Art Student Turns Creative Process Into Thriving Business

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

[Music]

Let's talk today about something important. Welcome to Settersville School. My name is Chris Guillebeau. That something important is the fact that mental health affects your whole life, whether you want it to or not. What I mean is you can't say, well, I struggle with an anxiety disorder, but not during my work day.

Or I have panic attacks, but you know, I just go to the bathroom and hide for a while and then it's okay. The thing is, if you don't deal with the root problem, you'll always be fixing situational issues that don't end up bringing you real resolution. Why am I talking about this? Well, as I said, it's important, but also I really appreciated the person in today's story being open about her process. So it does in fact relate.

This person was a Chicago art student who discovered a love of natural dyes and went on to create a thriving business. So we're gonna talk about her business, of course. She turns this creative process into this business. She's doing really well, she was able to go full time with it. But also along the way, she encountered some challenges, some issues with anxiety and depression, which I mentioned from time to time on the program is something that I deal with.

And in her case, she said, it took a long time, but I finally got the help I needed. And if I were to do anything differently, I would seek out help sooner. I am so much stronger and decisive because of it. All right, so as I said, mental health affects your whole life, whether you want it to or not. So if you're having any kind of struggle, it's important to get help.

I've done that myself and I also wish I had done it sooner. And in addition to helping my life in general, it's also helped my business, just being able to focus more on wellness, to take care of myself. So without further ado, I'll bring you that story of an introverted Chicago art student who creates a thriving business right after this shout out to our sponsor. Stay tuned. [Music]

While attending the school of the Art Institute of Chicago, Lydia Crespo took a class on natural dyes, thinking it would add a skill to her portfolio.

Little did she know, it would become her specialty. The first time Lydia experienced the dye process, her hands understood just how to use them. It felt like an extension of herself and her interest increased even more once she learned the chemistry behind the art. Lydia kept playing with dye formulas in her spare time and made many silk scarves in the process. Her school had a studio sale, so Lydia decided to try selling her scarves to make a little money to put back into her art.

Those scarves sold out. Lydia realized she might have something here and started a brand called Argamon & Defiance. Why that name? Well, it may have been destiny that Lydia worked with dyes because her name literally means maker of purple cloth. When she was learning about making dyes, she tended to produce purple, but purple is considered a difficult dye to formulate.

This led her to the Hebrew word argamon, which refers to the color range crimson to purple. And Defiance is the name of the town where she visited her grandparents and developed her love of nature. Lydia graduated during a time when there weren't many jobs. She settled on one working in a gallery. Not a dream job, but it helped pay the bills.

During this time, Lydia told her then boyfriend, now husband, that she desperately needed to keep working with those dyes. Soon after, she came home one evening to find all their bedroom furniture moved into the living room. He had converted their only bedroom into her own art studio. So, Lydia immediately got to work. She had received a grant of $1,500 to help her continue in her artistic growth.

And she used those funds for her startup costs. She bought a domain name, set up a website, and continued her textile education. In order to grow Argamon & Defiance, she applied to be in many pop-up markets. At first, she was rejected, but she kept applying, and was eventually accepted to the Doze Market in Chicago, where her scarves sold out once again. Lydia then began selling wholesale to boutiques across the country.

She traveled to sell at markets and cities wherever she thought people would buy her products, and she stayed an extra day to make contact with local boutiques. These efforts led her to her first profitable year, and now Argamon & Defiance is in 60 boutiques across the US and Canada. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, because all this time she was working that regular job at a gallery. One day she learned that the building the gallery was in was being foreclosed on. She believed that if she didn't panic, and instead pushed a little harder, she could turn her brand into her full-time job.

Foreclosure takes a while, so Lydia used the time to expand her product line and increase sales. After her job ended, she was able to go all in with Argamon & Defiance. So as I alluded to in the beginning, let's look at some challenges that are a bit different than what we normally consider. As the only employee in the business, Lydia is responsible for all decisions. If something needs improvement, she is the only one who can see the issue and figure out how to solve it.

And this can be overwhelming. It comes with some freedom, of course, but it can also be overwhelming. And as the business was taking off, she was also struggling with depression and anxiety. She knew if she was going to continue to be successful and keep going, she would need to get help dealing with some past emotional trauma. So she got that help.

She began seeing a therapist and gained some coping skills, as well as some insight into herself. And here's something else. Being an introvert, which by the way I am too as well, shout out to our introverts out there, Lydia originally thought working on her own was her ideal situation. But she began to notice that after attending Chicago meetups with other artists and entrepreneurs, she felt energized for the coming days. And as she puts it, there is so much failure, decision-making, and isolation in entrepreneurship, it was nice to see other women and hear their stories of success and failure.

It helps me understand that I'm not alone and what I do is worthwhile. Two years ago, Lydia moved with her husband to St. Louis, where Argamon and Defiance is now housed in a local art center. There, she's able to connect with the other artisans every day. She still gets plenty of alone time, but also finds that her mental health is much better, working alongside friends.

One of the newer products she's known for is a cozy sweatshirt with a modern tie-dye effect. Lydia cuts, sews, and dies each piece by hand. In the winter of 2019, her cozy sweatshirts sold so well that she couldn't keep them in stock. And she's now worked with brands including Target, West Elm, and Urban Outfitters. Last year, Argamon and Defiance grossed $79,000 with a profit of $35,000.

Lydia plans to continue making cozy apparel and sharing her art through local workshops. Also, because it's now her full-time job, she started a new side hustle, writing essays about the creative process. [Music]

So as a business note first, I love her website. Her website for Argamon and Defiance is just a stellar example, I think, for anyone doing textiles or really any kind of e-commerce, but textiles, clothing, et cetera, in particular. She's got a great about section.

She's got great section highlighting press. She's got little how to wear videos. In case you're like, "I wanna buy this cape or this big scarf, it looks really cool, but how do you actually wear it?" Well, there's a video that shows you how to do it. She's got a sale section for items that had some kind of minor problem or blemish with them. And she's got a wholesale section where you can log in if you have an approved account to purchase wholesale.

So I just think this is the kind of thing that can really take off further. And it's great that she was able to gross $80,000 with it last year, but I think it can probably be a lot more. So maybe in the future, we'll get an update from her about that. Also, just getting back to this point of seeking help, at the beginning, I shared this quote of hers. "It took a long time, but I finally got the help I needed.

If I were to do anything differently, I would seek out help sooner, and I'm stronger and more decisive because of it." So same situation for me. Also, something else she said is, ask for help if you need it. And this could be any kind of help, right? It's not necessarily just these issues that I'm talking about. She said, "There's no shame in asking for help.

I don't care if it's emotional help, financial, or just someone to put a price tag on your items before an event. This is not a sprint, so make sure you're not running yourself into the ground." Thank you so much, Lydia. I appreciate you being so open and transparent with our listeners. I hope that many of them will come and check out your shop online, and perhaps locally for those in the greater St. Louis area.

Okay, friends and listeners, thank you so much as well. I hope you enjoyed it. Inspiration is good, but inspiration with action is so much better. I really enjoy making this show for you. I feel very grateful for the chance to do it every day.

Come check out those show notes at sidehustleschool.com/969. Another story is coming up tomorrow, and I hope you will join me once again. Be sure to subscribe, tell your friends. It's completely free. My name is Chris Guillebeau, and this is "Side Hustle School." [Music]

- From the Onward Project.