Ep 002: Letting Your Creativity Lead Your Business – with Danielle Driscoll

Shannon Acheson (00:04):
Welcome to the Shannon Acheson Show, real Business Talk for Real life. I’m Shannon, creative business coach, digital product lover, and your strategy sidekick. I’ve built a business that fits my life and now I help other women do the same. No hustle, no fluff, just smart, honest conversations about building a business that works for you. Let’s dive in. I am so excited to have my friend Danielle with me today. We’ve known each other in the online space for a very long time, that we have met up in person a few times at different conferences and stuff. And actually, Danielle, when I told my kids who I was doing the interview with today, I’m like, Danielle from Boston, even though I know you’re south of Boston, but I’m like, Danielle from Boston. They’re like, oh my gosh. They totally remember when you came and stayed at the house after that one conference in Toronto
Danielle Driscoll (00:56):
And we got Chinese. What was that? We got Chinese food.
Shannon Acheson (01:00):
Yes, we got Chinese food. That’s right. Oh my gosh. I forgot about that. Yeah. Anyway, so thank you so much for coming on the show. As you know, it’s a new show and I’m so excited just to chat with you about your business and how it sort of evolved over time. And so if you would like to give yourself a little introduction and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Danielle Driscoll (01:23):
Well, I’m Danielle. I live in Situate, which is on Boston South Shore. It’s a small fishing town. I started my blog back in, when was it? Gosh, a long time ago.
Shannon Acheson (01:38):
Yeah, over a decade, right?
Danielle Driscoll (01:39):
Yeah, I think 14 years ago. So it’s August 14 years ago. So yeah, things have really, it just starting the blog opened up a whole world of creativity for me, but I didn’t know I had, and so I painted furniture. I started doing photography and writing and then watercolor. So it’s just kind of all expanded from the blog, and I’m really grateful to, I still consider myself a blogger, so I’m really grateful to all the friends and the opportunities that it’s given me.
Shannon Acheson (02:13):
Yeah, it’s definitely been this whole world and so different from anything before it. Right? Yeah. So what made you start finding silver pennies to begin with? Your blog, your website?
Danielle Driscoll (02:25):
I started it when my kids were very, very little. They were like three in one or four in one, and I just didn’t feel like I needed a creative outlet, and I didn’t start it. I know a lot of people start it now for a business that was not the plan. I had gone to see someone speak about their book, and they said, if you want to write books, you should start a blog. So I said to my husband, oh, this is what this person told me, Jamie Cat Callan. And he’s like, well, you should start a blog. And I was like, well, who would read it? I’m just a mom in situ and is like, oh, I don’t know. Well, I’m going to start a blog. And I said, you, we were watching the dog. And I said, yeah, I’m going to start a blog. And he knew him starting a blog would make me start a blog.
Shannon Acheson (03:10):
That’s awesome. Oh my goodness. Yeah, your kids were littler than mine, even I think when we started. I started the year before you and then, yeah.
Danielle Driscoll (03:20):
That’s awesome. So I wrote every day at first, every day. It was bad. I mean, everything was bad. The photography, the writing, everything, and no ads or anything. And I didn’t put ads on for a really long time, and this was blog spots, so it was not WordPress. Anyway.
Shannon Acheson (03:40):
Then you’ve always shared home projects and stuff. I mean, we’ve done tours and stuff like that together with groups of bloggers before, but what made you start creating art and selling it? What made you pick up the paintbrush and go all in with the watercolor stuff?
Danielle Driscoll (03:58):
So I started watercolor when Connor went to kindergarten. I did my first class then. So I’m completely self-trained. I didn’t go to art school. I studied theater and English, and then film and television production for my master’s. So not really art related. I can set some props and that kind of stuff, but I don’t know. I’ve always been visual. I’ve always really loved design and interiors, but I’d always wanted to learn watercolor.
