On Top of Your Day Job: Grace Hester Designs

Graphic design, typography, power naps, operations management, late night Etsy business sessions ... time for a new On Top of Your Day Job interview!

Hi everyone! I'm Brenda and I once ran my own Etsy business on top of a much more than fulltime day job (but have since joined the ranks of full self employment!).

On Top of Your Day Job celebrates the true heroines and heroes of Etsy: the "day" job employees who then run their indie biz, along with creating, marketing and everything else, in the week's remaining hours.

This month, we're talking with Grace from Grace Hester Designs! Grace works very late nights on her Etsy-based business after a full eight hours at her day job, in addition to raising two young children and even making time for her husband! Perhaps you'll pick up a tip or two in time management and work-life balance from this talented designer!

Grace Hester

Grace Hester Designs on Etsy
Blog
Facebook
Flickr
Twitter

Tell us a bit about you: who are you, who do you want to be, what do you make, what makes you unique?
My name is Grace Hester and I am a wife and mom to two young daughters, a 5- and a 2-year-old. I was born and raised in Singapore but move to the US in 2000 to be with my then-fiance, now husband. I love to travel and love intercultural exchanges. I am also a crafter/creator at heart. I offer in my etsy store, Grace Hester Designs, modern artwork and paper goods that are silhouette- or typography-based (probably only a small percent of the types of things I enjoy creating!).

What do you think it is about you that makes your shop(s) successful?

I think the customized and personalized nature of the prints with high-quality materials at an affordable price point, is a key success factor. The color and language choices would be another reason, since there are a limited number of sellers who offer similar options. I also hope that my commitment to improving my customers' experience is another reasons!



What is your fulltime job? Do you plan to continue working fulltime or is your goal to join the ranks of the Quit Your Day Job artisans?

I work full-time as an operations leader, though I have been on a non-operations project assignment since December last year (which is anticipated to run for another year at least). My plan for my design business is to start slow and let it run in a controlled pace for a few years. My family is my first priority and if I were to jump in 100% into the business without letting it simmer and bake for a little bit, it will put a huge strain on the family dynamics during the initial phase.

Do you have partner(s), employee(s) or family members who help with your business? If so, what roles do they fill and how do they make your life easier?
My husband is my co-manager for all things household and family-related and the relief from that is way bigger than any relief I can get from someone helping me with the day-to-day store activities.

When do you fit in working on your business? Share with us your top two or three time management tips or tricks?

My most productive spurts are during lunch, after my girls go to bed, and on the weekends. The ability to schedule blog posts, twitter promos, facebook posts, and answer email on my iPhone has been the biggest productivity boost and a big reason why I “appear” to do so much on so little time. I also have limited TV-watching time. I have maybe one show a day that I catch online the day after – even then I am streaming it while working on my store!




If you sold last holiday season, how did you survive!? What was your biggest lesson learned?

Last season was my first. I had a few offerings that were so time-consuming, I just took them out of the store until I could find a way to deliver them more efficiently. Or repriced them so the amount of labor and time spent making those pieces was worth it. I didn’t really have inconsistent peaks of orders, so I think it was manageable.

One thing I discovered does not make sense for the business is doing craft shows – it’s great for getting the word out there but since a lot of my prints are event-based or purpose-specific, I tend to get a lot of lookers and not buyers. I get a lot of great feedback like, “how cool!” or “I am so getting that for the next baby shower.” So I figured that marketing to locals via other mediums would create the same awareness without my time commitment to a two-day craft show.

What stresses you out the most about your business?

That I really do want to take it full-time right now but I have to sit tight. I am totally not a sit tight and wait kind of person, so this is definitely a self-development lesson.

What gets you the most excited?
When I get an email from a customer telling me how much their recipient loved their present. Also when a major publication covers my store or items without a request submission from me – it’s thrilling. 





Tell us how you organize your workday and workplace?

I am not sure if it is organized but it is certainly a routine now. I wake up in the morning around 5:30 AM and hit the snooze button 10 times before taking a shower and get ready for work. My husband gets our girls up at 6:30 AM for breakfast. The girls and I leave the house at 7:20 AM and I take them to the daycare/preschool and get to work at 8:00 AM. Then it’s the full-time job till lunch, during which I may catch up on the store or work on design work on my laptop while having lunch at the desk. A little after 5:00 PM, I pick up my kids and we head home for dinner at 6:00 PM. My husband and I plan our meals for the week and so we either reheat the food we cooked over the weekend, or they are quick meals to put together. He is usually home before I am so he starts the meal preparation and by the time we’re all home, it does not take as much for us to enjoy a warm meal together as a family. Then I do bathtime and the girls' hair while we watch a TV show together. After the girls go to bed at around 8:30 PM, only then is when I start working on my Etsy store and orders. I work till at least midnight on most nights.

