Show Notes
In this episode of The Localist, host Carrie Rollwagen chats with Jessica Leitch, the creative behind The Little Red Print Shop — a Birmingham-based linocut artist whose $1 art vending machine has become a local favorite. Jessica shares how a simple Instagram scroll led to the idea of selling tiny hand-printed works from a repurposed sticker machine, making art fun, affordable and wildly accessible. What began as a hobby quickly grew into a full-fledged brand, thanks to Jessica’s background in branding and event planning, her knack for trendspotting and her deep commitment to building community.
Jessica talks on how she built her network in a new city, how she balances creativity with logistics (like carrying $100 in quarters!), and how she structures her popular printmaking workshops. From organizing pop-up markets to customizing prints for weddings, her business is a colorful example of blending art with entrepreneurship. Whether you’re a creative, an entrepreneur or just wondering how a vending machine turned into a tiny art gallery, this conversation has something for you.
Mentioned in this episode:
The Little Red Print Shop on Instagram
Little Professor Bookshop on The Localist
Local Love Pop-Up Market
Episode Transcript
Carrie
Welcome to the localist, a conversation with local makers and independent entrepreneurs. I’m your host, author of The localist book and former small business owner, Carrie Rollwagen, today we’re talking with Jessica Leach, the artist behind little red print shop. Little Red print shop is a lino cut business here in Birmingham. Jessica makes fun colorful prints that she creates herself. She hand cuts the block for printing, inks the block and makes the prints from there. She even has a little red vending machine that she uses as a sort of pop up business. She sells tiny prints from it. Little Red print shop has been in different locations around Birmingham, but you can always find her prints at Cala coffee and little professor in Pepper place. So welcome to the podcast.
Jessica Leitch
Thanks for having me.
Carrie
Okay, so I kind of want to dive in with the vending machine, and then you’re doing a lot more stuff, but I do feel like that’s something that, as soon as I saw it, I was like, Oh my gosh. How are you pulling that off? And, like, because to me, I just think things are gonna get stuck and all this stuff, but it’s so cute. And then I went on to talk more about what you do, but how did you did you just think I won a vending machine and find one? Did you run across one? Like, how did that happen?
Jessica Leitch
Yeah. So I was, you know, scrolling Instagram, as we all do, and I had seen other print makers do vending machines, so there’s quite a few out there, and they put their prints in vending machines. And I was like, Oh, that’s a real cute idea, yeah. And a very fun way to get accessible art out to the masses, because these vending they’re sticker and tattoo vending machines. Like, I literally Googled sticker and tattoo vending machine, yeah, and, like, found a website that sells them and bought one. So it wasn’t like, I didn’t like, find it on eBay and score this, like, old machine and restored it. Like, I bought this brand new and figured out how to like size My tiny prints, carve tiny blocks that would fit on the right size. And then all of the prints are $1 because you can only put four quarters in the machine, yeah, which makes it an accessible art piece, right? Yeah, it’s just $1
Carrie
Yeah. So was there because it was new, was it like, it’s less trial and error, but was there trial and error as far as, like, this is getting stuck or this isn’t working, or was it just like, it kind of worked?
Jessica Leitch
Honestly, there weren’t enough YouTube videos, and I, like, walked myself through it. I learned kind of how to put the machine, because it comes in parts. Yeah, put it together. And, you know, the only trial and error is sizing the prints to fit in the little cardboard sleeves. Yeah? And sometimes somebody will put a gun key quarter in, and I’ll get a call from cala, it’s like, Hey, your machines like a little stuck. And so I just run by and grab a coffee and fix the machine. Yesterday, I was changing the machine because I have the ability to make it a free machine for private events. And so I was changing it back to a paid machine. And I thought, Man, I did not see vending machine repairman, like on my resume. Yeah, exactly, but at it now, yeah.
Carrie
Well, how do you like when you bring it to because you It travels around. Is it just you lugging the machine out of the car, and you’re
Jessica Leitch
100% it’s me, like, I roll in with the base, come separate, okay, heavy base to hold the machine and balance it out. And I come lugging in the base. I’m like, Hey, I’m here with my vending machine. Yeah. And then I bring the top, and it spins on, and then, and then it’s set up. So it’s really easy. It’s in, you know, two to three pieces, depending on, yeah, how I carry it around. But it’s, you know, it’s, it’s portable enough, yeah, that it can move around really easily.
Carrie
Yeah. So did the name come from the vending machine?
Jessica Leitch
100%, I had been doing some lino cut work, prior. And then I saw kind of other people doing this vending machine, and I thought, oh my gosh, this is so fun. Like Birmingham would love one of these. I think I didn’t actually know, but I thought, I love one of these, and I’d love to bring it to Birmingham. And I have lost track of the question, what was the original question?
Carrie
No, just like the name, was it?
Jessica Leitch
Oh, the name itself, yes. I was working under my name like Jessica Leitch as an artist, and I saw the vending machine, and it’s red, and I was chatting with a friend of mine, who I was coincidentally meeting for coffee, and I was like, I think I’m gonna buy a vending machine, and also I think I should call it the little red print shop, because it’s a little red print shop. And she was like, Yes, that makes total sense.
Carrie
Yeah. Well, it’s really cute. And then, even if, because you sell all these other places, but it’s still a cute name for printing.
Jessica Leitch
Yes, It like makes it the grant the the brand itself grew from the little red print shop vending machine, but it definitely encapsulates all of the artwork I do and all of the workshops and everything. So it’s, it is nice that the name has kind of been able to carry through everything.
Carrie
Yeah, well, you mentioned Birmingham. I kind of wanted to talk about how you’ve made connections here. I asked around. We asked on Instagram, like for questions and things like that. And somebody who I think is friends with you said she. Not, she didn’t. She’s not from Birmingham, and has really intentionally, like, kind of made those connections. So I guess, is that true? And then also, like, how has that happened? Like, has that been intentional, as it just kind of grown or, or what?