(04:28):
I just always loved the look of it. I loved Beatrix Potter. I loved that style, that whimsical style. So I always wanted to learn that. And when Connor went to kindergarten, I took my first class and I wanted to cry because it said beginner and everybody had been doing this class. They all knew each other. I went to Michael’s and I got some supplies and I didn’t know, I didn’t really know what to buy. I just got whatever, I didn’t know there was a different grades or I got cheap brushes, cheap paper, cheap everything. And that was a mistake. So the bristles were falling off in my painting. I didn’t look flat and I just wanted to cry, and I thought, why did I even take this class? I could have stayed home and not felt out of my comfort zone,
(05:17):
But I’m so glad that I started and I’m so glad I stuck with it. And now I use nice my own brushes and I know the materials to buy and stuff, but for a long time it was just something I did on the side. I wrote the blog and I’d share free printables or I’d share here’s what I’ve worked on. And then in 2019, we launched the online shop. My son and I, we only had a couple products. We didn’t really have a plan, and then COVID happened in 2020, so then we were like, well, we can’t really print anything
Shannon Acheson (05:55):
Because
Danielle Driscoll (05:55):
We were using a printer. So we kind of just let it, I dunno the right word, just we weren’t pushing it, I guess. I couldn’t produce anything. But what COVID helped me do was just slow down and just really double down in practicing watercolor. And I feel when I’m creating, it has to be really calm to create.
Shannon Acheson (06:20):
Yeah,
Danielle Driscoll (06:22):
I get
Shannon Acheson (06:22):
That. Totally.
Danielle Driscoll (06:23):
So it’s kind of grown from that. And yeah, we’re doing a lot of wholesale now, and
Shannon Acheson (06:29):
So you’re obviously really glad that you pushed through that initial discomfort and totally out of your comfort zone by going to the class and all of us get the wrong stuff at the beginning. I mean, I used to the house stuff, same thing. Used to buy the wrong brush, the cheap brushes, and you’d end up with brushes all over your wall, bristles all over the wall. So obviously you’re glad you did that, but was there anything that sort of just made you really push through that discomfort or it was just something you really wanted to do and get good at, or?
Danielle Driscoll (06:59):
I think watercolor is very therapeutic and relaxing in its nature. So oftentimes after you paint, it feels like you’ve done a yoga class because you have to be really present. And I find just the watercolor is so mesmerizing and therapeutic to watch how it moves on the paper. So it was kind of like the feeling I was getting from doing it kept me going
Shannon Acheson (07:26):
Because
Danielle Driscoll (07:26):
I enjoyed doing it.
Shannon Acheson (07:28):
That’s awesome. I really admire that, especially just the process of it, because dried watercolor and I’m terrible at it, but I also don’t push through it either.
Danielle Driscoll (07:41):
Well, I think I believe everyone is creative and everyone can paint watercolor or do any kind of art that you want to do. You just have to want to do it. It’s true. I think with watercolor, you have to understand how it’s going to react with the water, how it’s going to react on paper. So that’s one hurdle with watercolor. But the other thing is it’s just really practicing time. I wish I could say, and I’m not saying I’m the best watercolor painter at all. You’re good at it. No, but you know what I mean. I’m not saying I’m the best, and I don’t think anybody has to be the best. I don’t know that that’s the point of it, but I feel like as I’ve worked and as I’ve, over the years, some of the stuff that we have in the shop, it’s like older stuff and I’m like, oh, I’m not sure if I would’ve, but I’ve grown as an artist, and I think that that’s true for everybody that’s pursuing something creative. You’re always growing.
Shannon Acheson (08:41):
That’s true. And I agree with you that everybody has some sort of creativity in them. A lot of people just don’t, I guess, explore that, or they’ve been told they’re not creative, and so they don’t try, I guess, or they don’t push through that initial,
Danielle Driscoll (08:58):
I’m good at this. I think people are worried about making a mistake or failing or not being good enough. And
Shannon Acheson (09:07):
It’s true. It’s true. That applies to a lot of things, especially I feel like now when we see so much perfection on Instagram, Pinterest and all that, we see the end result. We don’t see all the, well, for me, all the rooms that didn’t look good to begin with. I mean, sure we did. We had blogs back then. Yeah, if you go back and
Danielle Driscoll (09:24):
Look, you can see
Shannon Acheson (09:25):
All our mistakes. It’s true. It’s true. They’re all out there for the world. But I think you’re right. I think it takes some perseverance and just working on it without worrying about perfection, especially initially. For sure. So was it when you decided then to add it to the business part of things, was it scary to do that, to add something new to the business? Or did you feel like that sort came naturally?
Danielle Driscoll (09:51):
I think it’s always scary. I feel like if you’re not doing something that slightly scares you, then you’re not pushing yourself.
Shannon Acheson (09:58):
Yep. Nope, that’s
Danielle Driscoll (09:59):
Fair. Even now when we’re launching things, I hope they work and I don’t know. And you don’t know unless you try, so,
Shannon Acheson (10:06):
Right.
