What is your name? Claudine Hellmuth
What is your business name? My official business name that I have my LLC under is Claudine Hellmuth Creative LLC. But that’s really in the background for legal and paperwork stuff.
What is your website URL? I have a couple that I lead to the same place. Claudinehellmuth.com then also collageartist.com I did the collageartist.com because my name is long and it’s hard for people to remember how to spell it!
When did you start your business? I have been a full time artist since 2001 but I started building my by business in 1997 when I graduated with my BFA degree. It took a few years so I did web design as my day job while I worked on building my art business.
Why did you decide to start your business & why did you choose the type of business you chose? I always knew I wanted to be an artist from the time I was a little toddler playing with finger paints on the kitchen floor. So there wasn’t really a decision to be made – I always knew I wanted to create my artwork full time. So the decisions were more “how” could I make it work.
What is your favorite thing about being in business for yourself? Sleeping in and taking naps!
What turned out to be harder than you thought? Speaking of naps and sleeping in… I think the biggest surprise or adjustment for me has been my day to day schedule. Even 10 years later I still feel guilty about not keeping a 9am-5pm schedule. I work best from about Noon onwards and despite knowing that as long as I get the work done it doesn’t matter what hours I am up – I still feel like I *should* be working “regular” work hours. It’s one of my never-ending nags from my inner critic!
Looking back, what is one thing you know now, but wish you knew back then? That the same fears that are still with me today now 10 years later. Will I be able to keep this business going? Will I still get clients and people to come to my workshops? Even after 10 years those fears don’t go away. I have learned it’s part of owning your own business.
Do you participate in any business groups (mentoring, networking, etc) ? I am a designer member of CHA and I listen to a ton of business practice type tele seminars. I devour business type ebooks. [I loved yours Crissy, on blogging!]
As a business owner, it can be easy to work all the time – do you have any tips for balancing your business and your personal life? I am not one to talk on that front! I have no sense of balance. If I have a big project and it needs to get done I work all out on it 18 hour days until it’s done. Then I crash out. I love my work so it’s hard to stop sometimes!
What have been some of your best business successes? My biggest moment so far was being a guest on the Martha Stewart Show. That was very exciting for me. I also think simply having a thriving art business after 10 years (and through a pretty rough recession) is a pretty big success too! I can pat myself on the back for that!
What are you planning to do with your business in the future? I am working on expanding the illustration and licensing parts of my business. I have a gift product line by Demdaco that is coming out in Winter 2012 and some more items for the craft industry, embroidery etc. So I am hoping to keep going with that direction!