Beth Meyer
Beth has always been a maker. Growing up in a family of hard working small business owners she has the spirit of an entrepreneur. With the mindset that everyone chooses a specific career, she always pushes herself to stick to one job. To her benefit her husband told her to "quit her awful day job" which, to her, came as a huge relief. Now having more free time she began to create and found that creating motivated and empowered her more than anything she had felt in years. Together her and her husband decided that she should stick to creating and making full time.
The purpose of what she does is to live in the moment and to celebrate things that she finds delightful. She loves being able to collaborate with others, in a way, when creating. She makes the yarn and it can travel anywhere in the world, where someone else can make something beautiful out of it. To her it's a creative adventure each time.
Without any clear path or plan, she began creating items and her business came organically from there. She makes beautiful pet and animal portraits, as well as hand spun yarn, handwoven wall hangings, and whimsical knitted items.
She found success when everything was purely based out of her creative passion and wasn't forced. Dottie Dog became her first business idea. It stemmed from her love of drawing her dog Dorothy (dottie for short).
"Dottie Dog is just a happy celebration of charming creatures."
Her second business "ugly hank" took a little more coaxing. It didn't come as naturally as dottie dog had. Beth has had a fiber and yarn obsession since she was 16 when she first learned how to knit. Initially she put her hand-spun yarn into a friends little brick and mortar shop to see how well it would do. She was surprised at the glowing reviews and loved seeing what people would knit or crochet with her yarn.
Now she works on both businesses which balance each other out. Having two different things to work on, she stays motivated and fresh.
Beth's biggest hurdle is believing in herself and her business. Not only to believe dottie dog and ugly hank are real businesses, but to continue to believe it. It takes a lot of hard work to pursue your passion. Working for yourself may have its perks, but from time to time she can feel the toll of owning her own business. Working harder and more intensely than she has before.
"A perk is that you rarely even feel like you’re working."
Her inspiration comes from many things. Happy smiling faces make her excited to be alive and in turn excited to create art. She feels inspired by active art and enjoys whimsical shapes, wild colour pallets and strange and fluffy textures. She also enjoys weird animal expressions, like silly cat photos or a derpy dog.
"I would love to see my future self living on a farm with a hobby flock of sheep, working on writing and illustrating children’s books all about dogs. I’m sure my goals and dreams will evolve, so I’m not too concerned with the end result. I’m just happy to enjoy the ride and keep creating.”
I am so happy that I had the opportunity to contact and interview this lovely woman. Her answeres had me intrigued the entire time I was reading about her and while writing this article. Her bubbly positive spirit is so encouraging. Keep creating!
Photo Cred: Beth Meyer
