Jessica Swift is a big thinker with a small business. She brings together crazy good talent, with ambition & big goals, and mixes in a tad of the creative divine as well. Jessica understands the power of intention and just knowing you can do something great. She also understands she’s is the only one who can make “great” happen.
I had the privilege of discussing big thinking with Jessica the other day. You can read the first half of our discussion on Scoutie Girl – but I’ve saved the best of the biz portion for here!
Tara: Everyone always wants to know about *marketing* – what works, new ideas, the magic bullet for getting more sales. Let’s take a different approach. What is one marketing technique that you’ve tried that absolutely failed?
Jessica: I love that question. Well, last Christmas, I made this animation that I thought was HILARIOUS. I wanted it to go viral and get me tons of exposure, and I wanted people to blog about it and love it and buy my stuff. TOTALLY didn’t happen. I’d like to try it again this year, but with something different….. I don’t know. Also, advertising on blogs hasn’t shown any significant usefulness for me– maybe I just haven’t stuck with it for long enough, but that just doesn’t seem to be my best way to get my name out there.
Tara: I vaguely remember that…
I suppose vaguely isn’t good, huh?
Jessica: Really? Ha ha. It was a total fail!
Tara: Yes, but we have a lot of the same friends so I had a higher chance of being exposed.
Jessica: True! And even then, you only vaguely remember. I need to rethink my strategy this year, clearly!
Tara: Well, I love the strategy on your website! The “work with me” page is just killer. It is so positive & confident. What advice do you have for creative business owners who feel the need to apologize for selling their work?
Jessica: You like it? YES!! That’s terrific. I think apologizing for your work is a sure killer of sales and respect.Why would you apologize for what you love doing? We are each unique and have amazing talents that no one else in this whole world has! We need to shine it! There are people out there who are waiting to find each of us and be inspired by us, and I really believe that you’re doing the world a disservice if you don’t do all that you can to get it out there so people can find it. We need amazing things!
Tara: YES!
Jessica: I like to think about how I would feel if I were someone else reading what I’ve written on my website. Would I be excited? Would I think I was pathetic? I certainly don’t want to seem pathetic! I’d rather feel inspired and want to work with me!
Tara: I don’t have too much more to say because you really nailed the way I feel about it too. I get so so so turned off by people who are less than confident about their work, whatever it might be. Turning off customers is a bad move!
Jessica: AWESOME. I totally agree. It’s a total bad move! Khristian and I talked about that a lot at Surtex and since it’s been over– people who complain and whine and are negative are just a complete turn off.
Positivity sells, and it helps you feel better about yourself, too!
Tara: it’s clear to me you have bold direction & lofty goals – love that! jan – who says “hi!!” – wants to know, have you had to adjust the balance in her life/work/day to meet new goals? has anything gotten lost in shuffle?
Jessica: I struggle with that, too, but I’ve given up worrying about it lately. (Say hi to Jan for me!) Sometimes things get lost in the shuffle, but I think that’s what happens when you’re passionate about things. Like for instance, right now I’m in the process of moving, and I’m really excited to get my new house set up, and work is sort-of taking a back seat a little bit. Which is shocking for me, because I’m a workaholic! But I think if your bosy/brain is telling you to focus on something, you’re supposed to do it for a reason. I think balance is a myth for creative people.
Tara: A HA! Yes: “I think balance is a myth for creative people.”
Jessica: I love Danielle LaPorte’s take on balance — that we worry about it too much, when really it doesn’t exist if you’re passionate. WE all know that feeling of a project taking us over, and other parts of life slipping away for a little while– I think that’s ok. I tend to go in cycles– I work really hard for a while, and then I take it easier for a little while. I’m trying to learn that that’s just how I work– the ups and downs of a creative life. Why not just do what we want to when we want to do it? It seems like that equation can’t fail to make us happy and feel fulfilled and energized.
Tara: So true!
Jessica: What about you– what do you think about balance?
Tara: Well, I do agree with everything you said. Totally. But I also have a hefty, hefty dose of mommy guilt. There really is a part of me that is SO jealous of the people who get to sit at their desk whenever inspiration strikes and make great stuff happen.
Jessica: Ahhhhhh, yes, that part of my life hasn’t happened yet. Oh geez, something else to worry about!
Tara: But then there’s a part of me who is dying because I feel like my ambition is outweighing my ability to care for my daughter. I definitely don’t want to make it sound like it’s “worse” – but it’s definitely a completely “other” perspective.
Jessica: You seem to be making great things happen ALL THE TIME! I can’t even imagine having to balance those 2 things– that’s probably part of the reason that I haven’t wanted to have kids yet. I’m too selfish with my business/creative life!
Tara: It’s funny. 8 years ago – I was the same way. Then I got stuck in a dead end job and lost all ambition & creativity. My daughter is the whole reason I have what I have now. BUT I know if I would have found this place sooner I would have waited to have a child for a LONG time.
Jessica: Well, it sounds like you got to where you are on your exact perfect path. Isn’t that always how it happens?
I think it might be. But I also think it takes a lot of conscious effort to get to that perfect path. It takes hard decisions and a lot of trust in yourself to make things happen. Jessica has made big things happen for herself by dreaming the dream & then making sh*t happen. Her website, her online presence, her work screams, “I’m going places, I hope you’ll come along for the ride.”
I know I will. Check Jessica’s website to come along too.
i’m a big fan of jessica’s work! i have pieces of her art smattered around my house (i even have an entire wall collaged with some of her prints) and looking at it is always an instant uplift. she’s extraordinarily talented and is a “goddess of pattern”, as i call her, but my enjoyment of her work goes beyond that. she knows how to connect with people in her pieces. you can see that she’s poured her soul into what she’s made. and more than anything, i can instantly recognize a work of jess anywhere, which shows that she’s confident in her own style – and from a business standpoint, she’s done an excellent job branding herself without selling herself out. having come to my own art in a roundabout way from an undergrad in marketing/management and an MBA in marketing, i’m fascinated by how artists manage themselves as business owners. it is no easy task to integrate the two, but jess has come as close to an ideal combination as i can imagine! it’s a pleasure to watch her career take off!
I like what I see, too. Want one Jessica’s at some point.
Back to the salt mine…
omg. love the thoughts about balance (or lack thereof) here! i DO worry about it waaay too much! very interesting interview.
There is a Kharma to giving. Some things can and should be free, others must have a cost attached. Intellectual property that is unique yet desired by others must be paid for.
Eg we have given away a thread conversion chart with three alturnative options. It is for a beautiful cross stitch design that we loved, and has been popular but we do not stock the thread ranged specified by the designer. Converting to alturnatives was not hard and completed in a slow afternoon at the shop. Besides one of the staff was planning to complete the design in one of the alturnatives anyway.
We charge money for a scarf pattern for that I designed and stitched and have sitting in the shop as a model.
Without that exchange of funds for your effort, it diminishes you, sucks out the creative force. A friendship that has only one person contributing effort and energy quickly becomes a drain and we re-assess the relationship. Where ideas and/or effort are a commodity between strangers, the only energy available is hard currency. This should not require an apology and those that refuse to understand can only be on a completely different Kharmic path (ie lost!)
Great interview. Jessica’s positivity is inspiring and contagious.
I’ve been walking around since I read this with Jessica’s quote in my head, “I think balance is a myth for creative people.” I love it. It describes my world. I like that her idea is that it’s acceptable to be unbalanced. We are always told that it’s all about balance, I think it’s all about passion & drive… oh and following your bliss.
Thanks for the interview, inspiring.