For my home workspace, it’s really just my laptop and I have three wire-drawer units that I call my “studio.” The separate elements of order start to completion are housed in each drawer. It’s kind of assembly line based and the open wire helps me see which drawer holds what and how much inventory I have left.

My husband and I are talking about a separate work space in the house now that the store has grown but we are not in any hurry since it’s working so far.



How do you balance it all: life, work and business?

I don’t sleep a lot (hah hah). I have a sleep cycle that is probably not sustainable but works for now. I multitask when it makes sense and make use of every minute that I have. I also experienced two businesses start ups before this and the lessons learned from those experiences have helped in how I came up with the concept of Grace Hester Designs and how the business is built, from the product design, to the pace of orders, to marketing the store, to suit my lifestyle and goals for work-life balance.

Do you take actual vacations and holidays away from both jobs? Or do you use vacation time from your day job to work on your business?

Yes I do! I was very blessed to have had a couple of nice press mentions this year and the surge in orders meant I didn’t sleep but a few hours for a week. Right after it started winding down, I put the store on vacation and just worked my day job and slept early for the week after. But I have not taken a full vacation from my full-time job yet – I have to say that the day job is a higher priority than my Etsy store (it pays the bills!) so when push comes to shove, the Etsy business is the first to go on vacation mode. :o)



What is your biggest challenge in finding time to do the things that have to happen during business hours?

I do not really have any tasks that require the need to complete them during business hours. But specific to the post office, I have to thank Daisy Mae Designs for a service I had overlooked until a few months ago. I had purchased some glass magnets from her and when the package arrived, I noticed that she uses PayPal shipping and started looking into using it too. It totally rocks! I use PayPal shipping for US packages, add tracking for the extra 19 cents, and drop them off at my full-time job’s USPS pick-up spot. So no post office runs for me. I also do the same for international packages that do not go Priority Mail except that I have stamps on-hand and I use online tools and forms from USPS.com to prep the package as much as possible. If I HAVE to go to the post office, I can always go during lunch hour.

Share one of your personal guilty pleasures?
Weekend naps. I try my very best to empty the schedule between 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. on weekends so that I can put the girls down for a nap and then snooze myself. I also have a soft spot for macaroons. My favorite is the Luxemburgerli from Confiserie Sprüngli, but I go to a lovely local pastry shop Pistacia Vera when I need a fix.


Do you shop handmade? If so, what was the last thing you purchased?
Absolutely! I am an equal-opportunity shopper of mass-manufactured products and handmade items. The last thing I purchased was a combination of a giveaway win and order. I purchased two tunic dresses and three skirts for my daughters from My Sweet Kate. They are so beautiful.



What else would you like readers to know about you and about running an online creative business in addition to working fulltime and even having a personal and social life?

My personal experience has been that the more holistic your approach is, the more balanced and stress-free your life will be even as you take on more endeavors. When I say “holistic,” I mean overlaying what you want out of life, what you want for your family, what you enjoy doing, where you want to see your business going, or any other life goals that matter to you, and then designing the business and operations to fit those goals. This usually requires you to have a frank discussion with yourself on which areas might be compromised, or can be uncompromised by tweaking other things you’re willing to let go. Once you have this general “life” direction, any time management challenges or bumps in your day to day life will be much easier to address and hopefully resolve. Otherwise, you will constantly be tempted to try to do everything, and then constantly berate yourself for not accomplishing anything or actually driving yourself batty trying to do too much.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT

Grace is offering 20% off orders of $35 or more in her shop through June 25! Mention "DAYJOB" in the message to seller box at checkout and the discount will be refunded through Paypal.

Thank you so much, Grace!

And a huge thanks to all of you! If you work at least halftime (20 hours/week) in addition to your indie business, let me know! I'd love to talk with you about your own On Top of Your Day Job feature.

I'll see you again next month with a new On Top of Your Day Job artist spotlight! ~ Brenda