INTRODUCTION

Lesley Logan
Hey, you, how are you? I’m really excited for our guest today. This is new for me, actually, most of, pretty sure almost all of the interviews I’ve done to this point. So whatever order this comes in, we’ll we’ll see, but to this point have been people I know. People who’ve been introduced to me, people I’ve had conversations with, people I know there Be It story and I brought them on. And, I share this because this is where the podcast is, at this point, we have people pitching themselves to be on this podcast to share their Be It story. And, I can’t even like, like this is being it till you see it right here. Like this episode, I have been wanting an interview like this where it’s a person, I don’t know, I don’t know, whether and I look like when they come on the screen. I don’t know how they’re gonna sound. It’s like, just being it till you see it. And the story she and her sister have to share with you is really inspiring. And I’m so grateful. And I and I want you to know that you should not wait for an invitation to share your story. Should not wait for an invitation to do the thing that you want to do. Sometimes, you’ve already given given that invitation. And it might not be in the sign of like a paperless post message saying, “You’re invited.” But it may actually be in questions people are asking you repeatedly. And because they see you as an expert in something, or it could be in a vote of encouragement, “Oh, yeah, you’re really great at this, you should do it.” Those are little invitations. And so put yourself out there more often than you think you should. You’re not bragging, you’re not being annoying. Unless someone says, “no.” (Lesley laughs) And even when they say “no,” it could just mean not right now. And so I hope you enjoy this this episode, she and her sister are working on some great things. And it’s really truly inspiring. Like, you don’t even have to wait very long for your thing to take off. When it’s the right thing for people and you’re solving a problem. But also, I hope it inspires you to take that leap, face the fear, and put yourself out there without waiting for the formal invite that I think a lot of us are waiting for. And the truth is maybe it already happened and we just, we just didn’t listen because we’re a little bit scared to be it till we see it. So here is the interview with Taylor Smith of Shop Sisters, Shop Studio Sisters on Etsy and Instagram and I hope you enjoy this. If you snag a sticker you must take a picture and tag me on the gram with them because I want to see what you got. I’m not gonna lie I’m already perusing because I am an elder millennial who loves Lisa Frank. So here’s Taylor Smith after this brief message.

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Lesley Logan
Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I’m Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and business fitness coach. I’ve trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it’s the antidote to fear. Each week, my guests will bring Bold, Executable, Intrinsic and Targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It’s a practice, not a perfect. Let’s get started.

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EPISODE

Lesley Logan 3:37
All right, Be It listeners. This is a first and I’m I’m really excited. So forgive me if I nerd out. But I hope I ask all the questions that are coming into your mind as we talk to Taylor Smith (aaahhh.) Taylor is a teacher turned CEO and she runs one of the top 1% of Etsy shops. And I have to say like I was reading all of her stuff. This woman has been being it till you see it as she, she created this amazing company from, it sounds like, from scratch. So Taylor, can you please tell the Be It listeners who you are, what you rock at, and what you’re doing right now.

Taylor Smith 4:12
Okay, first of all, Lesley, thank you so much for having me on the podcast. I’m super excited to be here. So, my name is Taylor. I run a Etsy shop with my sister Katie. It’s called Studio Sisters because obviously, we’re sisters. (Lesley laughs) We produce our own stickers. So my sister is the artist and designer and then we do everything in house. So we design, print, cut, and ship all of our products ourselves. And we ship worldwide. All over the United States and globally. It’s an amazing like thing to get to wake up every day and ship handmade products that are you know our own designs to people all over the world. Who are using them, putting them on their water bottles, using them as mantras and putting them you know, maybe on their desk or their computer where they can see them or the creating art with them. It’s it’s so freaking cool. And …

Lesley Logan 5:12
Wait, this is incredible. So wait, you you guys make stickers and you the two of you do this as your job for a living. Like this is what you’re doing.

Taylor Smith 5:22
Yeah, I know (Lesley: That so cool) it sounds crazy. (Lesley laughs) So my sister always jokes that like when she was a kid, she wanted to be Lisa Frank when she grew up. I don’t know if you remember Lisa Frank?

