Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Debbie Schanberger. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Debbie, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
This isn’t a simple answer. I’ve always been confident in my artwork, school work and work ethic because it was natural. Self-esteem didn’t come easy at all. As a child, I was shy. I would hide behind my mother and not want to speak to strangers. After she passed when I was eight years old, I became involved in the 4-H Club. The leaders helped bring me out of my shell by encouraging me to volunteer for different positions in the club. I was scared and nervous, but it got easier with each club meeting.
Growing up I was always overweight despite being active which made me feel undesirable and ugly. I also had blonde eyebrows and eyelashes (classic traits of a red head), which didn’t help my case at all. I was never told I was pretty (unless someone needed something) or taught to value myself. Top that off with kids picking on me, verbally abusive boyfriends and a verbally abusive ex-husband with cheating tendencies who groomed me; my self-esteem was pretty much shot. My ex gave me an ultimatum: take anti-anxiety meds or he would leave. So I did and it backfired on him. It taught me not to sweat the small things and the ‘what-ifs’. So he could scream at me, and I didn’t care as much.
As far as my physical appearance, I wore makeup so I didn’t look like an albino. While I continued to work out, I discovered I was gluten intolerant, thanks to my functional medicine doctor and his book, “No Grain, No Pain”. Once I removed all sources of gluten, including corn and rice, plus all of the other foods I was intolerant to and switched to an organic diet, I lost the weight naturally and I have been able to keep it off for seven years. It was just inflammation. This also helped relieve the anxiety and a lot of autoimmune conditions without medicine. I stopped my anti-anxiety meds and realized I deserved to be happy and I deserved to be treated with respect. I moved out, got a divorce and discovered myself again.
My current partner boosts my self-esteem on a daily basis and taught me to value myself and to be independent. He is incredibly supportive of not only me as a person, but also my artwork. He is my best friend and I could not be more grateful.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Since my last interview a year ago, I was laid off from my full time job as a technical writer for golf cart parts and accessories. After seeing how big corporations run and treat their employees, I have decided to invest in myself and pursue my art as a full time career. This is terrifying and exciting at the same time. While the unknown future is scary, I can now put more time and energy into making the things I love. Being a sarcastic red head with a wicked artistic side, I launched my company in 2023 and called it ‘The Ginger Chik’. I specialize in fine art, illustration, mixed media, graphic design and product photography.
I currently create wooden ornaments, magnets, coasters, sculptures and 2D paintings and illustrations with my artwork and original characters. While a lot of the subject matter is random, I have a few ongoing themes like Baltimore, my rat series, faux food and the 80s/90s. I am happy to announce that I will be adding greeting cards, prints and more apparel options to my product offerings this year, so get excited! You’ll be able to enjoy and share more of my artwork with your friends and family.
You can find me and my work at local events, such as the Fell’s Point Farmers Market, the Sykesville Farmers Market, the Catonsville Farmers Market and the Belle Aire Market, just to name a few. My full events schedule is listed on my website at www.TheGingerChik.com. You can also purchase artwork here and have it shipped, or pick it up at an event for free. I am currently taking on commissioned work, graphic design and illustration. Feel free to reach out if you need anything!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Listen to your gut. This is important in all aspects of life and business. Everyone will have their opinion and recommendations, but your gut will keep you focused and centered on what’s important.
2) Do the work that makes you the happiest. When this happens, it won’t feel like work. It will be more rewarding and therapeutic.
3) Take one step at a time and breathe. Starting a business is daunting. You will have a to-do list a mile long and you will want to accomplish all of it in one day, which never happens. Start with one task. Once that is complete, move to the next. You will accomplish more this way vs. trying to do twenty things at once, even if you are great at multi-tasking.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
I think you need a healthy mix of both. Follow your strengths, but in order to grow and improve as an individual, you will need to push your boundaries and do things that make you uncomfortable. The things you aren’t good at are the ones that you need to work on the most. With that being said, stay focused on your goal. If your business is pottery, don’t spend time learning to repair refrigerators to offer that as a service. You’ll end up running in too many different directions and the overall goal won’t get accomplished to it’s fullest ability.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.TheGingerChik.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegingerchik/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGingerChik
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deborah-schanberger-5b34883a/
