Positively Creative

Today on Positively Creative Dorothy chats with Kat Gordon, owner of Muddy's Bake Shop in Memphis, Tennessee. She takes us behind the scenes of the 50+ employee, tri-location bakery business from Mud Lab, the test kitchen club which has a lengthy application process for creating a new recipe for the bakery to the Muddy's volunteer community outreach program for her employees. Book clubs, employee retreats, art market, custom kitchen…what does Muddy's not do?! "I feel like this is the secret of visioning and why visioning works is that once you are open about what it is you want, people want to help you." -Kat Gordon, on working to fulfill the Muddy's team's 2020 vision of launching a pie in the sky! "My business is my medium." -Kat Gordon "We get so caught up in the grass is always greener, but it's easy to just not totally appreciate the challenges for the gift that they are." -Kat Gordon See more of Muddy's: www.muddysbakeshop.com www.instagram.com/muddysbakeshop Follow along and join the Positively Creative Community: www.positivelycreative.net www.instagram.com/positivelycreativepodcast www.facebook.com/groups/positivelycreativepodcast On Today's Show: (4:00) How Muddy's became a company, even without a grand opening (11:30) Muddy's community service program (17:30) Memphis Indie Spring Market (19:00) Muddy's Book Club (21:00) Ego is the Enemy (22:00) Kitchen Tours (26:00) Muddy's retreat (28:00) Kat's new teaching workshops (35:00) Muddy's Test Kitchen (46:00) Custom Kitchen / Johnny's Christening Cake (47:00) On auditing product prices (49:00) Her thoughts on the business' growth (56:00) The hiring process (1:00:00) Mail Order Muddy's (1:06:00) Artist & Fabulous mother-in-law Nancy Cheairs (1:07:00) Flicker Street Studio (1:08:00) Jeni's Ice Cream (1:14:00) Host a Front Porch Party!

Today's Positively Creative guest is Kristen Ley, founder and owner of Thimblepress, a lifestyle company that encourages kindness and inspires fun, through her letterpress and watercolor greeting cards, kindness cards, Push-Pop Confetti, and tons of other adorable products! Kristen fills us in on her creative process, ranging from how she came up with the "Your butt looks great in those jeans!" card to The Day Dreamer Journal. Kristen and Dorothy discuss the backstory of Thimblepress' early days, how she manages her team and working on collaborations all inside the Thimblepress headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi, and how she stays positive by leaning on her faith to stay optimistic.

"You really want to hire your weaknesses." -Kristen Ley

"If I could laugh through my whole life, I would be a happy girl. Keeping that kid-like innocence and mentality I think is one of the biggest things you can do for enjoying your life." - Kristen Ley

"There's bravery in seeking after opportunity." -Kristen Ley

"When you're passionate about something, sometimes you can put blinders on. Which is good and bad." -Kristen Ley

See more of Thimblepress' work:

www.thimblepress.com

Thimblepress' The Thread Blog

Thimblepress for Target

Follow along and join the Positively Creative Community: www.positivelycreative.net www.instagram.com/positivelycreativepodcast www.facebook.com/groups/positivelycreativepodcast

On Today's Show:

(10:00) Double Decker Art Festival

(11:00) Renegade Craft Fair

(16:00) Thimblepress won best booth display

(20:00) National Stationery Show

(22:00) State Flower Collection

(24:00) On Hiring Employees

(28:00) Visual Layout of Brick & Mortar Thimblepress

(38:00) Her Creative Process / Kindness Cards / The Day Dreamer

(48:00) Thimblepress x Target Collaboration

(57:00) pillows throwonline.com

(58:00) Speak Wines

Today Dorothy's speaking with Liz Cooke of Lionheart Prints, a paper and gift company in New Orleans, Louisiana. Liz creates hand lettered messages for the kind, brave, and fun. We discuss how Lionheart Prints got its start to now opening and running a successful brick and mortar shop, about her selling her work at the National Stationery Show, and how she hustles to get it all done. "I want to be your life coach on paper!" -Liz Cooke See more of Lionheart's work: www.lionheartprints.com www.instagram.com/lionheartprints www.instagram.com/lizmautecooke www.facebook.com/lionheartprints Follow along and join the Positively Creative Community: www.positivelycreative.net www.instagram.com/positivelycreativepodcast www.facebook.com/groups/positivelycreativepodcast On Today's Episode: (5:00) Paper Source (12:00) Whitney Engllish (13:00) Stationery Academy / Society for Creative Founders (15:00) Gemma O'Brien (17:00) Fleurty Girl (21:00) Yeaux Leaux cups (31:00) National Stationery Show (33:00) Creative Mornings - Tattly (34:00) Little Histories (52:00) Charlie / Emily McDowell (54:00) Liz's NSS booth fiasco (54:00) Fox + Fallow (54:00) Kristen Ley (1:30:00) Rifle Paper Co. (1:34:00) Thimblepress for Target

Meet Dorothy Collier, the artist behind Dorothy Art and the host of the new podcast, Positively Creative! She is so excited to be creating this podcast, featuring and celebrating makers and small businesses in the creative community. She lives and creates her mixed media oil paintings on vintage book pages in Memphis, Tennessee. When Dorothy started having a positive outlook on every aspect of her life, including her Dorothy Art career, the creativity and opportunities started overflowing!

See more of Dorothy's artwork:

www.dorothycollier.com

www.instagram.com/dorothyart

www.facebook.com/dorothyart

Follow along and join the Positively Creative Community:

www.positivelycreative.net

www.instagram.com/positivelycreativepodcast

https://www.facebook.com/groups/positivelycreativecommunity/?fref=nf