Lesley Logan 5:32
Honey, elder millennial, of course, but I’m (Taylor: Yeah) too poor to get Lisa Frank, anything my parents would never buy it. They would always buy the cheap, you know, 9 7 29 cent folder as opposed to the dollar 99 folder. And I just like was so jealous of all the Lisa Frank girls in my class. And that’s probably why everything I do is color. I’m like Lisa Frank and her life. So, I love your sister already. (Lesley laughs)

Taylor Smith 5:55
Yeah, yeah. So she’s like, “I just wanted to be her when I grew up. And now I am I design stickers for a living.” So every day we get up, we fill the orders, we ship stickers out. We because we produce ourselves and we don’t use like a drop shipper or a third party. There’s a lot of like, handmade production that goes on. And I think that’s a really fascinating process. Like the whole time you’re, you’re running printers and Daikon machines, you’re like, “Wow, I’m like actually making this thing. And it’s going like to people who are going to love it.” That that is the coolest part of the process. But also for me, this Etsy shop literally changed my life. So, I’ll share a little bit (Lesley: Yeah) about that.

Lesley Logan 6:37
I want it, I want that’s exactly what they need to hear. Because like, first of all, it’s amazing to say you’re in the top 1%. But I think where people get hung up is like, “How did you go from where you were to like success now?” But like what was the thing because like, you, you don’t just like you’re not just a wake up one day. Now you’re the number one shop, right? Like you have to like there’s there’s a whole lot of messy middle in there. So can you tell us the story?

Taylor Smith 7:01
Yeah, I love talking about that messy middle. (Taylor laughs) Okay, so I have two degrees in Cultural Anthropology, I wanted to teach, that’s all I ever wanted. I had no plan B. That’s all I ever wanted was to teach social studies, to teach humanities. And so I left grad school and took a job at a community college, which was my dream. Like I had gone to community college, I wanted to give back and teach at a community college and I got the job and I loved it. But I was like making no money (Lesley: Right) (Leslet and Taylor laughs) at it.

Lesley Logan 7:34
Yeah, that’s not a shock. If you live anywhere else in the world, maybe this is a shock to you. But teachers in the States make no money. (Lesley laughs)

Taylor Smith 7:42
Exactly. So then I did that for several years, just trying to like somehow thinking that if I just kept at it, it would, it would somehow work. And I would somehow be making more money at some point. And I’m not really sure why I was thinking that was going to work out. (Lesley and Taylor laughs)

Lesley Logan 8:05
We tell ourselves a lot of things to get through. And I think sometimes those stories can be really helpful. And sometimes those things can be you know, holding us back. So you’re like, it sounds like you had an idea at some point to not do that anymore.

Taylor Smith 8:19
Yeah. So then I tried, like teaching for a corporation. I thought maybe teaching public education was the problem, right? If I went to work for a corporation, I get paid a lot more as an instructor. So I did that, I work for actually, it’s kind of crazy. I accepted two teaching contracts at the same time. (Lesley laughs) So … (Lesley: Go bigggo home, Taylor) Yeah. Yeah. And they were both online. So that was like, wild. I ended one job at 11pm on a Friday night, and I started my next teaching shift at 5am on Saturday.

Lesley Logan 8:53
Okay. (Taylor: and …) This is crazy. (Taylor: I know) That’s wild. Like this, (Taylor: Yeah) like I say, go bigger go home as a joke, because I’m sure like, at some point, you’re like, “This is a big problem.” Like, you can’t like this is not sustainable.

Taylor Smith 9:05
Correct. So, like I had, okay, so I’m making a little bit more money. This is okay, like, I’m paying my bills. But like, this is crazy and I hate it. I absolutely hate it. Right? I love that teaching, but I hated the schedule. And I hated working by myself. And it was like really alone and I was working weird hours. So I was like, there has to be like, I’ve got to do something else. And this is all kind of like coming together in my brain when the pandemic hits.

Lesley Logan 9:39
Oh, so wait, you … Sorry. Spoiler alert. I got to skip ahead. You started this business in the pandemic?

Taylor Smith 9:45
Yeah, (Lesley laughs) so the business happened in 18 months.

Lesley Logan 9:50
Stop. Okay, so, the pande… so when the pandemic hits you quit teaching or like how did you and your sister (I’m sorry, I skipped so far ahead. I got so excited.) And how did you and your sister go, “You know, let’s work together.” We we have it sounds like you had very few extra hours in your days when you weren’t sleeping and versus teaching. So like, what like did did because the pandemic, did your jobs shut down? Like what was what was the impetus?

