13. Balancing Customer Requests Alongside Your Capacity As A Creator | Caitlyn Mink's Story - Your Win-Win Teacher Business

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Janice Cook (00:00):
Joining us today for a guest conversation is

(00:02):
Caitlyn, the educator and artistbehind The Itsy Bitsy Classroom.
She began her journey as ateacher of the deaf and hard of
hearing, working as an earlyintervention therapist. Since
then, she's held various rolesfrom preschool curriculum
support and kindergarten teacherto teaching college sign
language courses. Now as a stayat home mom, she creates ASL

(00:24):
clipart and resources. Shedesigns creative printable
activities for her TPT shop.
When she's not creating sheloves spending time outdoors,
reading, working on othercreative projects, and spending
time with her husband and twoboys. In today's episode,
Caitlyn shares about times whenher business was a win-win, and
times when it wasn't. She'sgoing to talk about the pros and

(00:45):
cons of networking and how wehandle the requests of our
customers, how they inform whatwe create, how they make our
process meaningful, and how theyalso sometimes make it hard to
live within our season and keepour capacity in check. So grab a
cup of coffee. Today, we'regoing to chat with Caitlyn and

(01:07):
learn about the decisions she'smade in her business to bring
things back into focus and makesure her business is always a
win-win.
You're listening to Your Win-WinTeacher Business, a podcast for
teacher authors who want to makea big impact in the world for
teachers and students, and havefun doing it. I'm your host,

(01:30):
Janice Cook, here with a peptalk to start your week off
strong. Some seasons of runninga business feel hard and sticky,
but it shouldn't feel like thatall the time. Let's make your
business a win-win together.
Caitlyn, it's so exciting tochat with you today.

Caitlyn (01:48):
It's nice to be here.

Caitlyn is one of the creative brains behind the
TPT world that draws all thebeautiful artwork that we use to
make our resources engaging forstudents. And I'm so excited to
have this conversation withCaitlyn today and get a little
peek behind the curtain of hercreative business. Caitlyn, I
would love to hear why youstarted this business in the

(02:12):
first place. How did we gethere?

Caitlyn (02:14):
I started my teachers pay teachers store on the tail
end of 2017, beginning of 2018.
I was pregnant with my firstbaby, headed on maternity leave
soon. For some reason, I thoughtthat would be the prime time to
do this. Then I, you know, hadsaid baby didn't have a whole
lot of time, and it kind ofstayed on the back burner for a
while. So it was one of those. Imade a few resources I had no
idea what I was doing. Went intomom life for a while, and then

(02:38):
kind of circled back. So Istarted my store creating
kindergarten assessments,actually, because that's what I
was needing most the last time Iwas in the classroom. And I did
not transition to more of like aclip art focused store until
2019, 2020, ish. So it's been alittle bit of a roller coaster,

(02:58):
but it started as kind of amaternity leave hobby project, a
creative outlet, something forme to do that wasn't just mom.
And I had not planned to be astay at home mom, but that is
the journey that I went oneventually anyway. And so it's
become kind of a long termhobby. Again, it's a creative
outlet. It's a something for meto do, aside from all the

(03:19):
momming, yeah, and it's evolvedover the years, so I feel like
I'm just kind of landing.

I actually didn't know about the kindergarten
assessments era so that's superexciting. Many people that I've
chatted about that ended up inthe stay at home mom track, like
that was their goal, and, like,their North Star, and they were
driving. So that's sointeresting. So you thought you
were just going to be out for alittle bit and then pop right
back into your classroom role.

Caitlyn (03:45):
Yes, I planed to only be out for about a year. But at
the time, my husband was in thearmy, and we moved, I think,
four times in my son's first twoyears of life, and we kept
moving. And so me jumping into aposition anywhere that we moved
short term didn't make sense.
And then he got out of the Army,and we moved back home, and then
the pandemic happened, so thatwasn't the time to go back to

(04:06):
work.

Yeah, and that's a whole wild, wild world in the
military. But although, like,they need teachers everywhere,
it's not that easy. Like, youcan't just jump into a school
year at any time. You can'tjust, like, refresh your
credentials for whatever theyneed in that state, I could see
how that is very tricky.

Caitlyn (04:25):
Yeah, and originally, I'm a deaf educator, so those
are even harder positions toget,

for sure, because it's a specialty area.

Caitlyn (04:32):
There's usually one or two, maybe in a district that
float around. And so usuallywhen those of us find that
secret spot, they never leave.
So those are harder to get, andI ended up getting additional
certifications as we movedaround. So kindergarten was
actually the last grade that Itaught. I adapted well. There
was a lot of adapting, but,yeah, stay at home mom was never
super the plan. That's just kindof the journey that our life

(04:54):
took. And then we had anotherbaby, and here we are.

I love this idea that when you're home with a
baby on maternity leave, you'reobviously going to have so much
free time. I think every singleone of us can smile back to
because, like, what am I goingto do all day? I heard babies
sleep all day. I'm going to needsomething to do during nap time.
I don't know what we werethinking. I absolutely suffered
from the same. My first was asummer baby, and so, like, all

(05:23):
my friends were out for summervacation. I thought we were just
gonna, like, live it up, right?
We had so much time. And thenthe second time I had a kid,
like I had another kid, right?
You can, you can relate to that.
What is all this time I thinkI'm gonna have? I still have
this other tiny human to takecare

Caitlyn (05:43):
Absolutely.

But I think so many of us can relate to needing
something for us, because beinga mom is amazing, and it's such
an honor and a privilege to havea front row seat to their
development and their dreams andall of that. But whether it's
going back to work or findingsomething for yourself in some
other way, you definitely don'twant to lose yourself in

(06:05):
motherhood. You definitely wantto have something that fills
your cup too. Do you feel likehaving something that's just for
you at all times helps you belike a better mom?
Absolutely.

Caitlyn (06:15):
I kind of need that split focus. I mean being stay
at home mom is everything to me,and I enjoy it so much more than
I ever thought I would - youknow, I wouldn't trade it for
anything. And even when we hadour second kiddo, I'm like, you
know, I'm gonna stay home withhim too. Not that that was the
original plan before, but nowthere are more opportunities for
me to go back to work. But I'mlike, no, like, this is my
place. This is where I'msupposed to be right now in this

(06:36):
season. But yeah, I and I'm oneof those people. I need a
creative outlet. I need to bemaking things that people like
that just makes me happy. Like,no matter what it is, I jump
into all kinds of differentcreative projects, aside from
TPT, and that's just part of mypersonality makes me happy. And
what's really cool about it,too, is my kids see it. They see
me drawing. They, you know, Ipull my iPad out to start

(06:59):
drawing something while they'rewatching a cartoon, or, you
know, whatever, eating lunch andand they're like, Oh, Mommy, can
I draw and can I put this into aclip art shop? And it's, it's
also a fun thing to share withthem. You know, my oldest, he's
six, and he gives me a lot ofideas. He's like, Oh, Mom, can
you make worksheets like this?
Or can you draw me pictures likethis? I still owe him
construction clip art that willbe coming. It's on my to do
list.

My kids aske me for new boom card decks all the
time. Can you put these in yourstore? I'm like, well, those
don't work with my store, but Ican make those for you.