Jessica Leitch
Yeah. So we, I moved to Birmingham three and a half ish years ago. My husband’s job is based here, and so we moved here, and I was working remotely, so I, like, wasn’t really getting out of the house. I didn’t have like, a network of people. And so I, honestly, I looked at Instagram and was like, Who were these people doing cool things in Birmingham? And, like, search, I actually found your, like, your website. And was like, there was, I think you’re like, you did a coffee shop list. Yeah. Like, this is somebody I want to know, because she goes to all of these coffee shops. And so it just kind of happened organically with like, DMing people on Instagram, and then going to creative events and finding kind of places in the community where I might fit in. When I lived in St Louis, many, many many years ago, I did a lot of creative things there, and I had a really good creative community, and I wanted to foster that in Birmingham, and so I just kind of, I followed the people online that I wanted to make connections with, and then started meeting them in real life.
Carrie
Yeah, I think that’s awesome, yeah, yeah. I think it’s so you didn’t move right from St Louis? You were
Jessica Leitch
no, we have to my husband and I have hopped around Tahoe and DC and Houston. We came from Houston to here, so we’ve, we’ve kind of been nomads, for the last 10 years.
Carrie
Well, I’m from Kansas City, so that’s why I’m asking. the Kansas side, but
Jessica Leitch
clear distinction.
Carrie
Yeah, I do feel like it counts in the Midwest, like not versus the South, but like it’s still close, it’s still close. Ish, but, but it is. It is important, and so well, that’s, I think that’s awesome and helpful. Because I do think some people find it kind of like hard to break in, but it does seem like, I mean, I’ve lived here for a while, but it seems like, yeah, if you hit somebody up and are like, I like your work or whatever, it’s, most people take that pretty well,
Jessica Leitch
yeah, for sure, and every and I owe the success of the little red print shop to the community who has been really generous with their time and their space and their advice and just, you know, really supportive, like the little professor, even before, the print shop has just been like a great kind of third space. And finding those third spaces helped me build community. Because I would see people over and over at Cala and make that connection. I would talk to Meredith at little Professor every time I went to a book club. And so, kind of having those spaces that I could go and do things helped me foster that community as well.
Carrie
I think too, that’s one of my favorite things about buying local I’m pretty introverted, like in reality, not in like, podcast world, I guess. But like, I do think having kind of that third place that you’re used to going into and people start connecting with you and just having little conversations is really helpful. When I don’t just naturally walk into a room and, like, talk to people.
Jessica Leitch
100% I feel the same way, like I would not walk into a room and be like, Okay, who am I gonna like, chat with right now? I would be like, can I hide behind this book? Yeah? Like, survey the room, yeah.
Carrie
But having that little coffee conversation or book conversation is a really good opener. Yes, and they’ve both been on the podcast. We’ll link them in the show notes, but they were both great, yeah, obviously. Well, okay, so you so it started with the, well, didn’t really start with the little red print shop, but kind of like that.
Jessica Leitch
That catapulted it. Yeah, that I was doing some linocut. I had done Linocut maybe 10 years ago, and I broke out the tool last summer, and was like, had a dusty old block that was like, falling to pieces. But I was like, I was like, I’m gonna try to carve something. My kids really into strawberries. I’m gonna do that. Yeah. And so I carved it, and I posted pictures of it on Instagram, because I was like, look at the stuff I’m making. And people were like, can I buy this? Like, can you buy this? Actually maybe Yes!
Carrie
sounds like a good idea. Yeah. So were you working as an artist before? Were you working as a designer, or was that just, like a hobby, completely a hobby?
Jessica Leitch
Yeah, that was totally a hobby. I’ve always had. I worked in brand marketing for a really long time, and that was my like day job. And this was I’ve just, I’ve painted, I’ve, you know, taken clay, like hand building classes. I just like to do creative things and try all of the creative outlets. And linocut kind of stuck this last year, which is, it’s, it’s a very satisfying medium to me, because you get instant gratification. It’s like, knitting is great, but like, hours and hours and hours of knitting, and, like, I can’t read patterns to make a sweater, so like, knitting is just very hard for my brain, yeah, but linocut I can carve something out and then immediately print it and see, and it’s so satisfying to, like, see what you’ve carved when you make the print, and then you just, it’s immediate.
Carrie
yeah?
Jessica Leitch
And so that’s that’s been really satisfying, yeah. And I can make multiple of them from the same thing, which was my struggle with painting. I really like painting. But then there’s just the One Piece. And so that’s another, another reason I like the block printing.
Carrie
Yeah, when it as far as like making accessible art, it seems like that if you can do something repeatedly, it’s easier to get it to a lower price point,
Jessica Leitch
100% and it’s still a handmade piece. It’s still an original piece. And you’ll see that on if you look at some of the art pieces, you’ll see where there are lines and kind of the print is a little bit different each time, because they are all hand printed. Yeah. So I like that aspect that it’s still original, it’s still a handmade piece. But for me as the artist, it’s easier to replicate over and over.
Carrie
Yeah, you can see the lines you use, obviously, good paper that has texture. And I feel like also you can kind of see the paint lying on top of it too. So it’s like, obviously a handmade piece. It doesn’t which is really cool. Obviously, like, I have some prints, and then I had the advent calendar,
Jessica Leitch
yes, the tiny print advent calendar.
Carrie
that was very exciting. Well, because also I was like, Well, I can buy the advent calendar, and then I’ll have all these little prints, so I could use it over and over as an advent calendar, or just frame, like, four of the prints, or something like that. And
Jessica Leitch
my mom actually used the princess gift tags last Christmas. She opened the advent Calendar, and then, like, use the prints as gift tags.
Carrie
That’s really cute.
Jessica Leitch
Yeah. I love that they like got second and third uses, yeah,
Carrie
yeah. So when you have an idea, like the Advent Calendar. Or, what are you like? Are, is it? What’s your process for finding ideas? You just see something, you’re like, oh, gosh, I could do that. Or, because I think you have, like, some Halloween prints and or something, some other holidays, yeah?
Jessica Leitch
Holidays kind of play into it a little bit, if it’s, you know, Halloween was fun.
Carrie
Yeah?
