Meet Sarah Jo Anson

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarah Jo Anson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Sarah Jo with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?

My work ethic comes directly from watching my mom while I was growing up. This woman was a powerhouse: she owned a business in a male dominated industry (programming) and was incredibly successful at that; she was the manager of my competitive soccer team and did all the programming for my club’s yearly tournament and their website in addition to owning her business, and being a parent on top of that. Additionally, she would always make time to help me start my “micro businesses” and help me make sales to her friends and people in the community. Growing up, I was always so embarrassed by how involved she was, but now as an adult business owner and parent myself, I find great joy in having my kids with me, making memories like my mother made with me, and teaching them the same work ethic that I learned from my mom.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

My name is Sarah Jo, and I am a genderfluid, autistic artist and educator. I own Made in Delirium, a small traveling art boutique with a focus on eclectic and unique design. My goals in life are to build safe spaces for queer and neurodivergent artists, empower people in marginalized communities to start and maintain their small businesses, and to make the world a more beautiful and accepting place for the generation that follows us.

I accomplish a majority of my goals by hosting community building events (such as Hedgewitch Hollow, a spiritual retreat in NE Oklahoma for individuals looking to learn more about connecting with nature, their art, or their spirituality through a relaxed, overnight camp experience reminiscent of the summer camps of our youth) and vendor events (most notable of which is our Magick & Mischief Market that takes place in Tulsa, OK over Black Friday weekend).

In addition to running these events and my business, I am also an early childhood teacher at an area public school where I work with pre-kindergarten students. Teaching is my first love, and I eventually aspire to form an art studio for area artists to not only have space to create but also a location to share their works with others in a casual retail setting.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Honestly, the most effective resource I have is my inability to accept the answer no. I had barely been in business for a year when I hosted my first art market, the Different Strokes Art Market, which was tailored to queer and neurodivergent artists. I had no clue if it would be successful or if I was in over my head, but the old term “fake it ‘til you make it” kept repeating in my head.

Networking was another skill that I had to develop. I’m an introvert at heart, so putting myself and my brand out there has always been incredibly difficult for me. But finding others who believe in the same end goal as myself was crucial to my journey; I no longer had to walk alone, I had others to bounce ideas off of, and rely on. Not all of those relationships worked out, but that’s okay, too.

Learning how to let go is also crucial when it comes to success. You cannot carry everyone or everything with you. Being a leader sometimes means knowing when you have to say goodbye to a system that isn’t working. I started with two business partners, and both have since moved on to follow their dreams, and we’ve all grown as business owners since then, in ways that we couldn’t have if we’d insisted on staying together. To grow the perfect bonsai, you must trim unnecessary limbs sometimes.

I developed these skills through research; I read books on leadership, blogs on business ownership, and I watched how others were operating. I knew where I wanted to go, and I drew a roadmap of stops along the way. Keep going.

Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?

My excellent support system really kept me going in the early days. My parents were so supportive of my goals, both of them attending my first market to volunteer; my best friends rented booths to support me; and my husband does a lot of the household work that usually falls on the wife while I am busy working on this dream of mine. I learned so much from their different perspectives, and I still rely on them so much to help me see the forest, not the trees.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Destiny Sanders, Chaos and a Camera
Brittany Lee
Kristin Cusack Photography

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