The Gray Muse Sold Tens of Thousands of Pins by Doing This
All creatives struggle with their work to some degree. Some struggle for the art itself when the inspiration won’t come. Others struggle with anything that isn’t creative, not taking advantage of marketing and promotion opportunities like we know we should.
And then there are those who struggle to maintain a healthy work/life balance because they are fulfilling tens of thousands of orders per year as a one-person business.
I met Rubeena of The Gray Muse when Threads first launched and was immediately impressed by her creative professionalism and inquisitive nature.
She is so noteworthy that my friend Lizzi and I had a sideline conversation about Rubeena and how impressive her visual branding and storytelling are across all platforms.
“I find her work to be unique and inspiring. She knows her message and clearly communicates it. Her social media demands your attention, and the high quality of her designs and products keeps you wanting more. It’s the kind of business you instantly share with your friends.”
I had to know more about The Gray Muse, so I asked Rubeena for a casual chat about her business. It’s not often I have my mind blown, but I’m sure my jaw was on my desk when she told me how much she made from her small business in 2023, breaking her own records month after month and pulling in over $900,000 (EBITA)…from pins and stickers!
But it’s not the amount of money she made that makes Rubeena so impressive. Her dedication to her brand and her unwavering desire to succeed gave me chills during our chat. By the end of this, you’ll see…
How a simple act of creativity made her change careers
How a casual experiment became an inflection point, turning a hobby into a business
How a detailed focus on product and branding can make a big difference
How life sometimes deals you unexpected challenges that will change you in good ways.
From Hobbyist to Cottage Industry
After graduating college, Rubeena started her career as a social worker, making just over $50k a year. Doing the math, if she put in her time making strategic moves in her career, within ten years, she could bring in around $75,000.
At the time, that seemed like a reasonable career trajectory, and she was happy with it, except she caught the crafting bug and started making hand-stamped and designed cards. She mainly gave them away until people told her she should sell them.
As any creative person does in that scenario, Rubeena opened an Etsy shop, and her creative side hustle was born. The cards were fun for a while, but she wanted to expand her product line and placed her first order of enamel pins on a whim. Little did she know then that it would become the moment that changed her business forever.
From Amateur to Business Pro
The pins were a hit, and Rubeena knew she had something special on her hands. She rebranded and doubled down on pins, which is the first piece of wisdom she shared with me.
If 20% of what you sell makes 80% of your money, put 100% of your energy into the thing that makes the money.
Instead of being precious about everything she was making before, she put most of her energy into pins because they were the product customers wanted most, and that bet paid off. Her business has grown year after year until a dip in 2024 (which I’ll explain later).
Tough Love Moment: Adding more art or products that don’t sell only creates more work to stay the same level of broke. Take it from someone who tried to add too many products to my collection back when I actually sold products, and don’t know because I didn’t know this rule.
Pretty Pictures and Words
Rubeena’s business savvy doesn’t stop there, though. Although she had no formal business training in school, she is a quick study. She spent her time learning best practices on design, branding, and writing copy that makes people feel things. Those feeling moments have helped bring in more customers over the years and solidified her proof of concept.
Spend time on the Instagram account and website to see what I mean. Very few shops have their visual storytelling on lock like The Gray Muse, and there would be worse ways to spend your time than studying her methods thoroughly.
Rubeena Ianigro
Sometimes Life Says, “Whoa!”
In the latter part of 2023, Rubeena gave birth to her second child, and with that came an entirely new set of challenges. This baby was not like her first, and it upended her life. Her time as a mother had quickly become more necessary, and the business slowed considerably.
Rubeena openly admitted that 2024 will likely not reach the same level of success as the previous year, which was a tough pill to swallow. Still, she understands her assignment right now and is kinder to herself by prioritizing her family's needs.
She’s still killing it with sales this year, and the approaching holiday season may bring about big orders to compensate, which is why she’s also become terrific and handing off jobs in her business that she doesn’t want to manage.
Delegate Everything You Can
Rubeena loves the creative side of the business. She also loves the business side of the company, learning new ways to improve and scale her business (baby or no baby), but there are things she knows she can do but would instead hand off to someone more talented with the time to do those things.
She’s contracting photographers to take her photos, social media assistants to manage her content, and even her teenage nephew to help fulfill orders (until he left her high and dry to chase his college dream. Ugh, whatever, damn kids and their desire for higher education).
Delegating these duties to others gives Rubeena the space to handle the parts of her business where she knows she can do the most good. She’s not too proud to recognize that reinvesting in good talent will strengthen her business.
Answering the Call
I’d like to believe that Lizzi and I were the first people to recognize Rubeena’s creative genius, but many people have noticed how well she’s doing. I’m sure she gets hit up constantly by other creatives asking to pick her brain, looking to tap into her wisdom.
Knowing how savvy she is about business, it didn’t surprise me when she told me today that she’s ready to start sharing her wisdom with others to help them grow. The core aspect of The Gray Muse is about assisting others to find joy and creativity; now, she wants to be more tactical with those lessons.
If you run a creative business and are tired of running the rat race of social media but getting no new customers, clients, or sales, join the Hungry, where we discuss marketing strategy, content, and customer relationships that last.
