Being an avid blog reader and an admitted follower of AshleyG's blog, kittygenius, you can imagine my excitement when I discovered a line of her work had recently been picked up by Urban Outfitters, a popular US clothing and gift store with locations in pretty much every major American city.  I contacted Ashley and Drew (her partner in crime) to find out more about this exciting opportunity and couldn't have been happier to find out how grounded they both are in the midst of their success.  Ashley's success is the perfect example of an independent artist who's making her own work and taking it to the next level while remaining small.  She was nice enough to share the story behind Urban Outfitters with us:

 
How did this happen? Did you contact Urban Outfitters or did they approach you?
The magic of the blogosphere. :) Grace mentioned some of our bearded guys on Design*Sponge, and they caught the eye of someone at the Urban Outfitters blog. I blogged about that mention, and got a note a few days later from a designer at Urban Outfitters saying that she saw my mention of their mention of Grace's mention. Wheels within wheels. She asked if we were interested in working with Urban Outfitters, and we jumped at the chance.  Urban Outfitters was great through the whole process. They gave me a general idea of what they wanted (along with the size and format), and let me run with it from there. There was a little back-and-forth with revisions, and we're really happy with the final design of this piece.

How many months did it take from the time you sealed the deal until Ashley G and Drew debuted in Urban Outfitters?
Urban Outfitters contacted us in July, and the artwork was final about a month after that. Their production schedules are pretty tight, so we knew the finished product wouldn't be in stores before the end of the year.

How did you ever manage to keep it a secret?
We're always working on new prints and random projects, so our workflow didn't change. We just had to keep our mouths shut, and we were mostly successful. Mostly.

What's your secret to growing global while simultaneously remaining small?
The only problem with our Etsy success is that (I've said this before) our time is directly proportional to our income. Both Drew and I value our free time, and the flexibility of working at home, so we're always looking for ways to get more out of the time we put into the business. Right now, we can't conceive of hiring an employee, or having anyone else handle the work, since we pride ourselves on customer service and attention to detail. Branching out with licensing deals like this one with Urban Outfitters, or with Tinymeat and My Favorite Mirror, gives us the best of both worlds: a chunk of our business comes from the work of others, and will continue to come in while we're sleeping or getting coffee, but people can still choose to buy from our Etsy shop and get personal, hands-on attention.

Drew says: "Small is good. Small is enough. I learned from one of my jobs: more clients, or bigger clients, don't translate to better work; you might make a little more, but you'll have to work a lot more."

It's obvious that Ashley and Drew are staying grounded in the midst of their wild success:
"Thanks for asking about this project! Etsy has made it all possible...I really wanted [this opportunity] to speak more of the possibility for all of us (if that's a direction one is interested in taking their work), and for Drew and me it is. And that the handmade and the semi-massed produced can coexist. One of the things about Etsy that's great in my opinion is that artists are now less likely to have to make that choice between one or the other.

Thanks Ashley and Drew for sharing your story with us and here's to your success!  If you would like to learn more about global microbranding, or how to grow your business while remaining small at the same time, check out this article with a video lecture on the subject!