Do what you love. Love what you do.
by Krasna Buratovic Mansilla
Britney Adkins, 20, is a young artist from a tiny town in Minnesota. By the age of 17, she had her own brand, but she was also working with Social Sensei, a company that helps other brands grow. Now, Britney spends her days at home, creating art and designing graphic campaigns for her clients.
Under the name of her new project, Mindful Made Co., she’s ready to launch her next line of products this coming month.
What is the first obstacle you faced after deciding to take your art to the next level?
Growing up, everyone said “You need to do something with that talent!” There was no lack of passion on my end, so I felt like I couldn’t let them down. I’ve always been a ‘free-spirit,’ so I think they kinda expected me to do whatever I wanted and not let others’ expectations or opinions determine how I live. People sometimes don’t take me seriously when they find out what I do, but I’m happy — not in college debt — and I’m paying the bills. Now, I just want to focus on getting more creative and creating a lot more.
Do you think you’ve done better than you thought?
I’ve never really had a ‘plan’, so I haven’t had a vision of where I’d be in life at this stage. I just kind of live day-to-day, working hard to hopefully do what I love forever. I’m happy, and I get to work from home. I’m blessed to have jobs I can do from anywhere, so I can’t complain.
What is your next launch of products about?
Self love and sustainability. I want to create products that help everyone make their happiness a priority. I put a lot of thought into my materials and how they will be used. I want to put products into the world for others without leaving a bad impact on our planet.
What have you learned through your art, and how do you reflect that into your products?
I think happiness and self love is something we should ALL focus on and consider in every choice we make. I think what drew me to creating products to help others focus on it is just hearing so many people around me talk about how unhappy they are in life and about themselves. In this fast-paced world, it’s hard to make time for ourselves. And with social media and all these editing apps, we have unreal expectations for ourselves. My friends and family, especially the women, are constantly pointing out their ‘imperfections,’ but we are all different, and that’s what makes us beautiful. Along with self love, the health of our planet is very important to me, so I do my best to be mindful of what I put out into it.
As a young artist, I bet you felt frustrated at some point. What’s the hardest thing in the process of creating your own brand?
Sometimes feeling like I can’t do it because there are so many others trying to do the same thing. It can be hard seeing others succeed and feeling like you’re not making any progress, but timelines are different for everyone. I constantly have to remind myself that if I really want to do this, I’ll have to work hard and not worry about others!
