PODCAST 128: with Christina Loff

How am I going to pay my rent doing something creative? That was pretty much all I thought about. And when someone would ask me what I wanted to do with my life, I would answer, “I just want to make my living doing something creative.”

I didn’t know “the how” but I knew “the why” and “the what” and I didn’t shut up about it. I talked about my tiny business, my clothing line, Random Nicole to anyone who would listen.

I didn’t realize it, but I’d written my brand story and I told it often to anyone who would listen. It was the story of a girl who dropped out of grad school, packed a U-Haul and drove down the California Coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles to be an artist; who ended up sharing a one-bedroom apartment with four other girls, sleeping on a bean bag and eating canned tuna for most meals; who spent the days shoulder-to-shoulder with homeless artists on the Venice Beach boardwalk selling her art until she had the lightbulb moment to screenprint her artwork on clothing and move from fine art to functional art. That was the story of how I started that business and I told it hundreds of times.

Back then, I had no idea about the concept of storytelling in marketing. I didn’t even know what marketing really meant. I was just so passionate and excited about what I was doing that I had to talk about it.

Over the years my business evolved into what it is today- Dear Handmade Life, which I’m just as joy-filled to share about as I was with my first business. But, marketing is a lot more complex now than it was back then.

Even though I love marketing, now marketing my business often feels overwhelming.

If all that stuff feels overwhelming to you too, or you need help navigating the ever-evolving world of marketing, then this episode is for you! Our guest today, Christina Loff, is a marketing powerhouse. I’ve worked with Christina when she worked with CreativeLive and Chronicle Books, and she’s an alumna of our Craftcation Conference.

If you want to hear the whole interview, head to our podcast.