Caitlyn (07:28):
Right. Right. So, yeah, I mean, I love having something
that's just for me, where I getto create things and make other
people happy. A lot of it too,is just like the tie back into
education. It's, you know, thecommunity on Instagram of TPTers
- I get to talk to adults, whichis nice.

So important!

Caitlyn (07:45):
I get to talk to other like minded adults and other
people who are doing the samething and in the same grind and
in the same season. And yeah. SoI mean, it provides a lot all
the way around, but definitelysomething that I cherish as a
hobby, a creative outlet,something just for me, that's
not the usual mom grind.

Yeah, and I'm so glad you mentioned that your
kids are always watching youtoo. Because if we watch TV and
we're on our phone all day, theywatch that. If we pursue our own
creative hobbies, they watchthat. If we go to the gym like
you know, they get active. If weread, they read. And so it's
such a win-win, when it'ssomething that fills your cup
and you're modeling for them,like, Hey, it's okay to be a

(08:25):
whole person and have things youlike doing and make time for
that. So that's such a beautifulthing too, that you're doing
what you need, but also noticingthat, like, little people are
watching over your shoulder, andthey're watching good things
happen.

Caitlyn (08:37):
Right.

My younger daughter is so fascinated by these people
who draw on their iPads, andthat's like, their job. She's
like, Well, why did you pick aboring job if there's people who
do that? And it's like, well,everybody thinks different
things are fun, my friend. Mykids are always fascinated by
the creative careers, and I loveto see it.

Caitlyn (08:56):
Yes, I also have a little realist and so I don't
know. I think the last time Iwas drawing something for
Halloween, he's like, Mom,that's not what a bat looks
like, and they're not purple.
And I'm like, well, you knowwhat in my imagination, this is
what a bat looks like, andthey're purple, and they make
funny faces, and

Right? And we get to push back a little bit. We're
like, hey, hey,

Caitlyn (09:16):
I get some pushback. I get critique, for sure, lots of
critiquing, but it's fun. It's afun thing to do with them.

It's good, though, because you'd rather hear it
before it goes to productionthan have it like, get photo
copied and in someone'sclassroom, and then they're
like, what's this? We welcomethe feedback. So overall, your
business has felt like awin-win. Were there any seasons
that were a little bumpy andmaybe didn't quite feel like a
win-win?

Caitlyn (09:42):
I mean, absolutely. I think all of us, especially
those of us that are the supercreative brains, you know,
there's always the anxiety of,I'm creating something which is
a vulnerable space, and ifsomeone doesn't like it, you
know, like that hits hard. So Ithink for a lot of clip artists
and creatives, that's alwayssomething that's you know, kind
of scary. And I know for everyTPTer those negative reviews can

(10:05):
hit hard, you know. So there's,there's getting used to that,
just putting products out therethat you're creating, no matter
what it is. I think there's upsand downs to that, just on the
day to day. But I think overall,I mean, you know, I've been at
this since 2017 here and there.
And I think the biggest stickysituations I feel like, come
from trying something new andnot reaching out to other

(10:29):
TPTers. Like, if you're doingsomething and you feel like
you're doing it alone, you know- like when I first started, I
didn't know anybody. I just madea store was going to make these
assessments because it wassomething that I needed. I
wanted a hobby. I didn't reallyhave any goals. But once I got
into the networking space, youknow, through Instagram, and I
found other TPT years like me,who were new, and we all I even

(10:49):
started like a group chat at onepoint, and we would talk just
all day, every day, all of ourquestions, all of our ideas
bouncing off of each other. AndI think at that time, that was
probably about 2018 so I'veprobably been at it for about a
year. And when I found thatgroup of people, things felt
easier, it felt better, feltless scary. I also found Lisa

(11:10):
Markle, who I've adopted as amentor from the beginning, and

big fan.

Caitlyn (11:18):
Yeah, even when I wasn't doing clip art, yet I
just, you know, I was alwaysasking her questions. How do you
do this? How do you draw it? Howdo you make it? What do you use,
you know, and so I think once Icame to a point where I wasn't
afraid to ask questions and askfor help and find people who
were doing things that I wantedto do. It felt better. It felt
easier. It felt like it had adirection.

And so many people talk about this as a lonely
business, but like, it doesn'thave to be. Do you feel like you
knew that you needed communitybut didn't know where to find
it? Or do we just, like,naturally start alone and not
know like, is there anyone elseout there like me?

Caitlyn (11:58):
Honestly, I've never really thought about it that
way. Um, I mean, I would say mepersonally, I started it alone,
and was like, oh, let's just seewhat happens. And I never
thought about people onInstagram or anything like that.
I think I stumbled upon otherTPTers when I was doing a
VIPKID, that era of all of usthat were in there.

Hashtag memories

Caitlyn (12:18):
Yeah and that's actually where, that's how I
found Lisa. I think I reachedout to her before I was done
teaching kindergarten, and I waslike, Hey, I might be interested
in this after I have my baby.
Like, can you tell me about it?
And then I found out she didTPT, and then I found out she
made clip art. And I was justlike, oh my gosh, I want to be
you when I grow up. You know,like, that sounds so cool.

It sounds funny.
But one of my favorite parts of,like, my VIPKID era was that you
couldn't teach past, like, whereI lived, 9 or 10am and so it was
like, The Secret Lives of100,000 people, and what
everyone did after 10am. Becauseeither you were, like, going
back into mom mode or takingover someone's shift for
childcare, or, like, your kidswere not going to be home for

(12:57):
like, four more hours. And so,like, I wasn't going to spend my
day in a Facebook group justscrolling the day away. Like,
what all these people seem tohave these like, secret lives
and these other online things.
And I think that was the mostexciting part of that journey
for me, was the connections,because I met Lisa in the same
phase of life too, because shewas like, yeah so I taught a

(13:19):
couple classes, but now I havethis whole, like, other business
I'm going to work on.

Caitlyn (13:23):
Yeah, and I thought that was just so cool. I mean,
at that time, I didn't have thecapacity, really, for both. But
at that time, you know, myhusband was gone a lot in the
military, and I was home with ababy, and was learning that
journey on its own, by myself,no family, no friends, you know.
So it was nice I could get upearly in the morning, before my
baby woke up and work for acouple hours. Have something to

(13:43):
do, other people to talk to. So,yeah, I think that's how I found
Lisa. And then, you know, I kindof realized, Oh, this is like a
whole community of people onlinewho do this that I can talk to.
And then I found out a lot ofthem were TPTers. And it just
kind of transitioned from there,you know. And the older my kiddo
got, and the more independent hewas, the more time I had to work
on it. Funny, I feel like we allkind of have a similar journey,

(14:04):
in that way, kind of a rollercoaster of things we tried and,
you know, we kind of ping pongedaround.

Well and you meet some people and they're like,
this is what I do. And I'm like,Oh, well, I want to, never want
to do that. And then you meetother people and they're like,
this is what I do. And I'm like,huh, I would like to learn more
about that. Right? We don't jumpon every opportunity. And I've
heard that there are people thatjust like, learn creative
hobbies for fun, right? You canhop on Skillshare, learn how to
draw. You don't have to turn itinto a business. I've heard it's

(14:30):
a rumor. The people I hang outwith usually, like, can't help
themselves, right? We learn anew skill, and instantly we're
like, wait a second, I couldmonetize this hobby

Caitlyn (14:40):
Exactly.

