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Ep. 168 - Turning Passion into Profit: The Art of Handmade Business with Sara Kim
63 Plays17 days ago
Episode Description:
In this episode, we sit down with Sara Kim, the founder and designer behind HandmadeBySaraKim. What started as a love for crafting has transformed into a full-time creative career—from designing bridal accessories to specializing in handmade paper flowers. Sara has partnered with brands like Michaels, Cricut, and the Getty Museum, and she’s passionate about inspiring fellow artists through workshops, tutorials, and creative content.
Sara shares how she grew her business as an artist while navigating different life transitions, including running a small business as a stay-at-home mom. She dives into the power of passion, how self-motivation fuels her work, and key tips for turning creativity into a thriving brand.
✨ Key Takeaways from This Episode:
✔ How Sara built her business from passion and self-motivation
✔ The transitions she made as an artist and entrepreneur
✔ Tips for running a small business as a stay-at-home mom
✔ The secret to getting a “HECK YES” from dream clients
✔ How mastering multiple skills helped her stand out
💡 Freebie from Sara:
Get access to free template designs to jumpstart your creativity! Grab them here: https://www.handmadebysarakim.com/free
🎥 Watch this episode on YouTube! [Insert YouTube Link]
👉 Connect with Sara:
Website | https://www.instagram.com/handmadebysarakim
Connect with Carissa Woo
https://www.instagram.com/carissawoo
Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review if you loved this episode! 🎙️💛
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Transcript
Introduction to Digital Products & Challenge
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Wednesdays. So while you wait for inquiries to roll in you can turn your expertise into a digital product. Join my 24 hour ai challenge.
00:00:12
Speaker
I learned digital marketing in a week. I'm still learning every day. I then implemented a done-for-you funnel with a simple ad, and I make daily sales passively every day.
00:00:23
Speaker
It's freed up my time and literally changed my life. I'm a different person, and I will never look back, and I want this opportunity for you, too.
Meet Sarah Kim: Crafting Specialist
00:00:34
Speaker
Check out my link in the show notes.
00:00:37
Speaker
So today i have Sarah, S-A-R-A, in the house. Her IG is handmade by Sarah Kim. Go binge scroll her IG. It will leave you feeling zen. It'll get your creative crafting juices flowing and just make you feel happy.
00:00:55
Speaker
And I love hearing her journey from being a kid to playing with papers. And then she just specialized in handmade paper flowers. I worked a bunch of weddings with her.
00:01:08
Speaker
And she had the honor of partnering with amazing brands like Michaels. Cricut and the Getty Museum. She is so passionate and inspiring to other fellow
Podcast Introduction & Host Background
00:01:18
Speaker
artists. She has a podcast, she does workshops, she does tutorials, and her creative content is just next level.
00:01:25
Speaker
You are going to love this episode. Enjoy!
00:01:31
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host Carissa and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all.
00:01:42
Speaker
I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:02:00
Speaker
Time hacks because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo-woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey.
00:02:12
Speaker
i hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast.
Sarah's Journey: From Crafting to Business
00:02:18
Speaker
See you guys soon.
00:02:22
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get a Heck Yes. Happy Woo Wednesdays. I have Sarah Kim in the house. I've known you for a long time. um We're veterans. Her company is handmade by Sarah Kim. And I'll do your bio a little bit later. but I guess, Sarah, how are you doing? Say hello to everyone.
00:02:43
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Thank you for having me on here. i feel like it's been a while since I saw you, Carissa. It was, I don't know, how many years have it been? Because it was actually when I was in the wedding industry, and I don't really say that I'm i'm in the wedding industry anymore. Yeah.
00:03:02
Speaker
yeah i I feel like I get this image of us like getting tacos before an event. Yes. With like Jenny, Chloe, man. Yes. With wedding frienders. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah I feel like even for you, but like over the years, like we've just kind of evolved and our business has kind of made some transitions.
00:03:21
Speaker
Yeah. So I'm excited to hear all of the updates on you, but I love your reels and everything that you make. It's so beautiful. But in a nutshell, tell the audience who you are.
00:03:33
Speaker
Yeah, I'm Sarah and I am the founder designer behind Hami by Sarah Kim. um I do now specialize in paper flowers, specifically to paper art.
00:03:45
Speaker
And my business has transitioned, yeah, over... The 15 years that I've been in business now, I did start in the wedding industry. i used to sell bridal accessories that I would design and make.
00:03:58
Speaker
But then I've kind of come around to, I guess, resorting to paper art just after getting married and and after having a kid. i don't know. I don't know why I came back to it, but I started my business with...
00:04:14
Speaker
paper art initially. And then I was like, oh, I can't make money off of paper. So I then I was like, okay, how um how do I get into the wedding industry? Because that's where the money's at. And then now I've kind of took a step back and want to just concentrate on the art behind it. And the idea of like making something out of paper really intrigued me. And that's kind of why i am here doing that now.
