What’s In Your Bag: Parima Studio

Rifle and Co Notebook, Elf Oil Blotting Sheets, Baggo Grocery Bag, Gold Pen, Tovicorrie Wallet, Advil, Portable Phone Charger, Hand Sanitizer, Sonia Kashuk Tinted Lip Chapstick, Pepper Spray (for safety).

What’s your biggest accomplishment? Biggest accomplishment so far, has to be closing my first business (web design), and taking the big scary leap to become an artist full time. I never thought it would be possible for me to work as a full time artist. It was unbelievably scary leaving a business that was doing very well to start a new one. Though I did do both for a little while, I felt like I couldn’t fully grow Parima if I was splitting my time. But now that I am in my second year, I am so glad I did. I am much less stressed, happier, and thoroughly enjoy every minute of it.

What are three books you would recommend to our readers? I am an introvert, without a doubt. And being an introvert presents its social challenges. But after reading Susan Cain’s “Quiet“, I have learned so much about myself and has helped me be more confident about my apparent shyness. Before I started my first business I read “The Boss of You” by Emira Mears and Lauren Bacon. It really helped me lay down the more technical aspects of running a business.

My sister recently let me borrow her copy of the “The Miracle Morning” by Hal Elrod. Now let me tell you, I am not a morning person. So when this book said that I would have to wake up an hour earlier than usual and add more to-dos to my endlessly growing list, I said no way! But since implementing the “miracle morning”, I wake up with more energy, am more focused and productive throughout my day. On the days I don’t do my “miracle morning” I notice a decrease in productivity. So I am a firm believer in this technique!

What’s the biggest lesson you have learned since launching? Legally protecting myself and my work. Being an artist and selling my work online means that I am a fish in open water. My images have been “stolen” on numerous occasions, and were being sold by other businesses without my consent. They thought that because they had found the image online it was free for the taking and that they could make products with it. So now I am in the process of registering all of my works through copyright. This is serious stuff, and something that I did not realize to do earlier because I thought that since I was just a small artist, that it didn’t really matter. But that’s when it matters the most, because there are less people to recognize that a certain image belongs to you. Especially in this digital age, where things go viral quickly and images without proper backlinks get lost in the sea of info. I really wish I had protected my work right from the start.

What’s your advice to someone interested in starting their own business? Start a business based on something that you are truly passionate about, something that comes naturally to you. That is probably the most important piece of advice I can give, because I think we all know that starting a business isn’t easy. There is a tremendous amount of work to do before even officially launching, and as you continue to run your business you will be learning about the ins and outs of your industry, which means constantly adding more tasks on your to-do list. It is a lot of work and it never stops. So if you don’t choose something that you really care about, then all of that work is going to feel like a burden. And isn’t the point of starting your own business to live a better, happier, and more fulfilling life?

Where do you receive inspiration? Traveling, music (specifically instrumental music), interior design magazines (Domino, Style at Home), and online sites that are filled with “eye candy”, like Instagram, Pinterest, Saatchi Online and Tumblr. Basically anything. I try to soak up as much of the world as I possibly can.

If you could have one famous entrepreneur as your mentor who would it be? Marie Forleo! She seems to have all of the answers, doesn’t she? She’s like the Oprah for businesses. Watching her weekly videos and reading her newsletters, have done so much for me as a person and business owner.

Do you feel your life is balanced between work life and your personal life? I think this is a big struggle for a lot of people, especially for those of us who work from home. It’s so easy to be in “work” mode all day when it’s only a few steps away. And it’s equally as easy to put off working because you can get into a “oh, I’ll do it in a bit” mind set. I don’t have it down yet, it’s especially hard to move away from my desk on weeknights. But I am always striving to make my business tasks more efficient so that I can have a better balance.

I am also learning that I work better when there is daylight. So in the summer and spring I find that I can work longer, and in the fall/winter it is easier to stop working once the sun goes down.

One of the new things that I started doing, is that I do not work on the weekends, unless I took a day or half day off during the week. That means no answering emails, fulfilling orders, bookkeeping, updating the shops, etc. The only exception of “work” is if I am struck with inspiration to paint, because painting never feels like work.

Soundbytes:
What is your indispensable gadget: iPhone, iMac, and iPad- yes I need all of them!
What’s your favorite app? Instagram and Pinterest
What’s your favorite account to follow on Instagram: This is Glamorous
What’s your favorite item in your closet: My Pleoine Floral Blouse. It’s super colorful and I always get tons of compliments when I wear it.