Taylor Smith 10:16
Okay, so I became very worried that I was gonna lose my job, because, um, what happened is I had actually, at that time, I think I had just stopped one of my contracts, I was just working for one company, and then the pandemic hits. And then we start getting emails that like people are getting laid off. Because people are homeschooling their kids, or a lot of our clients actually were companies paying for their employees to take classes from us. And so that when that happened, a (Lesley: Oh, yeah) lot of those contracts got dropped. And so …

Lesley Logan 10:49
Yeah. Everyone peeled back all their budgets as quickly…

Taylor Smith 10:52
Everybody peeled back. (Lesley: Yeah) And that happened in my company, too. And the education company I worked for. So, I was like, “Holy crap, I’m, I’m might be about to lose my job. I need to start something.” And so I like hit up my sister. I’m like, “Hey, I think we should start an Etsy shop. And I think we should just play with this and see what happens.” And we have both previously had small Etsy shops in the past, we, she’s a freelance artist, she works for herself. But this was the first time that we actually like worked together on something, we had always kind of done our own thing. So I drug her kind of into this, like kicking and screaming. (Lesley laughs)

Lesley Logan 11:29
But she gets to be Lisa Frank now.

Taylor Smith 11:31
Yeah, and you know, that’s what big sisters do to their little sisters. 100%. I don’t know if you have a sister. (Lesley: Oh, you big sister?) Yeah, I am.

Lesley Logan 11:39
I have a little sister. And she is gonna hate it if she hears me say that. I have a younger sister. (Lesley and Taylor laughs) (Taylor: Yeah) And it’s true, like, there’s just something I mean, I think when you’re older, it gets a little bit less. You know, whatever it is when you’re growing up, but like, we were not, we were pretty close in age only two years apart. So it was easy for yeah, anyways, she is amazing. And she actually does some work for us, which is super cool. We did not have to drag her kicking and screaming. I will say but (Lesley and Taylor laughs) (Taylor: Well that’s good) yeah, so wait. So you, so you the new … you started this in like March, April, May of 2020? When did y’all start?

Taylor Smith 12:18
March 31, 2020.

Lesley Logan 12:22
Oh my God. This is crazy. (Taylor: Yeah) Okay, okay, okay. I’m so excited. So how do you start this business, though? Because I don’t know, is it just like, you just go on Etsy and you’re like, become a business like, what do you have to do to like, get on Etsy, and you don’t take on all the like, click, buy, clicks, but like, did you, did you to know you’d have a viable product? How did you test that your, what you’re about to sell was gonna be worth it?

Taylor Smith 12:45
Yeah, so that’s an awesome question. So, Etsy really easy to get started. Pretty much just like if you’ve signed up for a Facebook account, you can figure out how to sign up for an Etsy account. It’s really not that hard. And Etsy, unlike other platforms like Shopify or running your own business that have monthly subscriptions, Etsy don’t pay a monthly fee for it cost you 20 cents to list and test a product. That’s it, and you don’t pay anything else to sell. So listeners out there, if you want to test something out, Etsy is a great place to test and validate. (Lesley: This is insane … 20 cents. That’s insane) 20 cents. Yes. (Lesley: Okay.) (Lesley laughs) Yeah.Yeah. And then you pay a commission on the sale, but you don’t pay anything else until it actually sells. So we tested a few different products in the in the very beginning. And then also, Katie had, my sister had produced some stickers on her own already, she kind of validated it on social media, a little bit. So we said, “Hey, let’s let’s take that.” And we had initially sold a few other things like masks, we had sold some other handmade products and like craft kits for adults, like journal or DIY kits using stickers and different, like art prints and things like that. But stickers were very quickly where we found that niche. And this was the thing that was selling so, yeah, so so we began to niche down and here’s the part where it sort of like all changed is like we just decided, hey, if the stickers are selling, we love doing this. We’re like this product makes us excited. But we’re also seeing it’s validated by customers buying it. So let’s just become known as the “sticker girl,” let’s niche down and just do this one thing.

