t believe I, Signed away my [00:49:00] rights to that design.

So any new artists, I would just say, be careful about making sure you put protections in place for yourself because your art is valuable and your time is valuable. And just because it’s a exciting new opportunity early on in your career, just make sure that you’re, you’re being smart with, with how you proceed.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: I mean, that is, that is so, so important. And I think, you know, um, these days there are so many templates available. Um, but at the same time, I think even going to a lawyer and just paying them a couple hundred dollars to, to, to have something created, I think, I mean, I don’t think, I mean, usually I think you, you would have templates available that a lawyer can, you know, easily create and customize to your use case, I guess.

Um, so I think, yeah, that’s, that’s very important. Has like, did you actually get burned, uh, in a similar situation by a brand where they, they were using your work without, uh, and you were, you didn’t really get anything back?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Absolutely. Yeah. That [00:50:00] story comes a hundred percent from experience and, uh, it’s now has been resolved because I.

Now that I’ve matured into this space and matured into myself as an entrepreneur, I said, you know what? I think it’s time to go back to that situation and really advocate for myself. And now it’s been resolved and it’s finally been put to rest. But I learned from that experience and it was probably a, like a six year.

Just guilt ridden experience. So I don’t want anyone else to feel that way. So I think just make sure exclusivity rights are built into your contracts, essentially making sure that they can’t take the design and run with it forever and make sure that you’re putting in place that you’re using. The design for its intended purpose and that they can’t reproduce it in any way on other products.

All those types of things. Make sure you put that in place.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: For sure. Uh, now I’m going to move on to our rapid fire segment. In this segment, I’m going to ask you a few quick questions and you have to answer them maybe in a [00:51:00] word or a sentence or so. Uh, I know you already mentioned a book, but, um, any other book, I mean, uh, you mentioned about the one person entrepreneur book, uh, but do you have any, any other book recommendations for entrepreneurs and why?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Yeah, so that first book, um, Company of One, Paul Jarvis, great book. I would also recommend a book that I read early on. I mean, I’m aging myself here, but Let My People Go Surfing by Yvonne Chouinard, who is the founder of Patagonia. That’s an incredible book. It just, in a quick blurb, I mean, it’s just, It tells you the story of how he went from being a climber and camping out in, um, in Yosemite with his friends, literally eating cans of cat food to survive and selling camp, uh, selling climbing gear out of his trunk to then creating Patagonia.

So I think it’s a really interesting read and one that can be a lesson on how to create a company, but staying [00:52:00] authentic to your, to yourself.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Yeah, that, that is a great book for sure. Uh, an innovative product or idea in the current e-commerce, retail or tech landscape that you feel excited about. I know you mentioned Shopify, but any other products?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Yeah, I mean, just to expand on that, I think in terms of my area, I actually have a meeting tomorrow with a shopping app that was popular, super popular in Europe. They’re coming to the states now, and they also integrate with Shopify and. My products could potentially be on the shopping app. And again, it would flow through my Shopify and I would fulfill orders the exact same way that I’ve been doing.

So that’s what excites me the most, um, is the future app and tech e commerce strides that have been taken in terms of integration with Shopify.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: I mean, it’s so interesting hearing you because, you know, you’re, you’re an artist, but now you’re talking about technology. You’re talking about legal document.

It’s like, I mean, you, you have so much, [00:53:00] uh, growth when you become an entrepreneur, right?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Yes.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Um, a peer entrepreneur, a business person who you look up to or someone who inspires you.

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Sure. I would say if I had to choose one person, her name is Justina Blankeney and she runs the brand called Jungalo. And she’s run her business for about, I want to say 15 years.

And Justina is such a creative person and I’ve admired her. I’ve looked up to her even since I was starting my business. She was probably like three to five years into hers. So. Um, really, I admire her because she has such a creative eye, and if you walk into Target and you see a pillow, you know immediately, Oh, that’s Justina Blankney, that’s Jungalow.

Like, you’ll know my house is filled with some of her items. Um, I have a lot of her design books. She’s just somebody that I look up to because of the, longevity that she’s had in her career and how she’s remained very true to herself and her own [00:54:00] creative outlook on life and her experiences traveling around the world.

