SELLER STORIES Lauren Harkawik Wilmington, VT etsy.com/shop/writtenindetail I’m a self-taught designer and have grown while getting to work with amazing clients from around the world for custom stationery. When my husband joined my shop a few years ago, our work really started to blossom. Now, our cards are in gift shops across the US, which is just an awesome feeling. We left traditional jobs in New York City and moved to Vermont about six years ago. It was through that transition that we discovered our passions for design and illustration. Most people discover their artistic side, have success, and then quit their jobs, but we did it kind of backwards. Over the past five years, Etsy has sometimes been our sole source of income. My husband is a filmmaker and I’m a freelance writer, and we pick up projects in those pursuits when we need to fill in gaps. We’re lucky to be freelancers in that when our microbusiness is busy, we can focus fully on that, and when it’s slow, we can transition back to those others sides of our professional lives. Etsy sellers are emblematic of larger changes in the economy. Today, more people than ever are choosing to work outside of the traditional full-time employment model and combine income from multiple sources. To be sure, there are some in the shifting economy that work independently out of necessity, yet the majority (72%) work independently by choice.16 A recent study by McKinsey showed that 27% of the U.S. workforce today consists of independent workers, combining income from multiple sources. 53% The study further showed that one in six workers in traditional full-time are part of the independent employment would like to become primary independent earners. workforce In some ways, Etsy sellers are emblematic of these larger economic shifts. The majority (53%) are part of the independent workforce either through their creative business, other self-employment, or part-time or temporary work. Only 32% of Etsy sellers have traditional full-time jobs. Across the U.S., 11% of Etsy sellers are retirees, full-time caregivers, and students, all of whom benefit from the flexibility the nature of creative entrepreneurship offers. 9 2017 Seller Census Report