Definitely run into a lot of people that are wired
the same way, and that feels sovalidating along the journey,
too. You're like, oh, maybethese tiny people I'm spending
my day with aren't exactly likeme, but it's good to know there
are people out there that areinterested in similar things.

Caitlyn (14:58):
That's the other sticky situation, too. So that I would,
I would point out, because Idon't know, I mean, I feel, it
feels like I've been doing thisfor a long time, but on the
grand scheme of things, andcompared to other sellers, I
still feel like a baby store. Istill feel like I'm still
learning, you know, I'm just nowkind of honing into what I
really like making and whatother people like for me to
make, you know. And I feel like,when you're new and when you

(15:21):
first find that community,finding the community is like
finding the gold mine, becausethen you feel better about
everything you're doing. You'remore confident, you have more of
a direction. But I do think thatthere's like a second layer of
that where you start to getthis, I have to do all the
things feeling and I got stuckin that. And Lisa and I talked
about that a lot, and especiallyshe and I, you know, we're very

(15:44):
creative brained, we're DIY ers,we're very I can do it myself,
well, I could do that. I couldlearn how to do it like you
said, you know, like there's anew skill set, or someone's
telling me I need to write ablog and have a website and an
email list and of this and ofthat. And then you tie it back
to what you said before. I stillhave kids at home. So when you
think you still have all thistime to do this, I don't have
time to run a blog and an emailand draw all of these things,

(16:06):
you know. So I think those of uswho are newer or younger stores,
I would say most of us have beenthrough a space where we thought
we had to do all the things, andthen we became overwhelmed and
the pressure we put on ourselvesto do all the things. And I
actually took a step back abouta year ago. I just put my ttpt

(16:28):
store down and walked away. Ididn't touch it for about eight
months, and it's because I Irecognized that, and I realized
this was supposed to be a hobby.
This was supposed to just befun. This thing I did where I
created fun things, and ifpeople liked it, they bought it,
and I kind of got spun up intothis, I have to do all these
things, and I was feeling like Iwasn't getting my to do list
done every day. I think that'saround the time you and I met,

(16:48):
and you've been kind of coachingme through how to organize tasks
and what was realistic to getdone and to plan and what
wasn't. And so I would saythat's a big sticky situation
where the community is helpful,but you also have to be careful
of all the advice and all thethings that are coming out
through our communities, and notget stuck in this. You have to
do it all.

It's shiny. It's overwhelming. It's a lot.

Caitlyn (17:14):
A lot. And there are so many people who do it and do it
so well, and they juggle all thethings, and they're fantastic at
it. I'm not one of those people.
And, you know, I don't know whatdecides that maybe it's Lisa and
I talk a lot about the things welike about this business, and
things we don't like, the thingswe enjoy doing, the things we
don't enjoy doing, and thosethings get put on the back
burner, and just accepting thefact that that's okay. You know,
like, Instagram might not be thebest place to market my clip

(17:36):
art, but it's the one I enjoy,so that's the one I'll put some
effort into.

And nnot that we recommend that everybody like,
shut down their like game andput their business down for
eight months. But there is abeauty in you know, when you're
too close to it and the hamsterwheel's running, you don't know
what's working and what's not,and where the traffic is coming
from, and what efforts arefruitful and what's just like
making you exhausted. And whenyou actually do step away and

(18:02):
see, like, what's the minimumthat I can do, and it still runs
on autopilot. Okay, cool. Sothings are still selling. That's
weird. How are they stillselling? Is it content I've made
in the past that's still showingup on my dashboard? Am I just
playing the TPT search bar game?
What is showing up on thedashboard? Okay, maybe I'll make
time and add one tiny thing backon my plate. But there's so many

(18:25):
things that we've tried andthrown spaghetti at the wall,
and if we don't actually everstep back and say, like, is that
getting me anywhere? Then itcould just be stealing time from
other things. So I think there'sa beautiful clarity that comes
from just shutting it all downand stepping back a little bit.

Caitlyn (18:41):
Yeah, it was eye opening, and that was a time
And I feel like I have a goodeye on your marketing, and I've
when I came back to it. I'vebeen very cognizant of what I
never seen you talk about it.
accept to put on my desk andwhat I don't and what I'm
I don't yeah, and now I'm, youknow what? It's, uh, it's
willing to put effort into,especially those those parts
something maybe I should talkabout because it's selling super
that I don't super love - youknow, those admin tasks, those
things that aren't just likedrawing all day, because that's
what's fun - the marketingaspects, you know, like some of

(19:02):
it I find kind of like fun toput together, and some of it I
absolutely dread. And so, yeah,I mean, coming back to it, I was
looking a lot more at data. Iwas looking at, okay, if I'm
going to come back to this andI'm going to bring it back down
to a hobby level that I enjoy,what is it I'm going to put my
well. And maybe if I talkedabout it, that would help.
effort into, in these smallpockets of time around mom life
that I can. And you know,looking at that data, I was kind

(19:25):
of surprised, you know, you saidyou didn't know about me making
the assessments first, one ofthe first ever assessments I
made, and it's a standaloneproduct, and it's still a best
seller every month. And even fora while, it wasn't even listed,
so it was just being found in asearch on TPT.

Well, maybe. But also, what beautiful clarity
that like this is a best sellerwithout me talking about it. I
don't want to talk about it. Idon't like talking about it.
Sometimes we can just leave wellenough alone. Yeah, you could
double down on it. That's anoption. But it's also okay to
just let it ride sometimes.

Caitlyn (20:13):
And that's kind of what I've done with it. And, you
know, every now and then nowthat I've kind of come back to
some marketing things andputting things out there, like
on Instagram and Pinterest andstuff. I'll throw it in there
and just kind of see whathappens. But you know, like, the
the gurus have even said, youknow, you have something that
sells really well, like, extendit, expand on it, make another
version of it, whatever. I'veeven tried that, and it's like
crickets. So I don't know aboutthis one resource, you know,

(20:37):
it's, it's in there, so. Butlooking at the data, I found
that I also found what I wasreally passionate about coming
back into creating isn't sellingas well as something I had
already started creating, and inmy mind, wasn't a complete
product line. So then I kind of,I kind of came back to the space
feeling like I have multipleincomplete product lines. So I
need to look at the ones peoplereally like, right? And that's

(20:59):
what I needed to put my myeffort into.

It's hard. The things that we want to make
aren't always the things thatpeople need the most. And that's
such an inner pull. It's like,well, I want to enjoy this, but
I don't know. I guess I couldpick something that I B+ enjoy.
It doesn't have to be the theloath pile, but it doesn't have
to be like, it's no fun to makethings and have them not sell
either. So we have to meetsomewhere in the middle. I love

(21:23):
how protective with your timeyou became. I think there's so
much wisdom every year that yourun your business. I think we
say things at the beginning,like, I don't have time for that
right now, but I'm gonna work onthat next year. I'm gonna add
that to my plate next year. Andthen there is, like, this
confidence that comes as you runyour business, where you're just
like, I don't think I'm evergonna do that actually. I think

(21:45):
I'm just like, I think I'm justgonna pass on that. And I think
it takes a number of years inbusiness to stop reflex saying,
like, oh yeah, I should be doingthat. I'm going to do it later.
And then it's like, the stagesof grief, and then you're like,
No, I know me, I will never beparticipating.