Danielle Driscoll (10:07):
Yeah,
Shannon Acheson (10:08):
That’s true. It’s so true. Yeah, because you could stay in your comfort zone and never do anything. I just think that would be boring, wouldn’t it? We think. But yeah, I guess. But yeah, and the fact is is you’re going to fail at some things. Not everything’s going to be, I
Danielle Driscoll (10:28):
Mean, some things like we did book plates and I thought that they would do really well, and that’s something that didn’t really take off, but that’s okay. I mean, it’s not like I’m making, I don’t know. I’m not, so for example, with wallpaper, I use spoonflower wallpaper and fabric, so it’s print on demand. So there’s, I’m not investing tons in something to try.
Shannon Acheson (10:54):
So you’re sort of mitigating the effect of the failure if something fails, not that everything fails, if something doesn’t do well, it’s not like you’ve got 10,000 of them sitting in a warehouse that you then have to be out of pocket for. And I think that’s part of the genius of online business, even with tangible things that you’re making, there’s a way to do that, to keep costs down and to mitigate the cost of any failures. I love that about online business, that it can be so much less of a risk. It’s still a risk, but so much less of a risk
Danielle Driscoll (11:30):
Financially. I mean, I would too recommend if people are interested in pursuing what I do, find a local printer, find someone that will work with you and have smaller minimum, so I can do 50 notepads or a hundred notepads, maybe I try 50. If they do really well, then I’ll just print more. I do store everything in my house, so I am limited to how much inventory I can carry. Just in general, it’s like taking over. But
Shannon Acheson (12:00):
Yes,
Danielle Driscoll (12:01):
That’s what happens.
Shannon Acheson (12:02):
Yeah, no, but that’s a smart way to do it. Like you said, find someone local. First of all, you’re supporting your local economy,
(12:09):
Which is huge, which sometimes isn’t easy to do when you’re an online business person because that’s not always how it works. But it’s awesome that you sort of have combined. I think it’s awesome that you’ve combined sort the team. Thank no matter what kind of business you run online, I believe that everyone should have at least one low ticket offer something that solves a specific single problem for your ideal customer. If that sounds like something you’d like to look into, let me introduce you to my low ticket offer, the offer starter kit. The offer starter kit is designed to help you come up with the idea, narrow down the idea and create your first or your next low ticket offer in record time. Check it [email protected] slash offer starter kit. That’s shannon atchison.com/offer starter kit. The stationary and wallpaper, I looked at them this morning just because I hadn’t looked at your stuff for a while. So Spoonflower, you’ve been doing, I feel like for a while or No,
Danielle Driscoll (13:29):
We’ve had the online shop for longer. I did Bonnie Christine’s Surface Pattern Design Course Immersion, and so after I did that, I started the Spoonflower wallpaper and fabric. But I do sell on there, but the priority is the stationary and the home decor through my own site, and I’m branching into teaching classes, and I’m bringing out some new watercolor products.
Shannon Acheson (13:58):
So teaching classes locally, not online, locally,
Danielle Driscoll (14:01):
Locally, but I have been approved with Skillshare, so I just haven’t had time to, that’s what happens when it’s just you doing everything.
Shannon Acheson (14:09):
Yeah, it’s true. It’s true. You have to sort of fit everything in, I would imagine. So you said that the patterns, that was one of my other questions. With all the different creative streams, how do you decide which one to focus on?
Danielle Driscoll (14:26):
Well, I go with what is earning the most, I guess. I mean, the retail though, direct to consumer and wholesale is where I’m most successful right now. And the wholesale’s really grown. So last year at this time, we were in 25 stores and now we’re in over a hundred. Oh
Shannon Acheson (14:49):
My goodness. That’s amazing. That’s amazing. Oh my gosh. So how did you find all those? Okay, I ask now. I’m like, that’s awesome. That’s so awesome.
Danielle Driscoll (15:02):
It’s really growing. So because that’s growing and it’s just me, I can’t really make tons more patterns and upload that. So I’m focusing more on the wholesale and retail,
Shannon Acheson (15:14):
Which is a really smart to focus on what’s making the money. That’s like CEO making the decisions that matter for the bottom line, but also it’s still creative. It’s all creative. Well,
Danielle Driscoll (15:27):
Then I’ve developed new, so we have a summer collection coming out, and I have a watercolor workbook coming out, so I’m constantly coming up with new things for the shops that I’m in.
Shannon Acheson (15:37):
Right. That’s awesome. And so the shops, these are brick and mortar shops online,
Danielle Driscoll (15:43):
Brick and mortar. Brick and mortar. So we’re at Logan Airport, we’re at News Link at Logan. We’re in some museums, lots of little small boutique bookstores just all across the us.