Lesley Logan 14:22
I love it. I mean, that’s what it is. Right? Like, they say in everything that you do. Like it’s just so important to focus on like one thing because then you can break through like, I’m sure I don’t know, maybe you haven’t spread your wings yet on things but like. Once you’re known for one thing, then you can actually talk about many things. Like Oprah was known as like this one thing as a day time host and now she’s like, got magazines and weightwatchers and all I mean all the things, right? She got to be one thing first, so you guys tested some stuff and then you’re like, “We’re the sticker girls. We’re rocking it.”

Taylor Smith 14:52
Yeah, exactly. Yep. And I 100% agree with you. Like if there’s one, I get asked this all the time. Like, how do I stand up to my competition? How do I make my business blow up? Right? How do I, how do I start making money not just like $1 here and there, $10 here on Etsy. Like, how do I actually make this something that is profitable, that is part of my financial freedom story and that is like, you have to choose a thing and become known for that thing (Lesley: You have to) you have to choose your niche.

Lesley Logan 15:22
You have to. Okay, so here’s like inquiring minds want to know. So how so like, because I do not believe that if you build people will come. So your your, you know, you put your stickers on there, you’re like, “we’re sticker people.” And like, “Etsy is amazing.” Like, “I am like, I need something cool. I’m just gonna go look on Etsy.” But how how, like, how soon between like, “Okay, we’re the sticker girls.” To like, “Hey, we work for ourselves as the shop sisters.” Like, what was like the did it just like overnight, people just buying stickers because of the pandemic? Or like, was there like a, you know, is there a lead up? Is there a little growing period?

Taylor Smith 16:03
Okay, so I think the most normal thing for business to expect is that there’s a lead up, there’s a growing period, you just are going to be in a position where you see slow, steady growth month over month, it’s gonna get bigger and bigger. That’s not what happened in our case, from pandemic, like, just hit fast forward on everything. (Lesley: Right) On April 5, I think was around Easter weekend. And one day, we had like, 300 orders in one day. (Lesley: Shut up. That’s insane.) Yeah, after, in like a week, it was insane. We were not prepared, we got super overwhelmed. And we were like, “We have to develop a strategy. There’s got to be a system.” And we did and we learned from it, which is amazing. But I think that the most normal thing you should expect with any kind of like, entrepreneur journey is more of a slow, slow, steady, intentional pace. And hopefully you don’t get overwhelmed by it.

Lesley Logan 16:51
Yeah, cuz it’s true (Taylor: Um …) like, that’s the other side is like, “whoo, all these orders,” but then you got to do all the work for it. So (Taylor: Yeah) this space in between, what was, what … did you like check your… did y’all like check your email all day long looking for like dings? Like, did you keep the sound on see here chi ching? Does Etsy do chi ching? Like, you know, how, like, how did you all spend your time to like, getting ready for being this shop owner before you were like, you know, busy being a shop owner.

Taylor Smith 17:21
Ahh oh gosh. Okay, so many things. So first of all, I think that one, I tried to start, like manifesting this, like, for my future, even though it was already happening, right? I was, we were already getting orders. I was deep down thinking like, “What is this just stops tomorrow?” Right? (Lesley: Right) Like, “This is great. I’m glad I made $3,000 this week, but like, what if next week it’s zero. And that’s it. That’s the end of it.” So …

Lesley Logan 17:53
Right. It’s like a one hit wonder we all know those …

Taylor Smith 17:55
Correct. I was deeply terrified that I was a one hit wonder on Etsy. (Taylor laughs)

Lesley Logan 18:01
… like I think we all just we’re like, “Oh my God. April 5th, you like sold out overnight. You’re overwhelmed. It’s like, yeah, but then what happened on April 7?” (Lesley laughs)

Taylor Smith 18:10
Correct. Correct. Yes. So establishing those daily habits. Right? So this is applicable for someone, even if you have zero clients and your service based business or zero clients in your product based business, like figure out what you do every day as a successful business owner. So every morning at eight o’clock, I go through all the customer DMs, I log on to Etsy and I answer all the customer messages. It doesn’t matter if there’s zero that day. And I already knew that because there weren’t any notifications on my phone. I still do it anyway. (Lesley: Got it) And that habit like sets the precedent every single day that this is what I do, because this is a normal part of my life as a full time handmade business owner.

