My guest this week is actually an Etsy Shop ShoutOut come to life! He was mentioned by Christina Springer back in Episode 306, so I was thrilled to have him appear on the podcast.
Rob is an artist from Oakland California and he runs the Etsy shop Art of Robert Trujillo where he makes children’s books & accessories (bookmarks, plates, posters, etc.). He’s an advocate for children learning to read and enjoy reading at an early age.
He’s made this a mission of his because as a child he hated to read because he never saw any books that felt like a reflection of him or his family.
Now as a father and advocate for kids’ books, he responding to the huge demand for more diversity of race, gender, ability, nationality, class, etc in storytelling across the board.
Robert dedicated himself to learning how to make children’s’ books. He has now built a community with other illustrators, authors, librarians, teachers, etc who also have a desiree for a more diverse pool of books and they’ve made great progress.
You’ll hear all about this and much more in our convo.
Outside of children’s books, Robert’s other artwork relates to music, ethnic studies, politics, and in general him just trying to express himself. He also paints murals with Trust Your Struggle Collective which you’ll hear us talk more about in our conversation.
Topics Discussed:
- Learning about self-publishing vs. traditional publishing
- Robert’s inspiration behind the products he creates
- Race, social justice, equality… We go deep
- Working on personal style to attract the kind of clients you want
- Finding the balance between making something you want and making something that serves a purpose
- Logistics of running a business including time management, inventory control, phasing out unpopular product lines, etc.
- Robert’s approach to email marketing
- And lots more…
Robert’s Etsy Shop ShoutOuts
- Fresh Seed Glow – operated by LaToya Johnston where she sells her body care pampering products that are chemical-free and made with natural and organic ingredients.
- Lingua Nigra – based in Chicago, Alicia is the jewelry maker who runs this store and she sells handcrafted organic natural jewelry. Alicia has been featured around Etsy places before… Check out her shop feature on the Etsy blog here as well as her Community Spotlight in the Seller Handbook here.
- Boy Girl Party – run by illustrator, author, and designer Susie Ghahremani where she sells wearable art and gifts that are both useful and creative.
Resources Mentioned:
- Trust Your Struggle Collective
- Mailchimp – email service provider
- Paloma Concordia of PapaLoDown and Nini Chenani – marketing consultants that Robert has worked with and found value from
- Cashboard app – software for tracking time, invoicing clients, and accepting online payments.
- Hootsuite – social media scheduling tool
- Bit.ly – link shortening tool
Connect With Robert
- Etsy shop: Art of Robert Trujillo
- Website: Rob Don’t Stop
- Email: info [at] RobDontStop [dot] com
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