Shannon Acheson (15:58):
Right. That is amazing. That’s so exciting. Oh my gosh, I didn’t know it was that many. That’s so cool. Does that sort of spread word of mouth or have you gone to those places?
Danielle Driscoll (16:11):
It’s a mix. I’ll go to places or I’ll see something written up, and it does take a lot of research because I want to make sure that there are good fit. My styles. If people look and you’ve looked, it’s very coastal. I like a lot of white. There’s whimsical a lot of nature. So if a shop is similar in style, I’ll approach them if I think that we have a synergy. So I’ve been approaching stores. I also use Fair so people can find me through. Fair.
Shannon Acheson (16:48):
Perfect. That’s awesome.
Danielle Driscoll (16:50):
Oh my God, I highly recommend Fair. I know they do take a percentage of the sale, but if you find the person yourself and you use your direct link and you can show Fair that you’ve had a conversation, they won’t take the commission.
Shannon Acheson (17:06):
Okay. Well, that’s really good.
Danielle Driscoll (17:08):
Yeah. I mean,
Shannon Acheson (17:09):
Good
Danielle Driscoll (17:09):
For people to know.
Shannon Acheson (17:10):
Yeah. Yeah. No, that’s awesome. Let’s say that if someone is sort of multi-passionate, I know alls watercolor, that’s your thing, but it’s still different things. So if someone’s sort of multi-passionate, but sort of stuck, what would you say to them following their creative threads or making space for new ideas? You started out with home stuff and the watercolors is totally still related. You use it in your own, the stationary and things, but if someone listening is trying to decide which creative thread to pull on, did you know that it was watercolor that you wanted to do once you saw it or experienced it? How did that happen from the home stuff? Or you just liked watercolors a lot?
Danielle Driscoll (17:59):
Well, I’m still doing home stuff through the blog. I don’t know that you have to, some people niche down. I still explore other avenues of creativity through the blog, so it’s not like I’m not decorating anymore or, you know what I mean? I don’t know that you have to, but I feel like if people just follow what they’re curious about and then you’ll kind of find your way, I don’t know. I’m often like, oh, I wonder how can I paint that? Or what colors could I use? And so that’s kind of where my thinking goes. And the thing that I love the most is coming up with new things. So I love doing this birthday collection. I love birthdays, and so I’m always kind of trying to think of cute things that I would like. And so I think if people were to follow what they’re curious about, but also what they’re interested in, a lot of times I’m inspired by nature. I’ll go for a walk and things that I find on the beach or in the woods inspire me.
Shannon Acheson (19:08):
Okay.
Danielle Driscoll (19:09):
I don’t know if that answered the question.
Shannon Acheson (19:10):
No, that makes sense. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer to that question. I think it’s everybody finds their creativity differently, so I was just curious. Yeah, what it was that inspired you, which you answered. So what are you super excited about right now? I know you said that you’re doing wholesale stuff, but you’ve also got this new line coming out. Is it out? Is it developing?
Danielle Driscoll (19:37):
It’s not out yet. The new line is a summer collection. I don’t know when this will end up coming out, this podcast, so it might be out when people see this. It’s at the printer right now, so I definitely want to launch it in time for summer. So there’s notepads and cards and all summer related. And I just finished a watercolor workbook. I spent the past, well, I’ve been dreaming about it for a long time. I started working on it in January, and it’s at the printer. We’re still just trying to figure out the logistics exactly the size. I’m hoping for an eight by 10, but it kind of depends on the paper that they can source and cost. But this workbook, people will be able to paint right in. So it’s going to be printed on watercolor paper and have outlines. But I’ve also done videos for each project.
Shannon Acheson (20:34):
Oh my gosh, that’s awesome.
Danielle Driscoll (20:36):
So I’m really excited. And so if that works, I would love to bring out a series of them.
Shannon Acheson (20:41):
Yeah. Yeah. So that is summer themed too. The workbook is summer themed too. It’s
Danielle Driscoll (20:46):
Coastal. It’s a coastal coastal watercolor workbook. So I would like to launch it soon. So it might be out when people watch.
Shannon Acheson (20:56):
Yeah, it might be. Yeah. And then you said, I’m pretty sure you said your own brushes and stuff.