00:04:40
Speaker
Yeah, your stuff is insane. So let's bring it back to Sarah Kim, like as a kid, as a child, what were you like? What were your, what was your family dynamics like? And we just want to like get to know you a little bit better.
00:04:53
Speaker
Oh, I was always crafty. And I'm definitely like confident in saying that I always loved making things. um I also really liked making like little dolls. Like I was really creative because, well, and I feel like in our generation, or at least for me, um we didn't have TV. yeah We didn't have, we're like, we didn't really have you know, the devices that we do have now. yeah So with the time that I had, and we we couldn't afford like having nice toys, like my dream was to have a Barbie, like Barbie set of some sort. And like the only Barbie I had was like from McDonald's, like the Happy Meal version.
00:05:35
Speaker
And so I loved making like my own dolls, like out of chopsticks, like and I would like make it out of like paper towels and like napkins and things like that. So I really envisioned myself like really creative from the fact that I didn't have anything to do or have no money and I didn't have money and I didn't have anything to do, you know?
00:05:55
Speaker
And um it's unfortunate that like maybe in the current, you know, age, they you don't have time for that, you know? You're on your phone or you're on, you're entertained by so many other things. But yeah, yeah that's that was like my childhood.
Artistic Evolution: Passion & Practice
00:06:12
Speaker
I love that. I mean, we live it, we were the last people to grow up, grow up without devices. Internet, yeah. yeah grow up without a phone. um My best friend in childhood, she was Korean and she was really crafty. So ah like her stuff was always like 20 times better than mine. Like origami. um Yeah. She was really good with her hands. um But I'm actually like opposite of you because I look at your stuff and um I'm not like an artist like in that type of way. But are. Yeah, I am with like photos, but it's so different. Like I could I would never think of like the stuff that you come up with or even anything. What's. um
00:06:52
Speaker
I don't know, just like, I just want to get into your brain of like, from crafting, like, what was it like um making these dolls? And then like, what were you like in high school? Like, um were you into all that ah scrapbooking or?
00:07:07
Speaker
Yes, I was totally into scrapbooking and card making was like a huge thing. And even in college, I think I like joined like, okay, so there used to be like a Like those groups that would meet up, like, yeah like um what's it called? Essential oils or whatever. Like they would they would meet up and like, you know, have like a little get together with women. Like they had that with stamps and i was I would go and I would like make friends with random people that was into like scrapbooking basically. Yeah.
00:07:43
Speaker
And um i don like i know it's like so random, but I would actually go to those kind of meetups. and like that's probably how it sparked my interest in like, oh, like I wish I could make cards. I think i even like submitted like like a card design of some sort like way before I even started my business.
00:08:03
Speaker
Wow. um Like in a magazine. I think they had like a little ad in the back of the magazine. And I submitted like my work to them. Oh, did you win? No. no
00:08:15
Speaker
your um did your Was your mom or dad crafty? And like how did they kind of encourage you with the no money? No, they they were not crafty. And it's funny because i I have my mom randomly work for me if I have like some crazy bulk order.
00:08:32
Speaker
And i I don't trust her work. you know I'm like, you're not good at this. Yeah. I usually like make her like maybe prep like things that really don't require much art or creativity. like Just cutting cutting like the tape or something like that. That's hilarious. So I'm your mom. This was a long time ago, but my best friend, like she wanted us to make her favors. um So we did it. And then she had to do them all over again.
00:09:01
Speaker
Just like not up to par. Yeah, I mean, like, I can't trust her with, like, cutting petals or anything like that. That's too advanced for her. But, you know, there's, like, little steps in between that would really help, like, cutting tape, like, at a certain length or something like that, you know? So she would have all that. Or, like, pack it up at the end or something like that.
00:09:20
Speaker
Yeah, you were definitely one of a kind. What were you, like – so scrapbooking in high school, and then how about, like, college years? What was the college years like? I'm actually a music major. So I guess I don't really call that like the same as art, but it's like a different type of art. Just like, you know, and photography is a different type of art from crafting, I guess.
00:09:42
Speaker
Totally. But yeah, I was a music music major. That was kind of like my whole life, like up until out of college. And then um I was teaching music. I was...
00:09:56
Speaker
um Yeah. performing and things like that so that that was kind of like my real job initially and and i did this as a side hustle and then ah it kind of became my full-time job and so now i don't i don't play music at all which is so you you play the violin right Yeah, I was a violin performance major. And yeah, I don't know. my I did really enjoy performing. And maybe that's kind of like how I get my gateway to like being a content creator as an artist rather than just providing like the paper flour that I'm making.
00:10:33
Speaker
But I guess I really I'm really into like, you know, filming it and staging it and like different types of props and stuff like that. And then maybe that comes from like when I used to love performing.
