We recently connected with Hannah Daniel and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Hannah , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
In a way I knew my purpose in life ever since I can remember, but I denied it up until the day I started my business. Thanks to my mom, I grew up making and loving art. She taught me so much about pencil drawing, acrylic, watercolor, and more. I loved art classes all throughout school, even branching out to film and photoshop classes too. But when it was time for college, I thought “I need to make money so I’ll major in computer science.” Obviously that crashed and burned pretty quickly. I realized despite the need to make money, I couldn’t overcome the unhappiness of ignoring my real purpose – the thing that really made me happy. After briefly dropping out of school, I returned and changed my major to Animal Behaviorism. At that point, I breezed through college and loved learning about animals. I would go home and draw the animals I learned about. I worked a The National Aquarium in Baltimore, oddly enough with Australian birds, and was so inspired by the colors and creatures I saw. I realized how fulfilling it was to learn more about animals and to share their beauty with the world. My first ever card series was a Valentines Day set that featured an Albatross card. I remembered from my college courses how unique the albatross mating ritual was and thought it would make a romantic card – BUT not everyone else would know why! Albatross aren’t your typical cutesy Valentines icon so I included a short fact on the back about the albatross mating ritual. And thus my card business was born. I fully believe anyone could come to love any animal if they just spent a little time reading about it or interacting with it. And so my love of art and animals combined to create my purpose: sharing beauty and appreciation for animals in the world. Now as my business has established, I like to give away portions of my proceeds to different organizations to impact the world even more. In 2022 I created a Christmas card series inspired by local zoo animals and raised money to donate to the zoo at the end of the year. I look forward to finding more organizations and ways I can positively impact the world!
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I create art mostly inspired by animals! I grew up painting and pencil drawing but ended up loving watercolor the most. When I started my business I would hand carve my own stamps and stamp every single card. That time intensive process did not last as my business increased so I taught myself digital art! Now most of my illustrations are drawn digitally on an iPad, but I like to use a “water color brush” to emulate that watercolor style I’ve always loved. The most exciting part of my art is the animals themselves! My cards often have a fact on the back about the animal on the card. And my art prints usually feature the Latin name of the species. I love anything that generates more conversation about animals! My latest project is like my own version of paint swatches. When I was in high school I discovered I had synesthesia -I see numbers as colors. So I decided to make my animals on different colored backdrops and number the drawings based of how I interpret the color of the backdrop. For example I have a drawing of a Honduran White Bat with a lavender colored background. For me a lavender color is 114. So the number for my print of this bat is 114. I’m very excited about this project and the new pieces I have coming up!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three skills I feel are most impactful are my drawing abilities, knowledge of animals, and being humble. I couldn’t make my art without all the years of practice I’ve had. My interest in studying animals is what keeps me inspired to make more art. And I’ve found being humble is just a great skill overall but especially when you’re starting your own business. The most relieving phrase you can say is “I don’t know.” It’s ok to not have all the answers, it’s ok to be confused, and it’s especially ok to ask for help (or at least to take help when it is given). Do not let your ego stand in the way of you making progress. I’ve learned so much about running a business thanks to all the incredible people who’ve offered me advice and given me a helping hand. Whether it’s advice on how to files taxes or the best trick to keep cool at an outdoor market, I’ve picked up so much knowledge from watching and listening to others.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Working for yourself often means feeling overwhelmed. It’s almost like you’re never off the clock. Especially if you work at home, you can’t clock out and leave everything behind till tomorrow. I often feel like I never have an excuse not to work. And when you don’t get paid salary or ever hourly, you feel like you have to work constantly just in hopes it’ll eventually pay off. So when I’m facing the crushing weight of business/finances/life, the best thing to do is write it all down! Writing everything down has saved my life. I have notes in my phone, paper notes, a journal, and more. When you’re in charge of so many things, you can’t rely on just memory or “winging it.” If you can lay out everything you need to do and then tackle it in pieces, things don’t feel so overwhelming. You have to set smaller goals that you can achieve so you have some “wins” under your belt.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HandAndStem
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/hand.and.stem?igshid=NzZlODBkYWE4Ng==
Image Credits
Katerina Rebecca Creative https://www.katerinarebecca.com/
