Prints, little wooden books and cards, Fransesca Iannaccone makes pretty stuff in between running a family.
Tell us about you
“I run my shop from my house in London, I have two boisterous boys of three and six that I sort of work around. The youngest one goes to daycare three times a week and as of September that will be five times a week. I’m already plotting all the stuff I can do with three more whole free hours every day!”
Why did you start your own company?
“I trained in ‘image making and design’, which was wonderful as it gave me a chance to have a go at loads of different fields, photography, graphic design, animation, illustration… You name it! But like so many art academy students, I didn’t really know what I wanted to use it all for. I worked in the publishing world for a bit, but kept quitting my job to go traveling. In the end I decided I really wanted to do my own thing. And I’m still thrilled by each sale, that someone actually wants something I created in their home!”
What do you like about being an Internet entrepreneur?
“I have three different online shops, via Etsy, Folksy and Dawanda, I design pillows for envelop.eu and different products for Society6. Working online is really THE way for me at the moment, it doesn’t cost much and I can do it from home. Also I can work as hard and grow as fast as I want. I really don’t know what I’d do without Etsy anymore. It has provided a place for thousands and thousands of creative people that had nowhere to go before. I also have a blog that makes me very happy. People sometimes look at me askance when I talk about my ‘blog buddies’, but they just don’t get how real and inspiring those friendships can be! My blog is a great place for sharing my work, but it’s also a great tool to get together with other creative women in the same position.”
