FAQ: Turning a Hobby into a Business

 There are two questions that I get asked almost every time one of our clients picks up a piece of furniture :

1.  Where do you find all of your furniture?

2.  How did you get started doing this?

  The answer to the first question is that I look EVERYWHERE.  I am always hunting for great furniture. {Even in the back of other people’s trucks driving down the road} I pass on a lot of pieces that aren’t up to my standards- if I wouldn’t put it in my own home, I don’t buy it.  ever.  I would be silly to give out my exact sources for furniture, because although I love what I do, and I am very blessed to be able to do what I love and get paid for it, my income from Altar’d does help pay our bills each month- and for things like karate & dance classes.  So, giving away my exact sources would jeopardize karate & dance class funds, and we can’t have that.  I did include some great sources in my ebook, but I don’t tell every source I have.  I will say though, that there is no “easy button”- we search and work hard, and drive all over town to hunt the best pieces.

  The answer to the second question is a bit longer.  I actually went to College as a Psychology Major.  I have about 70% of a Bachelor’s degree, but I got married and had my daughter in the middle of my college years, so I never finished.  During High School & Junior College, I worked for my Dad doing payroll & secretarial work at his Transmission shop.  When I moved to Dallas to attend UNT, I quickly found a job there doing Payroll for a Medical Company.  For the next 5 years, I worked in Dallas and then Houston as a Payroll Accountant for several Oil & Gas Companies.  {During this time I also got divorced, and was a single mom for 2 years. }  Then, I met my hubby and we’ve been married for 8 years now.  When we first married, Colby was a High School Teacher & Coach.  When our first son was born, Colby decided to change careers because living on a Teacher’s Income is difficult & being a Coach he was almost never home.  He got a job as an Environmental Services Manager in a Hospital here in Houston, and I stayed home with our kids.  I have always been crafty, so I started making custom nursery hampers from Pottery Barn fabric & sold them on Ebay. (They sold so well that I became a power seller)

   A few months later, Colby was offered a Director position at a Hospital in Union City, TN.  Colby and I are both from Houston, so it was a difficult decision to leave our new home (we had half and acre in a cul-de-sac, and built a brand new home)- but we knew that we needed to take the promotion to advance his career.   For the next 5 years, we moved every 9-10 months as Colby was offered one promotion after another.  He quickly made his way up the ladder in Environmental Services, and I got really good at packing and unpacking quickly. :0)  I thought it was exciting to get to decorate a new house every 9 months, and I was able to stay home with my babies and create random crafts.

Here’s a short list of the places we’ve lived in the past 8 years:

• Mont Belvieu/Baytown, TX (love!)
• Union City, TN (love, love!!)
• Poplar Bluff, MO (did NOT enjoy this place, we call it “Misery”)
• Keller, TX (love!)
• Lubbock, TX (love!)
• College Station, TX (did NOT love, sorry CS friends!)
• League City, TX (not bad, but traffic was BAD)
• Huffman, TX (love, but the commute for hubby is causing us to move again)

In case you’re wondering- Colby works at Texas Children’s Hospital now, and loves his career there and plans to work there until he retires, so we’ll be in Houston for a long, long time.  

  During all of this moving, I couldn’t paint walls in the homes we rented, so I started painting every piece of furniture in sight.  I did everything the wrong way at first (no sanding or prepping!) and learned SO MUCH from my mistakes.  I am 100% self taught, and that’s a huge reason I wrote my ebooks- because I know what it’s like to not know the difference in latex, oil based, polyurethane, polyacrylic, wax, etc.

    Once we moved to College Station, I really started selling furniture quickly on Craigslist and Altar’d was born.  That was 3 years ago, and I am amazed every day at the friends and repeat customers we’ve gained along the way.  {Thank you to all of you who have followed us from the very beginning we are so grateful!- If you remember turquoise & zebra, that means you!}

  When I first started painting furniture, I didn’t have anyone to ask questions to- so we learned everything the hard way.  There was a LOT of trial and error going on, some tears, lots of frustration, and even some celebrating when we sold several pieces in one week.  I love getting an email from a client that we did a piece for a year or two ago that now needs nursery furniture.  I am honored that our clients refer their friends to us, and trust us to find the perfect pieces for their homes.  To every person who has purchased a piece of Altar’d furniture in the past 3 years, THANK YOU.  We’ve painted almost 2,000 pieces of furniture but we know each of our clients, and we love working with them to custom create pieces of furniture for their homes. 

  So, the short answer to “How did you grow Altar’d from a hobby to a successful business?”- is hard, hard work.  I’ve wanted to quit many times, I’ve even looked for a desk job in the paper on a bad day~ but even though the work I do is not easy, I love it.   Owning your own business is hard.  I never worked this hard when I worked for someone else- the hours are long, the paycheck isn’t guaranteed, and whether you succeed or fail rests solely on your shoulders.  But, if you love what you do, and it shows, you will eventually succeed.  It’s not easy, but  SO worth it.

 What do you LOVE to do?

{send} {share} {save}