Jessica Leitch
Lots of people loved those ones. Valentines went crazy. Everybody loved the Valentine’s prints, which is so funny to me, because Valentine’s doesn’t really register as a holiday for me that much. But like, the Valentine’s prints sold out twice, which was amazing. So kind of seasonally the advent calendar. I was actually like, looking at advent calendars for my kid, and I was like, oh, like, what’s out there? What can I do for her this year? Yeah. And I saw these, like, other, like, a tea Advent calendar and a coffee Advent calendar, and I was like, what if, yeah, I made tiny, like, 24 tiny prints into an Advent calendar, and just kind of rolled with it? And it was a lot of work. I only did 35 of them because I printed something like 700 and I don’t know, 24 times 35 whatever that number is. I think it’s in the 700s. Yeah, and I had to carve, like, 24 new blocks. And it was just like, I took it, I, like, had this idea in October, and then wanted to get it out in November. So it was a rushed idea that that worked out really well for me, and I’ll bring it back this year. I’ve already had people messaging me in March, April, being like, Hey, are you doing the tiny prints advent calendar again? Yeah. So it was a hit,
Carrie
yeah? No, I was wondering, because everything came in an envelope, obviously. So it had like, the number, yeah, so you also had to print the numbers. I did, and I did, like, it came with, like, the twine and the little bitty clothes pins, yeah? So I was thinking, like, I’ll have to find that stuff. But no, it was all it was all together.
Carrie
yeah, No, it was my like, I wanted something that, when you opened it up, you didn’t have to do any extra work for it, it was just something that you hang Yeah. But I did have to source lots of different things all over the internet, yeah, to find and, like, finding an envelope that is the size, because the tiny print is a really strange size to fit into the cardboard sleeve and the vending machine. And so finding an envelope that fit it was just like pure luck that the internet had this size envelope that fits the tiny print.
Carrie
Yeah, that I didn’t even think about that, yeah. Well, and also you have to these have to dry, right? So, like, how do you have a space you do this at home? Is that correct? So, and you have a toddler or?
Jessica Leitch
I do, yeah, she’s two and a half.
Carrie
okay so, how do you have, like, I used to do a tiny little screen printing thing in my house, and I would like, you know, prop up all the cards to dry for hours or whatever. But how do you have, like, so many, like, tiny prints, advent calendars, all this stuff, and even have, how do you dry them? Like, store them? Yeah,
Jessica Leitch
thank you. Facebook marketplace, for that rack that I bought. Yeah, I was doing it all in my kitchen for a while, like, first, when I first started, and I had a rack that sat there, and it was kind of like, Charlotte, please don’t touch these prints. Yeah, she was pretty good about it, but that we have a in our guest room, there’s like a walk in closet, and it was just like holding all my husband’s tools. And I was like, Hey, I think it’s time to move your tools and make this a tiny closet studio. So I do have a tiny closet studio that has a bit of drying space, but I also do them in rounds, so the ink I use takes 24 hours to dry. So I’ll do rounds of prints. So I’ll be printing like every night during the week, But not, you know, I don’t print them all at once. I print them and then I scoot them off the drying rack, and then I add more onto the drying rack. So, yeah,
Carrie
yeah. Well, I mean, that’s, it’s a process.
Jessica Leitch
It is definitely a process, yeah?
Carrie
So for the vending machine, it. That more because you’re selling them for $1 so there’s a lot of labor to go into $1 so is it, is, are you making a profit on those? Or is it more like the vending machine is kind of like a, not a loss leader, but kind of like a, it’s a really interesting thing that connects people to your brand.
Jessica Leitch
The vending machine is a promotional tool. It’s not a big source of income, for sure. I’ve actually looked into doing some different prints in there that are not the hand printed ones, just because the cost of $1 print and all of the labor that goes into it does kind of, yeah, not balance in in the black, yeah. So, but it, but it also, like you said, connects people. It gives people a little bit of joy, and then they know the little red print shop makes these prints, and can see kind of bigger prints around town,
Carrie
yeah, well, and that’s how I, like, I saw a vending machine. It was like, Oh my gosh, that’s so cute, like, and then I think I followed you on Instagram because of that, and then I saw the advent calendar. So I do think that is that does work. Yeah, this is a very specific, random question. But do you do the places you haven’t have people asking them for quarters all the time? Or, okay,
Jessica Leitch
no joke, I have $100 in quarters in my bag right now that I’m dropping off at little professor.
Carrie
Okay, so you’re actually changing out this
Jessica Leitch
if they ask for them some like, Cala, Cala and little professor, because they’re mainstays for the vending machines, I will go do like, a quarter trade for them every once in a while, just to make sure they’re stocked up.
Carrie
I mean, that’s an that’s an amazing like, that’s so we just read like unreasonable hospitality. And I feel like, as a two year vendor, it’s really unreasonable hospitality to be like, I know people are gonna be asking you for quarters, so let me change them out. Is really awesome, yeah?
Jessica Leitch
I mean, I’d like to think through everything so that the end customer doesn’t come to you and say, Hey, can I have quarters? But you’re like, Oh, I’m out of quarters. Like, I wanted to be a good experience for both the host of the vending machine and also the person trying to get a print from the vending machine. But also, people roll up with their like, you know, rolls of quarters that they got from the bank. And already, no joke, I’ve seen people come with their, like, rolls of quarters to get all of the prints in a vending machine, which is the most fun and the most flattering thing to me. Like, I love the people are so excited about these prints.
Carrie
Well, and that’s so cool, like, because you can also sit in the coffee shop or sit at little professor. Do you like is it? Are you? Do you feel like a spy when you’re watching that? Are you wanting to say, like, that’s mine or?
Jessica Leitch
Yeah, spy sounds a lot cooler than I feel. I mean, a little bit I like, you know, I’m having coffee, or I’m working and answering emails, and I see somebody get excited about it and dig in their bag for quarters, and I’m like, sitting there creeping on them. I feel a little bit of a creep more than a spy, but it is. It’s so fun. I never say anything, because that is so weird to me to be, oh, thank you for buying one of my prints, right? You have that moment, and it brings me joy to see you getting fun out of that moment. So, yeah, yeah. It’s really fun for me to see it. I never interact with that person.
Carrie
No. I mean, I think that’s probably best, but, yeah. But it would, yeah. I would think it would like, feel pretty cool.
Jessica Leitch
It feels super cool.
Carrie
Yeah, so a little professor, you, I don’t know if you have a vending machine or you just have, you have, like, a wall of prints there now, right?
Jessica Leitch
Yeah, I have both. So they have a permanent vending machine, and they I also, I like emailed Meredith, and I was like, Hey, I don’t want to open a retail shop, because, gosh, that sounds really hard and like a lot more money than I have currently, but I do want a space that people can see all my prints all the time, because I’ve done a lot of markets and pop ups and will continue to but it was really nice to have, like, a permanent space. And Meredith was like, 100% I have a wall for you. Yeah, let’s go. ]
Carrie
That’s awesome.