Caitlyn (22:03):
You come to a place of acceptance that I don't have
time or effort for that rightnow.

Yeah and so we're talking about the dangers of,
like, doing things alone and ina tunnel. And community is
beautiful, but there's like, thetwo shoulders that you have with
your community. So we have,like, the influence of the other
sellers. Every day I'm in aFacebook group, somebody talks
about one new thing they didthat absolutely changed their
life and blew up their sales andmade them so much money. And

(22:28):
they're in that moment you wantto, like, stop and do that too.
So that's so hard to fight everysingle day. But then you have
the words of your customers,right? And now that you have
access to customers, and you'vebeen in your business a while,
they're like, can you make methis? Can you make me that? And
of course, you want to say yes,but your time is finite. You
have to check in on the timethat you have, what else you

(22:50):
have planned, what brings youjoy, and then I love that you
brought in the data. Becausethere are times where people are
like, can you make this onething for me? I'm like, Oh, I
could, but I probably have tomake this other thing that lots
of people want.

Caitlyn (23:05):
That's been something you learn as you go, for sure.
Because, you know, in thebeginning it was just like, oh,
people want me to draw things,yeah, give me all the
suggestion. And then I came to aplace where I was like, Okay, I
can't draw all of these things.
Or, like, this one thing someoneasked for is so specific. You
know, it would basically have tobe a personalized clip art set,
or whatever, which I have done afew of those here and there. And
I've come to a place, I think,where I can balance those a

(23:26):
little better, and I can kind ofpredict what people are going to
ask for, you know, or like,right now I'm, I'm trying to get
through all of the ASL holidays.
And so when I didn't haveThanksgiving done, when I should
have had it done, you know, Ihad a couple emails. I had a
couple messages. They're like,Hey, you're going to make this
right? And I'm like, yeah, it'son my desk. I promise it's
coming. You know, yeah. And sothose conversations, they can be

(23:48):
hard, but when you come to aplace where you know what you
have the capacity for and thethings that you don't, it's
become easier to even explain.
You know, I really want to dothis for you. I don't know when
I can get to it, but if you sendme some ideas, shoot me an
email, I'll write it down, andI'll get back to you. And I do
that a lot. Yeah, I don't know.
I mean, it's good to form thoserelationships. It's good to get
those one offs done and and Ialso view those sometimes as

(24:10):
like a quick win project. Youknow, where sometimes I take on
a clip art set that's 60, 80,over 100 images, single that's
not black and white, too.

We don't always want to be in a giant product
line,

Caitlyn (24:23):
right? And like those big ones, I'm a typical creative
brain. I get bored and I needsomething else to do. So I like
to bounce. I had someone ask mespecifically to tweak one of my
freebies the other day, and itsat on my desk on a sticky note
for months, and I told them. Isaid, I will get to it, I just
don't know when. And that wassomething that I took that

(24:45):
opportunity one day where I wasjust like, so tired of creating
the same thing over and overagain, and I needed a break.

Updating freebies is so hard because you're not
going to get any ROI from that.
It's going to make one personhappy, but like, you're not
going to make any money. But itbecame a win-win in that
situation where your creativebrain needed something to pivot
to. Well, okay, now I can pullfrom my freebie update list.

Caitlyn (25:08):
Right. And it was one of those things that took me,
like, five minutes, and from ateacher standpoint, I
understood, and that's anotherkind of sticky part of TPT, is a
lot of us are stay at home momsnow, and we're not in the
classroom. And I haven't been inthe classroom for over six
years. And so sometimes,sometimes I even will reach out
to, like, some of my customersthat I know that request a lot,
and I'm like, Hey, I'm thinkingof doing this. Like, tell me

(25:29):
what problems you're going torun into. Tell me how to make
this the best way for you,because I don't have a classroom
to set this on a desk and watchwhat happens. So having those
connections is definitely, it'sdefinitely really important, and
it it makes the job a lot easieras well. So requests and
suggestions, ideas, I try topose those as like requests and
suggestions and not likespecific asks or needs, because

(25:51):
I'm trying not to promise aheadof time you know what I can and
can't over commit to.

And I think we get better about the language that
we use when we talk to ourcustomers too. Like saying -
what are some phrases I use incustomer service a lot, I say
like, I'll add that to the listof suggestions the next time
this product is updated. Notimeline. Or I'll say, like, I
agree that change should be madeor that should be added. It's
not going to happen this schoolyear, but it's definitely going

(26:19):
to happen. So they can justknow, right? If they need it for
this school year, they need togo look somewhere else and,
like, I free them and welcomethem to do that, right? So
giving them some sign or clue,or it's okay sometimes to say,
like, I'm not planning on makingany more changes to this
resource, or I'm not planning onadding a French version, a
German version, a Japanese sothis, like, I'm not planning on

(26:39):
adding any French resources tomy store is a complete sentence.
It's okay to say that sometimes,once we write like a Spanish
version, they're like, Could Ialso I'm like - sometimes you
just have to decide what yourpolicy is. And it's not mean to
be that clear. But I never wantto lead people on either, and
have them think I'm makingsomething for them that I'm not.

Caitlyn (26:59):
Absolutely. I ran into that when I first started making
the sign language clip art. Youknow, it's American Sign
Language. It's a language that Iknow, that I was fluent in, that
I'm a little rusty now, but Iwas fluent at one point. I have
taught it in the past. It's alanguage that I know in and out
and have used on the day to day.
And when I first started makingthat clip art, I had a wave of
teachers from Australia. Theywere like, can you please make

(27:21):
Australian Sign Language clipart? It's called Auslan. And I
was like, I want to, but I don'tknow that language. So like the
steps that already takes for meto create images of another
language. You're adding a wholenother layer to that that I have
to learn the language, if I'mgoing to appropriately draw it.

Yeah,

Caitlyn (27:43):
for you. And I had so much interest in it, I finally
did give in. I said, Okay, ifyou can get four or five of you
together, and you're going tohave to help me, because I don't
want to put something out there.
I don't want to draw theseimages. And then you come back
and say, Oh, well, that's wrong.
That's not the way the handmoves that you know it's facing
the wrong way. Blah, blah, blah.

It's such a bigger investment of your time. It's
not like we just retype a wordthat's a much tougher
backtracking game to be in.

Caitlyn (28:07):
Right. So I'm like, I need online dictionaries. I need
resources. I got to see thislanguage in action, because when
I draw these I'm drawing astatic image of movement. So I
have to make that's alreadychallenging, like, I have to
make that accurate to yourlanguage. And so we did. I had a
group of teachers, and it wasreally fun. And there was a lot
of times where they're like, oh,that's definitely not right. Or,

(28:27):
you know, like in American SignLanguage, there's like, 26 signs
for peanut across the country,and then where you live on how
you sign the word, word peanut.
And then Australian signlanguage, like, some of the
letters are that way, some ofthe colors are that way. So then
I was like, Okay, well, so itwas very involved. And I have
had a lot more. I made a basicsbundle. It's just like, your
alphabet, colors, emotions andnumbers. I think because I was

(28:49):
like, I want to get you guyssomething, I see the need for
it,

yeah,

Caitlyn (28:54):
but now they want me to keep going. And

of course, they do.

