If you’ve known me since I was little, you probably know I’ve always loved to draw. I was the kind of kid who’d rather spend time doodling in the corner than watching TV. At around 8 years old, my mother enrolled me in a painting class (thanks, Mom!). But I quickly realised paintbrushes weren’t really my thing (at least not the way they thought me), I just wanted a pencil and some paper. I got so frustrated that I asked to leave the class. Spoiler: she let me.
So, I sort of lost touch with that creative spark for a while. Life happened. School. University. Work. You know how it goes. Even though I had this natural gift for drawing, I put it aside to focus on more “serious” stuff.
Of course, I kept my creative side alive, keeping it as a hobby when I was anxious or bored. Painting my walls, collages, sketching on college notebook and creating when bored (or even anxious)…
Fast forward to 2020, a strange year for everyone. During lockdown, like many people, I tried something different. I thought, “Why not start selling some of my artwork as a freelancer?”. Great idea in theory… but not in practice. I tried, but I was working 6 days a week at the time (the classic 6×1 grind), and honestly, I had no energy left to focus on promoting or selling my illustrations online.
Plus, with the rise of filter tools, it felt like people were looking for speed over soul and weren’t really valuing human-made art. Remember checking Etsy and people offering €5 to add some filter in your photo but selling it as illustration? Nah, couldn’t compete with that. So again, I put the pencil down.
But life has a funny way of pulling us back to what we love.
In 2021, I changed jobs and returned to the Marketing industry (where I’ve been for 4 years now and counting), but my drawings were never forgotten. A few close friends who’ve always supported my creative side kept telling me, “You should print your drawings as colouring books”. And after hearing this enough times (plus a bit of ciders and weekend encouragement), I finally thought: why not?
At first, I was printing them locally here in Dublin and selling to some friends. But between high printing costs, paying rent, no space to store boxes and zero time for packaging and shipping… it just wasn’t sustainable.
That’s a friend of mine suggested me Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).
Let me tell you… I had no idea what I was getting into.
I started the journey in April this year, full of excitement and caffeine. But between working full time in Marketing, handling some freelance projects and trying to understand the mystery that is Amazon’s seller platform, I only managed to get my first books launched now… in July.
Yep. It took me 3 full months of trial, error and very late nights watching YouTube tutorials to figure it all out. But I did it.
My colouring books are now live on Amazon. Something says to me that 8-year-old me would probably scream about, in a good way.
So, what’s the moral of this story?
You don’t need to have it all figured out to get started. It’s okay to take long, messy, real-life paths towards your goals. And sometimes your childhood passions can come back in the most unexpected ways.
If you’re someone out there juggling a full-time job, freelancing, house chores, dreams and doubts, well… I see you. Keep going. It’s never too late to create something meaningful.
And if you want to support a creative human being who laughs through the chaos, check out my colouring books on Amazon. Made with love, late-night decaf and a lot of learning on the fly.
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