Jessica Leitch
It’s so awesome. Meredith has been so wonderful. Anytime I’ve been like, hey, I want to try this. She’s like, yes, yes. Let’s do it in our space. Let’s see what happens. Yeah, and the response has been really great. Yeah, it’s, you know, it’s great. I have a farmer’s market collection that I’ve kind of been rolling out over the last month. And with the pepper place farmers market there, it’s like a it’s a good fit.
Carrie
Yeah, exactly. So how did, how does running a market work for you? Are you? Do you? Do you have a booth everywhere? Do you share or like, did you kind of stumble into that? Like, tell me about what that process was like.
Jessica Leitch
Yeah. Um, so when was, gosh, I don’t even remember the first market that I did. something in the holidays. I’m sure. Actually, even before that I was I asked Meredith, at little professor. I was like, Hey, can I just pop up here on a Saturday morning? And she was like, we would love to have you in store on a Saturday morning. So I go and pop up for four hours and sell my prints as a little pop up. And so I’ve done that at a couple different places. I did that at Cala coffee as well. And I just pop up my table with all of my prints, and then there for a few hours. for bigger markets, like I did the Cahaba market, and I’ve done a market with Studio by the tracks, so kind of plugged into community markets around and then in February of this year, I was chatting with Cala about doing a pop up pre Valentine’s Day. And I was also chatting with a couple other small businesses in the area, makers. And Josh was like, Yeah, you can use our whole patio. Like, let’s fit as many vendors as we can, which turns out to be six. Yeah, it’s not, it’s not a ton, small space, but we had what we’re calling the local love market. That’s awesome in February, and then we did another one in March, at houseplant collective. So it’s kind of made its way. It’s popping up around. We’re doing one at little professor in Homewood in April, April 26 Yeah, in the morning. And then another one at Cala in June. So it’s kind of a fun market series where other creatives, makers, business, small businesses in Birmingham, get to jump in and kind of sell their goods. And it’s been really fun. The folks coming out want to shop local, which is great, yeah. Want to connect with these people making these goods. So, and it’s a much smaller market too, which sometimes the bigger ones can feel overwhelming. There’s a lot going on. So it’s been really fun to do the smaller ones?
Carrie
Well, I feel like, for the big markets, there’s also a big investment of, like, first of all, that, can you even get into pepper place market? I think that’s kind of tough. And then it’s like, you running a whole booth, and it’s just like, a whole deal,
Jessica Leitch
yeah,
Carrie
it does seem like a smaller market, or market in a pop up in a shop is, like, it’s still a deal, but not, yeah, not at the same level.
Jessica Leitch
It’s way more accessible. And, like, I would love to be at pepper place. I just was kind of just starting out when the application was due last year, and so that, you know, they’re pretty tight on there. It’s only in September, you do the application, and that’s for the next year. So there are some markets where I’ve just missed the deadline for those bigger things, but it is nicer. And all of these places have been so accommodating to be like, yes, come into our space and use it. It’s like, here for you, yeah, which is nice because obviously I don’t have a physical space. Yeah, it’s been great.
Carrie
Yeah. Well, that’s fun. So are those markets kind of like, are they just your group that’s put together? Like, are you connecting them? Is it the shop? Okay,
Jessica Leitch
yeah, for the local love ones, it’s me. It’s all folks that I know. So Josh at Cala coffee, and Meredith, at little professor, Jess at houseplant collective, I’ve kind of reached out and been like, Hey, I would like to pop up here with some other people, yeah? And they’re like, yes, yeah, come and use our space.
Carrie
I think something like that is kind of nice too. I think other mark, like a market that has just a variety, is also cool. But I kind of like it when it’s a little more curated, and it’s like, if you like this, you’re probably gonna like the other things, yes, so yeah, I think that’s helpful. And then you have everybody obviously promoting it. And,
Jessica Leitch
yeah, it’s been really fun. Yeah, I’ve really enjoyed doing it. It’s not what the little red print shop was gonna be, but events, I have a background in events, and so it just kind of felt natural to be like, Hey, let me throw a couple more people onto this pop up and make a Bigger thing about it.
Carrie
yeah. So you have a background in events and branding, it seems like those come in handy.
Jessica Leitch
Super handy, yes. Yeah, I don’t think the Little Rock print shop would be where it is if I didn’t have a background in marketing or background in events and logistics. Yeah.
Carrie
So is that, I mean, is it, does it feel fun? Does it feel like, okay, well, I don’t have a budget like I did before, or is it kind of like I’m getting to promote something I love? Like, how is that different than when you did it for a company or whatever?
Jessica Leitch
I mean, previous employers, Close your ears, but it was, it’s so much more fun. Yeah, it’s something that I’m creative creating. It’s something I’m really proud of, and it’s fun for me to connect with people who are buying my art like that is the coolest thing to me, is somebody is looking at this and being like, I want to hang this in my house, or I want to give this to my sister, and like, coming and buying something that I made. So marketing that has been way more fun, yeah, and it’s just for me personally, it’s easier for me to market something that I am deeply invested in than something that I’m just like, not.
Carrie
Yeah, exactly. I think that may that makes total sense. Like, I yeah, my I’m kind of my wheels. I’m like, I wish people could hire you as a consultant. Maybe they can’t. Maybe that’s not what you want to do. But I do think like so like that those sides of it are a struggle for a lot of people starting out, like, because they don’t know what to do with brands, branding, marketing, markets. And so a lot of times it’ll take, like, three years to kind of struggle through it and make a lot of mistakes before you figure that out.
Jessica Leitch
Yes.
Carrie
So it is kind of nice to be like, I actually know what to do. Like,
Jessica Leitch
yeah, and not that I’ve even known what to do. I’ve just, you know, I’ve a lot of folks have felt like getting all of the business side of things has been hard. And I don’t know if that’s a Birmingham thing or if that’s just a owning a business thing,
Carrie
I think it’s both.
Jessica Leitch
But like, finding the resources that you need has been challenging. And so, you know, folks have been like Jess watts at houseplant collective has been so generous with her advice and help in. Here’s where you get these licenses, and here’s what you need to do next, and here’s the site where you pay your taxes. Yes, there’s no like one stop shop that’s telling you all of this stuff right now.
