Colors and Variety

Bright neon pop technicolor, ice cream sundae stilettos, unicorns, retro dollhouses and 80s fashion — welcome to the vivid world of Timmery: artist, illustrator, designer, and mom. Timmery, 39, has had creative businesses for close to two decades, with her first starting soon after she graduated from fashion design school at 20 years old. Her latest business, which she’s been operating for the past seven years, is a combination of everything she’s ever done and includes printed art pieces, fashion, and jewelry. Honest and transparent, Timmery is as open about her successes as her struggles as she focuses on creating a uniquely personal brand that is true to herself and her mission.

Sustaining a Business for the Long-Term

Timmery’s advice for operating a successful creative business for many years is to balance the business side of things with your creativity. “There's still things that are challenging for me as a business person because I'm more drawn to the creative side, it's easier for me and more fun. Challenging yourself to learn the things and get good at the things that you don't necessarily love to do is really important,” explains Timmery.

“Throughout my journey, it’s been really important to me that I knew how to do every aspect of my business even if I was going to eventually delegate it.” She adds that delegating, especially if you can tap into the resource of interns, has allowed her businesses to grow. 

I’ve noticed over the years the things I struggle with, like accounting. So, I hired a friend to just come in once a week to input my stuff into QuickBooks. Numbers aren't my jam and just keeping up with filing of documents and things like that, the things that actually keep you legal, those are the most challenging, those are the things that overwhelmed me.”

An Array of Products

“Seven years ago I decided that I wanted to do visual arts, which is something I never, ever even considered, it literally just came out of nowhere,” explains Timmery. She had created a holiday painting for a family member that everyone thought was something other people might want to buy. Today her site sells art prints, paper goods, journals, stickers,cards, fabric, home decor, shoes, books, and jewelry. “I’ve always been a do-it-yourself kind of girl and from art prints, I started to explore greeting cards. So I thought, ‘let me invest in a nice printer, let me find the best paper to use,’ and that then led me to doing postcards... it just keeps evolving.”

Those Ice Cream Shoes Tho

“It’s so funny because everyone thinks I came up with the concept of the ice cream shoes, but I didn’t!” If you’re scratching your head right now wondering what on earth “ice cream shoes” could be, a photo will probably do more justice than any description, but just think: stiletto heels meets delicious-looking sundaes. She might not have conceived the concept, but Timmery was able to perfect the construction of the shoes after a friend shared images of the outrageous footwear. “About 10 years ago a friend put these ice cream shoe pictures on my Facebook wall. I was like, ‘Oh those are so cool!’ When I searched to see if I could figure who made them I couldn't find anyone so I was like, well let me just figure out how to make them as a fun DIY project. So my husband was actually the one who helped me figure out what materials to use, like caulk, that I never would have thought of. I posted them and people started asking to buy them.” 

Expanding the Brand

Just recently Timmery added clay jewelry into her offerings only to find that it’s become one of her most popular items. Inspired by seeing clay jewelry popping up for sale everywhere, Timmery decided to try her hand at it. This fearlessness to try new things is a hallmark of her entrepreneurial journey. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have her self-doubt or hesitation. “I wasn't even going to post it. I was going to make it for myself but I was just like, well let me just see what people think and people wanted to buy it! It's honestly been selling the most lately. It's so funny to me, you just never know what will sell. That's why I always try and throw as many things out there as I can.”

Connecting through Social Media

Although she loved selling at events, online sales have become Timmery’s primary means of revenue during the pandemic. She began on Facebook, where she accumulated a huge network, but based on the visual nature of her product, she knew she had to make the switch to building Instagram as well. “It took me a long time, even though I was already on Instagram, it took me a while to start feeling comfortable with the platform. By me telling my story and being real I started to build this band of people who have become my supporters and buy my stuff.” 

Timmery says it didn’t happen overnight. She took classes and struggled with second-guessing until finally, she went back to the basics of telling her story. “People really want fun pictures, things that speak to them. It's all about the connections and I'm just now learning that. It always felt like I was talking at people and felt so disconnected to me, so now I've started doing a lot of stories. Luckily, I've come across a couple of women who have really big followings and they've kind of taken me under their wing. I call it the Sisterhood on Instagram and it’s what has gotten me through this year and what's really helped take my brand and my page to another level. 

I connected with these women and asked them what they're doing and they’re so kind in helping me and giving me pointers.” 

Timmery suggests focusing on IG Stories, because that’s where people are interacting with brands and asking them questions. She also includes a page on her website for others to become Timmery Brand Ambassadors, where she offers the chance for free products and discounts in exchange for social media posts and shares.

Timmery’s unique style is a mix of pop art and 80s vividness with a unique, personal twist. It’s not based on trends in the market, but rather the aesthetic she’s always loved. “Anybody who knows me knows I've always been a little bit weird and I’m into sunny colors.” What has changed is how she’s refined the look to amp up the quality of her photos and presentation. 

Getting Attention and Adjusting to It

During the height of the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement, Timmery received a lot of extra attention. “All of a sudden, all these huge accounts were sharing my content, it got me past the 10k mark of IG followers. I got 500 likes every day for a while and even E! Entertainment shared a picture of mine. It was like everything I ever dreamed about for Instagram, for myself, and then it just stopped.” Timmery says it was hard to not feel depressed once the excitement was over and there was a dip in engagement. Her advice is to try to focus on the positives of the supporters you still have. 

“Honestly, I feel like every day that I get to do what I want is a win, and some days are hard but every day I wake up excited. I just feel grateful that I get to pursue my creativity and that I stuck with it. I've had a lot of people throughout my journey, even my mom, who said ‘get a real job.’ And I just love that I didn't listen to anybody. No matter how hard it got, I stuck with it. I get to do what I love every day. That's it.”

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