Meet Evelyn Burttram: Fiber Artists & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Evelyn Burttram and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Evelyn, what do you attribute your success to?
My businesses always seems to have growth spurts as I myself have growth spurts. As I experience life, deal with difficult situations and learn more about myself, I am able to run my business in a way that reflects who I am. I believe that, more than ever, people want to connect with the people behind the brand and feel true sense of authenticity and a transparency. If you don’t know or like yourself and you are trying to run a business, most likely you won’t be sharing much about your true self with your followers, clients, and greater audience. Instead, you may be trying to emulate and “be like” other brands instead of owning who you are and letting that come out in your branding and your social media. I’m to a point in my life where I can truly be myself and share with my audience and my clients unapologetically and this has allowed my connections with my customers to become that much stronger. I know that my brand won’t be for everyone and that is 100% okay. As a business owner you have to find your “people”–the ones who would want to support you even if you were selling them stale cereal, lol! I feel that being ME and embracing myself, my personality and my experiences has been a huge part of my continues success.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My goal as a photographer is to work with creatives, like myself, to help them tell their stories and showcase their brand in the most authentic way for marketing and social media. Early on, I took to social media like a fish to water and felt a natural knack for marketing myself and my brand but I knew this was not the case for everyone and I wanted to help. I am a natural empath which helps with this–one of the compliments I get most often is that I make people feel comfortable and feel like they can be themselves without any judgement or preconceptions. This is KEY when it comes to branding because you need to be able to be yourself and sometimes that isn’t so easily done through a social media feed. As for my work in the fiber arts, my passion is for creating over the top, colorful one-of-a-kind items that stand out but that also live up to a high standard of quality that will last for years. I feel like fast fashion has made it harder and harder to find quality items and I want to help remedy this with my hand made items. I also design and sell patterns for other crocheters. I want to bring people joy through my work, foster community through my social media accounts and empower people to surround themselves and work towards the things that bring them joy! Branching out and trying new things is rarely a smooth road! We all face challenges and road blocks in life. It’s whether we can pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and keep moving forward that will decide whether or not we keep growing. Ten years ago, even five years ago, I wouldn’t have seen my life going the way it did. For being 32 years old I have had my share of disappointment and loss but for some reason I’ve been able to adapt and keep moving each time. I feel like you get to know yourself on a deeper level anytime you are faced with a true challenge, the kind that pulls the rug out from under your feet and turns your world upside down… you learn to look inward and make tough decisions about priorities and about the person you really are. If you are lucky, in doing so, you can find ways to like the person you have become in the process. I love this analogy from a grief counseling class I helped teach, “coming through tragedy is like mending a hole in your favorite sweater”, the sweater will never be the same, no matter how hard you try to fix it can never go back to the way it was before, but it can be mended, patched up, reinforced and even appreciated more for its quirks and the memories it holds. I’ve always been a head in the clouds, rose colored glasses, glass half full kind of person and so far, over time, those traits have remained a key part of my personality. They may be paired with a bit more strength and grit now, but that’s what makes who I am and I’m proud to be a much stronger and more determined person now in life than I have ever been. Creativity has always been an outlet for me no matter what else may be going on in life, so the good news is, no matter the challenges, creativity will always be there!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My husband and I are homebodies but the last time I took a family members to a few fun spots I took them to Java Cats Cafe in Grant Park, The Center for Puppetry Arts, and the handmade and local arts and crafts store in Avondale, Garage Door Studio!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I do owe thank you’s to so many people. My mother was a photographer so I owe my interest in photography to her. She passed away when I was 10 years old, and the importance of the photos I had of and with her only increased my desire to capture special moments for others. My grandfather bought me my first camera, so I owe my early start and introduction to professional film photography to him. My high-school art teacher taught me to knit and crochet which has been a huge part of my life ever since. My biggest thank you would be to my husband and my family and friends for always supporting me and pushing me to explore things that truly brought me joy!

Website: pinksheepdesignblog.wordpress.com and egbphotography.weebly.com
Instagram: instagram.com/pinksheepdesign and instagram.com/egbphotography
Facebook: Facebook.com/pinksheepdesigns and Facebook.com/egbphotography

Image Credits
Photographs of my clients: Bre of goddessscrub.com (Local Atlanta Maker!) Chanel Sledge of Asimpletwistyoga.com (local Atlanta Yoga Instructor) A few of the lovely ladies of Parlour Salon and Color Bar www.parloursalonandcolourbar.com (Mcdonough, GA)