Carrie
It’s pretty normal. I don’t think I know a. Business owner that I’ve talked to about this that isn’t like, oh, I owed these taxes that no one ever told me about. How could I have ever known? It’s like, two years later, like, whoops.
Jessica Leitch
Like, you don’t know until you know, but nobody’s telling you what to know.
Carrie
Yeah, I think before I end a business, I had this idea that there was, like, it was just an organized list. Like, operating as a consumer and as a business owner are, like, totally different. Even with vendors, I feel like, as a consumer, people are supposed to send me the stuff, like, I order a thing online. It comes to me, it comes on time, or they give me something If it doesn’t. Vendors is kind of like it wasn’t there. Deal with it, like it’s just so everything is different. It’s so much chaos.
Jessica Leitch
yeah, yeah. And it’s, yeah. I would love if there were just, like a list, a checklist, of all the things to do to open a business and, like, if you Google it, there’s like, lists out there, but you’re like, who is telling you this information? Yeah, am I missing a step? So without paying lots of money to somebody to, like, set this all up for you, it was, yeah, a little and I didn’t have lots of money to set all this up at the time I started this side project.
Carrie
Yeah,
Jessica Leitch
so, so that part was hard. But the, you know, kind of the pop ups and the events and kind of how to build the business slowly in the community, I feel like I did. I knew a little bit of how to do it from just doing that for work and then, yeah, obviously chatting with a lot of these community partners was really helpful.
Carrie
Was the main way that I follow your Instagram is that the main way you get information out. Are there other
Jessica Leitch
Yeah, so Instagram is a great way. I will post all of my workshops and pop ups there. I also have an email list on my website, thelittleredprintshop.com, and you can sign up to get emails. I send one email a month, yeah, maybe two if I’m feeling it, but you get one, you’re not getting overly spammed, and it just lists all of the events and happenings for the month.
Carrie
Yeah, that’s awesome. Well and I think that email lists, I feel like have kind of come back in the past few years or whatever. I think somebody told me, like 60% of nonprofit funding comes from, like, newsletters. I don’t know, if that’s correct
Jessica Leitch
I believe it. I mean, but yeah, the Yeah, when I worked in brand marketing, the majority of our sales came from email newsletters versus seeing something on Instagram. So Instagram is a great place for me to connect with a new audience. And obviously I can make a Reel showing my process a lot easier on Instagram than I can send it through email. But email is a great space for workshop sign ups for me and just kind of connecting in a different way.
Carrie
Yeah. Okay, so we’ve talked a little about events, and then you mentioned workshops. Can you tell me, like, what, especially the workshops, like, what does that involve? What? What happens at a workshop? How did this come about?
Jessica Leitch
Yeah, so I have a couple different workshops that I do. I have just your basic linocut printing. So folks come totally beginner friendly. I provide templates, or they can bring their own artwork. I teach them how to transfer the image onto the block and carve the block fully, and then we print that image, and they leave with finished prints. So it’s a two hour workshop, start to finish. You’re learning the whole process. It’s very like simple. There’s that you don’t have to be overly artistic to do it. It’s a very fun, like, hands on, tactile thing.
Carrie
Are they like drawing their own image, or is it you have something
Jessica Leitch
they can or I provide templates of things that they can use that image and carve that so up to them on how, how artistic they want to get. Yeah, and I have, like, my class is split about 50/50 like 50% of folks come in with something that they want to draw, or they’re drawing there, and 50% come in with either something that they’ve printed off or using one of the templates.
Carrie
Yeah,
Jessica Leitch
yeah. So it’s fun. And then I have a print making DIY, which is like an ink your own print. So I bring pre carved blocks.
Carrie
Okay,
Jessica Leitch
so the carving aspect is out of it, and it’s a, it’s a cheaper price point, too. And then you print to prints, so you learn, like, the inking process and the transfer process, but you don’t have to carve anything, yeah? And those happen at breweries a lot. Yeah. It’s like a very fun, like, DIY takes you, I don’t know, 30 to 40 minutes, yeah, to come out and print that
Carrie
you can go with, like, a friend and just like, hang out. And, yeah, yeah.
Jessica Leitch
So those, those are kind of my two options. And I’ve done the workshops I do monthly at Cala coffee, and then I have a two color workshop at make bham, so I teach you how to print with two colors on a print. And those are also monthly. And then there’s a couple other workshops that pop up around town,
Carrie
yeah. So you can almost go through a whole process. You could go to inking first, and then you can go to the one where you cut it, and then you can do a multi print.
Jessica Leitch
I have had people do exactly that. Yes, they come. So the ink your own print came about because I worked with chasm on her craft club at Cahaba brewing. And so I joined her for a couple sessions, and we did the ink your own print for folks. And a lot of those folks were like, Wait, we really like this. And then they came out to a workshop, yeah? And then if they want to level up into two color they can come to make the ham and do some two color workshops.
Carrie
Yeah, it’s fun when you do two color is it the same block? Or is it?
Jessica Leitch
This class, it is. Yeah, there are some blocks I use that are two different blocks, but that’s a little bit more involved. You have to account for drying time. So it’s more like a two day, maybe in the future, yes, but for right now, it’s, um, it’s called the jigsaw block. So you carve it all together and then you cut it where the colors are gonna be different, yeah, you ink it separately and put it back together like a puzzle.
Carrie
Okay, interesting, yeah, all right, yeah. So different than screen printing, but still finicky
Jessica Leitch
Oh 100% yes. I mean, you do a lot of test printing before we do our final prints, so that folks can kind of get an understanding of it. But yeah, it’s very much like I cross my fingers every single time I pull a print up, yeah, that it transferred properly, or I rubbed hard enough, or I put enough ink on the block.
Carrie
Yeah, yeah.
Jessica Leitch
Screen printing is a whole nother piece.
Carrie
Oh, yeah. Well, cool. So it’s so, yeah, you have them at breweries or at Cala coffee, so there’s, like, people can hang out, get something to drink, all that,
Jessica Leitch
yes.
Carrie
And then, did the events come from the workshops? Or did you do events first? Or, like, how does
Jessica Leitch
I did workshops first. studio By the tracks actually reached out and was Like, hey, we’d love for you to come teach a workshop. So I put together a whole plan for a workshop, and it went really well. And I thought, Man, I really love teaching people how to do this.
Carrie
Yeah.
