Made to Last Series: Finding Flow with Lori Roberts of Little Truths Studio
This interview is part of Made to Last – a series of interviews we’re doing with established makers who have grown and evolved their businesses over the long term. In each interview, we’ll look back at where the maker was a few years ago and then learn what they’re up to today. Our goal is to show you what “success” really looks like for makers. It means something different to each and every person and involves radically different paths – but always includes hard work, uncertainty, creativity, reflection, and failure.
About Lori
Lori Roberts is the maker of Little Truths Studio, which uses text and illustrations to express the little truths found all around her. She finds inspiration in her surroundings to create a wide selection of products including greeting cards, stickers, tea towels, embroidery prints, journals and more. Lori’s products seek deeper truths and understanding about what it means to be human.
Based in Portland, Oregon, Lori is an empty nester who lives surrounded by lush green landscapes, her two Great Pyrenees, her cat, Steinback and her husband, Bert. She shares a cup of coffee with her husband in the mornings before heading with their dogs, to her home studio. In her work, Lori hopes to spark imagination and conversations that empower her audience to declare their own truths.
Lori’s Start
Interested in art since childhood, she began with small projects in her spare time until in her 30's, she felt a calling to do more creative work. After experimenting with different types of creative mediums, she picked up the paintbrush and it "just clicked."
Her business began from a spare time venture selling hand-made dolls and experimenting with product offerings. This eventually evolved to painting full-time in a dedicated studio. Today, Lori offers a diverse watercolor and word product lineup via multiple channels, with wholesale as a key part.
Lori in 2017
I spoke with Lori in 2017 about her transition from part-time to full-time with Little Truths Studio. She shared her journey from planning, to quitting her day job, to establishing a routine that worked for her.
Takeaways from my 2017 conversation with Lori:
Make a plan.
Lori started thinking about going full-time with her business – and was concerned with expenses related to having a child in college - when she and her husband took a look at their finances, and evaluated Little Truths Studio’s projected growth. Lori saw that winging it would not help her get to full time, so they made a plan to grow steadily. Seeing that wholesale was her bread and butter, the plan involved looking at taxes, crunching the numbers, growing steadily, and keeping product costs competitive. The transition was gradual. She worked full time filling orders in the evenings until eventually, she had left no time to paint in the evenings. At that point, she bumped down to part time at her day job, steadily reducing her part-time hours. Until finally, she gave a long notice at her job and made the leap to Little Truths full time.Embrace structure.
Once the transition happened, she realized that a lack of structure or daily plan, resulted in a dip in her productivity. So, she made a master plan that included both long-term goals and short to-do lists for short-term items. She set boundaries with friends and family. In addition, she set office hours for herself, allowing her to step away and invest in the things that inspired her.Find your flow.
Finding the schedule that worked for her took several iterations. She began making a plan the night before, so that when she started the day, she could get right to work. She would get up and get dressed like she was still going to an office. She would fill orders first (her least favorite), reply to emails, and then spend afternoons painting. She found that environment played a large role in her productivity, so she consistently worked in the same place, played the same music, etc. She found that sometimes she would spend too much time focusing on one thing, and when that happened, she would adjust her schedule accordingly.
Lori in 2022
By the time I interviewed Lori again five years later, her business had grown dramatically. She had been able to leverage her wholesale business to diversify her product lineup. Because her wholesale business provides the flexibility for Little Truths Studio to explore, she has written books, offers courses, and branched into a varied product offering on multiple platforms.
It's been a few years since we were last in touch. How has your business evolved or grown in the last 3 or 4 years?
In the last few years my business has grown and evolved in different ways. Most importantly, I've solidified my view that my business is my own and it doesn't have to "grow" in a pre- prescribed manner. Growth is relative and subjective and personal. This philosophy came about after a conversation with Alisa Burke. She is 1000% doing her own thing with her business. She knows what she's good at and she focuses on it. And she loves to manage every aspect of her business herself too, she enjoys doing everything herself. (Clearly, this is personal to each business owner and you don't want to stifle your business because you're trying to do too much, but it's refreshing to hear her say she wants to do it a certain way so she does. Period.) How this translates for me is that I don't have to try to do all the things. I was trying to be everywhere at once- write books, learn how to move into licensing, break into fabric design, create online courses. Having sold insurance before becoming an artist, I felt like this was the path that "real artists" are on, how I "should" be growing. But it felt counterintuitive to my personality and I was burning out. Again, this is completely subjective and only my own experience. Once I simplified and focused my business on the basics and what I truly enjoy- I found my creative mojo again.
Also, as someone who had a couple viral products, (ABCs of Life, Family Manifesto) my evolution may be a bit different. I experienced extreme success quickly without much of the struggle that typically comes in the early days and have now had to re-invest in the basic business practices that maintain viability- seo, blog writing and newsletters, re-focusing on wholesale. Back to basics. Instagram is still part of my marketing plan but, as with a lot of creatives, I'm navigating where it will fit in my life. As much as Instagram frustrates me, it's been there that I've grown a community of loyal customers who keep coming back for more. Basically, knowing who my market is, creating products for them, and not trying to please everyone is my priority.
When we last spoke, you were selling wholesale, but I believe that has grown a lot for you. I understand that you work with Buy Olympia. Can you share more about how that relationship came about? Did it have to be exclusive distribution? How does the money and logistics work? Did you consider other avenues for growing wholesale? (As you can see, I have so many questions here so feel free to share as much as you're comfortable sharing! For so many makers, reps and distributors seem like such a black box.)
