Today we’d like to introduce you to Kari Huffaker.
Kari, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
A few years ago, as I was scrolling through Instagram, I came across a certain hand letterer’s work and it caught my eye. I started playing around lettering in notebooks and would post pictures on my social media. Several of my friends and family began asking me if I could letter things for them and before long they were encouraging me to start selling my work. In May of 2016, after about a year of practice and developing my own style of hand lettering, I opened my own Etsy shop and began selling globes, canvases, mugs, etc.
In 2017, at the shop on pause for about a year and a half in order to finish school and get married. During that time, I made my own wedding invitations and hand lettered my seating chart and signs for my wedding. I also collaborated with a couple of other small businesses, but for the most part Sincerely Kari Mae was pretty low key. Even though I was on a break, I still learned new techniques, and refined my skills quite a bit. Now, that I am graduated and married, I have been working hard to get things ready for the shop to relaunch within the next month!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
This past year, I had to press pause on the shop because I got engaged just before starting my senior year of college. It was just all too much to finish school, plan a wedding, and run a business all at the same time. Going on the break was terrifying because I was scared that I would never start up again. I was afraid of losing the small following that I started to build up and didn’t know what people would think. I didn’t want to fail. Even though Sincerely Kari Mae was and is my dream, I was still able to recognize that, at that point in time, I wasn’t able to invest enough of the time and energy that my dream deserved.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Sincerely Kari Mae – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Simply put, I create hand-lettered goods. I have lettered mugs, bottles, a large canvas scroll, old books, and various other items, but the more typical goods that I letter are globes, chalkboards, canvases, and wooden signs. I recently started doing watercolor as well, so I plan to do more with that soon!
I feel like the things I create are such personal items, so the fact that someone would want to feature them in their home or even on their wedding day makes my heart skip! Custom designs are always my favorite to make because I get to work so closely with the client and often times hear their stories.
What advice would you give to someone at the start of her career?
I think it’s important, especially when starting out, that people pursuing their dreams have realistic expectations. Don’t expect for everything to take off and be a success right away. Things might take more time, and that’s okay. Failure should be expected, too. Not all products will sell and not all ideas will pan out. Don’t give up, but instead learn from those failures and keep going. I believe if someone is good at something and is truly passionate about it, they will succeed as long as they intend to.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.etsy.com/shop/sincerelykarimae
- Email: sincerelykarimae@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sincerelykarimae/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sincerely-Kari-Mae-2173809379564521/
Image Credit:
Kristen Giles
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
