What started as a hobby has turned into a successful business for a Dauphin woman.

Amy Thompson of Amy Rae Maker, is a watercolour artist, who uses her art to create stationery products such as greeting cards, notebooks and notepads, all with her designs.

“I started in 2020. I’ve got two little kids at home, so I was looking for something just to do as a hobby and to keep myself busy. It started from there,” she said.

Thompson became involved in a program with The Hub, which helped her to get her business off the ground.

Everything she sells is available through her website at amyraemaker.com.

“It’s been really fun. I didn’t realize I’d grow it into a business. It started as a hobby and then it just moved up from there,” Thompson said. “I’ve been really enjoying the business side of it and the marketing side of it. It’s been a real awesome journey.”

Thompson has received a lot of support from the community and The Hub, as well as other businesses in Dauphin and throughout the province.

“So it’s been pretty cool,” she said.

Most of Thompson’s sales are in Manitoba, but she attends a lot of craft shows in the province, as well as in Saskatchewan.

“But I have a wholesale side to the business, as well, so small shops or anybody is able to register through my website on the wholesale page and they can stock my cards in their shop,” she said. “I have some shops in Dauphin here, as well as Roblin, Russell. I’ve got some in Saskatchewan and some in Ontario. So it is spreading. The goal is to, hopefully, get Canada-wide and do more wholesale with other businesses.”

Thompson never imagined having this kind of success selling her work when she started.

“It surprised me in a good way,” she said.

As for future goals, Thompson said she would like to do more work on the wholesale side of the business.

“And stock different places across Canada. Maybe the States eventually. So I’m leaning more towards doing that side of it,” she said, adding she will still have products to sell herself. “I get everything actually printed through the Dauphin Herald. So it’s nice to support (local). And it’s worked really well, having it so close and keeping it within the community, too, which is awesome,” she said.

Thompson credits her success to the support she has received from the community, as well as The Hub.

“I don’t think I would have been where I am without them,” she said, adding she was nominated for the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the recent Parkland Chamber of Commerce Awards celebration. “Which was super, super amazing, just for people to recognize that it actually is something,” she said.

“So people believing in me and people supporting me has been the drive and kept things going.”