Etsy Interview - RockyTheZombie

Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you're all having a good week :)

Today I decided to have a change from my usual shop feature and actually interview someone! Obviously normal interviews involve sitting down and talking to people, but that involves far too much human interaction for me, so I settled for emailing some questions instead.

My guinea pig for the first Etsy Interview is Rhi of RockyTheZombie. Currently running the shop from the spare room of her home in the lovely English town of Southsea, Rhi screenprints the designs herself with water based inks on to t-shirts from the eco-friendly company Earth Positive. Her designs involve cute zombies, puffy vampire clouds and cupcakes.

Baby Zombie Pirate T-shirt

How did the idea for your shop come about?
I began selling t-shirts that I had handpainted myself a few years ago on ebay. There used to be a huge DIY clothing community over there, and my MySpace page started gaining fans like crazy. I'd heard about Etsy and thought it would be a much better place for my shop to be. So I went for it, and although it was slow at first, eventually it picked up speed and is capable of bringing in a very good wage as long as I dedicate my full attention to it.

If you were given £1000, with specific instructions to invest it in your business, what would you spend it on?

I had to think about this for a while, as there are so many things I would like to buy. I would probably buy a whole heap of paints, brushes, and blank canvases. Although my shop is primarily clothing; it's painting and illustration where my true love is. But maybe that would be more for my enjoyment than strictly business? Most things I buy are to do with the business anyway, but I actually do need  to invest in some better photography equipment for my product pictures. Oh.. and the newest version of Photoshop & Illustrator, in fact those two alone would eat over half of that amount.

Red Rose Swirl Acrylic on Canvas

 

What one thing would you buy from your shop, as an outsider?

The paintings and prints. I love buying art, and could easily fill every wall in my house up with pictures.

Circumstances recently pushed you into turning Rocky The Zombie into your full time job, if you had had more time to prepare for such a transition what would have done differently?

Not really, in fact it was my full-time job in the beginning. I only went and got a job alongside it because I thought that was a good idea (it wasn't). It was always in the back of my mind to eventually come back to this, and it just happened a lot sooner than I thought it would.

Zombie DJ & Skull Balloons Set of Two Kids T-Shirts

 

Describe your "Yay I got a sale!" dance (everyone has one).

Remember Beavis and Butthead?... I am cornholio!

 

And finally, give us one tip for all the other Etsy sellers out there.

Work your frickin butt off! The rewards are incredible, and I'm still sometimes a little amazed at how far I've come. I've no business education or qualifications, and I learn from trial and error, blog tutorials, and youtube! I probably have some odd ways of doing things, but it works perfectly for me. So don't let anyone ever tell you that 'you're doing it wrong', because you're probably doing it better than they would be. I've always held the belief that you really can achieve anything you set your mind to, if you'll only take the steps towards doing it. You'll find your way as you go, as every circumstance can open up a new opportunity.

Black Zombie Canvas Tote Bag

Thank you very much to Rhi for an awesome interview! If you're looking for a gift for someone who has an affinity for both cute and horror, you definitely need to visit RockyTheZombie.

Have a nice day everyone!