Danielle Driscoll (21:03):
I have my own brushes. Yeah. I work with a small company that’s in Ohio, and they’re kalinsky synthetic sable brushes, and they have finding silver pennies. It’s what I use. Oh my gosh. It’s really important for me in terms of I was crying my first watercolor
Shannon Acheson (21:20):
Class
Danielle Driscoll (21:21):
To set people up for success and have good products that they can use. So these are the brushes I use and I love ’em. So I have them available as sets, and I have them available as single brushes too.
Shannon Acheson (21:33):
That’s awesome. And I love that you’ve taken what felt like, I guess, a failure at the time, right? Yeah. You chose the wrong ones, you didn’t know, but now you can teach people and say, Hey, this matters, and I’ve created this so that you don’t have to have the same sort of experience I had to
Danielle Driscoll (21:53):
Begin with. Right. Yeah. I brought those out in, I brought them out I think last November, October, November, and so we brought them up with some paintable watercolor cards for Christmas. So they’ve done really well.
Shannon Acheson (22:06):
I bet.
Danielle Driscoll (22:06):
Yeah,
Shannon Acheson (22:07):
I bet. I was thinking when you were talking about the workbook, I’m like, oh my gosh, Christmas time a perfect, because people love to gift that. People love to get that sort of thing.
Danielle Driscoll (22:15):
So I’m just trying to figure out how to offer watercolors to go with it. So I’m still doing research into that.
Shannon Acheson (22:25):
Yeah, that’s exciting. It’s so fun. Okay, so I think we’ve answered most of the questions I had, but what does finding civil pennies mean to you today? Is it the same as when you started? Has it changed, it’s grown with you?
Danielle Driscoll (22:42):
I think it’s definitely grown with me. I do feel like it’s still really a personal blog. It’s definitely my perspective, and it’s still a journal. For a little while, I was trying to write with SEO in mind and be really answer everything. And to me, that’s not really authentically who I am. So instead I just focus on the things that I’m curious about. And we just went to England, so I’m sharing bits and pieces of our trip. I think that’s what people really like about my site. And a lot of other sites, like the old school blogs, we were sharing bits of our life, and people relate to that. People will come up to me at markets and stuff that we do and say, I’ve been reading your blog for so long, like, oh, I watch your kids grow up. Oh, I love that. I love that too. So anyway,
Shannon Acheson (23:42):
Yeah. Yeah. I think blogging sort of SEO trips me up too. I did the same thing. I tried to follow it for a long time and it didn’t feel like me. And I think there’s a lot to be said for, and this is going to sound very businessy, but personal brands, people want to know you. They want to know the person behind the blog, behind the watercolors, behind that. So when you share genuinely like that on your blog, I think that’s a really great window into a little bit of who you are, even if it’s not all of who you are, obviously.
Danielle Driscoll (24:20):
I mean, and now too with the kids. My kids are 19 and 15, so I don’t share tons of pictures of them. I don’t share their personal life. I’ll ask them, would it be okay if I share this photo of you or can I mention this about you at school or whatever. I mean, John’s at art school, so people want to know, but I also feel like it’s their life and it’s not their blog,
Shannon Acheson (24:46):
And that’s something that we’ve had to navigate having blogged for so long with the kids being little, I mean, my kids are in their early twenties now. Them little. I know Megan, yeah, the youngest is 20. I can’t even, but they grew up on the blog. Right. I’ve since removed some of their pictures and stuff just because it didn’t, anyways, whatever. But yeah, that’s something we had to navigate too, was the changing of that too.
Danielle Driscoll (25:17):
Yeah.
Shannon Acheson (25:18):
Is there anything, so where can people find you, find your stuff? Like I said, I’m not a hundred percent sure when this episode will come out, but where can they find you? Find your
Danielle Driscoll (25:30):
Well, the blog is finding silver pennies.com. The shop is shop dot finding silver pennies.com, and then I’m on Instagram and Facebook at finding silver pennies.
Shannon Acheson (25:43):
That’s perfect. And they can find your watercolor stuff there too.
Danielle Driscoll (25:47):
It’s all linked on the landing page, on the blog. Finding Silver Pennies has the shop, the blog, the shop, and Spoonflower. Perfect.
Shannon Acheson (25:59):
Thank you so much for being my guest today. It was so nice to catch up. I love what you’ve done, and I will let you know when this comes out.
Danielle Driscoll (26:08):
Sounds good. Thank you, Shannon.
Shannon Acheson (26:17):
That’s it for today on the Shannon Acheson Show. If you found this helpful, follow the show and share it with a friend. And hey, if you’re not sure what kind of business actually fits your life, take the free quiz at shannonacheson.com. It’ll point you in the right direction. Thanks for listening. Talk again soon.