Womxn in Progress: Amy Johnson

Every Wednesday in March 2022, I am sharing one #womxninprogress, detailing the work of a creative, inspiring womxn in my life. Click here to learn about these spotlights and/or submit a spotlight.

Amy and I met in Milwaukee, WI when we both worked at the family fun center JB’s on 41. While our positions were different, we quickly became friends, bonding over feminism, food, and fun. Though we’ve both moved onto new roles, we still digitally support one another. Amy and I recently collaborated on some customized womxn empowerment stickers, now proudly displayed in my new office across the country. Read on to learn about the power of starting, Amy’s life as a single parent, and how she finds ways to be creative, when life often feels like work, work, work.

Amy: “I am Miss Customize Everything.”

From stickers to shirts, hats to car decals, Amy’s built up a custom creative empire, though she only just started making decals in November. (Wonder if the pandemic gave her some time?) When she just started, she focused on teaching herself the mechanics, often making pieces for herself and son Jr. Ever curious by the choices, Amy continued to explore: finding options in shading, shadowing, and piecing together vinyl to include multiple colors. Her current favorite is the pictured Established 1986 Sweatshirt.

Kaylie: “Start small by taking your time to learn the tools and terms!”

Starting any venture is an art-form unto itself, so giving time to learn what’s know (and unknown) is important. I’ll let you, dear reader, in on a not-so-hidden secret of creative entrepreneurship: there are a ton of options, technology, and terminology in any craft (in 2019, I wrote about creative minimalism and using values to direct creative entrepreneurship). For example, Amy uses a die-cut machine, heat press machine, cutting and precision tools, as well as feedback from clients, to drive her creative decisions. The decals are made with heat transfer vinyl, and I gotta tell ya, the stickers we made together were quite custom, down to the glittery shading, resulting in some very happy-making mail (pictured).

Amy: “Family should always come first because you can never get that back, that is what I believe.”

Just like my bestie Marissa of my first #womxninprogress spotlight, Amy sometimes finds herself working non-stop. In addition to a full-time job with 4 days on, 3 days off, Amy is a single mom to Jr and 4(!) guinea pigs, so naturally this side-hustle is on the side: “If my business must be put on hold to spend time with him, then that is what needs to happen, so it can make [business] move more slowly.” While any creative gig naturally takes time, I can’t imagine constantly working while parenting, too.

Kaylie: “Set your boundaries, or someone else (life!) will.”

Amy’s days are structured by work and family, “I try my best to take orders in the order that they come, and I usually do best when working on the projects on my days off, so unfortunately for me it is only a 3-day a week operation right now.” I hope to help Amy with some boundaries, such as automating some tasks (like an order form with specific color/design ideas). But I respect her tenacity in growing as a creative entrepreneur. Ultimately, client satisfaction is Amy’s goal, but I wish her some semblance of balance.

Amy: “My affirmations to other moms out there trying to start something or going for their dreams is: it is never too late to start something. It can seem so overwhelming and frustrating at times, but never give up.”

With Amy’s schedule, she’s learned the fine art of integrating family with work by having Jr participate in the business, too. She likes to make him things, which is a cool way to personally promote your message/brand! As someone who received some vinyl pieces from Amy recently, she even include a lovely note. It’s little touches of kindness and creativity that make a difference. I’m sure Jr is honored to call Amy, “Mom.” Unlike Amy, I am NOT a parent, so I can’t speak to having a young one who is fully dependent on me, but I am impressed by Amy’s focus on family first.

Kaylie: “Word of mouth for YOUR product is still the best form of marketing.”

Companies protect their brands via trademarking and copyrighting, so custom creators, like Amy, must design their own work, as well as self-promote it. I don’t recommend using third-party platforms, as licensed content is understandably taken down (amongst other consequences). Instead, I often recommend fellow creatives to choose ONE platform (like WordPress!) and instead focus energy on originality. Plus, word of mouth is easier than you may think. For example, Amy herself wears her items at her full-time gig, thus some clients are her colleagues. In fact, she’s most driven by conversations that spark creativity and ideas for future projects: “Seeing how happy my clients are with what I turn their vision into was also another bonus that kept fueling me to strive to get better.” If you’re interested, Amy’s in the process of creating an Instagram just for her creative projects, and you can email her here. Or leave a comment on this post, and I’ll forward it to her.

As Amy continues to progress, produce, and profit, she’s investing in better machines, but she knows her end-goal, too: work from home, so she can spend more time with her son and fur-children. I am SO impressed with Amy’s excitement to keep exploring this venture, and I’m grateful this #workinprogress womxn has remained in my life! I’ll be ordering some clothing soon (maybe a hat?) and hope you consider a decal too.