On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about marketing, retail, and stationery with my guest Lauren Tilden.
Lauren is a marketing coach for small business owners struggling to consistently market their businesses. Also a maker, retail shop owner, and podcast host, she’s on a mission to help small businesses do better marketing so they can make a bigger impact on the world. An ex-corporate marketer, Lauren fell in love with small business through her first small business, the plant-inspired stationery business Good Sheila. A couple of years after starting Good Sheila, she took the reins of her mom’s Seattle retail shop, Station 7. As of 2020, she hosts Making Good, a podcast for small businesses who want to make a big impact.
This episode is sponsored by Craftsy.
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We begin this interview with Lauren talking about her childhood and early experiences as a maker. Lauren went to Wellesley College and took an art class early on. Despite working very hard on all of the assignments, the professor let her know that she wasn’t going to be an artist. Discouraged, Lauren set art-making aside for many years.
When preparing for her wedding, Lauren decided to make the invitations and decor. She took up calligraphy and it was through this new hobby that she began playing with watercolors and fell in love.
Lauren worked as a corporate marketer and now shares her marketing knowledge with fellow small business owners through her podcast and membership. She also runs the store, Station 7, in Seattle which was founded by her mom. She also has experience on both sides of the wholesale world, as both a maker and a shop owner, and shares useful tips for anyone looking to get into selling wholesale.
During our conversation, Lauren refers to Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck.
And, of course, I ask Lauren to recommend great stuff she’s enjoying right now. Lauren recommends:
- Beam watercolor paints
- Craft blogs including the DIY section of HonestlyWTF for grown-ups and ArtBar Blog for kid stuff
- Solo business retreats
Keep up with Lauren through Station 7 and Good Sheila.