She Turned a Passion for Wood Burning into a Red-Hot Business. Meet Emily Carr

With an eye for design and a love of creativity, stay-at-home mom Emily Carr crafted an Etsy store around her interest in pyrography — creating decorative designs in wood using burn marks. She balances raising a family with growing her customer base and has carved out a niche online for her unique hand-decorated wood pieces. We were thrilled to speak with Emily about building her small business from the ground up, how she sees her shop developing in the coming years and the excitement she still feels every time she makes a new sale.

Name: Emily Carr

Business: The Blonde Moose

Started: 2012

How did you create your awesome job?

I opened my Etsy shop after I found myself wondering what I could do from home while also taking care of two toddlers. I worked as an interior decorator before starting a family, so having a creative outlet was always really important to me. I wanted to be able to continue that alongside my new job as a stay-at-home mom.

When I came across wood burning online, I just fell in love with it. I started thinking about what I could do with the craft and went to Hobby Lobby right away to buy my first wood burner. 

I started out by firing designs onto wooden spoons, so now my shop features different artistic goods with a focus on kitchen utensils.

When did you know your business was going to work?

Once I started getting consistent orders and a warm reception on Etsy, I could tell people liked my products. There weren't many other shops selling similar stuff — I realized that I'd found a niche in an unsaturated market and I was able to fill that void. I wasn't pursuing the business full-time in the first few years, but even then it was obvious that I’d hit on something special.

A friend who runs a very successful Etsy shop recommended I get on Instagram to promote my store and products because she said her business blew up when she joined. I took her advice, and it’s made all the difference! I'm also on Facebook, but it doesn’t drive nearly as much traffic to the site as Instagram does.

I try to post to my Instagram account a couple times per day, which seems to work well. I’ve also purchased features from Etsy promoters a few times, which helped get more followers and sales. Other than that, it's all about consistency. I talk with my customers, I respond to feedback and I try to be really personable online.

What has been the biggest surprise so far after starting your own business?

I feel like it's a surprise every time I hear the little "cha-ching" sound from the Etsy app on my phone, notifying me that I’ve made a sale. 

I also think the response I've received from people who see my products has been a shock. At the start, it was just something I was doing for fun. I wasn't expecting a business to come from it, and the fact that it’s turned into one is still kind of a surprise to me.

How do you price your products?

Pricing has always been challenging for me, and I know it can be tough for a lot of small business owners. I want to be paid fairly, but I also want to sell fairly. 

I try to think about what I’d be willing to pay for products similar to the ones I sell, because I want mine to be accessible to people. Wood burning is an art and making these pieces takes a good deal of time, but they’re also functional pieces _ I want them to be used on a daily basis. The medium I work in tends to be more affordable as well, which helps me keep my prices down. I also have to take product and shipping expenses into account when I price a listing.

Keeping in mind how long it’s taken me to work on more complex pieces has been a lesson for me. I've sold some things for less than I should have, particularly when they’re time consuming to make. 

Remembering that I need to charge adequately for my time has also been a big lesson. For example, most of the wooden spoons I sell take 10 to 15 minutes to make, but some of the more complicated pieces — like a cutting board — can take several hours.What does a typical day look like for you?

I wake up with my kids around 7am. Since they’re in 1st grade and Kindergarten, I get them ready and drive them to school every morning. 

Once I get home, I always have one or two cups of coffee, then check emails, Instagram, Facebook and Etsy and respond to any comments or queries I receive. I try to post to Instagram every morning and then I’ll sit down and work on some new pieces.

At the moment, I’m involved in a couple of different craft shows, so I've been busy working on a lot of new pieces for those and building up my inventory. Mostly I spend my mornings wood burning, then when my kids get out of school I'll take a break to be with them and do homework, eat dinner and get them ready for bed. In the evenings, I’ll post to Instagram before going to sleep.

What would you like to learn from a community of other small business owners and self-employed professionals?

I want to know how to get into the wholesale game and I would love any advice on taking my business to the next level. 

I'd also like to know how people with families or young kids at home balance their time between work and family. What’s the best way to juggle your business and life?

Do you have tips and ideas to share with Emily as she dreams of expanding her business AND finding work-life balance?

What are your tips for scaling up a small business? Have you figured out a way to keep your work and home life in sync with your priorities? 

Share your story with us below! :-)