Meet Olivia Stober | Artist & Small Business Owner

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

Hi Olivia, how do you think about risk?
I’m pretty sure anybody who has decided to pursue creative work professionally has taken their fair share of risks – myself included! It can be really scary investing time, energy, and – in my case – your own money into a creative venture. I had to bolster my own confidence before I even saw myself as somebody worthy of taking a risk for my own sake, because creating art can feel really gratuitous at times. Do I deserve to make money off of my art? Is this a selfish journey I’ve decided to take? Am I setting myself up for financial ruin?
We’re not encouraged to take risks. It’s also an impossible task for many. I would not have been able to dedicate even a fraction of the time and energy I have to my business if I wasn’t able to take a year off from working a traditional job in the past couple years. The ability to take risks is an immense privilege in itself, and one that I’ve been lucky enough to have. And even in my case I’ve racked up a bit of debt pursuing this dream of mine — I think it’s important for me to say that and be open about it. Because if you just follow me on Instagram without any of the context, you might think “How is she doing it??”… and the answer is, I’m doing it with credit card debt. I’m doing it with some panicked nights laying in bed wondering if I’ve made a huge mistake and I would have been better off putting that money into savings or a 401(K).
The way I reckon with the weight of taking risks is telling myself that I’m worth it. I deserve to pursue something that lights me up, and success doesn’t happen overnight – the ‘overnight successes’ that we see on social media often have been putting years, if not decades, into their craft, and I can’t compare myself to anyone else (even though that’s easier said than done!).

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I know that if I told 18 year old Olivia what I’m doing now, she would think it is so cool. I never really set out to be a professional creative, it’s more like that path slowly revealed itself to me. Growing up as a kid and teenager, I always loved to draw and experiment with different crafts, but I never even considered that I could pursue art as a means of making a living. When I moved to San Diego and got involved with the local maker community, it was the first time that I was like, “OH! People are really doing this, they’re actually selling their work and making money off of it.” I just had no framework of what a working artist looked like. It sounds silly, but I really could only picture working in the arts like it’s portrayed in movies and TV: putting on gallery shows for fancy people drinking nice wine, and selling pieces to wealthy buyers for thousands and thousands of dollars.
For a couple years straight, I vended in markets every single weekend and at events in the evenings, trying to get my work in front of people’s eyes who might like it. Now, I still sell at markets, but also online via my website and in a couple brick-and-mortar retailers in San Diego. Figuring out how to diversify my streams of income was crucial to creating a path towards a life that is sustained by my artwork– and I’m still figuring it out every day! Things change so quickly, especially with the internet, and I can’t assume that one avenue of selling that works now will work in the future. But I feel really proud of myself for problem solving, asking for help when I need it, and doing a lot of what feels like throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks.
I started off selling only art prints of my linocuts, but these days I do a lot more apparel, stickers, keychains and jewelry, and digital illustrations. It can be tricky to experiment with new things especially since the world and algorithms around us are always urging us to “niche down”– but there is no way that I am going to sustain a career as an artist if I am not constantly evolving. It’s really liberating to just create with no end goal in mind, and that’s something that I have to remind myself of often.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in North Park and I LOVE showing people around the neighborhood when they come to visit! I would grab a day pass for the Lafayette Hotel and spend a day by the pool enjoying their delicious food and drinks by the bungalows. I also love to take a walk through Balboa Park and check out the museums – my personal favorites are the San Diego Museum of Art, Mingei, and the Timken – and the Japanese Friendship Garden. For dinner, Donna Jean or Barrio Star in Banker’s Hill. Definitely a day trip to Julian. And of course we couldn’t pass up the beach! A stop at Board & Brew in Del Mar before heading down to the water is my definition of a perfect day.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The local art/maker community in San Diego has always been the best and one of my favorite parts of doing markets and community events. I’ve met so many people who have been absolutely instrumental along my journey! My friend Shannon (@tinyfoodmadeofclay) was the one who helped me figure out business taxes, bookkeeping, and all of that tedious (but very necessary stuff). There’s been many occasions where my partner or friends gather around my coffee table and help me package products and online orders or do whatever other weird little tasks that need to get done, like stamping stacks of thank-you notes. I feel like as a small business owner, it can sometimes feel like you’re in it alone — being the one responsible for production, shipping & fulfillment, marketing, website management, social media, finances, you name it — but the people in my life that show up for me again and again and again always prove that I’m never alone. There’s always someone that will sit with me, watch bad TV, and stick labels onto the backs of hundreds of stickers at my coffee table, and what else could I really ask for?

Website: https://www.oliviastoberstudios.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/oliviastoberstudios

Image Credits
Ty Fox Photo