Meet Sam and Em Holloway | Co-owners of Wicked Hollow Way and Doodle Tarot

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sam and Em Holloway and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sam and Em, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
The events of the world have been so exhausting. Working for corporations has shown us that they do not care for you as a human. You are a cog in a machine that they would easily replace if you died the next day. We wanted to be doing something that gives us a reason to wake up in the morning. Art was our answer. We knew it was a risk, but anything worth living for is. We weren’t even sure what exactly we wanted to do, but eventually we found candlemaking, and started doing tarot at local artists markets. We are still growing, but the future we see for ourselves is bright and powerful

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
We were both working jobs that were really unfullfilling. Em, my partner, worked a lot of movie gigs, retail jobs, and at restaurants. I (Sam) was working office jobs and retail work.

But I was growing so depressed and restless from working those jobs. Em was overwhelmed and their jobs were not accommodating to neurodivergence. We always loved going to markets, and seeing the amazing art people made. So, eventually, we both decided to quit what we were doing and start the vendor life.

It was difficult starting out. We both had to continue doing gig work while we figured out what we could both contribute to, and it definitely took us a while to figure out what we wanted to focus on.

Eventually I started candlemaking. I started with Crybaby Candles; ceramic baby doll heads that cry red or black wax from the eyes when they melt, and then really started focusing on candle molds and spell candles that I create from vintage glass.

Em created a tarot deck for beginners called Doodle Tarot that they now sell along with coloring books and stickers. Together, our creations have really helped our business take off.

We really strive to promote that we are queer owned business, and our spirituality as pagan witches is also a very big part of it.

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.
We would definitely be spending time at the great art markets around Atlanta! There are so many great artists, and that’s really the best way of keeping a bit of Atlanta with them. Besides markets, we would definitely take them to our favorite district in Atlanta, Little 5 Points. We’d eat at Thai 5, check out the bazaars, and get a bunch of crystals at Crystal Blue. Little 5 Points, in our opinion, is where you really feel the spirit of Atlanta, and what it’s truly like. We’d also go to Dolls Head Trail off of Moreland Avenue. Such a strange and fun way to experience nature. Other great places we’d check out are Phoenix and Dragon, the aquarium, the zoo, and the Van Gogh exhibit!

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?
Most definitely my vendor family. We have worked in many different forms of business and, most of the time, it was always so competitive and uncaring. When we started doing art markets, we were very afraid that was going to be the same case. It was the complete opposite. Right from our very first market, every single vendor was so open and welcoming. Now, they’re not just our closest friends, but they’re truly family.

We especially want to give a shout our to Angelica Bakhsh of Bizarre Bazaat and Caity Marie of Cryptid Collectives for being such an incredible market organizers and welcoming us into the community.

But also our own family, especially Em’s mom, Kay Holloway. They have always been our biggest cheerleaders, and helped us in so many ways, including now, to make our dreams come true. It’s so incredible to have a family that believes in our talent and drive so much.

Website: Doodletarot.com

Instagram: Wickedhollow.way and doodletarot

Other: Upcoming Tiktok: doodletarot