00:10:50
Speaker
Yeah, I just, um I was watching all the all your reels this morning and then, you know, the one where like you you did the shells with like the fig tree. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So it was really well done, but I was reading like all the comments. ah but I was like, um people are like, oh, what can's kind of camera? And you're like, oh, it's great.
00:11:08
Speaker
um But I was like, okay, I want to do the same thing. I was like looking it on Facebook marketplace, but you're definitely inspiration. But what kind of camera do you use? And like, what's your mindset um while filming? Yeah.
00:11:20
Speaker
um i I have a Sony a7C and I do have a really nice lens. It's like the G version of Sony G something, whatever. Yeah. um but I'm sure my lens is like more expensive than my camera. Yeah.
00:11:35
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I'm telling you, you're the professional, so you you know all camera but I always use my phone for content creation, so. Oh, yeah, I know. I do too. But I do use my camera for when it gets a little bit more in-depth, I guess, because I do think it – you could tell, obviously, that it's different. Yeah. um And I do have a Sony ZV-E one, I think that's what it's called.
00:12:01
Speaker
And um that one's also a pretty pricey one. And it's like interchangeable lens too. um But yeah, so I do i do use like nicer equipment rather than like my phone.
00:12:15
Speaker
Although like the iPhone sometimes it's amazing, you know, I'm like, oh. Yeah. and But I feel like your content is so good that like you could blow it up into like a movie screen and everything is just like placed perfectly. And like it's just perfect. And you feel like a certain way when you're watching it, like you feel so inspired, but also like very calm and very zen. So I just I love
Balancing Passion & Business
00:12:34
Speaker
your content.
00:12:34
Speaker
It's incredible. Thank you. Yeah. No, I i do wish that like that's kind of like, I don't know, like my what I could do to set myself apart from like other, you know, crafters, I guess.
00:12:48
Speaker
And I think crafters, like they do kind of it's hard because you have to craft, you have to make your art and then and then have to like learn a whole new art, which is like, you know, shooting and like making it like look nice. I think that's like a whole nother art which is your art, you know, right? Like it's your, you're the photographer and you're the one who like sees behind the camera.
00:13:11
Speaker
And I think that's like a whole nother like world. It's a whole nother brain. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. But I do enjoy it. You're really good at it. Okay, let's talk one more thing about your violin music career before we step into, like, the paper flowers. But, like, what was something, like, you learned or a special experience that, like, sticks out in your brain, um ah important lesson that you learned?
00:13:36
Speaker
I think – um Like it's a pretty obvious one Music, it it's practice. Like practice makes perfect. So I firmly believe in that. Although like...
00:13:48
Speaker
I don't know, this new generation, i do think they are more like, i don't I don't know if they're like the drilling type. Like, you know, like our Asian back in the day, we we went to Kumon, we solved like 100 problems, you know, like it was like practice makes perfect, right?
00:14:04
Speaker
But maybe it's not the case anymore. But I still believe in that, right? Like you you write it over and over and then you learn from it kind of thing. So yeah I think I, I still implement that in my business now. Like I practiced like 10 times on the piano and then like my song gets better. Right. So the same thing, i practice a flower 10 times a day or wherever it gets better.
00:14:31
Speaker
And ah same thing with filming and same thing with taking photos. Like you don't, You don't learn unless you do it 10 times. you know Yeah. A thousand times. Yeah. Yeah. A thousand times.
00:14:42
Speaker
This morning I was thinking about like how how I want to raise my my first daughter. She's really smart, but I'm like, I've learned a lot of shortcuts in like the online world, like digital marketing, but I'm like- I feel like I would want her to still like experience college and like experience a full-time job just to get like that discipline to actually like work those 10 hours a day.
00:15:02
Speaker
Because if you just kind of like take shortcuts, I feel like you could potentially get lazy in life. yeah So that's like the hard work that we had to go through to like build our craft. um I feel like those lessons are just so important.
00:15:19
Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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Speaker
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00:16:38
Speaker
Yeah, and and it's it is different. This new generation is just not like that, you know? yeah Yeah. Because there's just so many resources and so many tools. Like, we had we didn't have tutorials where we get to learn, like, quickly, you know? Exactly. we had to do it ourselves.
00:16:54
Speaker
Now there's probably, like, you know, tons of tutorials on how to film, how to take photos, how to make flowers or whatever, right? Yeah. But... Yeah. Yeah. It's all too much. Okay. Let's talk about you. Like, um, I know you're all into crafting your whole life, but like getting into like paper flowers or like the wedding industry or the cricket, um, what was like the whole start of it? And then like the whole, like coming into a business, you could talk, say anything that you want.
