Meet Christy Sohie | Owner & Creative Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christy Sohie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christy, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I started Sage & Rue (then known as, Sohie Design Company) in April 2014. I was working at a job that I loved with a difficult team. The discord eventually became too much to bear, so I started to look for another job. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a comparable job that paid similarly at the time, so I decided to make my own, thinking, “how hard could it be?”. Around this time, Etsy had become pretty well-known and I loved making handmade greeting cards. I naively opened an Etsy shop, glued some scrapbook paper together to make greeting cards, and started selling. This attempt felt naive, because I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when it came to managing my own business. I had the drive and passion, but I didn’t have the knowledge or experience. Over the next two years, I struggled to figure out product development, marketing, business legalities, and more. I realized that much of what I was doing wasn’t very efficient. Now that I’m eight years into Sage & Rue though, I’m so happy and relieved to share that I’ve learned so much along the way and the aspects that I once found difficult are much more straightforward now. I never imagined the business I had haphazardly created would turn into the Sage & Rue of today.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My goal with Sage & Rue is to make` beautiful, quality, hope-filled products that encourage people to be intentional in their everyday lives. I want my watercolor goods and gifts to inspire people to grow in stewarding their time and gifitngs well so that they would be able to take more opportunities to spread love and joy to others. With this in mind, all of my products center around this goal. My greeting card line is meant to encourage people to communicate thoughtful messages to one another; my notepads are meant to help in organizing and stewarding time wisely; my tea towels are meant to inspire hospitality and gathering together.

Along with this goal, my art is unique in that it’s all completely original! I handpaint all of the watercolor artwork myself, scan it at a high resolution, and then design products digitally from there to be professionally printed. Many of my products cater to Southern California, Orange County, and the City of Orange, since that’s where I live. I love my city!

Getting to where I am today professionally wasn’t easy and the journey involved a lot of trial-and-error and second-guessing myself. It wasn’t until I took a graphic design class in college that I learned all about branding and how it was important to pick a focus and stick with it. From there, I was able to narrow in on the mission I wanted for Sage & Rue and it made the rest of the details very easy to determine since they all fall within this mission. Today, I always ask myself, “Does this fit Sage & Rue’s mission?” If the product or decision doesn’t fit, then I don’t move forward with it.

If there is one thing I want the world to know from my story, it’s that you don’t have to have everything figured out perfectly before you start, because God is faithful to provide. It’s okay to just do something, to make a decision and move forward. For the most part, everything is adjustable and it’s okay to learn along the way. Even when you seem to have everything figured out, life seasons change and you have to adjust anyway. I’ve learned and grown so much since starting Sage & Rue in 2014. Overall principles have remained the same, but I still continually find myself adjusting so that I can better serve my family and our church. Even when I have been stuck or wasn’t sure what my next move should be, God has always provided and made the next step clear.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I sure do love my city, and most of what we’d do would be centered around Old Towne Orange. The first thing we would do is take a walk to the Orange Plaza. For dinner, we’d dine at my favorite spots near the Plaza: Smoqued (my absolute favorite), Bruxie, Taco Adobe, Felix Continental Cafe, Butaton Ramen, and Byblos Cafe. For breakfast, we’d frequent Kimmie’s Coffee Cup, Snooze, and The Filling Station. When we’re desiring a special treat, we’d stop at Pandor Bakery for dessert and handmade bread and Oiio for mango smoothies. We’d take daily walks to the Plaza and make sure to stop by the Orange Homegrown Farmers and Artisans market on Saturday for fresh produce and specialty goods. We’d take our kids to the park (I love Shaffer Park for its shaded playground) and to the Orange Public Library. If it’s summertime, we’d also try to catch one of Orange’s Concerts in the Park. We’d also attend Sovereign Grace Church of Orange, which meets in the Woman’s Club of Orange on Sundays. If we’re looking to go shopping for fun, we’d stop at The Potting Shed, Full Circle, Nectar, Dragonfly Shops & Gardens, and the antique shops within the Plaza.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband has played the biggest role in offering me support and encouragement from the very start of Sage & Rue. He has seen my giftings and faithfully encouraged me to strive after their development. To this day, he continues to play an integral role in the success of Sage & Rue by sacrificing his Saturday mornings after long work weeks to wake up early and help me sell at our local farmers market. He spurs me on to pursue new business ideas and helps me to brainstorm how Sage & Rue can be used to better serve our family’s needs. I am so grateful for him!

Along with my husband, I wouldn’t be here if not for my friends and family who made up most of my sales when I first started my business. They continue to offer encouragement and support, even recommending my products to their friends and family. I am especially grateful for my friends from Sovereign Grace Church of Orange, who continually remind me of the greater purpose behind my business and how God has provided and been faithful through it all.

Website: www.sageandrue.com

Instagram: @sageandrue

Facebook: @sageandrue

Image Credits
Christy Sohie