Jessica Leitch
It really snowballed from there, and now I think in April, I have four, five workshops, that I’m doing that vary from like the basic all the way up to the two color
Carrie
Yeah,
Jessica Leitch
and it’s really fun for me to get to share it with folks, yeah, such, I hesitate to say it’s an easy medium, but it is very beginner friendly,
Carrie
yeah. Well, I think that makes sense. And I think a lot of it’s, it seems like something that even you can enjoy as a workshop, but still, your prints are valuable also because you’re you do the illustrations yourself, right?
Jessica Leitch
Yeah.
Carrie
So, like, I think a lot of like, you are kind of on trend as far as what you’re doing. So even, yeah, so even, even if you’re like, I learned how to do this myself, I think I would still be buying prints, because, like, my interpretation, even if I buy a kit to do at home and what year printing, are going to be very different.
Jessica Leitch
Yes, I haven’t been worried that. Like, oh my gosh, somebody’s gonna, like, learn this, and then I’m gonna have a competitor in the market. If somebody learns it and has their own style to do it, that’s so cool. And like, yes, let’s print together, yeah. But I think of this more as, like, a lot of folks are just coming because they want a two hour time block where they’re not doing something on their phone or, like, watching something. Yeah, they, you know, it’s just like a nice time to connect with, like, they come with friends, and it’s a good way to connect and do something tactile and really fun.
Carrie
Yeah, so how do you find out about trends? Is it just, like noticing this? That’s the thing,
Jessica Leitch
yeah, just, I don’t know, like, everybody’s like, Oh, like, they see my sardines print at a market, and they’re like, oh, sardines are everywhere right now. And it’s like, Yes, I also noticed that and made a sardine. Yeah, I’m not super fond of sardines. Like, I actually would not open a can of meat one, yeah, but I do love the print I made.
Carrie
Yeah, it’s really cute.
Jessica Leitch
Yeah, thanks, yeah. So, yeah, it’s just like, noticing what’s going on around, and also, just like seasonally the Farmers Market is happening. So back in January, I was drawing, like, what fruits and veggies I wanted to have, for the farmers market. So, yeah, it’s kind of just everywhere.
Carrie
Yeah. Well, and I’m a good I’m assuming you kind of have a mix of stuff that you’re like, hey, this is selling a lot, so I’m gonna make this and then I just love this one.
Jessica Leitch
Yeah, I’m trying to think about the I just love this one, yeah, it’s funny. I just love the rainbow trout. I have a really big rainbow trout.
Carrie
Yeah, it’s really cool.
Jessica Leitch
I used a lot of colors on and I really love it. I think people are intimidated by the size, which is so funny to me, because it’s only 11 by 14, which, when you look at it next to my five by seven prints, it looks really large. But when you hang it on a wall, it actually, like, is not that long, yeah? But folks are always like, oh, that’s just too big. Like, I wish it was in a smaller size, so it tows the lines of being really popular, but, like, also not selling,
Carrie
yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. I wonder if there’s, like, a way to get it in front of the front of the lake house crowd?
Jessica Leitch
Yes, yeah. Well, that’s who’s buying it. They’re like, Oh my this is for my grandpa, for his lakehouse, or, yeah,
Carrie
yeah. Well, that’s really cool. So when you do events, it’s not really like a workshop, right? Is it more like a the vending machine when you do events?
Jessica Leitch
Yes, yeah. So I do, I do do private workshops for folks. So if you have a like, group of 12 to 15 people, you’re like, we would love to do a carving workshop. Like, let’s do it, yeah. But I also do event pop ups with the vending machine, so you can rent the vending machine and commission some custom prints For it, and I will bring it out to your event. So really, specifically, weddings, yeah, you can use my whole catalog of prints. So if you have a funny story that includes butter and you, like, really want your wedding to have a butter print, yeah, let’s do that. But I’m working on one right now that’s the venue for the couple, and then their wedding cake with their wedding date and their initials on it, and then a couple other fun Birmingham themed prints in it,
Carrie
yeah,
Jessica Leitch
yeah. It’s, it’s a very fun, like, unique favor to give to folks. And the vending machines at these private events are free, so nobody needs quarters. Yeah, you just push the little slot in and get your print immediately. So, yeah, that’s really fun.
Carrie
Yeah, that’s such a cute that’s such a cute favor. That’s awesome.
Jessica Leitch
Yeah,
Carrie
yeah. So they could, yeah, like, you said they could say, like, here are some just not generic, but like, here are some, like, love prints, or here are some whatever. Or they can get, like, a special,
Jessica Leitch
yes, like, I have a whole catalog of prints that you can pick from. Or I, you’re like, oh, man, we really want our dog to be on the print. Which, yeah, would be like, a question mark for me, because I don’t love to do people’s dogs because don’t feel like I’m super strong at drawing animals.
Carrie
Well, it’s hard to get the I would think it would be hard to get the whatever feature makes it look like your dog,
Jessica Leitch
yes,
Carrie
in that kind of print style.
Jessica Leitch
yes, because you like, I could probably draw your dog, yeah. But then translating it to print with limited colors, it’s like, the hardest thing for anything. When I’m printing, it’s like, how do I get this text? I have to create texture, yeah, or I do a lot with blended colors to kind of bring it to life. But, you know, a lot of times it’s like, how do I make this look like this? And so, yeah, so maybe not your dog,
Carrie
yeah, yeah.
Jessica Leitch
Any any custom, like, I don’t know, we have like, this inside joke about strawberries, and we’d love a strawberry print. So, yeah,
Carrie
that’s awesome. Yeah, we did have a like this a listener question. This is from Heidi, and I think she’s years of happiness on Instagram. But she was asking, What do you want to do that you haven’t done yet?
Jessica Leitch
Print wise?
Carrie
I think she meant business wise. You go both like, yeah, yeah, in your life, like, what do you have your bucket list? Can you show us? is there anything, I guess, with the print shop first that you’re like, this would be fun, or I or, or is it just kind of like you explore it as it comes up, you know?
Jessica Leitch
Yeah, it really is. I explore it as it comes up. I feel like I’m in a great place right now. I love doing the workshops. I love doing the pop ups. I love to just make new prints, I guess, like, you can’t hear it on my instagram videos, and maybe I should leave the sound on for you guys to enjoy. Like, I squeal sometimes when I peel up the print and see something that I’ve made. And like, I have moments of joy doing that. So, you know, yeah, I just feel like it’s in a really good place. Sure. I’d love more people to buy more prints so I can continue to make prints. And I think that the biggest like for the future would be the vending machine turning into more private Event Rentals and more weddings. Yeah, just more prints in the world.
