When I heard Rachel-Marie's account of quitting her day job to sell on Etsy full time through her shop, knittydirtygirl, I just knew you all would fall in love with her story!  Here's a woman who knew she was in a profession she didn't love, and in the end took a huge risk in quitting her day job while at the same time discovering she would be expecting her very first child; how stressful is that!?  She knew she wasn't financially prepared to quit, but she had the drive to try, and since taking the high road, has found a way to make it work for her and has never looked back.  You can now find Rachel-Marie on the internet at all times unless she is taking care of her brand new baby, Occy, her stepdaughter, Zoey, or crafting away for her Etsy shop. 

When you first started selling on Etsy did you have dreams or goals of eventually quitting your day job?
I joined Etsy Nov 02, 2005. Here is a funny picture of me and Chris of Etsy from 2005 taken at a Philly Etsy Street team meeting.  Straight out of college I had high hopes of a career in my field, even though I was already slightly burned out on graphic design. At that time, I was so young, barely 20 years old. I had no idea how to manage my own business. It seemed overwhelming and far fetched. It was only through trial and error, and much encouragement from peers, that I managed to become an "I quit my day job" story.  Oh, and I have to comment here that my "day" job, was an "evening" job. I worked roughly 4PM-11PM.

How long were you selling on Etsy and working your day job before deciding you were ready to switch over to Etsy full time?
About 3 years.

What made you decide to quit your day job?
This is a hard question for me to answer. I don't want to be a Negative Nancy but I am going to be vaguely truthful. So, to balance out this bit of yucky honesty, I will show you a silly picture of me in the wind. It was taken in December 2006. I was waiting at the bus stop, on the way to my old full time job.  Let's just say I found out really quickly that I physically cannot play old school office politics. I keep it real, I cannot sit around watching people get screwed, watching myself get screwed. It was a very negative work environment. People in my department were quitting left and right, and it was agonizing seeing new hires go through the same process. I decided it would be best to quit before the next new guy started. I knew I would snap and end up making a scene, walking out, if I didn't quit then. Once I realized I could take no more, I typed up my resignation letter and let fate handle the rest. Financially, I was not ready to quit, but I knew for my sanity's sake I had to. I pushed it to the limit.

How did you know you were ready to take the plunge?
I knew that I would rather risk being grossly poor than stay there any longer. I had been trying for months to get a new job, but nothing worked out. I got an interview for a company that sold really dangerous lawn chemicals, I canceled it. I started lining up waitressing interviews because I knew we were in trouble, or so I thought. I never knew what risks laid ahead!  Back at my full time job, my coworkers remarked at my growing bust line. I laughed and said "It's great, I'm gaining weight, but only in my bust!". Two weeks later, after I had quit my day job, my husband and I huddled together in our little apartment bathroom. I had just taken my second pee test to find out we had our firstborn on its way.

My husband, after graduating college about 3 years before this said day, was working temp jobs. We were really scared. So I guess what I'm trying to say is I knew we weren't ready to take the plunge, but I did it anyway.  Here is a picture of me the night I handed in my resignation, February 23, 2007.

Did you do anything to prepare ahead of time before taking the plunge?
I tried to plan ahead as best I could. I built up my business for 3 years, invested money into my business while I had a decent paying job. I registered my business name, tax ID number, all of that.

What goals have you set for your Etsy business in the next few months and year?
My current short term goals include:

• To use more natural, less processed, fibers.
• To create more "art".
• To make items from my heart.
• To experiment and learn new techniques.
• To keep my current customers happy, and make new customers.
• To build a better blog following and to improve my writing skills.

My long term goals are:

• To write and illustrate a children's book.
• To get published more often.
• To stay involved with my arts group, Lancaster Indie Arts.
• To contribute to more gallery shows.
• To improve my sewing skills.

What are the most effective ways you have promoted and marketed your Etsy business?
Listing often is the number one marketing tool I use. It only costs 20 cents and it gets me the most attention out of anything else I have tried. If you list items with beautiful pictures often, you can get into Treasuries more often, and on the front page more often. Getting on the front page of Etsy, that's the ticket.  I have paid for a few advertising spots in different types of media. Craftster.org has been the most successful spot for me.

Here are all of the tools I use to market myself: livejournal blog, myspace, facebook, ravelry, an e-newsletter via googlegroups, flickr, Etsy Chat, and Etsy Forums.  I also try and give back as much as possible by leaving comments and favorites. If you are only putting yourself out there to self-promote it becomes stale very quickly.

How's it going so far, are you getting by?
It's going very well, I am very happy. I am SO happy. Things just got better and better since February 23, 2007. My business makes enough money for my part of the bills, and is growing year after year. I got married in March of 2008, my husband got a good job at Comcast. I am so thankful to be at home with my baby boy and my stepdaughter. This seems to have been the right path to take! Thanks, Etsy.

Can you walk us through what a typical workday might entail now that you have quit your day job?
Key:
Zoey = 5 year old stepdaughter
Octavian "Occy" = 9 month old baby

Wake up at 8AM. Change Occy's diaper. Make Zoey breakfast. Take photos of items made the night before, list them on Etsy. Put photos on flickr. Breastfeed, diaper. 10 AM put Occy down for his morning nap, read Zoey a chapter from Matilda by Roald Dahl. Put Zoey's Bratz video game on for her. Feed baby Occy lunch, diaper, breastfeed. Make lunch for Zoey, spill lunch on floor, remake lunch. Diaper, breastfeed. Send Zoey out to play, put Sesame Street on for Occy and work a little at whatever I can do depending on how fussy baby is, breastfeed. 4PM Occy goes down for his afternoon nap. Zoey goes to her Nanny's house. I take a nap. 5 PM do dishes, clean up. Play with baby, take a walk with dog, breastfeed. Take more pictures, list yarn that was drying from this morning. Put Occy's baby 365 days picture up on Flickr. 9PM my husband comes home and we go through the baby's bedtime routine. 10PM I sneak away to the basement garage where I write my blog and work on my artwork. I stay up until 1:30 AM at the latest, then I tap out, go to bed. Repeat.

Here is a picture of my family on memorial day 2008, and a picture of me spinning on our futon during a normal workday.  My whole day includes the internet. I am pretty much online all day long. I'm an addict/workaholic. Plus it's nice to have company besides the children. Bless you, Etsy Chat.

What do you enjoy most about not having a day job?
Being at home with my baby. Being my own boss! I often have to remind myself not to be a mean boss. I'm the only employee. I try to take advantage of working for myself as much as I can by taking naps, spending time with my kids, and saying no to things that I don't want to do.

What piece of advice would you give someone thinking about taking the plunge to sell full time on Etsy?
I don't think you can really plan to quit your job. I think you need to put your whole heart, soul, and time into your business in order to see the fruits of your labor. It's very difficult to see results when you work somewhere else 40 hours a week and have a family. So, my advice is, don't be too hard on yourself, get some balls, and quit. If you struggle at first there are ways to balance out your income, I waitressed for a few months until it became a waste of time. I eventually made more money working at home than waitressing those few hours a week.

Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Peanut Butter!!!!!!!!!  No, really. I am very thankful and blessed. I realize how good I have it. I appreciate every single minute I get to work at home. 

Check out the photo below to see how Rachel-Marie uses recycled packaging and fused plastic bags to brand her business and stay green:

Thanks to knittydirtygirl for sharing her story of success with us!  Check out the gallery below to see some of Rachel-Marie's items. Check out some of our previous Quit Your Day Job posts.