How My Mom (and a Black Sharpie) Shaped ENSOhello
A personal story from our founder
When I first built the ENSOhello website, I started with stock images. They looked polished enough, but something about them felt… generic. They didn’t reflect the heart of what I wanted ENSOhello to be.
That got me thinking about my mom. She’s a retired librarian, and whenever I had a new topic to learn in school (no matter what age), I’d go to her for advice. Her answer was always the same: start in the children’s section.
Children’s books aren’t intimidating. They’re simple. They’re encouraging. They help you feel capable and curious, instead of overwhelmed.
That’s exactly how I wanted ENSOhello to feel: welcoming, unintimidating, and approachable. Like a creative sidekick that encourages you to keep going.
I Considered Hiring an Illustrator
At first, I thought about hiring a professional illustrator friend to play into my children’s book inspiration. But she had just had a baby and didn’t have the time.
So I asked myself: why not me?
I realized that if I truly wanted ENSOhello to embody creative freedom, I needed to embrace my own process, even if the results weren’t “perfect.”
Imperfection Mattered
I approached the task embracing my own art process. I always do a few quick thumbnails in my sketchbook in pen before starting on a canvas. With a pen, there’s no erasing, so it’s imperfect by design. It helps me think about the overall image versus all the little details. That’s for later.
I decided to embrace this approach and pulled out my sketchbook and a black Sharpie. They were done quickly. Five minutes tops. There are mistakes. Incorrect proportions. Stray lines. But they convey the idea. And there was a sense of freedom.
At the same time, for me personally, it was terrifying. These images were far from “finished.” What if people judged the quality of my art? But then I noticed something: the more I tried to “fix” or polish these illustrations, the less life the drawings had. They lost personality. They lost freedom.
And freedom is exactly what I want ENSOhello to stand for.
The Vulnerability of Imperfection
I’ll be honest, it was scary to use these sketches on the ENSOhello website.
As artists, everything we share with the world feels like a piece of our soul. Putting a finished painting or sculpture out there already comes with a wave of vulnerability. But to show something incomplete, something raw, imperfect, and not “polished”…that felt even scarier.
My quick sketches are never meant to be seen by everyone. They’re usually just the unseen step in my process, the quick lines that guide me toward something more refined. And yet, there they were, front and center for the world to see.
But here’s what I realized: that very vulnerability is at the heart of what artists experience every day. To make something, to share it, to put a piece of yourself into the world, it’s never without risk.
And that shared feeling of vulnerability? It’s also essential to ENSOhello. This platform isn’t about perfection. It’s about honoring the process, showing up honestly, and encouraging creative freedom. Even when it feels scary.
Essential Elements for ENSOhello
By using my own sketches, ENSOhello reflects the same spirit I want to encourage in artists and solopreneurs:
Don’t overthink it. Start where you are.
Embrace imperfection. It’s part of the story.
Let your creative process show. That’s where the personality lives.
The illustrations may not look like professional stock art, but they feel authentic. They carry a sense of play and permission, the same qualities I hope people feel when they use ENSOhello.
Final Thought
Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is stop aiming for perfection and start embracing your own creative marks. That’s where your story really shines.
Create freely. Share easily.
