#142: This Young Artist Has Turned Her Whimsical Doodles into a Fast-Growing Business! with Sammy Handler

Sammy Handler is living the dream! She has transformed her passion for art (which started with painting doodles on friends’ shoes in high school) into a growing commercial enterprise. As she explains to Host Dori Stewart on this episode of Teacher Turned Entrepreneur, this 26-year-old dynamo has taken her colorful vision and packaged it in a huge array of ways that have caught the eye of everyone from new moms (who love her bibs and baby blankets) to kids (who devour her personalized accessories) to college students (who are decking out their dorms) to corporate marketers (ever on the prowl for cool new promotional items). Sammy has straightforward advice to offer that will embolden people of all ages to figure out what they love and then work out how to make it “blow up” the way her KicksBySammy custom designs have done. When it comes to scaling her business, we’re learning how this young entrepreneur has gone about identifying collaborators who align with her values and integrated a meaningful charitable element into the model. Sammy has some especially helpful advice for young aspiring entrepreneurs about taking advantage of university resources and building that all-important network! Most of all, you’ll come away inspired to check out Sammy’s art, which is visible not only all over social media but also on eye-catching public murals in Miami and Chicago. Click here if you want a peek at her one-of-a-kind feast for the senses!

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KEY TAKEAWAYS:

·       How Sammy turned her passion for art into a business, from painting shoes for high school friends to blowing up on social media to providing promotional products for large corporations.

·       Expect the Unexpected: Groundbreaking businesses are often built on ideas that no one has ever tried – or thought possible. So go ahead. Explore!

·       The old saying proves true once again: Find something you love doing, then figure out how to make money doing it. The formula works!

·       How did Sammy turn her side hustle into a full-blown enterprise? She got practical about ways to scale her product to connect with the masses.

·       Analysis Paralysis: It’s easy to get bogged down in market research, production systems and planning. Meanwhile, a competitor might be poised to overtake you!

·       Don’t overthink! Your market is always going to evolve and change over time.

·       Sammy’s Biggest Challenge: Juggling the many moving parts involved in running a business from the ground up. She’s the driver behind:

o   Social media

o   Design

o   Finance

o   PR