Tinni from Bella Tinni is with us today answering some fun questions! Welcome Tinni!
Please tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello! I am Tinni and I am the owner of Bella Tinni. I am a self taught Bangali-American artist and I sell my art as stickers, stationery and other happy things. I also have been expanding recently to include curated stationery and accessories that go with my own designs.
How did you come up with your name for your business?
My brand name consists of my two nicknames. I rebranded from The Modest Cat to Bella Tinni during a period when I was discovering more about myself and I wanted the brand name to authentically reflect me. The art and products in my shop have a part of me in them because they either speak to who I am, what I love or what I stand for.
What kinds of challenges have you had to overcome as a small business owner and entrepreneur?
The biggest struggles I had were all internal struggles with myself. The journey of leaving my stable career as a pharmacist to building an art career and business from scratch forced me to face my self-doubt, fears, and insecurities. Everything felt scary. Experiencing months with little to no orders after very successful months was confusing and challenging. Putting my art and myself out there was terrifying. I’m still scared sometimes, and I still doubt myself from time to time. But now I choose to still do things terrified instead of giving up. I’ve also worked on cultivating unwavering confidence in myself and my art. The biggest thing that helps me with my challenges is to remember why I started my business in the first place.
What inspires you and what inspired you to start your shop?
I started my shop because I want to spread joy with my fun art and to help others in their mental health journey. Sometimes that looks like creating art with self-care reminders. Other times it’s simply making cute art that could brighten up someone’s day when they see it or hold it.
My own mental health journey heavily inspires my art choices. Inner child healing has been a pivotal part of my growth and I wish I could inspire everyone to connect with their inner child as often as possible. This desire is directly reflected in my art style. By creating simple and happy doodles that evoke playfulness, I hope to tap into the inner child of everyone who engages with my products.
Given the personal connection to my art, you’ll find that the original characters in my shop represent a part of me in some way. I hope that they represent you in some way as well. These characters include Mallow, a cat; Mochi, the frog; Puff, the ghost; and my absolute favorite, a grumpy-looking but sweet teddy bear named Fuzz. Fuzz is dedicated to my best friend, my dad, who passed away in 2020. You can read more about them on my website.
We love fun facts! Tell us a little more about you.
-I have been married for ten years to my best friend, Shamim, and he helps me with running the shop
-I have been deeply in love with stationery since the first day my dad took me to a Sanrio store as a kid
-I have a youtube channel where I basically geek out about planning, journaling, stationery and scrapbooking
-I am a proud science nerd and I love talking about medicine, psychology, mindset, law of attraction, energy healing and so much more to anyone who wants to listen ^-^
Thanks for reading and taking the time to get to know me. I hope we can connect over on youtube, instagram, tiktok or facebook. All of my links can be found here: https://bellatinni.carrd.co/
Here’s a special code just for you! You can use the code: PBCFRIEND for 10% off your order on https://bellatinni.com until January 31, 2024.
Love,
Tinni
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