maker: rosalie of uglybaby shower art

I’ve heard that sometimes people have amazing epiphanies in the shower. I have never been one of those people. If I have a moment to think in the shower, it’s usually focused on trying to clear my mental fog so I can plot out my day. And if I do get that moment, it’s because my 3 year-old isn’t pounding on the door yelling at me to get him some milk, my 5 year-old isn’t standing in the bathroom wailing because her sister said something mean, my 7 year-old isn’t trying to strangle the 3 year-old for destroying his latest Lego creation, and my 9 year-old isn’t digging through my drawers looking to borrow my brush… You get the picture.

But, Rosalie definitely is one of those shower epiphany people. Because she had a cool idea one day, in the shower, and decided to act on it. And from that, a business was born.

-Angie

please introduce yourself.

I’m Rosalie Gale. I’m a waterproof Shower Art maker, ex-stand-up comedian and blogger who is currently obsessed with German board games, Bikram yoga and free-motion embroidery. A mid-west native, I got the heck out of there as soon as I was able – landing in beautiful Seattle, WA. I’m probably never leaving (IT DOESN’T SNOW!). I am the owner and operator of a handful of small businesses including: Ugly Baby, Ugly Baby and La Ru, Unanimous Craft and Etsy Saver.

what do you make or do?

My husband, Doug, and I invented Shower Art – waterproof art you can hang in your shower with a suction cup. It all started about 7 years ago when I was bored in the shower and made an off-hand comment about how there should be something in there you can look at. We decided to figure out how to make that a reality and after 18 months of trial and error, we got to a working Shower Art prototype.  We also do web development (we spend a lot of time together) and have built two craft-themed websites: Unanimous Craft and Etsy Saver.

where can we find your creations?

You can find some awesome things at Ugly Baby, Ugly Baby and La Ru (our retail shop in the historic Pike Place Market), Unanimous Craft and Etsy Saver.

is there an interesting story behind the name of your business? how did the name come about?

We named our Shower Art business Ugly Baby because a photo of my husband on the day he was born had recently been unearthed and we didn’t know what else to call our business. Sometimes people get confused and think we sell baby stuff and sometimes they get insulted because they don’t think any babies are ugly.

For the most part though, it weeds out the people who would be even more offended by our sometimes cheeky and inappropriate art pieces.  When we opened our retail shop in the Pike Place Market, we had to get our sign approved with the historic commission so now there is paperwork filed away somewhere with Doug’s ugly baby head on it. {Snort.}

how long have you been creating and is it your full-time job?

I started working for myself full-time about 2 years ago. Prior to that, I worked part-time and gradually cut my hours down and down and down until I was just doing outside consulting. It took forever — but was probably the safest way to make that transition. You can read all about what led me to take the final step in Etsy’s Quit Your Day Job interview with me.

what would be your perfect day off?

Every day is my perfect day off. I love having the freedom to meet a friend or explore a museum if I’m not feeling so “work-ey” that day. I can always work into the wee hours of the night to make up for it if I have to.

what inspiring advice would you give to other creatives be they established or just starting out?

Do a little bit every day. Decide what you want to do and chip away at it bit by bit. It will never be possible to start a business in one day — so just do what you can when you have a spare moment. You’ll be surprised how quickly those little actions pile up and set you in motion toward your dreams. If you don’t take any action, you’ll look back in five years and realize you’re in exactly the same place you started. Go! Do!

And if you want more of this cheeky gal, she is going to be speaking and sharing some of her great skills with us at Craftcation in April!