When Etsy wholesale closed down we were in need of a way to organize and process wholesale orders. It was becoming unsustainable for us to manage this on our own- myself and my husband Bert. Out of pure happenstance, I saw a post on Instagram from Adam JK about his relationship with Buy Olympia so I reached out to them. At the time most artists I knew were moving to Faire but for us Buy Olympia works because they also fulfill our wholesale orders. At that point, we were at a crossroads, we could scale in one way or the other- hire and manage employees or farm it out. For us personally, Buy Olympia makes the most sense. Luckily they are local to us (well pretty local, we live out in the boonies) so we courier cards and stickers to them ( they print art prints themselves) and they package our products and fulfill all of our wholesale orders. We could have continued to manage some wholesale accounts ourselves but for ease and to keep things as uncomplicated as possible, we decided to transition fully to Buy Olympia.
They are extremely easy to work with and very flexible. The most important thing for us was making sure our existing wholesale partners were taken care of and that is absolutely happening with Buy Olympia. They make ordering a breeze, there is no high pressure sales pitch, there are no minimums (!!!) and shops have the option to buy from many other wonderful artists in one place.
What does your art and morning practice look like these days?
I've changed my morning practice over the years. I used to hit it hard first thing in the morning but now that I've had an empty nest for a few years, I've transitioned into a different schedule. I enjoy mornings having coffee with my husband before he leaves for work. Then me and the dogs head down to my studio where we work, breaking up the day to play in the yard or putter in the garden. We recently moved to a larger property with more acreage so that we could have more room to garden which is important to us.
I think having two feet firmly planted in midlife ( I turned 50 this year) has given me the confidence to structure my business, my work life, and my schedule in ways that are fulfilling to me. At this age I know what works for me and what doesn't. I'm less afraid to just do things the way I want. (It's a theme!) What I want in my midlife experience is more joy, more meaning and that is what I structure my business around: how do I incorporate my goals and values into my work / life?
As your business has grown, you've written a book, expanding into many products, and offer things via multiple channels. How are you finding that juggle? What is the foundation of your business these days?
My foundation is wholesale, so I focus on that for sure. Having a robust wholesale business gives me the flexibility to move into other areas without feeling the pressure that this new venture has to pay the bills. It gives me the flexibility I have in my daily life.
For me, wholesale growth comes from giving it consistent attention, nurturing it. I haven't always been the best at releasing new products as frequently as I should. Shops want new things! Nowadays I try to release new products at least three times a year, quarterly would be ideal. This has led to slow steady growth with more and more shops discovering our products. It has also been helpful to be more ruthless at cutting products that aren't selling to make room for new stuff and keep things fresh.
What would you recommend to a maker who is interested in different avenues for the work (wholesale? books? licensing? etc) but not sure how to proceed, where to focus, or how to take on the more daunting of these channels?
Some people are more skilled than me at keeping a lot of plates spinning! I often remind myself: one thing at a time. There are so many resources now to help makers break into a new area, it's about doing the research. Right now I'm researching how to create an oracle deck, that's my newest avenue.
How has the outside world and its ups and downs affected your business? Are you seeing an impact on your business with inflation and fears of recession?
Creatively, I am absolutely inspired by what is going on around me – in the world, in my country, in my life. My work is definitely personal, fueled by current events and the state of the world and has become more politically pointed over time. As a business of course we are affected by the "ups and downs" but having multiple revenue streams has been instrumental in our ability to remain flexible during changing times. The pandemic certainly affected our business- wholesale and retail- but having a broad foundation and a solid wholesale business kept us afloat. I think this focus- nurturing our different revenue streams- will keep us viable in the future.
Takeaways from my 2022 conversation with Lori:
Go your own way.
Lori found herself focusing on what others were doing, or how she thought she “should” be operating. This applied undue pressure and led to burnout and loss of inspiration. She realized that she was someone who needed to focus on one thing at a time. She decided to listen to her instincts and quit trying to juggle it all. Once she no longer was trying to do it all, she was able to relax and “get her creative mojo back.”Don’t forget the basics.
Lori was able to enjoy success early on but that success did not foster a base or encourage sustainable revenue. So she re-invested in business practices that would create that sustainability viability. Practices like blog writing, newsletters and getting to know her market, helped her focus on building her community. She then used that knowledge, targeting her market when designing and releasing new products.
Nurture your wholesale business in smart ways.
When Etsy Wholesale closed, managing her wholesale business herself became unsustainable. She knew she needed to scale in a way that would not affect her wholesale relationships. She evaluated hiring staff or using a company to fulfill orders. Following a note from another maker, she found a distributor that really fit her values and her prioritization of relationships. Then, since she wasn’t spending all her time managing the wholesale piece, it allowed her to nurture wholesale by regularly releasing new products (3-4 times a year) to keeping interest in her shop. She paid attention to what was flying off the shelves and cut products that were not selling.Diversify.
Once her wholesale business foundation was established, she began offering an array of goods to even out peaks and valleys of her sales. Branching out increased the likelihood that more constant revenue would continue coming in. The new products led to new shops discovering her studio and helped her stay afloat during the changing times.
Thanks to Lori, for sharing how finding the balance between flow, structure, and experimentation can lead to long-lasting growth.
You can find our other Made to Last interviews here:
Doing The Next Right Thing With Sarah Omura
A Deep Dive with Jonnie Estes
And more coming soon!