Caitlyn (28:57):
You know, animals, food, all these things. And I'm
like, Guys, I haven't evengotten to all of those, you
know, that's why, when I say Istill feel like a baby store,
like I'm just now really honingin on what people are asking
for. And so I'm like, I gottaget that done in the language I
know first, you know

for sure,

Caitlyn (29:12):
and then I can maybe, maybe next year, you know, I can
branch out and learn a wholenother sign language, but I
haven't promised anything, so

I almost wonder if the solution there is, like,
more matchmaker like, where,like, you're probably connected
to a lot of other deafeducators. And if you could find
someone who, like, did have someexperience in that, you could
almost not add someone to yourteam, but find someone that
you're like, you know, Lisaclose with, who's developing,
like, a parallel product line.
Because not that you want totrain your own competition, but
sometimes it does help youbreathe a little bit, and then

(29:42):
you have that permission tofocus on this, because you don't
feel the guilt about thatmarket. You just don't have time
for.

Caitlyn (29:48):
Sure, yeah, and I mean, the teacher in me, the deaf
educator in me, is like, Oh mygosh like, you need this so
much, but I just cannot committo that right now.

And I think all of us feel - we all have that
service heart as teachers. Wewant to solve every problem for
every kid and every teacher, ifwe possibly can, and we couldn't
in the classroom, and we can'tin our businesses. And it's,
it's heartbreaking to go to bedat night knowing like you didn't
solve every problem.

Caitlyn (30:12):
Absolutely,

I know sometimes it feels like you're the only one
who can solve the problem, andthat's that's really tough. So
having a community, it was likea pro and a con, but overall, a
lot of things got easier onceyou had met some other humans in
the space, right?

Caitlyn (30:26):
Absolutely. Mm, hmm.

And then what about like when you said you were
making products at thebeginning? Are we just, like,
winging it with, like, YouTubevideos? Are we on Skillshare?
Are we just, like, - it's sohard when I think about how we
made those first few products,like, where did you go? Where
did you go to learn how to do itat the beginning?

Caitlyn (30:44):
That's a really great question. I think the first
products I ever made wereassessments. And I made like a
reading log, a reading likefolder had like trackers, and it
had like certificates and stuffin it. And I think a lot of what
I did at the beginning was maybeeither things that I had in my
classroom that I wanted to makemy own cutesie stylistic version

(31:07):
of, or they were things that Ineeded and didn't have. And I
think the creative in me just Iwant everything to be cute all
the time, so I was even kind ofremaking things that I had that
maybe I wanted to be better,tweaked or different,

Yeah, sometimes when you have to teach that
lesson tomorrow, you have to,like, stop at good enough.
You're like, Well, this has togo to the copy machine right
now, it is kind of nice to havea time before, like, you repeat
the lesson the next year, to belike, Ah, now I would like to
get it a little cuter.

Caitlyn (31:37):
Yeah, absolutely. So I think I mean, as far as where I
went to learn things, at thatpoint, I was just making, like,
worksheet level things, and soI'm sure I just, I saw, you
know, among the communities,what does everybody use? Use
word, use, PowerPoint. There wasa lot of trial and error at that
time. And I think, you know, Ihad just come out of grad school
not too long before that, whereI was making a lot of my own

(31:59):
lesson plan materials. BecauseTeachers Pay Teachers was a
thing back then, but it wasn'tquite as big, I feel like, or

My niche, I always say, didn't have a whole lot,
like I went to the search bar, Ijust didn't find anything.

Caitlyn (32:10):
Yeah, and I mean, in the deaf ed world, that's that's
definitely a thing. There wasn'ta lot out there. And our jobs
are so specific to each kiddoand their goals that it's hard
to kind of find those across theboard resources that you can
just download and use. So, yeah,I mean, I think I just did a lot
of playing around in PowerPoint.
Looking back some of the thingsI'm like, Man, I was tedious. I
spent so long doing that.

That's what I was wondering. I think at the
beginning, you're so proud thatyou made a thing, and then there
comes this moment where you seethese stores have, like, 3000
products or whatever, and you'relike, I bet there's a faster way
to do this. That's the beauty ofcommunity. It's like, there must
be a course, there must be atrick, there must be a

(32:51):
something.

Caitlyn (32:52):
When I switched to clip art, I mean, that was all Lisa.
She was my mentor. I was askingher 8 million question. We're
talking, you know, on Instagramevery day. She reintroduced me.
You know, I did a lot of artstuff back in high school, a lot
of Adobe, Illustrator,Photoshop, all those things. But
it had been years, and I didn'tremember any of that. The iPads

(33:12):
came out with the Apple pencils,and that was all brand new. So I
was even jumping into differenttechnology than like Lisa used.
So she was kind of helping menavigate those things. So I did
a lot of Skillshare in thebeginning. When I switched to
clip art, it was definitelySkillshare, YouTube, I started
following a lot of illustratorson Instagram that I liked and
just like watching them draw inthe the programs that they used.

I think clip artists do a beautiful job
balancing competition andcommunity. Because obviously, if
I am searching for clip art, Icould buy from you, or I could
buy from Lisa, but it's not likethat. It's like which one of you
has what I need. You're notmaking the same stuff. Her
watercolor and her glitter styleis completely different. I've
used almost exclusively yourclip art inside my boom cards.

(33:58):
They were just like the perfectcolor saturation for those drag
and drop types of activities,and they were so clear, and you
always had in the catalog what Ineeded. But I've used her stuff
for, like, presentation typestuff that I've done for
professional development, andmaking killer slide decks,
something where maybe it's notprintable, maybe it's a
different situation, and so it'snot competition, because, like,

(34:20):
she's never going to make signlanguage resources, and you're
probably not venturing intowatercolor anytime soon, and so
you don't have to worry about,like, sharing your tips with
another person. It's just fun totalk shop with someone else
who's doing the same thing youare.

Caitlyn (34:36):
Absolutely and I would say Sasha, she was a big one
too, that I just I was

She's fantastic

Caitlyn (34:42):
She is, and I was very nervous to, you know, pick her
brain and ask her questions. Andone day, I was just like, hey, I
got an iPad, like, can you teachme your ways? And how do you do
this? And she was so just openand supportive. And there's been
a few times where she has sharedthings that I've created on her
Instagram, and I'm over herejust fan girling. Like, oh my
gosh Sasha likes something thatI made, you know,

right?

Caitlyn (35:04):
So, I mean, there definitely is that in the clip
art community. There's quite afew clip artists that I've
asked, you know, Hey, how didyou make this? Or what program
did you use for that - Lily,barefoot and bilingual, I talked
to her a lot. Like, hey, youknow you and your husband are
cranking out clip art likecrazy. How did you make this
one? Or how are you templatingthis? So there is a lot of
community, and I think there'senough respect for the things

(35:26):
that I enjoy creating and I'mgood at creating. And like you
said, Lisa is known for herwatercolor and her glitter and
her, you know, very decorativeand cute clip art, and so we all
balance that really well, andare perfectly fine supporting
and helping each other in a waythat doesn't feel competitive
well.

And if someone comes to you and asks you makes
a customer request that you knowyou're not going to get to, it
feels good not to just say noand to be like, Okay, I don't
have that. But like, I knowsomeone who does.

Caitlyn (35:54):
Absolutely. Yeah. Like, I've been asked a few times, are
you ever going to make, youknow, CVC clip art and rhyming
clip art and like, I would loveto, and I'm not gonna lie, I
tried. I don't have it to me. Idon't have the attention span
for it. But, you know who hasgreat CVC clip art, right?
Sasha. Go to Sasha. She's gotall of it. She's got you covered
every season, you know.