00:17:23
Speaker
Um, a rich like, so 15 years ago, i was, you know, all all my friends were just getting about to get married or wanting to get married. is So that's kind of where all the DIY started. I mean, I think that's the case for a lot of people. yeah Um, and yeah, I, I, I kind of did it as like a side hustle just because I had enough friends that I had to make,
00:17:46
Speaker
random things for, for their wedding or, you know, for whatever party or something like that. So that's kind of how it all started. And for me, it it really did start from paper because I couldn't afford, you know, anything else. Like, i mean,
00:18:02
Speaker
I eventually got into beading and sewing and things like that, but like that required a lot of, a lot more investing. You know, you have to invest in a sewing machine. You have to invest in better quality like materials, like pearls and rhinestones and things like that. So I did get into that eventually, but originally I started with like making invitations or like just paper related things.
Creative Confidence & Valuing Work
00:18:26
Speaker
I made a lot of um decorations out of paper. that's kind of how, I guess, how I started like crafting as a hobby slash side hustle.
00:18:37
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. was it When was it when you felt like, oh, I could turn this into a business? And then I know you do like a whole lot of different things now, like installations and work with the Getty and um all these cool things. But like tell me about the early years.
00:18:54
Speaker
Yeah, I think interned at a wedding blog, and that's kind of how it got me a little bit more serious into, maybe I could quit my job and do this, like whatever this is Yeah, so, um and, you know, i got I got into the wedding industry. That's really what got me um to be able to make money off of it, whatever that was. It wasn't just a side hustle. Like, it was like, oh, I could make real income. Yeah.
00:19:24
Speaker
and turn it into a job. And um yeah, I think, yeah, it's kind of, it's kind of like all over the place. I did, I do think I got lucky at the right time too.
00:19:35
Speaker
And um I also had a very flexible job to begin with because I was teaching music and I was like performing but those are very like flexible hours and I know a lot of people that have like nine to five jobs like can't really explore like their yeah creative outlet the way i was able to and yeah but this was my creative outlet yeah from from music which is weird that because that's that was like my whole life up until then you know I think just like us entrepreneurs, it's really hard to go, would be hard to go back to like a nine to five because yeah we're just like, our bodies just don't work that way. Like yeah I say, it would be like prison for me, which is kind of prison.
00:20:18
Speaker
I'm sure a lot of jobs are good. i have do but I go back and forth every day though. Cause sometimes I'm like, oh, I wish I could have someone just figure everything out for me and I'll just do what they want me to do.
00:20:29
Speaker
so Not having to be the boss, right? like Yeah. We're always like, it's like a test piece. Like what's next? What's the next move? All right. Let's get into hot topic. I loved hearing your story. Thank you for sharing. It's beautiful. What is your hot topic today, Sarah? And why is it so near and dear to your heart?
00:20:47
Speaker
Yeah, i I said that i love creating. And the best part is that I love what I create. And I think that's kind of my hot topic. It's just literally my passion.
00:20:59
Speaker
And that's what drives me to continue. i you do see ah smile on my face while I'm like literally creating. And even if it goes bad, like it's funny, I just posted something about this.
00:21:12
Speaker
um I had a trial and error, like flower that I was working on and it looks so bad and I haven't. And it's been a while, like I've been doing this for 15 years, so I'm pretty good at it. Right. Like most of our time, if I experiment, it comes out pretty good. I'm like, I got this, you know, but Just out of the it looks so terrible. It looked like a kid's work. you know And my husband literally came home. I was like, what do you think? Does it look really that bad?
00:21:39
Speaker
And he was like, no, it looks like looks like our kid made it. was like, ouch, ouch. and so i was like oh oh yeah But that that whole like trial and error and like, like is literally what makes me like go.
00:21:54
Speaker
And yeah, like, it's weird, like small business, small business owners, like, we need to be constantly motivated on our own. We're our own cheerleader. And we're the only ones that are telling us to go to work. Yeah.
00:22:09
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, and um ah yeah. And I think without the passion, whatever passion you you get from what you're doing, like without that, you can't you cat be a successful small business owner, you know?
00:22:24
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I have a smile um my face when I look at your stuff and I'm looking at like your room in the background and I see like like a mushroom with a pop of bread and like a butterfly and like a nice like little setup. But I feel like your aesthetic is so unique that it could be made into like a specific like anime animation.
00:22:45
Speaker
And it's like you see your stuff and everyone knows it's like stereotypical. Sarah Kim's work because of just like the aesthetic. um And it, it totally like says a story um name, like one of your favorite projects that you worked on installations, clients, anything that you want to share ah proud moment.
00:23:06
Speaker
Yeah. Let's see. i want to say, okay, well, i I have a handful of proud moments, but like my biggest proud moment was I landed a project with MAC, which is like a makeup company.
