Brass Tacks
Interview with a Maker - Kami Strunsee of Timber Lane Studio
Welcome to our first in a series of Interviews with a Maker. Each month we will be featuring the makers and small business owners who inspire and keep us motivated to keep on trucking along in this crazy entrepreneur world.
So lets get started!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kami Strunsee - Timber Lane Studio
If you follow us closely this first maker shouldn't be a stranger to you...... Kami Stunsee of Timber Lane Studio
Not only does she make some amazing art, but she is generous enough to share her talent by teaching classes where you make your very own copper feather. I've witnessed this process several times and I am ALWAYS fan girling it out in the corner watching. Kami is truly a creative genius and her work speaks for itself.
How did you get started Making?
I’ve never NOT been a maker/creator/artist. It’s who I am. Professionally speaking, it started when my youngest daughter started school full-time and I had to go back to work. I told my husband that I wanted two years to create my own art-based business. He was cool with that, so I jumped in with both feet and my whole body and never looked back.
What's your biggest SUCCESS thus far?
The fact that I am working this business and still making some dolla-billz is a success. But more importantly, actually, MOST importantly, is that I started to hire other talented artists to work under my brand, and I am extremely proud of that — and honored that I have such amazing women that want to jump on board with me to create and expand my brand & line and see where it takes us.
What's your biggest Failure?
LOL….ummmm, too many to count? Biggest failure businesswise would be my printed leggings & pillows that I first started out with. Creating requires some experimentation and a whole lot of GRACE. Some of the things I thought would be awesome were a flop. But it spurned me to move on to other things.
What do you love the most about making?
I love the process… the Oprah “a-ha!” moment. The second things start to click and everything starts to flow. Sometimes it results in triumphs of creative passion, most of the time it results in fantastic flops of failure that I laugh at before shelving and moving on to the next project. HOWEVER…. Keep that fail on the shelf….it always has potential to be tweaked and modified into a WIN. Never trash an idea completely. Keep it simmering… Those triumphs of creative passion, no matter how few, keep you going. And you never know when those simmering ideas will bubble over into bigger & better things.
What is your business Strength?
I work damn f%©k1nG hard. All the time. Commitment + consistency. My dad had a print of Thomas Edison’s famous quote “Success is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration” That is how I function. I put in the hard work that the 10% inspiration calls upon, and that 90%....well, that’s the magic number. That’s the “get shit done” number. I don’t talk about what I’m going to do…. I do it. And it’s fun and scary and motivating….and that’s what drives me.
What advice do you have to those makers afraid to take the next step?
DARLINGS!!!! First things first. STOP TELLING YOURSELF NO. Stop telling yourself, I’ll do that later. Stop telling yourself that’s stupid, that wouldn’t work. Stop trying to put out the fires of your own creativity. They’re smoldering….they’re embers….all it takes is a breath of air to start it burning. And that starts with telling yourself YES. That YES is your air, the fan for the flames. In 2015 I made a promise to myself that I’d stop telling myself NO…. and it’s been a crazy-amazing-gratitude-filled-ride ever since.
What is your spirit animal and why?
A goat: their milk makes delicious cheese, they eat anything, are playful, smart, companionship is their A-game, can creatively escape any enclosure, make funny noises, have a boat-load of personality, will head-butt things that piss them off, can be affectionate when paired with certain individuals, and are so stinking cute I can’t stand it. Also: Goat YouTube videos…. ‘nuff said.
Isn't Kami bada$$!?! We highly encourage you to make your way over to Kami's website to check out her work and class information!
LINK --------------->>>>> Timber Lane Studio