Building a multimillion dollar business from a small etsy shop and no business degree, she changed the trajectory of her life and built something unstoppable
Kirstie Rickert
Going after what we want takes a great amount of faith and courage, and Kirstie Rickert of AmourPrints is no stranger to that experience. Building a multimillion dollar business from a small etsy shop and no business degree, she changed the trajectory of her life and built something unstoppable. From the very beginning, Kirstie has been adamant of following this purpose that only she believed in and it paid off and quieted the voice that spoke doubt in her direction.
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“I was really excited about wanting to start a business, I didn’t think it was something I couldn’t do,” she explains. “My family and I are very different; they have college degrees and white collar jobs and I just never wanted that for myself. However, I did try to go to college, but my motivations were for my business idea, not a degree.”
Kirstie couldn’t have gone through with her business idea until she learned more about herself first. Her first job was a life changer for her and was the starting point that led her into the future of her company and the start of something new.
“When I was seventeen, I was incredibly shy, awkward, and struggled with being outgoing. My first job was as a restaurant balloon artist; I made balloon animals for people that were dining there and it was probably the most scared I’d been because I wasn’t really talking or smiling,” Kirstie says. “My boss pulled me aside and told me that I had to do my job with more friendliness and be more outgoing or he was going to fire me.” she laughed a little. “It’s funny now, but then I was terrified! I didn’t want to be fired so I decided for that one day I was going to believe in myself and it was all I needed to survive my first day and I started choosing to trust myself everyday and that was the foundation of AmourPrints.”
Kirstie made a bold move when she dropped out of college to run her Etsy shop full time. After getting it set up and established in 2013, she made the leap, panicking a few friends and family members in the process. “From the very first sale, I was so excited to just be doing what I loved,” she said smiling. Her and her fiance worked together to build her business even after an Etsy error took down her shop. They got their shop back up and running shortly after.
After Kirstie got engaged, she and her fiance worked together to automate the processes of her business. Both left college to run AmourPrints. She worked on the design and marketing and her fiance printed and shipped the orders.
Despite the hard work and the sales, Kirstie and her fiance were still battling the opinions and comments from relatives about their business endeavours. “Our families would often express their concern for our decision to not go to college. They feared we were making a terrible decision and suggested many other occupations which we refused to do,” she explained. Shortly after the two got married, they had a sign of good faith when their business had its first big month and they could miraculously live on their own. During the time they moved out, they put even more into their business. By the next year, they were able to buy their first home and Kirstie and her husband had their daughter who is now 4 years old.
Shortly after AmourPrints biggest successful year they had their Etsy shop accidentally taken down again. After so many failed attempts at trying to get their shop back up, they decided to just move over to Shopify. “Shopify was not easy like Etsy and you had to do everything from the ground up. Etsy did the work for you while Shopify was your template. I had to learn Web design dev, seo, hiring employees, ads, and much more,” Kirstie explained. “Our first year we were able to make $50K. My husband focused on the designs and production while I did everything from A-Z. Our second year we did $100K.”
In 2019, AmourPrints took a hit financially and then in 2020 when everyone went into lockdown, Kirstie didn’t know if their business would survive. She began searching for ways to get their product out there for more visibility and effective strategies. “I upgraded to shopify plus and took a risk and invested all of our money. Last year, in 2020, we somehow miraculously made $3.6 million dollars and this year we are on track to do $6 million,” Kirstie says, beaming. “I have worked so hard and I give God the credit for helping me through this. Our families now are very proud of us and understand why we didn’t give up now.”
In three and a half years, Kirstie took AmourPrints from $0-$4 million. “As a Christian, we are currently led to donate a percentage of our business to help those in need. We are currently giving to World-Vision to fight homelessness all over the world. With each sale, a portion is donated to a good cause.”
Kirstie and her husband knew what they wanted, and the obstacles that they faced didn’t stop them. Know what you want and go for it; educate yourself, build your business, and do something new for you.
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