Carrie
Yeah.
Jessica Leitch
There’s no like, big next step, other than sharing my art with everybody.
Carrie
yeah, well, I mean, that’s a good, that’s, that’s a good next step,
Jessica Leitch
yeah,
Carrie
and it’s kind of nice, especially with a small business, to be able to kind of, like, ride the wave of whatever is popular at that point. Yes, you’ve done like, so you’ve got an you’ve you’re in Cala and little professor, and then you’ve been in other businesses too, right? Like, is that because they see you in one of those businesses, or they see your Instagram? Or,
Jessica Leitch
Yes, when I, so, I popped the first machine up at Cala in August, and lots of people had seen him were like, Hey, can we have this at our shop? And so we did it at the houseplant collective. We did, cala’sdowntown location. I did daily edition in West Homewood, little professors Homewood shop. So it’s kind of popped up in other places from people reaching out because they either saw it on Instagram or saw it in the place, which, when I only had one vending machine, that was kind of it, like the vending machine would live for months at different spots around town, and that would be the fun of it. But then Cala was like, Hey, can we get a permanent one? And he was like, hmm, should I buy another vending machine? The Cala crowd loves these prints and goes through enough of them that I was, yeah, okay, I will invest in another vending machine and have a year round vending machine. So then I was at two, and then the little Professor happened, that partnership happened, and I was gonna have all of my prints there. And I thought, well, if I have all of my prints there, have to have a tiny print vending machine there as well. So then I bought a third tiny print vending machine, so I still have the one that kind of pops up around town. And then I bought a fourth vending machine, so it could be the private rental vending machine, so I have a vending machine that is free,
Carrie
yeah,
Jessica Leitch
and it is for private Event Rentals and weddings. And then I the third one. So there’s one at Cala coffee, one at little professor, the third one’s actually in Nashville right now, at LadyBird taco, because I had done some work with them here locally. And they were like, hey, we’d love to have this in Nashville. And I thought I would love to put it in Nashville. So. Yeah, that’s up there for the month of April, yeah, and then it’ll come back and kind of float around,
Carrie
yeah, yeah. Well, that seems like a perfect place also, yeah, because you popped up in the mountain Brook one.
Jessica Leitch
I did, yeah, at least a little bit, yeah, it was a tiny little pop up.
Carrie
Yeah, I’m there a lot, so we live very close to it. But yeah, they seem like a good kind of a good fit, too. And that, yeah, you’ve done, didn’t you do a market in another like, you’ve, you’ve done some events that aren’t in Alabama, right? Or
Jessica Leitch
I just popped up when I went to deliver the machine, to Ladybird last weekend, I popped up there as well and did a little pop up shop that was really fun, really great. The Nashville crowd was like, We love this. Yeah, are buying it?
Carrie
Yeah, awesome.
Jessica Leitch
Super validating to hear that it exists outside of just Birmingham.
Carrie
Yeah. So if people are looking to buy, and of course, like, go look at a vending machine. Like, go to little professor so you can see more prints. But is Etsy a good place for you, or is it go to your website directly? Or,
Jessica Leitch
yeah, you can definitely find me on Etsy. Yeah, that’s where I sell. All over the country. On Etsy, you can obviously go to thelittleredprintshop.com and kind of see all of the workshops my Etsy shop is linked there all of the places where you can find a vending machine. It’s a hub for all of the information. But yeah, Etsy is a great place if you want to buy and you don’t want to go down to little professor, but also shop local and go to little professor,
Carrie
definitely. Yeah, um, but. And do you have, like, but you have some bigger print? Do you have, like, the fish print on the Etsy store? And is that at little professor?
Jessica Leitch
I do have the fish print on the Etsy store. And I have the big sunflowers on the Etsy store, but those are, I have to ship them in a tube,
Carrie
yeah? Okay,
Jessica Leitch
so if you want that, buy it locally,
Carrie
yeah,
Jessica Leitch
it’ll cost you a lot more shipping.
Carrie
Has it been tough being on Etsy? Like, I feel like they are a little bit notorious for, like, punish like, if you’re on vacation for two days and then people, like, complain that you weren’t there. Like, I’ve heard a lot of vendors be like, it’s very it’s pretty difficult to
Jessica Leitch
so I just set up my shop and, like, I put on a vacation notification, yeah, and I closed my shop when I’m, like, gone for, like, I was gone for a week in February, And I just closed the shop.
Carrie
yeah? So it’s not, yeah,
Jessica Leitch
yeah. And I’m a star seller on Etsy, yeah? So, like, it’s been great to me, But it’s I’m also not getting, like, you know, mass I’m not getting 40 orders a week, yeah, that I have to be kind of on top of, but it’s been a good platform. I’ve had all the things where folks are, like, moving off of Etsy, yeah, but it’s worked for, like, the low volume. You know, a lot of my work and sales happens in person. It just is, like, the nature of, you know, pop ups and whatnot. Etsy is kind of my space to share it more because I have a big network of folks in St Louis and Houston that also wanted to buy the art that, you know, I can’t pop up there yet, so it’s a nice kind of thing to have there.
Carrie
Well and it does seem like it’s kind of accessible, when you are when it’s Like a low ish ish volume, and you’re like, it’s not ready to, like, pay for an E commerce site.
Jessica Leitch
And having come from running and, like, a Shopify, I just didn’t want to, like, do all that back end work, yeah. And when I was first starting out, like, nobody knew what the little red print shop was. So nobody was gonna be searching for the little red print shop. With Etsy, I had a built in search engine for relief prints, for block prints, for linocut, yeah, for farmers market art, for kitchen art. So using search like Etsy, search and really kind of taking advantage of their built in audience has been the best part.
Carrie
Yeah.
Jessica Leitch
Do they take a lot of fees? Sure. Like, do I wish they took less money? Yeah, but I also don’t think I would have gotten a lot of those sales on just having a website, because folks didn’t know, and still around the country don’t know who I am but are finding my art on Etsy. So I think the positives there outweigh the negatives.