00:23:23
Speaker
yeah um And yeah, I made like thousands of flowers with them. And I think it was a proud moment because that was the one time that I was able to be firm with my cost and not feel like they're going to haggle with me and I'm going to to give them a cheaper price or whatever. was very like, this is the moment in my career that I can say, I'm worth this much. And if you don't want to pay for it, it's okay. And I think that's such proud moment. Because 10 years, 12 years, up until now, like,
00:24:00
Speaker
twelve years you know like up until now i'm like oh, I don't know if people will still like, you know, if they want, if they think I'm worth this much or if, you know, if my business is going to fail, like, I don't know, like one day nobody's going to want to like buy things from me or something like that. You know, like I'm constantly thinking of those things. Yeah. yeah yeah But that was probably, yeah, that's probably my biggest kind of moment where I was like, this is how much it costs and, you know, take it or leave it kind of thing.
00:24:30
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, yeah. How did they find you? That's amazing. ah They just they reached out to me. it was I felt like, yeah, it was. And i think I've finally come to a point in my, you know, 15 years in business, I don't really need to go out and, like, put myself out there. Like, I'm already out there, you know? Yeah. People reach out to me. Yeah. I'm like, oh, I don't have to go, like, looking for a job, basically.
00:24:57
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. We've been around town, right? Yeah, yeah.
Overcoming Introversion through Art
00:25:01
Speaker
Like, have ah you know, I have enough of a following. I have enough of a, like, networking where I, yeah, like, there are months that I'm like, i wonder if I'm going to have no business at all in this month, you know?
00:25:15
Speaker
And then out of nowhere, like, yeah, I'll get i'll get a project or I'll get... like some kind of, you know, campaign of some sort. So, yeah. I mean, that's the beauty of like entrepreneurial, like if we're not booking, like we still could create, like I could do like a style shoot or like a shoot with a cute couple that I like, or like you could make something and make a really cool video. And like, you're spending that time and it's like definitely like a percent your passion, but you're actually putting yourself into the world to be like, Hey, look at me yeah showing up for the world. Yeah.
00:25:45
Speaker
I wanted to ask a little bit more about like the hot topic. Um, I feel like a lot of people in life like just – maybe have a nine to five corporate and they're doing stuff just because they feel like they have to.
00:25:59
Speaker
What do you think like instilled, was instilled in you that like you were always like passion driven? it a book? Was it like your mom? Was it a mentor? Was it just innate? um Was it some sort of inspiration, a book? Because I feel like your your life has always been kind of like driven with some sort of like vision or intention mind.
00:26:22
Speaker
i don't I don't know. like i it really does make my whole life, right? like I've always kind of been in a weird creative business of some sort, right? Like coming from music and then coming... And it's really funny because...
00:26:38
Speaker
We come from an Asian background. Our our Asian parents did not, ah were not okay with going through with an art background of some sort, you know, like, they wanted me to play violin, but then they're like, you're gonna become a violinist? No, forget it, you know.
00:26:54
Speaker
But I, I don't know. I don't know what still made me kind of go for it. it really is I think i genuinely enjoy the idea of performing.
00:27:06
Speaker
So i don't know what it is. and I am a very introverted person, though. So I don't like meeting people. i don't like i don't really like going up out there and putting myself out there socially. yeah But if you put me in the spotlight with an instrument or or like my artwork, yeah i like I forget about that and I become a whole new person. So I think maybe I like get driven by that i moment.
00:27:36
Speaker
don't get like a high or something. Yeah. I i mean, i genuinely like And up until like I have to play at a concert or something, like I'm like nervous, you know, I'm nervous like everyone else. But like in the moment I feel, I don't know, it's like a spark of joy. Like I don't know what it
Balancing Business & Motherhood
00:27:54
Speaker
is.
00:27:54
Speaker
Same thing with and like teaching. i do teach workshops now um doing paper flowers. And up until I'm like nervous because I have to like speak in front of people. And again, I am introverted, but like,
00:28:08
Speaker
Teaching is different from being an introvert. Yeah. Because i'm I know what I'm talking about. Totally, totally. Yeah. And meeting new people like behind my artwork is is different from meeting new people like just socially. Totally. Yeah.
00:28:25
Speaker
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Speaker
I am seriously blown away by the precision and five hours a week I get back in my life. My life is so much better and I literally don't have any more anxiety. It's so crazy.
00:28:50
Speaker
I remember being at barbecues with my laptop because I had to get out a shoot and and that was so stressful, so not fun. And the best part about after shoot compared to their competition is that it's a monthly minimal cost, not cost per image because I am a true overshooter. I could shoot like, I don't know, 3,000 photos in an engagement shoot, which is not good.
00:29:12
Speaker
But anyways, use my code in the show notes to get a 30-day trial and 20% off. You're going to get in the software and just go crazy with it. And AfterShoot edits 2.0 just released and they have a lot of new features that you are going to love.
00:29:27
Speaker
AfterShoot, I can't thank you enough for giving me back my time to focus on this podcast. Oh yeah, back to the podcast. I didn't start like really networking until recently.
00:29:38
Speaker
um And, you know, that industry event that we went to was probably like, oh, it would go once a year, like once every two years. And we just hang out with the people we knew. Exactly. And we'll go home.