Right? And you can say, like, if you already use my
stuff in your store this otherset, like, mixes well with,
like, what you're going for, youknow, you can help them solve
their problem. The only way tosolve their problem isn't to
make them what they asked for.
Sometimes they don't even knowwhat they need. They're just
like, starting a conversation.
And I think it's, it's abeautiful thing to be able to

(36:32):
play matchmaker and send them toa solution that doesn't add
15,000 hours of work on yourplate.

Caitlyn (36:38):
Absolutely. And we love, like, I love getting the
emails that are kind of thatway, like half thought, half
baked ideas,

yeah,

Caitlyn (36:45):
because I'm getting to talk. You know, it's one thing
for us to bounce ideas off ofeach other, those of us who are
creators, but to have someonewho needs something, or wants
something, or is dreaming upsome really cool, you know,
curriculum activity or whatever,and even if they come at me and
don't know what they need, justhaving their perspective is so

(37:05):
valuable, because they're theones trying to use whatever it
is we need to create for them,or whatever. So those
conversations are definitelyvaluable. And I do. I think
there's a there's a tone outthere among clip artists of how
much we love and don't loverequests and suggestions and
things like that because somepeople like absolutely don't
want to hear it. Some people areopen to it. People are open to
it. And I think I've justreached that place where I can
be honest. I'm like, Look, let'stalk. I love talking about it.

(37:28):
I'll tell you what I'm able todo for you and what I think I
can I can make happen, and ifnot, I know who to pass you off
to, and maybe they can make thathappen.

Right, and just being open to the conversation
but I think that comes back towhat we said before. We've
gotten better at having thoseconversations. They feel a
little bit better, because wedon't feel trapped and guilty
and overwhelmed by them. Yeah,so in this season where you were
at the beginning working all byyourself, you also mentioned
that, like you didn't havegoals. But I just want to say

(37:56):
that it's really hard to havegoals when you're working in a
vacuum, like if you don't knowwhat other people are doing.
How, like, how would you setgoals? Right? How do we know
what's possible? How do we knowwhat other people are doing? I
don't think it's bad. I think ifwe're really look in the mirror
at the beginning of our journey,none of us had goals because we
we didn't know it was possible.
We were we were just throwing adart and having fun, and that's

(38:17):
totally okay, too. I think therehas to be something to compare
to to even know what to writedown for your goals.

Caitlyn (38:26):
Absolutely.

I remember those goal setting meetings we used to
have with administrators rightwhere you have to set some sort
of measurable, SMART goals sothat they can do their
paperwork. And they're like,what's your goal this year? And
you're always like, I don't knowto like, serve my students, to
stay alive, to not die. Andthey're like, you can't write
that. Like, okay, that's why I'dalways say, like, Well, why
don't you give me some examples?
Like, I need a CheesecakeFactory menu or something?

Caitlyn (38:49):
Yeah, I would say that's something I still
struggle with. And I know youand I have had conversations in
the past where I'm like, Well, Ihad all these goals, or I
thought I was writing the rightgoals. And then we get to
December and I'm like, well,one, where did I put that list
of goals, and two, I think mygoals maybe shifted four times
since I wrote them. And you knowhow that feels like almost a bad
thing. And I know you talk a lotabout how, you know that's good

(39:11):
and normal, and you can pushthrough that, but that's still
something that I'm trying towrap my brain around, still
feeling like a baby store, stilltrying to navigate exactly what
I need to be creating, whatpeople are wanting, and now I
feel like I'm able to make moreconcrete goals if that make
sense.

Caitlyn and I are recording this conversation at
the very end of 2024 I can sharethat I only set one goal for
myself in 2024 because it wasreally important, and it had
been put off and, like, fallenoff the list year after year
after year. And so I didn't knowif it was too big or too small
or not, but I was just, I didn'twant to carry it into the next

(39:45):
calendar year, one more stinkingtime. And so I broke it into,
like, lots of tiny pieces so I'dactually have a shot. I actually
figured out why it was stuck,and I finished it in May. And
then it was like, Well, do I seta new goal? Do I have to
whatever? And I was. Like,honestly, I could take a nap for
the next seven months, like Iwas just so grateful that I got

(40:07):
one thing done. So I think ittakes time for us to figure out
how big a goal sets us up for,like, fear and paralysis, and
how big a goal like, feels likewe're excited to chase it.

Caitlyn (40:17):
Absolutely

We've all set goals that didn't stand a chance right
out of the gates.

Caitlyn (40:23):
I am prime bite off more than I can chew goal
setter. So I've tried to kind ofease back on goal setting and
have more of a product linefocus. Like I want to finish
creating this. I want this tofeel like it's done. So how many
more holidays or celebrations doI need to add to this line.

Or I want to keep this product line the main thing
for the whole year, and not getdistracted and go start
something else? Like, maybe Idon't finish it, maybe I don't
know how long it even takes.
Maybe I don't know how long Ihave, but maybe, maybe the goal
is just to know that I kept itmy focus, like, I kept the main
thing, the main thing, I workedon what I was supposed to,

(41:03):
whatever that means, worked on.

Caitlyn (41:06):
Yeah, my husband says I suffer from the good idea fairy
because, you know, and Lisa andI are talking about soul time.
We'll send each other voicemessages like, Oh my gosh. What
do you think of this great ideaI just had? And, you know, if
it's me, she's like, okay, butdo you have time for that? Like,
did you finish the last fivethings you wanted to do? Yeah,
we have those pep talks witheach other, and we're like,
Okay, put it on a brand dumplist. But yeah? Like, I struggle

(41:28):
with that too. And I know a lotof clip artists also, you know,
we're inspired to draw Halloweenwhen it's Halloween time.

Lisa has talked to me about that a lot,

Caitlyn (41:37):
Yeah but teachers need Halloween clip art to make
Halloween resources in August

Right in the summer, and you guys don't want
to draw spiders in August,because that's not the vibe,

Caitlyn (41:48):
No, like, right now, all I want to do is, like, put
everything down and draw, like,gingerbread houses and things.
But, you know, I should beworking on Valentine's Day and
Saint Patrick's Day,

And that could have been some of the story with the
Thanksgiving resource that was alittle bit on fire for you, you
know? it's like, well, I'm notfeeling the Thanksgiving vibes.
Thank you very much. The vibeshave not arrived.

Caitlyn (42:07):
They have not

and I know for me, I had to identify, like, what
was stuck about that sometimesit is, like, I'm putting this on
my to do list at the wrong timeof year. For me, I had this,
like, block that it wassomething I had to do myself,
because it was a skill set that,like, maybe I had, but like,
there was obviously a reason Iwasn't doing it, so I finally
had to, like, hire part of itout for help. So I had, like,
the accountability and the skinin the game, and like, someone

(42:29):
else as a thought partner. I waslike, yeah, maybe I should have
been able to do it myself, butthe data has proven that, like,
it ain't gonna happen,

Caitlyn (42:36):
Right? Fair.

So it's either gonna be on my to do list
forever, or, like, someone'sgonna have to help, and that's
okay, too. I felt all the feelsabout it, but sometimes you just
have to realize, like, why isthis stuck? Maybe I have to
realize, like, I just can't makeHalloween things in August. Let
me stop putting that on my to dolist for August.

