At 24, I turned my passion into my profession when I started selling Random Nicole, my handcrafted clothing line at flea markets and backyard craft fairs, which I grew into a thriving retail and wholesale six-figure business that was carried at over 250 shops around the world. 

My desire to help other creatives pursue their dream business and discover the joy of making led me away from my own handmade business and into teaching, consulting, running my own workshop studio and eventually co-founding Dear Handmade Life in 2007. Now, I connect, educate and shorten the learning curve for other creatives by sharing what I’ve learned through the Dear Handmade Life events, blog and podcast. I have a BA and an MA in English from San Francisco State University and a dual “PhD” in crafting to keep your sanity and badass business skills from the School of Life. 

When I take off my Dear Handmade Life “boss hat”, you’ll find me squeezing in time to write or draw, trying my damndest to make my baby laugh or hold still long enough for me to change his diaper, devouring one of the dozens of self-help books on my nightstand, trying to find something interesting to take a photo of on my morning walk in my mundane suburban neighborhood, watching Below Deck and eating the best sausage and orecchiette courtesy of my husband or dreaming of living a stone’s throw from the beach.