The Power of Metal Health
By Randy Mootooveran
Image from Unsplash by Markus Winkler
Running a small business is no easy task, especially for a college student. But small business owner Zoe manages to balance work, school, business, and a social life, all while coping with various mental health challenges. The company is called Ztarlightglitter, offering art prints, buttons, keychains, and other such merchandise of anime and video games. It has an Etsy storefront, and Zoe can also be seen “tabling” at local art markets and anime and pop culture conventions as of recently.
The two of us sat down to chat about the business, as well as the troubles and triumphs that have come with it.
Zoe has long had a love for art and creation. She was inspired to start a business from going to her first convention (or “con” , as they are colloquially called by the people who attend them) and seeing other artists selling their own work. She thought, “Hey, I could do that!” But it hasn’t been a completely smooth path. When asked about the challenges that arose from trying to balance a business, personal life, and mental health, Zoe told me that she sometimes struggles with motivation. “As someone who suffers with chronic fatigue, I sometimes find myself laying in bed for hours at a time, unable to force myself to get up and draw,” she told me. This struggle can be intensified with a busy schedule, such as this past spring, where Zoe was balancing “two jobs, my final semester of high school, and the spring musical.” This weighed on her mental health heavily.
However, since starting college and quitting a draining job, Zoe has much more freedom, time, and energy to invest in the business. While ever-evolving external forces can also be a challenge–Zoe cites the recent implementations of tariffs on China as one challenge that makes it more expensive to acquire supplies and products–things have overall gotten easier since the business’ beginning. As Zoe has matured as both a person and entrepreneur, she’s gotten more confident in her ability to run a business and turn a profit, as well as strategize in unique ways. “Back when I first started, there were so many things that I had to figure out to do all by myself, but as I’ve become more established, I’ve been able to figure out a lot of methods that work well for me.”
Despite hardships–economic uncertainty, long nights, and pre-market stress–Zoe says that running Ztarlightglitter is “overall extremely fulfilling.” Seeing people appreciate the art that she has poured so much love and work into is rewarding and gives a sense of purpose. It is not something that she has any plans to stop doing any time soon.
I asked if Zoe had any advice for small businesses like hers, or people interested in starting one. The reply was practical but kind advice: “It’s not as lucrative as one might initially assume. It requires a lot of investment, both financially and in your time, all while you are guaranteed nothing in return. Even when it gets hard, stay true to yourself and be passionate about your work, because your attitude will ultimately reflect onto your brand.” Another piece of sound advice was to set goals for yourself. Zoe personally prefers to set both long and short term goals, and advises that “by setting goals, you can really focus in on the direction that you want your business to go.
”Finally, I asked Zoe for one thing she’d like people to know about her or the business. Despite things not being completely perfect, Zoe has “grown so much in these past two years.” It might be easy to see her success now and assume that success has been there from the beginning– ”But I still remember nothing selling, I remember getting banned after my first ever market, and my humble first market setup still holds a special place in my heart. It takes a lot of work, but it’s one hundred percent worth it.