Caitlyn (42:52):
Yeah, hard to swallow, but definitely relatable

Yeah but like, also a victory once you get to know
yourself a little better, a lotof these things feel less sticky

Caitlyn (43:01):
Absolutely.

So in terms of balancing community and figuring
out the right balance of, like,professional development, you
feel like once you got yourselfout of your like, solitary
tunnel, you started to maybeenjoy your business a little
more?

Caitlyn (43:15):
Absolutely. Yeah, like, once I got the hang of what I
wanted to create and learninghow to create it, because, like,
I've always been a creativeperson, but drawing digitally is
a whole different ballpark, youknow. So there was definitely
skill building that needed tohappen. And that's when I was
reaching out, asking a lot ofquestions, building that
community. And then it was justreally fun for a while. And then
I would say, that's when I gotspun up in the situation of

(43:36):
feeling like I needed to do allthe things, I had a baby and a
toddler, and I was just like,all right, I need to take a step
back, and I need to reconfigurewhere my effort goes, how it
goes. I've done this for acouple years, look at data,
figure out what's working,what's not working, what I enjoy
making, and what I don't andcoming back into it. And yeah, I
mean, it feels a lot moreenjoyable now. But I do think it

(43:58):
takes, it takes that rollercoaster. It takes that kind of
full circle learning. You learnthe business, you make the
friends, you learn how to do thethings, and then you sell them
for a while. Well, then you needto look at that and how's it
doing, and from like, a bigpicture standpoint, okay, where
do we go from here? And what doyou do with that?

And you have to get burned a couple times to learn
what not to do again. And youhave to have some wins to be
like, Oh, more of that. I woulddo that again?

Caitlyn (44:21):
Absolutely,

There's definitely some bumps and bruises along the
way. Do you have a planning toolthat's worked for you in terms
of storing the shiny ideas andkeeping them like somewhere
safe, but not on the 50 yardline where they're like,
tormenting you?

Caitlyn (44:37):
That's a great question. I feel like

we all of like secret notepads, different
colors of paper, digitalplanning tools have never been
opened again. There's no rightanswer here. It's not a trap.

Caitlyn (44:47):
Yeah I would say I'm definitely for being
transparent. I'm definitely amillion sticky notes on my desk
kind of person, the traditionallist in me, still loves pen to
paper, as far as a planner, alist, a notebook, but I do
function kind of on the day today with more digital I would

(45:09):
say. You and I worked quite awhile. I was learning your asana
magic, and I think that's whatreally opened me up to digital
planning and like the projectmanagement tool as a whole. And
I was like, wow, my brain couldmake sense if I sit down and I
put all of these ideas in theright places where I know where
to go back and find them. Sothat was definitely eye opening

(45:30):
through conversations that youand I had. And I still use Asana
out as a big picture planningtool. I don't use it as much day
to day, and I think that's moreor less, because when my kids
got more busy, we needed afamily calendar, and then I had
a family calendar, a workcalendar. It was too much

for sure.

Caitlyn (45:46):
So my family and my day to day to do list runs on, like
a Google Calendar. I also have aI have, like, a notion set up
now that I can do some bigpicture planning, and that's the
one that I'm hands on more dayto day, I have a brain dump list
in there. I have, like, a weeklayout where I can put my to do
list and my my little checkboxes that we all love so much,

(46:09):
the dopamine rush of checkingthose things off, that's how I
function day to day, for sure.

And I love Asana.
It serves certain problems forme. But I'll tell you, right
above my computer right now is aclipboard with a piece of card
stock that has, like, my gameplan for this month. There's
always space here for a blend ofpen and paper and digital.
They're good for differentthings. Sometimes I have to map
something out to make sure itall fits in the container. But
then, like, yeah, I need tocheck things off too. I need to,

(46:36):
like, highlight things on thatpiece of card stock. I make a
list of everything I have to dofor the whole month, like the
absolute non negotiablesdeliverables out the door before
the month ends. And then I liketo race, like I want to finish
this list before the month ends,

Caitlyn (46:51):
absolutely

The faster I get to the end of this list. I need
that whole paper to turn intochecked off. I think that's the
gamification for me. So I knowthat, like, if that piece of
paper fell off my desk, mybusiness would be just fine.
It's like the littlegamification that I need to keep
going

Caitlyn (47:07):
Absolutely, yeah, I think that's where I landed. And
I think it that takes learningthrough this too, you know, like
I did the thing where I made anentire binder for the entire
year and did the whole planningsession, and then I quickly
realized I never touched thatbinder again because there's too
much,

yeah, and there's so much pressure in a binder,
I'm like, but what if I have tomove something? What if I have
to cross something out? It's sobeautiful, it's ready for a
museum.

Caitlyn (47:30):
Yeah, I've adopted more of - you talked about this
before, and this was just like,mind blowing to me - like, the
good, better, best, I kind offunction off of that. I plan as
far as, like, dates anddeadlines on a weekly basis. I
don't even go as far as a monthlike you do. I wish I could, but
then things won't happen whenthey're supposed to. It'll
stress me out, and I'll feellike I fail. So I go on a week

(47:51):
to week basis, but I have thatbig picture planning of, like,
Okay, this quarter, I'd likethese clip art sets to be on my
desk. Or this month, I wouldlike to hit these clip art sets.
So that's where I use Asana, orlike notion where I have my big
brain dump lists, and I can pullthings out and, oh yeah, I
wanted to start on that or apassion project. Let's pull this
over here, and maybe I can getto that this quarter. So, yeah,

(48:13):
I use a mix, but I still love mysticky notes.

I shared an office with a colleague that was
obsessed with sticky notes, andI was just always afraid - I
don't trust sticky notes,because they don't stay sticky
forever. And like you mentionedthat, like, freebie, that you
were kind of pushing off forlike, a while. I feel like if
that sticky stopped being stickyand it fell down, I vacuumed it
up, I would never remember thatthat existed.

Caitlyn (48:37):
You know, I never really thought about that, but
that is definitely a potential.

I know that most people don't have that fear, but
I know when I shared an officewith this colleague, I would
voice that to her, like, once amonth, I was like, Don't you
worry that someone's gonna walkby really fast and it's gonna
evolve your computer and it'sliterally gonna vanish and never
get done. And she's like, No,Janice, I don't worry about that
at all. She's like, maybe youneed to buy stickier sticky
notes. I was like, Can we tapethem down too? Can we, like, add

(49:03):
tape? And she's like, No, it'dbe faster for me just to do
things. I was like, well, thenplease do them, because the
sticky notes stress me out.

Caitlyn (49:10):
Sure or like, a notebook, right? Like, I have a
designated spot on my desk whereI keep a pile of stamps stuck
together in a very messy pile,right? Like I should not be -
It's under my planner, whichshould be more organized, you
know, but it's fine. Would itmake more sense to put that in a
notebook? Absolutely. But do Ihave an entire shelf full of

(49:32):
notebooks with bookmarks andsticky notes next to me? Yes, I
do.

Yeah but notebooks can close, and that's very
dangerous.