00:29:51
Speaker
We're like, all right, we're done. But I was going to ask you, I think our conversation like 10 years ago, we're talking about like becoming parents at the same time and like postpartum. um What was it like, like running a business and then having you a kid, the postpartum and how did it affect your creativity and affect your business?
00:30:11
Speaker
It was, it was bad. I don't even know how I survived it. I mean, my son's now seven. So, you know, I survived. I'm here. um um want to say the first three, four years. Wow. Wow.
00:30:24
Speaker
It's rough. Yeah. I don't know how you did it. I i think it's just, you just survived, right? out of yeah There's no advice. You just need to go through it. I remember just like going up my stairs and just like crawling in the wall. Like, how did I even make it through the day? Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:40
Speaker
I, yeah. I, and I was still really adamant in keeping, My business like floating, right? Like, I don't know how I did it. But I mean, thankfully, like I have a husband that is really supportive. So like that really helped.
00:30:56
Speaker
Like if he wasn't like, if he's like, you know, you need to just concentrate on the kid and not, you know, spend time on your business or whatever, then I probably would have been like, okay, you're right. Because it's so hard.
00:31:09
Speaker
Yeah. But he was very like, you should keep going. Like, if you need if you need time, like, um he was really hands on, you know, while he was toddler years, mean, now too. And and and I think when my son turned like two, he was like, oh should we get like a nanny while you work?
00:31:27
Speaker
Like even a couple hours a day. So whatever, whatever, like that will help support me yeah to still keep my business. Yeah. Oh, love And that was so helpful.
00:31:38
Speaker
Is he, um, is he crafty too? Your husband? No. Is your son crafty? Uh, No. Yeah, it's unfortunate. I know. But my my son does know what I do, right? And he goes around telling his friends that like, or his teacher, he'll be like, oh, my my mom makes flowers and she's um she makes YouTube videos on making flowers or whatever. Like he'll tell out the whole world. he's ah He's an extrovert, which is really funny. Interesting. Yeah. No, I live in a house full of boys because it's my husband and my son now. Yeah.
00:32:16
Speaker
Yeah, i I came from a house full of women. So it was like my mom, my sister, and then me. So we we really didn't have that many like male figures. And then now I'm in a house full of men. So it is is very different.
00:32:30
Speaker
But oddly enough, they treat me like a princess. Not that I am princess. I was about to say ah because I am. I'm a queen.
00:32:40
Speaker
But like, i think because I was, I came from a house full of women, like I expect things to be very, you know, like that. Like I expect my house to be clean because my house was always clean when I grew up because it was just me and my sister and mom. Right.
00:32:55
Speaker
So, yeah. Yeah, i I think I just have different expectations in my house. So i don't want I don't necessarily want like you know ah husband or a kid that's not going to be okay with me making paper flowers or anything.
00:33:13
Speaker
having opinions on flower related stuff, you know, I want that. So, yeah. My husband always says opposite. Like he's in a household full of women. So it's like, his daughter is me and the dog is a ah girl.
00:33:27
Speaker
Yeah. It's a lot of flowers in our house too. Yeah. Yeah, but you know, I'm, I'm in a house full of men and male and I have a lot of flowers in my house. So it's okay. Yeah, it looks great.
Reigniting Passion & New Hobbies
00:33:41
Speaker
I have an interesting question. So um it's kind of related to the wedding pros listening. um Some of us listening, they're like veterans like us, and maybe like they're losing their passion and what they're doing. Yeah.
00:33:55
Speaker
I kind of lost my passion in photography during um yeah the early years of the kids just because it's just so crazy. um i remember like shooting a dragon dance and I was like i was like blank face, like no adrenaline. and you know like I was like dead inside.
00:34:11
Speaker
And was like, maybe this is not my passion. um And then I kind of had to like find myself again or get passionate about it again. um Where do you draw like inspiration, your passion? How do you keep it going? And like, if you are not feeling like it's your passion, how do you maybe like make a change?
00:34:31
Speaker
I have pivoted my business a lot because I did lose passion, you know, and I was bored of it. Like, and to be honest, I was bored of weddings. And that's why I kind of had to take the step back.
00:34:43
Speaker
And I mean, and it's funny, because when I look back, I i still get really like giddy over, you know, wedding trends. And i I'm like, I'm not going to get married again. But I still, you know, keep up to date with wedding trends, because I still love that stuff. Yeah. But At that moment when i I had left or when I made the decision that I wasn't going to concentrate on wedding related stuff, like specifically, um yeah, I kind of had to pivot and find a new creative outlet, but not like super new. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:15
Speaker
yeah But I want to say like with that like transition or go on. Yeah, whatever you're saying. Yeah, I wanted to say that like I i do like to take new classes. I like to take on a new hobby, even if it has nothing to do
Crafting Business Insights
00:35:29
Speaker
with my business. And i I usually prefer it to not have anything to do with my business so that I could literally have fun, you know.
