Meet Julia Rockowitz of rockdoodles in Central LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Julia Rockowitz.

Julia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Rockdoodles started as an after work hobby in August 2017! I was in a funk at work and I realized I was losing myself a bit and needed something that was just for me and an outlet to de-stress and have some alone time at the end of each day. I started doodling in a notebook every night after work and eventually started sending the drawings to friends and then posting them to an Instagram account. For the first couple of months, I kept my (what seemed like wild at the time) vision for where I could take it, very private. A few months into posting on the account, an editor from Cosmopolitan Magazine started following me and reached out about sharing my illustrations on their Snapchat Discover Channel.

Once Cosmopolitan started sharing my doodles a few times each week (they still do to this day), my Instagram following exploded and people were always asking where they could purchase the doodles. Separately, I’ve always had a love for stationery and sending snail mail so I saw it as a perfect opportunity to start a greeting card line of my own. In Jan 2018, I moved to LA from San Francisco and printed a small batch of just 12 designs on greeting cards and sold them online while working as a Project Manager at a company in LA. As the online business grew I saw the opportunity to expand and started wholesaling my cards to boutiques across the country.

Now, almost two years later, I’m exhibiting at multiple trade shows a year and wholesaling to retailers across the globe. I just published a 2020 daily desk calendar that is available now for pre-order from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Target, Kohl’s, Walmart and more! My Instagram has attracted many other opportunities including illustrating for various brands’ social media campaigns, creating album art for multiple artists, and I’m currently working on illustrating a children’s book. I always knew that there was potential for the brand but it’s been really amazing to see everything come to fruition and I’m excited to see where the next few years takes me!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Owning your own business is never a smooth road. The pressure is solely on me to make money and succeed. There’s no one to tell me what to do, how hard to work or even when to wake up. It takes a lot of self-discipline that doesn’t necessarily come naturally to everyone (especially me). Although I always knew I’d be my own boss one day, I never imagined the amount of stress that comes along with it. A lot of people’s perception of what I do is draw some fun illustrations from a coffee shop and ship some online orders each week.

However, I am solely running every aspect of the business from balancing the books to driving across country and setting up a trade show booth by myself to stuffing cards and packing and shipping every single order that comes in (including those 2000+ card orders)! It’s a lot to handle but I also think that’s what makes it exciting. There’s always going to be struggles along the way but the whole point of doing this is the journey and getting to learn as I go whether it be from mistakes or wins!

So, as you know, we’re impressed with rockdoodles – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
I always say there are two arms to rockdoodles. Arm 1 is the product and 2 is the creative genius. Right now, arm 1 is focused on greeting cards, prints, clothing, (and more coming soon) as well as licensing. Arm 2 is focused on side illustration projects ranging from a custom card for one of my retailers to a DJ’s album art! At the end of the day, both arms specialize in making people smile. My illustrations are doodle style and each doodle is typically accompanied with a witty pun. My favorite part of Instagram, craft fairs, pop-ups, trade shows, etc., is watching people laugh and smile at all of the illustrations and puns.

Everyone always finds one that has a deeper meeting to them or that they know their friend or significant other will find special. I’m definitely most proud that I get to create every day and run a thriving business all while making people smile and brightening peoples days. There’s a lot of darkness in the world so it feels great to shed some light. I think one thing that I’m proud to say sets me apart is that my brand (on social media) is my art and not me. It would be really easy for me to make myself the forefront of my Instagram like a lot of people do nowadays but it’s cool to know people follow me for what I create and not a pretty, edited picture of my face 🙂

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I have lots of plans! Some that I’m keeping safe in my head/heart for now until the time is right but mainly I’m going to continue to focus on expanding my wholesale business and solidifying more licensing opportunities. The next year or so is going to be all about working smarter and not trying to do everything that comes my way. I see big things for rockdoodles and I know it will take time but if I had to bet on it, I’d say it will be a household name someday soon 🙂

Pricing:

• My full line of cards is sold online (Use code PUNNY for 20% off) www.rockdoodles.com
• My calendar is available for pre-order now on Amazon (and more!) https://amzn.to/2YPCBVL

Contact Info:

• Website: www.rockdoodles.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/rockdoodles
• Other: https://amzn.to/2YPCBVL

Image Credit:
Mark Adriane

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