This article is part of a series called “Artist Interview” telling the story of other creative women from all over the world.
A creative journey full of twists, trials and errors.
Janie Allen, the bubbly woman behind Sunny Moonwater, was born in Ohio before moving to Chicago, where she studied graphic design and met her husband. After starting a family, Janie’s entrepreneurial mind led her to multiple creative businesses (freelancing, designing flash cards, sewing baby clothing and dip dyeing fabric, etc.) but none of them were profitable and had to close them down.
A creative must create.
The creative bug came back on a walk with her children, when she got the idea of creating reusable snack bags that would turn into puppets once empty. She called them “snuppets”, trademarked the name and sold them on Etsy for many years, until she reached her limit (the business was not scalable and too repetitive) and moved onto sewing pouches for reusable straws.
But same story, not profitable.
Covid as a turning point.
Having just finished a course in health and wellness, Janie decided to take a break from her creative endeavours and took a job in a CBD store that closed down during the Covid pandemic. It was during this challenging time when Janie felt the need to be creative again, and it turned out as a benediction!
She took back sewing and started to make wraps with leftover cotton and stored dyes. She also started to nurture her connection with nature and was rising early to stargaze, creating rituals and drinking moon water, which led to the name of her brand on Etsy “Sunny Moonwater” (firstly made as a joke from her husband). Slowly, things started to fall into place and little by little, she added patterns and started to go and sell her clothing range on the market by the beach every week-end.
Good things come to those who wait…
(And never give up reinventing themselves, following their joy.)
For the first time ever, her business is profitable and she feels content and grateful to get up at 6am in the morning to get to work. She loves every aspect of it and feels happy with no rules and no boundaries, being creative every day making one-of-a kind hand-dyed pieces.
The high vibe in the brand comes from the joy of building it while laughing and playing with my family.
And that is how I discovered Sunny Moonwater: on Instagram, through her hilarious videos made to share her joy and eventually helped growing her audience.
Many months have now passed between the time I finished interviewing Janie and the time I am finally writing this article. I can tell you that Sunny Moonwater has grown to the point Janie is now employing her lovely mom to help with the sewing and that her business is flourishing! And in an attempt to reduce fabric waste, she is now also sewing children’s pieces with her scraps.
Her next goal is to find a manufacturer to sew her patterns but she wants to continue to hand-dye them to keep the handcrafted feel her customers and herself are attached to. We also hope she will never cease to create fun videos for us to enjoy!
Janie’s story is a reminder that starting new ventures and letting them go when it’s time, picking new ones further down our path is part of our growth as creatives and human beings. Clinging to projects that don’t work or don’t give us joy anymore just because perseverance is a virtue is not always the wisest choice.
We have to listen to our inner voice and differentiate when we do things out of fear or out of love. Always choose love !
Janie Allen from Sunny Moonwater
Website: https://sunnymoonwater.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunnymoonwater