045 | Taking breaks in business with Caroline Hull, Caroline Creates

Paper Camp alum Caroline Hull is the founder of Caroline Creates. A designer and owner, Caroline has a background in music and was actually a ballet dancer at the University of Oklahoma before finding her niche in design and podcasting. Caroline has a passion for helping other small business owners like herself through her podcast, Creative Biz Rebellion.

On today’s episode, we’re talking about switching gears in business, the benefit of taking a break to really reassess how you’re feeling about things and she also shares how past experiences shaped who she is and what she’s doing today.

ON TODAY’S EPISODE:

Caroline’s career path and what motivated her to start Caroline Creates
Her custom wedding invitation designs and how the word got out about her Etsy shop
Making the transition from working Caroline Creates part-time to full-time
How her move to Nashville impacted her business and her decision to transition to the wholesale market
The pain points that made her realize she needed to make some changes in her business
Her decision to homeschool her children and how that impacted her decision to pivot in her business
Taking a break in her business to evaluate how she felt and what she wanted to change
Transitioning her Etsy shop to all downloadable products or drop ship
The start of her podcast, Creative Biz Rebellion and how she met her co-host, Kelly
How community and professional development have impacted her business
How Caroline became a podcast producer and editor
The growth of her podcast business
Caroline’s advice to anyone just starting a product-based business

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KEY TAKE-AWAYS

“The business itself started to feel more like a chore and a burden and it felt very hard and it felt like I was constantly having to fight to get to where I wanted to go.” – Caroline Hull

“It’s hard to make changes sometimes in our business unless we’re forced to.” – Katie Hunt

“I would not have that podcast [Creative Biz Rebellion] and the success of that podcast is having and the joy that it brings to me if I hadn’t have had the business in a way that I had it.” – Caroline Hull

“I think that is super important is to be able to say, ‘You know what, things aren’t working. I need to take a step back and see how I feel.’” – Caroline Hull

“These print-on-demand services and the drop shipping options, they’re really great especially for people that work at home and are still at the beginning stages of their business or scaling back and don’t want to have a whole manufacturing warehouse.” – Katie Hunt

“When I could feel like my business was hitting a point where I needed to grow but I wasn’t sure how to do it, that was when I knew that I needed to go do something and be around people who knew more than I do.” – Caroline Hull

“I’ve become like this mini podcast launch cheerleader and helping people figure out all the pieces that they need to get going.” – Caroline Hull

“Podcasting was a hobby and now it’s my business and doing the shop and the design was my business and now it’s gone back to being my hobby.” – Caroline Hull

“It is so just amazing that by opening myself up and being open to new possibility that I’ve ended up with this business that I love that to me is so similar to the original thing I had set out to do when I was a young 18-year-old.” – Caroline Hull

CONNECT WITH CAROLINE HULL

Website: Caroline Creates | Website: Creative Biz Rebellion | Facebook: @carolinecreates | Instagram: @carolinecreates

Connect with Katie Hunt

Katie Hunt is a business strategist, podcaster, mentor and mama to four. She helps product based businesses build profitable, sustainable companies through her conferences, courses and coaching programs.

Website: prooftoproduct.com | Instagram: @prooftoproduct