Lesley Logan 18:50
I love this so much. You’re not like, (Taylor: Yeah) “Let me wait until I’ll just, I’ll do, I’ll wait until there’s customer messages.” And you’re like, “Nope. Every day as a successful business owner, I check these messages, I check this email, I check these orders. I do these things” because you are, you, it’s manifesting. It’s also being it until you see it. It’s like, acting as if you have these things because I think so often it’s like, “Well, when I have (Taylor: Correct) then I will do this.” You know, I even caught myself the other day going, “Ah, when all this is done, then I’ll go back to my morning journaling.” And I was like, “Whoa, (Taylor: Yeah) whoa,” like my brain was like cognitive dissonance. We don’t like this. That’s not how I believe and I was like, “You’re right.” I’m going to just have to make the time to get back to my morning journaling. So, I have been doing it again all week long. And I have to say, days are better than ever because that’s just what it is. But also, I am the person who that makes the time to do what she says she’s going to do to fill her cup first. So, I love that you did that. You’re like, “I’m checking these orders.” How did that feel? And like, did … did it feel like it was manifesting or did it feel scary? Like because I think that can feel weird, right, to just check things knowing that it’s not there.

Taylor Smith 18:52
Yeah, so I think you can look at that one way and say like, “Oh, there weren’t any customer messages. My business is a failure. No one likes what I make, no one likes what I sell.” That’s one option. Totally, you can go that route with your mindset or what I tend to look at it as, “Hey, look, there weren’t any messages today. Awesome. Look, I did such a good job. Like my product description must be so clear that no one had any questions today. Like good job, Taylor.”

Lesley Logan 20:26
I’m like, obsessed. I’m obsessed. Like, that is so … that is so true. Because it’s I mean, like, y’all, when we’re recording this, I just finished a launch. And when you do a launch, I’m sure like, even when Taylor will say this, like, if there are like reasons for people to buy day one that disappear for day 2, 3, 4, basically what that means is you get a lot on day one. And then you get the last minute people on day five, but like (Taylor: Yeah) 2, 3, 4, it’s like crickets, and it’s so easy to go, “Oh my God, that’s it. We’re not going to get any more like, it’s just wasn’t that great.” Or to go, “Nope, everyone is so excited. They’re gonna buy it on the last day, because they can wait to the last day. So I’m just gonna wait for them but everything is out there and it’s so clear. And we’re just gonna, we’re just going to trust them and be there.” And they always come but it’s, we can tell ourselves such interesting stories. So because you work with your sister, do you guys catch each other on any stories you tell each other? Like, is it good to have a partner in crime?

Taylor Smith 21:24
Oh, I think so. Um, she’s awesome at reminding me like, “Slow down. We don’t need to do everything at once.” And (Lesley: Yeah) (Lesley laughs) which is something I struggle with. And I really I have to practice daily and I’m like, I have to set a stop time for myself, doesn’t matter. Everything else can wait until the next day after 3pm or 4pm. Whatever I set for that day. And she …

Lesley Logan 21:48
That’s amazing. So what time do you start your day?

Taylor Smith 21:51
So, I usually start at seven. I’m an early morning person, we both are. So usually I started at seven, she likes to start at 5am. Not my jam. (Taylor laughs) She’s drinking her tea and designing art at 5am. I start at seven I usually stop at three or four unless it’s just like we’re going to the holiday season. We know we’re gonna have to work more during the holidays. But usually I work seven to three most days. And sometimes I’m like, so excited. And so in it and she’s like, “Hey, we’re done for the day. Like I’m done. You need to be done too.” So that’s one of the benefits. I would say working with my sister is like, she’s not afraid to call me out and tell me like, “No.”

