How I Restarted My Art Biz – and Why Branding Matters

Shared By Joanna, Founder of SleepyJoArt

Hi! My name is Joanna, and I run an art shop called SleepyJoArt. I sell cute polymer clay charms, keychains, enamel pins, and stickers. I typically find inspiration for my works through my Asian heritage and day-to-day things that make me smile. 

But SleepyJoArt wasn’t always a business — it started as a way to reclaim my life after a corporate burnout. 

I had just graduated from college and was working at a corporate job. Every day when I came back from work, I found myself doomscrolling on social media and honestly just wasting my day away. It was definitely a combination of extreme burnout, mental health struggles, and being complacent with my life, and I knew after some point that I needed to change my lifestyle. During college, I initially started a small art shop, but had to close it down because school got too busy. I decided to start up the shop again after college and did a full rebrand, and that’s how SleepyJoArt got started, or I guess how it got restarted!

Of course, jumping back in came with its own set of challenges. 

One of the biggest challenges I faced early on was definitely the social media aspect of everything. I feel like 5-10 years ago, there wasn’t as much emphasis on your social media presence as a small business, but now, it’s essentially everything. You need to have an audience in order to sell products. So, I had to learn about marketing, video and image production, get comfortable in front of a camera, etc. It was a really challenging process at first, but eventually over time I got more confident in myself. I think the biggest thing that helped me learn all these skills and get more comfortable was honestly doing field research on other artists out there and learning from them. How are they marketing themselves? How do they film, act, and plan their videos? The idea of course isn’t to copy what they are doing, but it’s a helpful reference to see what’s successful.

Once I felt ready to put myself out there, the next question was: what exactly should I sell? 

Growing up, I’ve always been an artsy person. I frequently drew for other people and gave crafty things as gifts. Eventually, I figured if people are liking my art, I might as well try to open a shop! I first started out with only making stickers, which then turned into enamel pins, and now I mainly focus on polymer clay charms. Overall, social media has been the biggest tool in helping me gain an audience and sell my art.

But selling is only half the story — the other half is how you present it. 

The first step before I made anything in my shop was to decide on a logo and name. It honestly took me so much time. I knew I wanted to inject a part of my personality into it and maybe include my name. Ultimately, after many different tries, I landed on SleepyJoArt. Why “SleepyJo”? Because that’s genuinely me — I’m always tired, but I’m always making. That little personal touch has helped customers remember me; I’ve even had people message me saying, “This name is so you!” 

From there, I defined my brand colors and the overall vibe of my business.

I think my branding isn’t necessarily unique, but I hope it comes off as friendly, cute, silly, and warm. The name itself exposes a part of my personality where I’m always sleepy or tired, which I hope humanizes me a bit more and lets people know just a bit more about me. Overall, most of my products are all leaning more on the cutesy side of things, which attracts the audience I’d want.

Now, on a tight budget, how did I make all this happen? 

Well, everything that involves the visual building of my brand, I did myself, so it didn’t cost me anything. I’m honestly kind of a picky person, so that’s why I designed everything myself 😅, which meant my brand stayed 100% me — no templates, no stock looks. When I first started out my business, I didn’t even have a good tripod to record my videos, so I got by by stacking boxes on top of each other and placing a camera on there. I also utilized free applications for photo editing when I first started out (for example, Canva).

And speaking of tools, MUNBYN has become a quiet hero in my daily workflow. 

Munbyn’s products have greatly helped me with my small business. Their printers print all of my shipping labels for any orders I get, I can create cute stickers for decorating my packages, and I’ve also created a lot of signage for in-person events (for example, pricing stickers). Recently, I tried their new dual‑color printing stickers and printer — I printed little red flowers on “thank you” stickers, and they really popped! That pop of red? That’s what I call a highlight — and it’s exactly what makes a package feel personal. 

If I had to give one piece of advice to fellow solo sellers about branding, it would be this:  stay true to yourself. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sea of small businesses out there. But your authenticity is your superpower — it will attract the right audience. So start with what feels true to you, even if it’s just a name, a color, or a sleepy smiley face. 

I would really encourage others to join the campaign because it’s a great way to get your small business out there, along with potentially winning some helpful resources! It’s completely free to join, and honestly when you’re starting out, letting people know about your business is the first stepping stone. You’ll have access to a community of other business owners and other helpful resources too.

And that’s exactly why I’m excited about the MUNBYN: Highlight Your Hustle campaign. It’s a free, simple way to get your story out there and connect with a community of business owners who are rooting for you. Plus, you might even win some helpful resources to grow your own hustle.

👉 Share your first highlight with here and you could get featured on the MUNBYN website + win Founder Power Kit