What it takes to turn your passion into your business

If you’re a hobbyist that has ever been to a craft show, chances are you’ve looked at what people have on display and said, “oh yeah, I could totally do that.” And while some people are able to turn passion projects into a regular source of income, it’s not as easy as it looks, and goes far beyond being able to churn out a supply of your product.

At the One of a Kind Spring Show in Toronto, artisans from across Canada come to showcase their arts and edibles, and for many of them, it’s been a long road to get there. Yahoo Canada Finance spoke to three exhibitors who followed their passions, and are now selling their wares at one of the largest artisan shows in the country. Participating in a show this size is a huge investment of both time and money, and isn’t for the feint of heart.

Jacqueline Long - Teeny Tiny Bakery in Toronto, Ont.

When Long’s twins were turning one, she wanted to do something a little bit different for their party lootbags. So she decided to look into a different type of cookie decorating using a “flow icing” technique, which gives the cookies a smooth, hard, colourful look. The party favours were a huge success. After a few more years of splitting her time between baking and working as a grade-school teacher, Long decided to go all in on her cookie business and rented commercial space in 2012, and has been selling her cookies to happy customers ever since.

While she loved her job as a teacher, Long found something she didn’t know she was missing when she went into business for herself.

“I think it’s something that we call emotional currency,” says Long. “I love that I’ve spent so much time creating something beautiful or cute or exactly what the person has requested, and then their reaction is amazing. It’s the squeal that fills my heart up and makes me want to do it again.”

Long has been at the One of a Kind Spring Show in Toronto the previous two years in their Etsy section, and is showcasing her cookies in her own booth for the first time this year. She credits her ability to go from home baker to successful artisan to having a strong support network, and being confident that she’s following the right path.

“Keep checking in with yourself as the process develops, and make sure you still love what you’re doing, because if you’ve gotten in too deep and realize you don’t like it anymore, I think you need to evaluate that,” says Long.

While Long remains passionate about her product and gets a rush from seeing people squeal with delight at her tiny treats, she still faces one of the big hurdles all entrepreneurs encounter: time management. As a mother of three, her days are filled with homeschooling and caring for her family and home daycare children, so her nights are spent focusing on her cookie business, which means that every moment in the evenings when she’s not sleeping, she’s working.

“I hashtag all of my Instagram posts ‘#TeamNoSleep’,” Long laughs. “Obviously that’s not how I want this to continue, but in the beginning when you’re fueling something, it’s all passion. People ask, ‘how are you doing it?’ and it’s because I’m filled with awe that this is working, people are loving it, and so it continues my drive.”

Jeff Ballantyne - Noble Woodcraft in Bobcaygeon, Ont.

For the last two years, Ballantyne has been hand-carving Scandinavian-style wooden housewares as a full-time job, but make no mistake: this is more than a pastime for Ballantyne, and he’s never thought of it any other way.

“You have to jump right in – I kind of relate it to jumping into a cold lake. You just have to jump in, and give it all you’ve got,” says Ballantyne. “You kind of lose track of time, and just try and be fueled by the passion, because it’s probably going to take thousands of hours to get good and master a craft, or be recognized and respected for it.

“I kind of feel a little bit insulted when someone asks if this is a hobby, because I’ve dedicated so much time to my craft and I feel a sense of pride for that, that I’ve had the sense of self-discipline to put my whole heart and abilities into my craft.”

Before starting Noble Woodcraft, Ballantyne was working as a builder of Norwegian-style wood homes, and fell in love with the traditional methods and tools used in their creation. While he enjoyed home building, crafting smaller items offers a kind of instant gratification.

“Within about an hour, I can have something beautiful, functional and it’s not going away anytime soon,” Ballantyne says of the heirloom-quality pieces.

But Ballantyne is a craftsman at heart, which makes some of the other tasks that all entrepreneurs have to master a little more out of his comfort zone.

“As a craftsman, you’re generally by yourself in a shop or studio and you really have to change hats when you have to sell your product,” says Ballantyne. “That honestly has been the toughest thing, and is the toughest thing for most craftspeople.

“I really strive to change my mindset and not be this guy who’s working in a dungeon carving nonstop, and try and be a little bit more pleasant – and shave,” he adds with a smile.

Jennifer Bennett - La Luciole in Wakefield, Que.

Bennett knows the importance of taking on all the different roles in a small company, too. She encourages other artisans who want to turn their passion into a business to make sure they’re doing all of the jobs required of them.

“There’s the craft, and my craft in particular is very difficult so I do need to spend a lot of time on it, but you can’t just do that,” says Bennett. “If you don’t pay attention to your social media and your marketing, then you’re not going to sell anything. And then there’s the whole technical side to maintaining a studio, fixing equipment.

“You really do have to wear a whole lot of hats, and be ready to do that. You don’t just get to sit around and make pots all day… that’s not enough.”

Bennett is attending the One of a Kind Show as part of the the Launchpad program, a group of Quebec artisans all making first-time appearances at the show and supported by the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC). But like Ballantyne, Bennett has been more than a hobbyist right from the start.

After finishing a Bachelor of Arts degree, Bennett decided to pursue something that really appealed to her: glass blowing. Instead of easing into it, however, she went head first into a three-year program at Espace Verre.

“I just took a leap. I didn’t even take an introductory class or anything. I just jumped into this three-year program, and the rest is kind of history,” Bennett says with a laugh.

In the years following her training, Bennett had her children, returned to school for a teaching degree and worked as a primary-school teacher before ultimately deciding to return to glass-blowing as a full-time career two years ago. She has also combined bother her passions by now teaching glass blowing classes, too.

“It’s been great, I haven’t looked back – not once.”

Bennett says that she’s far from the only glass blower to take time off for her family, only to return years later to her art, as she often shares workspace with other mothers who have done the same. But one thing they all have in common, she says, is the drive to return to the highly-skilled trade. And you really need that drive to put the time required in.

“I really underestimated the time I thought I would put into it,” Bennett says, “like I thought that, ‘oh, I don’t have to work full time anymore, I can pick up the kids, volunteer at the school,’ but actually, I’m literally working seven days a week. I’ll take care of my family, but as soon as I have a minute first thing in the morning or at 10 o’clock at night, something in my business needs to be taken care of.

“And that’s fine, because I really like what I do, so I don’t feel like when I had a full time job and I was giving up my life to someone else…now I don’t feel like I’m working, but I’m literally working all the time.”