Lesley Logan 22:31
Yeah, I work with my husband. And I will say like, we call each other out because I am the early person. But I early on that I like to get up early for myself. And I run and I work out and I have my coffee and like now that the weather is amazing. I sit outside, it’s a little cold. But I have my blanket and it’s like awesome, all the things. And then I’ll start work around like 8:30, 9 o’clock. And but I like to end early like, like several days a week I like to end at four. And then, and then the only reason on two, the other two days I end all the later because I’m studying breath work right now. So I’m just I’m taking class. But technically, I’m done working. That’s just like my education. And my husband will want to come in and talk to me, of course, because he starts his workday at 10. So he’s still going and I’m like, “I’m (Taylor: Yeah) done. You can (Taylor: Yup) put that in Slack to me. Thank you so much. I love you.” But then other times I’ll have this amazing idea while we’re out and he’s like, “Hey, can you put that down in the ideas parking lot? We’re off today.” And it’s like, ah, cuz, you know, when you work for yourself, you can’t it’s hard to turn the brain off. But having someone (Taylor: Right) to be like, “Hey, you remember you put your ideas here when you’re thinking about them and you’re off?” (Lesley laughs) Like, “Oh, yeah.”

Taylor Smith 23:39
Exactly, (Lesley: Yeah) 100%. Yeah. (Taylor laughs)

Lesley Logan 23:43
So okay, so that “everything else can wait” is really difficult. Especially I think for people who I mean, you did grow so fast and the pandemic and it is easy for I think when you work for yourself to think like, “Oh my God, this could all end tomorrow.” (Lesley laughs) (Taylor: Yeah) So how, like, what, like, what are some mantras or what stickers have you made to like, keep yourself from worrying that tomorrow it’s gonna be gone.

Taylor Smith 24:10
Okay, so I think that what happened for me besides like, a business that changed my life, and I quit my job in four months, and like, I worked for myself ever since …

Lesley Logan 24:21
Oh my God, you quit your job in four months? (Taylor: Yeah …) your company was making enough money for you to quit your job? And I’m assuming your sister to just work on the business too? (Taylor: Correct. Yes) Insane, insane.

Taylor Smith 24:32
But it was terrifying because like I would, I actually knew I could quit at three months. And it took me a month to quit because I was so scared.

Lesley Logan 24:41
Oh. Can you, can we talk about that? Can we talk about (Tyalor: Yeah) that fear because I actually think so many people listening to this, know they should be quitting. They already know. (Taylor: Mm hmm.) And like what was going through your head and what did you tell yourself to because … in one month that’s actually a really short period of time. I know people who wait years. (Lesley laughs)

Taylor Smith 25:00
Yeah. Yeah, and I know there are a lot of teachers out there. I have a lot of teacher friends, every day, every day I talk to them, I text them. I’m like, “Hey, do you quit your job today? Hey, did you quit your job today?” Because, like, yeah, so like, they’re not valued by their employer for what they should be, like valuing for themselves, but they’re stuck in it. And I totally get that because I’ve been stuck, right? It it took me a month to quit my job. So let me talk about that what I was afraid of. So, I was afraid of being a one hit wonder, with my business terrified that it was like, “This is just gonna be six weeks of pandemic cash.” And then that’s it like, “We’re done, we’ll never have another sale again.” I was also really afraid of like, “What would my identity be if I wasn’t a teacher anymore? Because I didn’t plan for anything else.” And I was terrified of like, “What if I wasted my degrees? I wasted all this time in my 20s trying to be a successful teacher. Who am I if I don’t have that academic, like, trophy of working in education anymore?”

Lesley Logan 26:04
Thank you for sharing these thoughts because I think identity is a really big thing that holds us from being it till we see it. We are worried how people will see us, we’re worried that you know, we’ve wasted time, which, you know, like, the only time wasted is really the time you spent, like not doing the thing that you’re being (Taylor: Yeah) called to do. It’s not the experience because like, everything I did working in retail, none of that was with my degree. I don’t (Taylor: Yeah) know why I thought I was doing that. And so when I was like leaving that to be a Pilates teacher and I’m like, “Oh, my God. Like, what are people gonna think, I managed this high end jewelry store. I work at this incredibly, like, sought after space company.” Like people, when you say, “Oh, I manage a store in Fred Segal.” They’re like, “Oh, my God,” like, instant, like, you’re up here. And now I’m a Pilates instructor. I thought what are people gonna say, with that? And really, again, what you said is the stories are in our head because as soon as I told them, “I’m a Pilates instructor.” Like, “That’s so cool. Tell me about it.” (Taylor: Yeah) Like people are very curious beings. And they don’t, unless you’re like, I’m like, I don’t actually think so. Actually, I’m catching myself, y’all because I gotta say like, I’m a high school dropout, like, you know, whatever. My, one of my best friends who has been on the podcast, she’s a college dropout. And she kills it in the business world. And so and when she shares it, people like go, “Really?” Like, I think we make people we put stories out there that make people make us think that people are gonna judge us on something that they’re gonna find very fascinating, and intriguing and interesting, and almost, like, slightly jealous and inspired by. So thank you for sharing that identity part because I do think that that is something we have to explore. And we really should explore with ourselves more often because we can ask yourself, “Why do I think that?” We have a guest episode I just interviewed. So I don’t know, the time this is out was never his will be. But he talks about identity. And he actually goes and I don’t know if you did this, he actually like steps outside of himself. And he’s like, “Okay, Thor. So why is that a problem?” Like as if he’s interviewing himself as a therapist. So how did you, what was the thought that made you go, “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to be this Etsy sticker girl, and it’s going to work out.”

