Meet Carly Vilardi

We recently connected with Carly Vilardi and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Carly, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

I’ve always been a work-a-holic, but after having my daughter I became even more focused. I had always wanted to be an artist in the “bookish” space and it was like having her lit a fire under my butt. I want her to be able to look back and see that anything is possible if she works hard and follows her dreams. She is my main motivation for everything I do and working so hard at my dreams has allowed me to stay home with her while still working!

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’ve always loved art and reading, so when I realized I could combine both into a business and an art career I ran with it. My business name, “Bookish Beasts” came from the first bookmarks I ever made and sold. I had customers fill out a questionnaire and drew them their own “bookish beast” based on their answers. The beast would be on a bookmark and came with a name and its own little background story. I thought maybe I’d sell a few and it would be something fun to do while pregnant and on bed rest, but to my surprise I’ve now sold over 100! Since then my business has evolved and I now create bookmarks, book boxes, stickers, cups and highlight as many of my favorite indie authors as I can! In the past year I even had Jennifer Armentrout and Rebecca Yarros share one of my bookmarks on their socials and I’d be lying if I said I’m not still starstruck from it! My favorite item in my shop is my monthly indie book box. There’s something special about getting the chance to help promote some of my favorite people and stories. This year I’ll also be adding sprayed edges to my shop!

My dreams really started to come true when I received my first character art commission. This is literally my dream job and I’m so lucky to now usually be booked a few months in advance. My art is now in 2 published books with a few more on the way! I’ve gotten to help bring some of my favorite characters to life and am so incredibly grateful for the opportunities this business venture of mine has brought me. I now have gotten to work on multiple character art pieces, bookmark designs, stickers, PR box items, chapter headers and interior art pieces. My goal this year is to draw a book cover!

The dream is for this business to continue evolving and eventually open up my own bookstore while also getting to create bookish art.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think the 3 most important things that impacted me the most were determination, always working on improving in some way, and building a community. Even when the imposter syndrome hits it’s important to stay focused and determined! Starting out slow or with no sales just means you haven’t found your people yet. I’m always taking as many art courses as I can that pertain to areas I’d love to improve. My favorite resource is creatureartteacher.com. Aaron Blaise has always been one of my favorite artists and his site offers courses by other artists as well. Building a community is the foundation of any great business! You need to find your people, and those people will help you continue to build and give encouragement when needed.

My biggest piece of advice for someone early on in their journey is to have faith and don’t give up! It’s easy to get down on yourself, but everything happens for a reason and building something great takes time. Every time you meet a milestone or even a little win, write it down and celebrate it. It will help to look back on it on the hard days.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

I am constantly juggling different aspects of my business as well as a mom to a 1 year old and 3 dogs, so I’d be lying if I said I’m not usually overwhelmed. I used to try to do it all to the point where I reached burnout so fast, but have found when I’m overwhelmed it’s best to prioritize. The world wont end if your entire to do list doesn’t get checked off. When I’m feeling overwhelmed now I see if anything on my list has deadline that need to be finished, complete any other tasks I can and usually take the rest of the night to do something for me or spend quality family time. As a small business owner it’s easy to overwork yourself and feel like you need to work every single day. I now force myself to take 1, preferably two days where I don’t work and it’s been a game changer! Having the days off makes me much more productive on my work days.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Image of open book with artwork – Demi Warrik

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