And, um, I think she’s just a great example of, of how an artist can, can really thrive, but also just stay very true to who you are as, as a core individual.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: For sure. Uh, a business or productivity tool or software that you would recommend or a productivity tip.

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Ooh, I think right now I’m very into Notion.

It’s just an online weekly task list. And I found that incredibly helpful for me. Um, I I’m sure there’s other capabilities, but essentially you have a weekly to do list. They, they auto create, you know, weeks, July, you know, 27 to whatever. And you can, it has Monday to Sunday and you can add in your to do list and check them off as you go.

And I like it because. As things change throughout the week and I maybe have an idea to start a new product and I’m like, oh, I didn’t get to that. I can populate a [00:55:00] new list, a weekly list above that and move that up to the next week. So as artists, you know, we get a little scatterbrained. I think, you know, there’s a lot of things going on at once.

We are very creatively minded, but not necessarily like super, um, Like detail oriented in terms of like the scheduling and, and being really like rigid with that. I kind of liked that process, but I know all artists are different. So using notion has been incredibly helpful for that.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Awesome. I use notion as well.

It’s a great software for sure. Um, another startup or business, uh, in e commerce retail or tech that you think is currently doing great things.

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Oh, gosh. Um, I, I don’t know. It’s tough. Cause I look at kind of what is going on out there in the competition, but I very much like to focus on what [00:56:00] I’m doing and don’t get too in the weeds with other, with other companies and e commerce brands out there.

Um, I think there’s a lot of artists that I admire. I’m focused kind of on the independent. Okay, I’m working in Vermont in my pottery studio. I’ll just name Pitch Pine Pottery. She’s an incredible her and her husband, Matt, are amazing, amazing artists. They churn out pottery. on the daily, weekly, it’s all that they do.

I absolutely love their products. Um, that’s kind of what I, I mean, you’re looking at my studio behind me. That’s, that’s what I love. I want to be, Oh, there’s Emily in her studio and she’s working away and she’s in her seventies or eighties. So that storytelling and that level of authenticity is what I’m excited about versus a, uh, uh, e commerce.

Uh, startup that I might be looking at. I hope that doesn’t fumble that your question too much, but, um, no, no, that’s more [00:57:00] interested in that. Yeah. Yeah.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: No. I mean, you’re, you’re an artist. So that, that definitely makes sense. Uh, final question. What business advice. Okay. Have you, what is the best business advice that you have ever received or you would give to other entrepreneurs?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Okay, another book, um, Show Your Work by Austin Kleon is a great one if you’re starting out. Um, that is something that I, I started reading that book when I was early on in my career and He has a part in it, which essentially, you know, I’m sure we’ve all heard this antidote before, but just kind of start somewhere and do one small thing a day.

If you do one small thing for a month, that turns into, you know, 30 things that you could have added towards your business. If you do that in a year, like every small step that you take every single day, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a new piece every single day, but just one. One effort that you’re making towards [00:58:00] either the business or goal that you have in mind every single day.

I know there’s been a lot of full time moms that I’ve connected with that are just like, I have an hour of my day. Um, you know, at 10 o’clock at night, if you can do one thing that day, it’ll build up over time. And you’ll be amazed at what progress you make by the end of the year.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: I, I completely agree with that advice.

I mean, I follow that myself and I think, yeah, doing, you know, it’s, it’s almost like the way I visualize it. It’s like, you know, you have, if you, if you do multiple things, you have multiple footballs and every day you go and kick each football a little bit further. And, you know, as you said, in a 30 days, it’s like, much further ahead.

Uh, so yeah, really, really great advice for sure. Well, Emily, those were all the questions I had. I really appreciate you sharing your story, sharing a little bit more about art, which I did not know much about and, uh, your business lessons, successes, failures. [00:59:00] If anybody wants to buy your art, what is the best way they can do that?

Emily Kelley of Land and She: So they can go to land and she. com and you can also go to my Instagram at land and she studio, where I’m posting new art. Um, new content, process, videos, photos of my dog, really anything specific to me. Uh, so I love connecting with people there.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Awesome. Well, Emily, thank you so much again. Really appreciate you sharing your story and wish you all the very best in your business and an art endeavors.

Emily Kelley of Land and She: Thank you, Sushant. I appreciate your time.