Caitlyn (49:38):
Sure,

There are many notebooks and binders that have
been closed and never openedagain. And I will say that's
part of why physical tools, Ithink, come in, like this month,
at a glance plan that I have ona clipboard, on my wall, on a
hook. I'm a tab hoarder.
There's, like, multiplemonitors, lots of things open.
So it's great that I sketchedout my game plan in a digital
planning tool, but we don'talways have like a whole monitor

(49:59):
to give up to keep that top ofmind all the time. So I think
it's totally normal to sometimeshave to carve out a physical
spot, like you said. This is thespot where I keep my post it
pile. That's a system, girl. I'mnot here to fight back against
that.

Caitlyn (50:14):
It's one of those, it's organized chaos. But I know,
like if I need to addresssomething, or I know where that
sticky note or where thatnotebook went, as long as nobody
touches it, nobody walks, fallsoff my chest.

Sorry if I unlocked a new fear for you

Caitlyn (50:26):
That's okay. I'll figure it out. I'll get some
tape it. Yeah, I would saythat's definitely part of the
grind and part of the businessjourney is learning what works
for you, because it's like we'veall tried all the things, we've
all bought, all the planners andall the formats, and then you
land somewhere in some kind ofcombination that will not work
for anyone else, you know, butit works for you, and it works

(50:47):
in this season. But you know,like my kids are in two more
little league things than theywere over the summer now, and
I'm like, Man, I might need torethink my planning system,
because now I have to keep trackof wrestling and karate and this
and and all the things and thatall mixes in with all the TPT
things.

Right? And what worked for you in that previous
season? Yay. Thank you for yourservice. That was a great
system. And also, like that,life is a memory.

Caitlyn (51:11):
But things calm down over Christmas, and I have more
brain space, and then I'll jumpback into Asana, where I had
brain dump lists and I hadideas, and I know where to go
find them, and they'reorganized.

Yeah and I have planning systems that work in
the summer, when I'm not at mydesk for a long period of time,
and every day feels completelydifferent. And then we are
recording this on what is thefirst snow day of our season,
because I live in New England,and that's that's a different
plan and game in the winter,knowing that you make
appointments and you plan forcertain things, and that Mother

(51:41):
Nature gets the vote on what youwake up to that morning, like
that, that may just not be yourday. And so you plan differently
in the summer, and the samesystem does not work in the
winter. And I think the moretimes we fight square peg, round
hole and try to put things inthis box, we just frustrate
ourselves and feel shame.
Whereas realize like, there'sthe beauty where you're like,
I'm so glad I found a systemthat did work for 60 days. Like,

(52:04):
let's celebrate that. And if itworked for September and
October, I might try it forSeptember and October next year,
but it's fine if it doesn'twork, like, 12 months a year.
Nobody said it had to.

Caitlyn (52:17):
That's fair.

And I think you do a really beautiful job of
realizing, like, what brings youjoy and what doesn't, what you
have time for and what youdon't, what is cool for someone
else and what you have nointerest in bringing into your
chaos season yourself. Like,love that for you. I want no
part of that.

Caitlyn (52:36):
It takes learning to get there, but it definitely
makes it easier, more enjoyableonce you are confident in that
space

for sure, and I think that that's a muscle that
we flex as business owners. Whenyou read a book, you're like,
that was a really cool story.
That was terrifying. I wouldnever want to run a business
like that. Like, thank you somuch for sharing that story. I
adopt none of that

Caitlyn (52:56):
absolutely.

Yeah. So I love learning how other people's
brains work and how theirbusinesses work. I cannot draw.
I find the fascinating creativeworld amazing. I love listening
to how creative brains work.
That is not how my brain iswired, but I am grateful for all
the people who share theircreativity, because I know that
my creative abilities would notmake students excited to learn.

Caitlyn (53:19):
I don't know about that. Everybody can draw a
little bit. It's fun, it'sfascinating. And even within,
you know, like, I love it whenLisa posts the videos of her
like drawing and coloring,because even within the
creatives, we're fascinated byeach other and what makes them
tick, and how it works. And, youknow, like, I've talked to Sasha
about her process, and I'm like,Man, I if I created something in

(53:40):
the same process you do, I do,it would not turn out that cute
and that cool, you know. So it'sfascinating, even among us as
well.

For sure. No, it's I always love hearing the the
behind the scenes of how peopleare making it all happen,

Caitlyn (53:56):
Which is funny, because over here, behind the scenes,
like on artists, we feel like ahot mess,

but I think each one of us has, like, a couple of
tricks that we have foundthrough the bumps and the
bruises. And when you bring inthat community and you share
like, gosh, if I can make onething easier for one other
person, I'm just so grateful.
Because I know the moments whereone person threw me a life raft
and it made such an impact. Andso we'll always keep sharing.

(54:21):
We'll always keep askingquestions.

Caitlyn (54:26):
Absolutely,

Caitlyn, if other people wanted to hang out with
you more and connect with you,where is the best place to find
you?

Caitlyn (54:33):
Instagram absolutely, it's my favorite. Oh, once upon
a time when I thought it wouldbe cool one day to learn how to
make the GIFs that we use in ourstories. I found out somebody
told me. They were like, Hey,did you know people are talking
about that over on Tiktok? And Iwas like, what? And I jumped
over to Tiktok and I made anaccount, and everybody was
making videos about the GIFsthat I was making. I was like,
Oh my gosh. Why all the theywere like, we have TPT GIFs now.

(54:56):
Like, where did these come from?
And I was like, Oh, I did that.
Hey.

And you're like, you should come to Instagram.
That's where all the cool kidsare hanging out. I know. I was
like, come over

Caitlyn (55:03):
I know. I was like, come over to Instagram and we
can talk all about it, and, youknow, whatever. And that was
literally just, I just thinkGIFs are fun. And I was bored
one day, and I was like, Youknow what? I need a creative
project, and that looks likefun, so I'm gonna make some

And that's community right there, though,
when you're scrolling forsomething and you're like, Oh,
someone made something just forme, such a warm hug moment.

Caitlyn (55:24):
And they're so fun.
Like, I'm asking people all thetime, like they're super quick
to make it's definitely a quickdopamine rush, you know. And so
I'm always telling my friendsour teachers, my teachers, like,
if you need GIFs, if you needone that says this, if you need
one that says that, you know,let me know, and I'll put out
new collections of them, becausethey're just fun. But yeah, that
pulled me over to Tiktok onceupon a time. And I don't think
I've ever been back, butdefinitely on Instagram. I love

(55:45):
the creative, the aestheticnessof of Instagram.

I love it, so I will share your handle in the
show notes. Do you want to shareit here too, for people who
might not ever make it to theshow notes?

Caitlyn (55:57):
the itsy bitsy dot classroom,

The itsy bitsy dot classroom, and that is where we
get to hang out and havecommunity. Instagram is my happy
place, too, and I'm grateful youshared this conversation coffee
chat with me today,

Caitlyn (56:12):
Absolutely well thank you for having me. This is fun.

Thanks for making this podcast a part of your day.
Do you have a win-win, teacherbusiness story you'd like to
share? Head tocookfamilyresources.com/podcast,
to find my guest application.
I'll also leave that link in theshow notes for you see you in
the next episode.

All Episodes

13. Balancing Customer Requests Alongside Your Capacity As A Creator | Caitlyn Mink's Story

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

24/7 News: The Latest

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}13. Balancing Customer Requests Alongside Your Capacity As A Creator | Caitlyn Mink's Story