What to do when your family is unsupportive of your business

Unlock a Profitable Handmade Business
in Just 12 Weeks Without Using Etsy
or Social Media

FREE WORKSHOP

This workshop is for anyone who makes and sells a handmade or physical product, including jewelry designers, artists, paper designers, bath & body product makers  and more!

What You'll Discover

The #1 mistake people make with Etsy & social media that causes shops to FLOP

 The secret to making it with your handmade shop so it's no longer just a hobby

How to make sales in your handmade shop with ease so you can finally get to 6-figures

TAKE ME THERE

  1. Rachel says:

    Hi Mei.. when I saw this article.. I have a feeling which is ‘you also got a same condition with me..’ My family also like what you said in the article.. Keep asking me to find a real job.. And said something that will let me down and sad.. And I also feel like they don’t understand me.. I really love to do handmade things.. When I see a craft store, I will very excited and will stay at there for hours until I got what I want.. And like you said, I will show the result to them, I just need some times.. Really thanks to internet, because of it, I only can meet someone like you who is very helpful and nice person.. :)

    • Mei Pak says:

      Hey Rachel!

      Thanks for sharing your story. Have you ever considered being a craft teacher or work part time at a craft shop? That might get your family to get off your back for a while and you might save a bit of money that you can put towards your business too. It does take time, as you said, but it can also take some money!

      I’m sorry your family isn’t supportive, but this will make you stronger and will motivate you to achieve greater things! Hang in there, I believe in you!

  2. Rachel says:

    Hi.. Mei.. Thanks for your suggestion about being a craft teacher or work part time at a craft shop.. I will consider it.. Actually I got a IT degree but when I really work as a IT analyst, it does not give me any special feeling which means it is not my dream job.. but when I know you are a web designer.. I think that maybe I also can do like what you do.. but I didn’t do any programming work for about 2 years more. So, I don’t know whether I can be a freelance web designer or not.. I don’t have any idea where should I start to learn from..

  3. Shirley says:

    I am a consultant in a specialized field and work from home. My office is seperate from my house. Yet when my husband is on leave or its school holidays, I tend to get a lot of interference and disruptions from my family of an arbitrary nature. So I got a piggy bank, and every time they came into my office during my office hours, they would have to put money into the piggy bank and “pay me for my time”. This worked like a charm, and they began to understand and respect the time I allocated to work and to home.

  4. Rose says:

    This was really great Mei. So inspirational and encouraging. I feel like I keep pushing all the “creative” parts of me to the side in order to continue doing things that just do not bring me the joy that I believe a creative-filled business would give me. I am trying to focus more on what brings me joy and hopefully get my own business going soon. Thank you for sharing your story and for following your dreams. xo

    • Mei says:

      Hi Rose! Thanks for stopping by to leave your comment. There’s a certain comfort in getting steady paychecks at the expense of not pursuing our passions. But life is short, and I can’t imagine living it for someone else other than myself! :-)

  5. Same thing with my (Asian) family here, always saying harsh comments! But like you, it gives me the big energy to prove they are wrong!
    I’m on my third year but i have change projects once in the same time and i will launch two new projects only this year so it can”t be really counted as the thrid year ^^’. So we will see how everything is going in 2019. =p

  6. Acacia says:

    Thank you for this amazing post. It really touched me. I am going through a similar situation of my family not seeming to understand my choices to pursue my passion for interior design full time and has gotten very frustrating and disheartening at times. But it’s nice to know in a weird way I’m not alone. Thanks again and I’m becoming obsessed with your site and it’s content!!

  7. Enricoh says:

    hahahah!!! you have no idea how much i relate to this. I totally love my parents and am super grateful for all they’ve done. BUT…. lol They’ve never ever understood me or anything i’ve been passionate about because like you said they are from another time. I do empathize and understand their perspective as well as burden. BUT again they’ve never understood my path. I do believe i’m partly to blame in this because I’ve barely understood it myself lol, there’s always twist and turns. The problem is I’ve tried to share my journey with them, in fact last year I was all about the sharing, they were even egging me on, BUT the minute things got tough, the minute it seemed like a losing battle, they gave up and began as you said the side comments of “you’ll never make it”

    Prior to this I chose a “JOB” to help them with the bills because I felt guilty. I actually enjoyed the job and was doing really well, getting promoted really early, awards etc. BUT i was totally developing that “employee” mindset. My parents had never been MORE supportive then when I was doing that. when i was secure and on a “career” path.

    So now, i’m just so reluctant to share anything with them because even if I share the milestones, they are right there to pounce with the negative comments whether I succeed or whether there’s a bump in the road. So for now i keep them at an arms length and will only tell them anything when I’ve reached a stable level of success and as you said can prove to them that this is a viable lifestyle.

    thank you for sharing this motivation. it’s the perfect read i needed for the start of the week.

    • Mei says:

      Thanks for sharing, Enricoh! That’s pretty much how I operated at the time, as well. I only shared stuff worth sharing (read: successes) and kept the failures and mistakes to myself. They don’t need to know everything; it causes them more stress if they did. They only want what’s best for us!

  8. Pamela says:

    jeez Mei, you hit the nail on the head with my situation….so, after reading this article, I am forging ahead. you are brilliant. we all need to believe in ourselves, no matter what. Thank you Mei. My mentor now…. :)

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