00:35:36
Speaker
So I actually would take. you know random random hobbies. like I took on sewing for fun and and I didn't want it to be like business related. like I didn't want to make something that I was thinking like, oh, but this would work well in my business. No, I just wanted to make ah apron for myself. like Things like that. like so And I still go through those like kind of moments where i don't have, you know, i am like bored.
00:36:06
Speaker
And then I do have to find like a new creative outlet. is weird because in my whole business is being creative, but I need to find a creative outlet from my creative business. That's funny. Yeah.
00:36:17
Speaker
And recently I took on baking sourdough. And that's like a whole new world, but I love it. And my algorithm changed. And like, so looking at that. Yeah.
00:36:28
Speaker
And looking on Instagram and TikTok and like finding sourdough videos genuinely make me happier. Like, because it's not of my business related you know, intake, like if I am watching other people making paper flowers just to get inspiration, but that doesn't inspire me. It makes me get bored or it makes me like, like be like less motivated. and You know, I'm like, oh, I'm not that good compared to them or whatever. Right.
00:36:56
Speaker
So I literally look for a whole new hobby. And right now that's baking. Yeah. I love that. You're kind of like Martha Stewart, just like a jack of all.
00:37:10
Speaker
I mean, thank you. But yeah, I do think like, um like, I do have like random, you know, like hobbies that I would go through, like go through weird seasons of like random, I don't know, things that I make. But like, that weirdly helps me in my business, though.
00:37:30
Speaker
So like the weird skills that I would think that it wouldn't have nothing to do with paper flowers, it weirdly comes back of like learning something from, oh i mean, not necessarily baking sourdough as of now, but like there are random things that I would learn from a whole new like hobby. And then I could like bring it back to um making paper flowers.
00:37:54
Speaker
Oh, I love that. I have to ask you a ah little bit of sales question because you're not so like into weddings, but you're getting um different campaigns, you said, and you're working with different clients and all different things. And then they're coming at you with...
00:38:11
Speaker
um deliverables that they need and maybe like you don't have examples exactly what they need. How do you price that out for them and package it? And then also like maybe what is your best heck yes technique to get that yes?
00:38:28
Speaker
ah Even I don't know. Like I'm even learning, you know, like yeah i it really does go like case by case, right? Like sometimes I would charge something where I thought like it was going to be a lot. And then after I do the work, I'm like, oh gosh, I got paid nothing doing this, you know? And then sometimes i didn't I didn't do anything and I charged so much and they said, yeah. So I feel like being in the creative world, like pricing is – It's so hard because – Yeah. and
00:38:59
Speaker
But I do always ask for their budget. And so I would always try to work around and feel like what my competitors would ah But like seriously, my projects are all over the place, right? Sometimes I have to do like crafting um tool review.
00:39:22
Speaker
I don't know how to charge that. yeah Yeah. And then sometimes I have to make a whole project. um you know, it that's part of a
Aspirations Beyond Crafting
00:39:31
Speaker
campaign. But that's like a lot of work because I have to like make, you know, i can't make like a tiny little flower and then call it a like, you know, this is a picture, you know, like I have to make it look like full and like, that's a lot of work. Yeah. So i don't know, like sometimes I guess I have to just pick and choose my battles and I don't know, like go, like I even out at the end, I guess maybe. I don't know. I'm still learning too. yeah Yeah. I feel like even after this, after so many years of like doing this, I'm still like barely figuring out like what I'm charging and what I'm worth and,
00:40:11
Speaker
Yeah. But do ask like Google all the time, like, oh, what do people charge for this or whatever? Oh, interesting. try to gauge from there. Yeah.
00:40:22
Speaker
And um I think my biggest advice would just be be confident with the price you do give out. Yeah. Yeah. yeah you can't go You can't say like, oh, i charge I'm charging like $5,000. And they're like, oh, no, we don't have a budget for that. and you're like, okay, I'll just charge you $500. Like you can't go from $5,000 to $500. And normally would they like kind of disrespect you after that. Yeah.
00:40:45
Speaker
Yeah. So I almost think you just need to own what what you what you called for. you know You're this Then this is it like you can't I mean, maybe like give them a couple, like a little discount in yeah some way just to keep it right. But like, I think you just need to know yourself.
00:41:05
Speaker
You need to be confident in what you are charging. Wedding pros. I have a new and exciting opportunity for you to make passive income with digital products and courses and affiliate marketing.
00:41:18
Speaker
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00:41:30
Speaker
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00:41:41
Speaker
And if you're ready to start making money from home while being there for the moments that matter, I can't wait to connect.
00:41:51
Speaker
I totally agree. Like kind of once you give that power away, it's just like not going to be good. Yeah. and And it can't be that extreme, you know? Yeah. Yeah. and and i think And I think that is what like the experience like of doing this for so long, you kind of know like.
