Getting the word out

First I was a graphic designer.

No, that's not strictly true. First I was a clerical worker, a drone who took dictation, cut paychecks and answered office phones. When I was in my mid-30s and realized that I had already spent 15 years of my life doing work I hated, I put some real thought into where I wanted the rest of my life to go. I spent hours at the library researching careers, and decided that art was really the only subject that interested me deeply and exhaustively. Anything else -- business, journalism, cosmetology -- might hold my interest for periods, but not really set my life on fire, you know?

So I decided to go back to school and become a graphic artist. I got an associate's degree in 1993 in Visual Communications. I got a job at the Salem, Oregon, Statesman Journal newspaper and worked there for 11 years, creating ads, flyers and catalogs.

And then I moved from Salem to Portland, a distance of about 50 miles. I commuted that distance (actually 106 miles round trip per day) for two years. When gas prices reached $2.00 per gallon and mileage was costing me $200 per month, I finally resigned.

Fortunately, I had a Mac computer, and could still design, if only on my own time. I was creating some pretty cool images and had no outlet for them until I found CafePress. It felt like a marriage made in heaven. Here was a site that would let me upload all my designs, would do all the work printing them up for me and shipping them, and would pay me money besides!

So I signed up. I decided that the point of creating my shop was to make people feel good, so I called it FeelGood Graphics. I created a benign, grandmotherly logo to convey the idea that my designs were like little cinnamon rolls of joy being served up for your delight. I went on a tear uploading everything I had on my computer, creating coffee mugs, t-shirts, tote bags and posters by the dozen. I had found my niche.

Now all I needed was to get the word out.