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Shoshana Cantwell started her watercolor art business on Etsy in 2020 after leaving her job as a talent agent during the COVID pandemic OF 2020. That’s when she opened her Etsy shop Rhoda And Dot Studio (named in honor of her grandmas) 🙂 .
She started painting watercolor pet portraits and decided to take the plunge into a creative career after picking up painting again during the last few years.
Now with over 200 sales (at the time of our conversation) since launching in the summer of 2020, her custom pet portraits are proving to be a hit and she’s finding fulfillment in the work she does and how she’s earning a living now from her artwork.
Topics Discussed:
- Shoshana’s experience starting out on Etsy from scratch during a pandemic
- Deciding to leave the safety of a career in corporate America and preparing for life as an entrepreneur
- Figuring out what skills are transferable and can be parlayed from corporate to entrepreneurship
- Growing beyond Etsy early on so as to offer more options to customers
- Time management and task batching when running an Etsy shop and ecommerce website
- Figuring out optimal product pricing and learning when to stand still and when to pivot
- And much more…
Shoshana’s ShoutOut
- Easy Sunday Club – YouTube channel by Kathy where she shares helpful tips for artists
Resources Mentioned
- Shopify – platform to build ecommerce website
- ClickUp – productivity and organization tool
- Shopping Gives – app that integrates into checkout page on ecommerce site to collect charitable donations
- Tailwind – Instagram scheduling tool
- Makers Business Toolkit – business tips and tools for artists, crafters and designer makers running a handmade business.
You’re probably never going to be as good as you wish you were.
Shoshana Cantwell
Connect With Shoshana
- Etsy shop: Rhoda And Dot Studio
- Website: RhodaAndDot.com
- Social media: Instagram, Facebook
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