Welcome to 2020! I know everyone says it but I truly can't believe that 2019 is over, it's been a crazy whirlwind of lessons, mistakes and massive achievements for me. At the beginning of the year, I made the decision to officially drop out of high school a year early and ever since I've been riding the sometimes tumultuous wave of freelancing and self-employment. But overall, 2019 has been pretty kind to me, so here are some of my highlights and plans for the near future.
Since leaving school I started my Depop store which after some serious photoshoots, lots of promotion and hard work kind of took off! I plan to write up a separate post entirely on this topic with some stats on my sales for anyone that's interested. But, I'm extremely proud of how much my business has grown in 2019, with over 300 items sold across Depop, Instagram and Facebook. It also enabled me to interact with so many new people, push the boundaries of my creativity and do what I love best as my job; thrifting! This year I hit the op shops so many times I lost count and I scored so many incredible pieces for myself and the store. I plan to continue on this way right into 2020!
The first big plan for my business is to give it a name, the one thing that my store is really lacking is a unique identity. So, I've spent the latter part of this year doing some major brainstorming and trying to find the perfect name for my store. I'll be announcing more on this soon, but I'm super excited about it. I'd also love to set up a website where you can buy pieces directly through PayPal or Apple Pay etc. That way I can really work on churning out more frequent lookbooks and extra bits and bobs along with the regular clothing drops. I've also been looking into trialling a little 'lifestyle collection' with a focus on 1960s/1970s home decor and kitchenware pieces. This would be a branch off my Depop store and something I would advertise more on my Instagram or potential website, but I think it could be a fun idea.
Then, of course, I'll be picking up some incredible thrifted pieces over in Los Angeles, where I'll be travelling by myself for two weeks in March. If you want to read more about this, see my separate post with all the details here. This will be my first international thrifting trip ever and I can't wait to source some truly incredible and unique pieces for you all!
I'll also be travelling and thrifting a little more locally, with an upcoming trip to Dunedin and Alexandra planned! This will be a great opportunity to see my Grandparents over in Alex and spend some time in their incredible mid-century house. I'll also get a ton of op-shopping time, with all of Dunedin to explore too. My travel plans will eventually take me to Perth later this year to visit my uncle, aunt and baby cousin, Mia Bella. I really just want to spend as much time with Mia as possible as she is growing up and if I can get a little thrifting done while I'm over there that's a bonus!
One of the great things about working for myself is that I can really plan trips whenever I feel like it and hopefully fund them by selling clothes and prints that I shoot along the way. Speaking of which, I'll be exhibiting in the 2020 NZ Art Show, along with plenty of other incredible artists. This is something I've done for several years now and it's a great way to get my art out there and make a little extra money too. I'm still in the process of finding some new places to exhibit and lockdown dates to really get going again. Selling art is probably one of the more difficult and confusing branches of my freelance work and something that can be relatively unpredictable. Art is so subjective, so it's really about finding someone who appreciates what I create and wants to help me grow.
For now, I'm trying to sort through my muddled half-holiday brain that's not quite ready to get into things again. But, for me, it's about constantly being stimulated with new and exciting projects that will keep my creative juices flowing! I leave for Dunedin on Monday, so I'll be dropping a ton of new clothes on my store before then and keeping everyone up to date with my travels over on Instagram (here). Here's to a (hopefully) fantastic new decade!
Bella 🌼
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