Living in the Bay Area, I was delighted to discover (and become a member of) the SF Etsy team.  As makers, solopreneurs, and freelancers, we live solitary and sometimes lonely lives, which is why it’s so fun to join a group of like-minded people.  Katy Atchison, the Co-Captain of SF Etsy was nice enough to sit down with me and share her advice on juggling a 9-5 with a creative business and the benefits of joining a group.

Would you mind telling us about you and your amazing business?

HI! I’m Katy – artist, illustrator, designer & Co-Captain of SF Etsy.  I have a paper-goods and original art business called “Katy Atchison Illustrations” as well as a Art Collective with my family called “Betty & Beth” which is features knitwear, vintage button jewelry and hand-dyed yarn. My other profession is as a Graphic Visual Designer for Pottery Barn where I design all of their online marketing campaigns.

Juggle the stress by scheduling in time to do something that de-stresses you every other day or every couple of days. I know a lot of us say, “But my art IS my way to de-stress.” However – it’s really not healthy to work work work – no matter much much you love your craft. I book literally everything in my calendar. So when I have a free day, I write in there, “You’re not allowed to work this day, Silly.” I’ve found that the most ideas I have come on the days that I let myself relax and take a moment to recenter myself.

Be kind to yourself – it’s OK if you don’t have an illustration-a-day or complete a project within a weeks time. Things come up at your 9-5 that naturally shift your ability to take on more outside of work. Being kind to yourself – allowing yourself to push other tasks around and creating reasonable expectations for yourself is key to being able to balance a 2nd job.

Do something you love. I know I said before that even if you love it, you should take time away from it… but as long as you love what you’re doing as your 2nd job… you’ll want to come back to it time and time again.

‘Owl Always Love You’ by Katy

I’ve always really loved building communities and being part of philanthropic communities since as long as I can remember. But I’ve learned so much about myself as the Co-Captain of SF Etsy that it’s almost hard to pick one thing that stands out as the best thing I’ve gained from the experience so far.

I’ve learned that I’m what I like to call a “Connector” for many people. My naturally social disposition has connected me to many amazing people doing great things. Not just idea-machines… but those who have an idea and run with it – see it through all the way.

Being the Co-Captain for SF Etsy taught me the value of having a vision when leading a team of people. For SF Etsy, I really wanted to take the group offline & build in-person relationships between members. For years we were were almost like a secret society (cool in theory until you want to get noticed). You can can only grow so much or have so much participation if you’re hiding in a corner online somewhere. This last year, I really focused on putting faces to names, creating in-person events and growing the relationships between members as much as possible. Because I stayed true to this vision and goal for 2012, our membership has almost doubled and we just recently were named one of Etsy’s top 10 most spirited teams. The recognition is beyond humbling for me. I love seeing that the team is being seen by “The Big Etsy.” I also love that we were given this award because the team members are feeling the support and value of the team more than ever before and felt the desire to let Etsy know, too. You really just can’t beat in-person networking. It builds strong bonds and creates a sort of glue that keeps communities thriving.

Oh sure. I think there’s always a time that we all question our own abilities. For a long time, I struggled with having the time to update all of my social media sites. It seems silly, but I really want to spend my time knee-deep in paint and artistic projects. Social networking just seemed to daunting. But I learned a few tricks that helped me curb my anxiety.

• I try to be completely authentic when speaking online. People like me just the way I am. (Yay!)
• I don’t really look at my number of followers too often because it’s not about quantity but quality of your fan base (although I love celebrating milestones).
• I don’t get too hung up on whether I’ve posted in a day or two. My followers aren’t looking to me for a daily update on the local news or anything. They are pretty forgiving when they know you’re off creating something awesome.

Be sure to check out Katy’s site for more artwork and inspiration.  All photos of Katy were taken by the wonderful J. Astra Brinkmann of AstraTakesPhotos.com.