00:42:07
Speaker
This is how much I should get paid no matter what. and then from there, like, you could upcharge, you know, if you think it's appropriate or whatever. Yeah, I like that. One more question before rapid-fire questions, but just tell me, like, your whole vision of Handmade by Sarah Kim, like, in the next – two years because I feel like we talked a lot about like evolution of like our life stages, um the flow of life, keeping our passion.
00:42:33
Speaker
um Tell me like what you have envisioned for your life either in the next year, two years, five years, anything you want to share. I haven't even thought that far, but I guess I my i know I'm going day to day here. um i want to say like my biggest goal for my business, at least, is I really want to This sounds so silly. I really want to be a YouTuber.
00:42:58
Speaker
I just want to be able to make a full-time income out of just being on my YouTube channel yeah and not have to rely on business. I don't want to rely on customers or companies that want to work with me. i i wish I could...
00:43:15
Speaker
yeah, just have enough following on my like crafting channel. It's a crafting channel. I have art vlogs and I have tutorials and behind the scenes. Like I do want to eventually like um get my way into like maybe cooking or baking. Like I said, I love baking now. So like,
00:43:34
Speaker
So I am very in the niche of crafting, but I hope that I can kind of break through in different lifestyle-related content. And i'm I'm nowhere to like make a full-time income out of YouTube, but I believe that you can. you know And I have a lot of competitors that...
00:43:54
Speaker
have a crafting channel and they have a huge following and I know that this is all they do they only make YouTube videos so I guess that it sounds silly when I say it but like I get like that would be my big goal because yeah yeah I don't want to rely on having customers all the time or these companies that I work with like sometimes I don't have companies reaching out to me then I like what do I do during that time you know Yeah.
Personal Insights & Life Hacks
00:44:23
Speaker
I'm glad they're putting it out in the universe. so
00:44:25
Speaker
So I like that. Yeah. Cool. Okay. Rapid fire questions. Let's see. um What is your best mom time hack?
00:44:37
Speaker
My parenting hack would be, i tell my son that um like I vacuum all of the monsters or ghosts or whatever he thinks is scary because he had to go through phases like,
00:44:49
Speaker
when he turned six or five or whatever. And he'll be like, Oh, I'm too scared of this. Or I'm too scared of that. I'm like, what are you scared of? There's nothing there. And then so my, my saying to him is I vacuumed.
00:45:01
Speaker
Everything is clean. know I never heard of that. Yeah. And he was like, Oh, you're right. You did vacuum all the monsters away. I'm like, exactly. There's nothing here. so That's awesome. That's my random hack. and My kid believes it. you I'm going to use that one. He wrote about me in the classroom.
00:45:20
Speaker
like My superhero is my mom because he va she vacuums all the scary things. That's so sweet. I love that. I'm going to use that. Now, what is your biggest your your best efficiency hack or a time hack?
00:45:37
Speaker
Efficiency ah i I do schedule myself like through the week. I don't schedule myself like up until like maybe less than a month.
00:45:49
Speaker
I don't do anything more than a month, but scheduling. And like, I do treat my job as a nine to five. So I do clock in, clock out kind of thing. wow um I try not to like roam around my house and like go on my bed or whatever. wow unless i Unless I'm really feeling out of you know like out of it. like I really try to like present myself like I would go to work.
00:46:15
Speaker
A real I love that. And then who, because I'm curious, like who inspires you? um like Either podcasts or like YouTubers or what are your top two or three or one? Hmm.
00:46:27
Speaker
i i don't you know i don't know their names specifically, but there are a handful of podcasts that I do listen to that is inspirational. like It's about a lot of small business and like like kind of like influencer, like trying to be a creative online.
00:46:46
Speaker
So there are a handful. i don't even really know them by name though, but um I guess I want to do a little shout out of my podcast too I do have two other ladies that I host a podcast that's about running a small business. It's called Paper Talk.
00:47:03
Speaker
And the other two ladies, they we we all kind of do the same thing. We make paper flowers. Yeah. it's just all three of us coming from different backgrounds and different, like, I don't know, like different things that we struggle with, different things that we have um accomplished.
Conclusion & Listener Encouragement
00:47:22
Speaker
It really does. Yeah. They're, they're, they're the people that are, that like inspire me and like, I get my encouragement from and learn from. So. Yeah. That's awesome. We're, we're, we have a lot more in common than we thought.
00:47:37
Speaker
Yeah. I love podcasters. And where can everyone besides the podcast find you from Instagram? ah You can find me on Instagram at handmadebysarahkim, TikTok, YouTube.
00:47:49
Speaker
And i have my website. It's handmadebysarahkim.com. And it's Sarah without an H in case anybody misspells it. Yay. Thank you, Sarah. This is so fun. Thank you.
00:48:05
Speaker
Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine.
00:48:21
Speaker
See you next time, wedding pros.