Carrie
Yeah, I think that makes sense. Well and also, I would think some of your work before, kind of show, like, I would think you would approach it, you probably approach Etsy a little bit differently as far as, like, a little bit of SEO and, like the kind of like, what is selling here, what is smart to sell here?
Jessica Leitch
Yes,
Carrie
whereas some people are just like, which, I’ve done this too, but it’s like, it’s 10pm I want to start my shop like I started it, you know, and then kind of like, stumble through it. And I think then is when it can get difficult, because you can get some low ratings and it’s hard to get out of that, yeah, cycle, I guess,
Jessica Leitch
yeah. I, you know, I came from, like, the brand marketing I did was for an E commerce brand… not really, they were still in store but for a product based brand. And so I knew how to make a product listing. I knew that I needed photos, and kind of knew all of the steps that I needed to take and the SEO component, especially on Etsy. So So again, that marketing background kind of fed into this, because I knew the information I needed to give folks on these listings, and that’s why it’s been successful. I mean, it’s, it’s like just under 200 sales, which to me, feels really, Really incredible for I think I started it in maybe October, September or October of last year. So it it’s a great spot for other folks to find my work that are not in Birmingham.
Carrie
Yeah, that makes sense. well. And you mentioned, like, product photos. And you do have, we’ve talked about Instagram a few times, and you have good reels of like you making the the cut the blocks and stuff. Is that a burden for you? Is it fun? Is it both like making all of that content?
Jessica Leitch
It’s a little bit of Both. Like, you know, thank you. Shout out to another local company, Canvas, because I use their
Carrie
Oh yeah,
Jessica Leitch
tripod thing for all my things. They did not sponsor it. I just bought it because I was like, I need something to hold my phone. Honestly, don’t think about it, because I pop in an audio book and I put my phone on record,
Carrie
okay?
Jessica Leitch
And it just records the whole process for me. So like, yeah, Is it annoying that I have to, like, make sure my phone’s recording this? I will say, like, I carve a lot during the day because there’s not good light at night. So like, I can’t carve in the evenings if I want to record what I’m carving. So, like, that part’s maybe a little annoying, but I also have the time to carve during the day right now, and so
Carrie
kind of built in boundaries, like, a little
Jessica Leitch
yeah. And so yeah, I carved, like, just making sure that I know what I’m carving. And if I want to make a video about this, and I have to, like, set up the tripod and make a video, but it’s, honestly, it’s kind of easy, because the process is like, step by step. And so when I’m editing a video, it’s like, just make sure you have these six steps in there and then you’ve got your video.
Carrie
Yeah, yeah.
Jessica Leitch
And it’s been fun to explore that, but it’s another creative outlet. It’s you know. And I used to be, like, really serious about, like, oh my gosh, does the music match? And now I just like, click the trending audio, and I’m like, this is I like the sound of this? This is fun. I dance to this, so like, I throw it on the video and try not to overthink it,
Carrie
yeah?
Jessica Leitch
Because I think with social a lot of times you get burnt out if you’re overthinking and like, focusing way too much on, Oh, does this audio match what I’m doing? And like, this specific shot of it? Yeah, it’s all kind of shot from the same angle so it’s it’s not as burdensome as it might seem.
Carrie
Yeah. Well, that makes sense too, that if, especially if a variety of what you’re shooting is coming from what you’re carving and not feeling like I have to create a new scene every day, is probably good.
Jessica Leitch
yes.
Carrie
And I think that’s probably a good tip for anybody who has a small business. Like, if you can find something that is repeatable, that you can put a video on social, Like, that’s probably going to make it a lot easier,
Jessica Leitch
yeah, I mean, I have a formula down for it, yeah? And, like, sometimes I shoot in time lapse, and sometimes I shoot it in regular Yeah, those, that’s the variety of it, because it’s always
Carrie
yeah. And that’s what the Canvas does, right? It’s like a like, kind of like a lamp that has a tripod in it that will shoot like a desktop,
Jessica Leitch
yes? And it’s like, it perfect. It’s like, perfectly level, and you can kind of move it around. It’s very nice. I have both their lamp version and then just their tripod version for my desk. So I have both versions that I use, but it’s just a nice phone mount, And it makes it easy to shoot top down without other things getting in your way, or, like, having it angled a little, yeah, strangely, because I tried some other things and they didn’t work. So yeah, it’s, it’s been great. And, yeah, honestly, like, I throw my phone on there, and then I get to work, and awesome. And it’s, it works out really nicely. Yeah,
Carrie
well, good. I’m trying to think, if there’s anything else I think we talked about, like, there are actually, like, so many ways to connect with you. There’s workshops, weddings, so people should get married, so they could have a
Jessica Leitch
100% yes,
Carrie
or just have a big party,
Jessica Leitch
It’d be great for a wedding anniversary or just a birthday party,
Carrie
right? Yeah. I do think that would be super like some of those big parties are like, yeah, so big parties, they can come to workshops, they can buy prints out of the vending machines. They can buy other prints and collect and you do have different sizes, right? Like the tiny prints of the vending machines, but, yeah, there are different sizes.
Jessica Leitch
Yeah, five by seven, eight by ten and 11 by 14. So they’re all common frame sizes. So it’s very easy to frame any of them. If, yeah, I mean, not that I’m like frame my art. But if you want to frame because it is art, then yeah, it’s very accessible. Frame sizes you can find anywhere, yeah,
Carrie
yeah, awesome. Well, the best way to get in touch with you is to find you at these the find you at local shops, and sign up for a workshop, and then Instagram. What’s your Instagram?
Jessica Leitch
The little red print shop.
Carrie
Okay, we’ll link that in the show notes. The show notes, and then it’s little redprint shop.com. Is that right?
Jessica Leitch
That’s it. the little red print shop.
Carrie
Okay, cool. Yeah, awesome. Well, thank you so much.
Jessica Leitch
Thanks for having me. Yeah, it was fun to chat about this.
Carrie
Yeah, I loved it. Thanks.
Carrie
The localist podcast is written and produced by me Carrie Rollwagen and produced here at infomedia. You can find show notes about this week’s topic at carrierollwagen.com and email us suggestions about post content, interview ideas and anything else at podcast@carrierollwagen.com. our show runner is Taylor Davis. Jen Tucker is our outreach manager, and Alana Harmond is our promotions manager. So until next time. Here’s to thinking global by acting local and putting small shops before big box.