Pink Matcha Draws

Basic Information

Business Name: Pink Matcha Draws
Website: www.pinkmatchadraws.com
Established: September 2020

Questions answered by: Dante Greenslade 

Social Media

About Them

Can you please fully explain your business or product line?

I’m first and foremost an artist. I draw and use that artwork to create a variety of products including stickers, enamel pins, keychains, stationery, and more. 

I’m also hoping to expand into apparel in 2023 and have been working with another artist friend of mine, Jonaleepuff, on locally-embroidered beanies using my artwork!

With the Winnipeg local maker community continuing to grow, what is the most important thing you’d like potential customers of your company to know?

I love to create cute and fun designs that bring joy to people or make them laugh. I start every piece with a pencil sketch in the sketchbook that I carry with me everywhere. Once I feel like it’s ready, I scan and upload it to my computer so I can finish the final artwork digitally.

Every time you buy from a small business, you’re supporting a real person and allowing them to follow their dream.

What inspired you to start your business?

As a kid, I always loved drawing. Being able to create gave me an outlet and made me feel better. However, when I was in my last year of high school, I gave it up since I felt like it was a long shot as a career and was convinced I needed to focus on something more realistic. I still drew on occasion, but by and large, I spent the better part of a decade trying to force myself to follow a more “traditional” path.

I was at my lowest point in 2020. I had dropped out of university for the second time, lost my job during the pandemic, and was struggling heavily with mental health. Then, in August I downloaded a free drawing app., hoping to find something to fill my time and give me a creative outlet. I instantly fell back in love. It didn’t matter how much skill I had lost or how much I struggled to feel good about what I was making…it felt like coming home. 

I haven’t stopped creating or growing since and I have loved being able to connect with other artists & makers in the Winnipeg community.

I started sharing my work and printing it on stickers to sell online. I still remember the first person who bought my design on Redbubble and the first person who bought stickers when I moved to my own website.

What was the biggest struggle you’ve had to overcome?

Mental health has always been an enormous struggle for me. Throughout my teens and early ‘20s, I was angry & confused a lot of the time and never understood why. I hated being in groups of people, constantly cancelled social plans, and slowly distanced myself from friends and family. Having quit art, I didn’t have anywhere to channel those feelings either. We always assumed it was some kind of depression or anxiety, but when I finally started to see a psychiatrist and try medication, it became clear that it wasn’t helping how it was supposed to.

It took a long time to figure it out, but we learned that I had been living with ADHD, which is severely underdiagnosed in girls and women. It was such a lightbulb moment when I finally started the right medication and started learning strategies to cope with it. I also started my business about a month later because I finally had the energy, attention, and clarity to pursue what I loved doing.

What has been your biggest success as a maker?

Connecting with other small business owners and creatives. It’s amazing to feel like part of a community that supports one another. It’s what pushed me to move from being a solely online business to doing in-person markets and getting my products into local businesses like Seduta Art and McNally Robinson Booksellers!

Do you have any advice that you would pass on to someone hoping to start up their own business or product line?

If you want to do it, then do it! The only way to learn and grow is by jumping in and starting. Not everything is going to be a winner, but you can never know until you try.

Please share any upcoming events as well as the best place(s) for people to purchase your product!

I don’t have any confirmed events in the future, but a couple are in the works so keep your eyes peeled for announcements!

To buy directly from me, please visit my website, where I offer local pickup on evenings & weekends as well as shipping.

To shop in person, some of my products are available at Seduta Art in the Exchange as well as McNally Robinson Booksellers in Grant Park Shopping Centre and at The Forks. Both are great businesses that I love to support!