Taylor Smith 28:16
Okay, so, um, I was very, like, caught up in this, right? Am I teacher? Am I not? Like, what if I only can do this business, like, halfway, and then I’m like, a failed teacher, or anything caught up in that. And I sort of stopped myself and I was like, “Okay, what are all the things that you want? Like, what is your dream life?” And so I made a list that was being able to get off of work early, go for a run, take as long as I want to cook dinner in my kitchen at night with music on and a glass of wine and not have to worry about, you know, doing more work after work. But also the freedom to travel and then also like the financial aspect, like I was sick of having a teacher salary where I was like, “Okay, I can go get coffee two times this week that’s what fits in my budget.” And so I sort of divided up what aligned did didn’t align and then I said to myself, “Okay, so if you didn’t have fear, like, if if fear just didn’t exist, like, let’s just take it off the table. If there is no fear, what choice would you make?” And obviously, like dream lights, self employed, world traveler sounded way better than minimum wage teacher, you know, working for someone else, and …

Lesley Logan 29:41
Two jobs at the time online by (Taylor: Exactly) yourself at home and only able to go out for coffee two times. Yeah … (Taylor: Exactly) And also, you know, everyone just says, you know, unless you really screw up the quitting, you pretty much can always go back. Like (Taylor: Yeah) you pretty much can if I wanted to, I don’t want to trust me. But if the pandemic had really screwed me up, I could have knocked on one of any of the luxury shops in in, you know, on the strip and be like, “Hey, do you need a manager? Assistant manager? Need a salesperson?” Like, I know how to do this.” (Lesley laughs)

Taylor Smith 30:18
Right? I always thought, well, I could definitely call back up like my employer was begging me like, “Can you just take a six month sabbatical instead of quitting?” Like, like, they were begging me to stay. And I knew I could always go back to teach, I could, you know, always get another job. And now my mindset has shifted from I could get another job to, if something happened with my business, I am not worried about it. Because as a business owner, I can come up with 1000 other ideas, (Lesley: Yeah) to sell something on the internet (Lesley: Yeah) and find another way.

Lesley Logan 30:52
Yeah, you’re 100% correct. And I think like, a lot of people fear, “Well, what if it doesn’t work?” And it’s like, the truth is like (a) what if it does? And (b) if you’re a creator, you are a creator. And I do actually believe that we all have the creator ability in us. And we just don’t give ourselves credit for it. Because maybe someone didn’t tell us we’re an artist, or maybe someone didn’t tell us that we’re creative. But really, like, we all have that in us, and it’s really tenacity, stamina, and the belief in yourself and here, maybe not everyone is gonna wants to work for themselves like that is very scary. So if you’re listening to this, and you’re like, “Ladies, this is awesome. But I don’t actually want the fear of working for myself, I need stability. I need this.” That makes so much sense. You can still ask yourself those same identity questions and make sure that you’re in a space that like actually is serving you because you can still work for there’s so many different amazing places to work that value you in different ways. Not always monetarily, but they can value in your time and your creativity and, and and your enthusiasm. So Taylor, where do you like to hang out on the socials? If people are like, “Holy crap, I want to know more about this Etsy thing.” What can they do?

Taylor Smith 32:09
Okay, so you can find us on Instagram, and Facebook, @shopstudiosisters, also our website shopstudiosisters.com. We have a Studio Sisters podcast, you can find that on our website (Lesley: So cool) or Spotify, wherever you listen. On the podcast, we love to talk about Etsy, of course, we share a lot of actionable Etsy tips. We also just talk about what it’s like to be like working full time creative, and sort of everything about that kind of part of our lives. It’s a lot of fun. If people are interested in Etsy, and they’re like, “Hey, I just want to make $500 a month in a side hustle. I just want to sell this cool thing that everyone is always telling me I should sell that I just make for fun or I don’t know, I want to learn more.” We do teach an Etsy coaching program. It’s called Dream, Create, Sell and it’s our step by step guide. It’s the exact strategy we’ve used to make more than six figures in sales and Etsy in the past 18 months. And so we took everything we did, we built it into a strategy that you can follow step by step. And so we have students in our program that are having like absolutely incredible results with it. And it’s super exciting. So all of that you can find us on Instagram @shopstudiosisters.

Lesley Logan 33:20
Oh my God, I can’t wait. I need stickers for my walls. I’m just… I’m so excited. And also just like, I love that you and your sister like, “Hey, people are asking us questions on this. Here’s what we’re gonna do next.” Y’all, sometimes your next thing is the question just keep getting asked. And (Taylor: Yeah) I am making an assumption there. But I don’t think you just were like, “Hey, you know what, we should just teach people how to do this.” I’m sure people were asking you questions and you’re like, “Alright, we should make some money on this because this is taking a lot of our time too.” I’m so grateful (Taylor: Yeah) for this conversation. Okay, before we go, though, we ask every guest what bold, executable, intrinsic, targeted steps can our listeners take to be it till they see it?

Taylor Smith 34:00
Okay, so I would say that. I think if I were to just pick one thing, be the initiator in your life. Maybe that’s you want to make new friends. Maybe that’s you want to start a business or just you feel stuck and you want to just try something new, you’ve never done, whether that’s a yoga class or signing up for a marathon or taking up a new hobby, like, you need to be the initiator. So pick a day on your planner with nothing on it and pencil in that thing that you want to do. That could be inviting someone you barely know for a cup of coffee. Or maybe it’s signing up for an online course that literally you know nothing about other than it sounds like a good thing to try. And just see where it leads. That is my best tip, pick something, be the initiator but make it time bound, right? Don’t say, “I’m going to become a quilter and I’m going to quilt and make you know 300 quilts.” Like just say, “I’m going to do this one thing on this one day.”

Lesley Logan 34:58
Oh my God. Okay. That is so cool, “Be the initiator.” If you have made that sticker you and your sister should and … (Taylor and Lesley laughs) (Taylor: Yeah. We should) Be initiator you want to see like well just (Lesley laughs) in the world. I think that is genius I really do love that and I I couldn’t agree with that more. I, Taylor this has been awesome thank you for making the time to be in our listeners ears this week and for sharing so generously, your journey and your story. I think it is inspiring AF and I can’t wait listeners. Please, y’all, tell us how this inspired you. So screenshot this, tag shop Sisters Studio, stop Studio Sisters, hold on. (Taylor: @shopstudiosisters) @shopstudiosisters. See the messy action right there no one’s perfect. Tag @shopstudiosisters and @be_it_pod with your takeaways with what you’re going to do if you’re going to be the initiator today. And let us know how this affected you. Until next time, Be It Till You See It.

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Lesley Logan
That’s all I’ve got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It podcast! One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate this show and leave a review. And, follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to podcasts. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the @be_it_pod on Instagram! I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us help others to BE IT TILL YOU SEE IT. Have an awesome day!

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Lesley Logan
‘Be It Till You See It’ is a production of ‘As The Crows Fly Media’.

Brad Crowell
It’s written, produced, filmed and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan and me, Brad Crowell. Our Associate Producer is Amanda Frattarelli.

Lesley Logan
Kevin Perez at Disenyo handles all of our audio editing.

Brad Crowell
Our theme music is by Ali at APEX Production Music. And our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi.

Lesley Logan
Special thanks to our designer Jaira Mandal for creating all of our visuals (which you can’t see because this is a podcast) and our digital producer, Jay Pedroso for editing all video each week so you can.

Brad Crowell
And to Angelina Herico for transcribing each of our episodes so you can find them on our website. And, finally to Meridith Crowell for keeping us all on point and on time.