2025 Review - My Second Full Year!
What a year this has been! I feel like it started off really slow and hard as I was learning how to deal with asthma. Then once April hit, the year just took off!!
I was able to accomplish so many unexpected personal goals, met so many new friends, and found inspiration from so many unexpected places!
First off I want to showcase some amazing Fanart I got this year!!!
Fanart Gallery:
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Gift at Jackalope (Central Park Pasadena) |
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Gift at Comic Con Revolution 5/17/2025 Artist: @bisbee.the.furry |
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Gift at OC Japan Fair 10/17/2025 Artist: Celinna No social media handle to link |
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Gift at Honey & Butter Cat Collaboration 11/8/2025 Artist: Celinna No social media handle to link |
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Gift at Honey & Butter Cat Collaboration 11/8/2025 Artist: @Kimmorz |
I'm so amazed at the unique styles and kind messages included!
Second Year Data, and the items I think would be fun to review and compare:
Events:
28 Overall Activations
20 Pop up Markets | 7 Conventions | 1 Collaboration
I actually ran my booth for 39 days in this year.
These events were such a learning experience for me. I wanted to call out a few "Lesson learned" moments as well.
2/1/2025 Creative Babe Market : The Pasea
This market was one of the first times I found myself surrounded by not my audience! It was one of my worst performing markets I had been to and barely made my table fee back. There were a few customers who stopped by here that made the trip so much more worth it, and where I heard about someone who named their cat Cinderblock! (It's such an unexpected name!)
Lesson Learned: Be aware of the climate of the city I am going to, and also make sure to always Google Map or better yet check out the area in person if possible!
4/4/2025 OC Japan Fair : Spring
I took a real big bet on my goods and decided to apply for this event! It had a $1200 booth fee which is more than what I make at most pop ups, but this would be all day for 3 days, and it would be all about Japan! Even though I personally am not Japanese, my art and life have been greatly influenced by Japanese culture, and cats are highly honored in Japan. It was a big bet, but I'm so glad I did it! It brought so much more attention to my online shop than I have ever had before!
Lesson Learned: Trust my gut when I think that I might find my audience there. I have a place in new spots- I just have to try to find it.
4/26/2025 Jackalope Art Fair : Central Park Pasadena
Day 1, I learned how rain effected outdoor markets. WOOF. It was a really slow day and I was grateful I had packed some clear bags to help prevent water damage from my notepads too.
Day 2: I got my first fanart!!! What?! That was worth the whole event in itself!
Lesson Learned: Rain is no joke. I was lucky to have had a tent.
5/17/2025 Comic Con Revolution : Ontario
My first ever official Artist Alley booth! I was surrounded by so many amazing artists and was able to get a chance to run out and explore the space a little as well. I was inspired to make my own book, but a coloring book since I didn't have the time in my mind to dedicate to a whole comic book story! (at least not yet!)
Lesson Learned: I can make a book! Look for "Tails of Purrtend" - ETA April/May 2026!
5/31/2025 SJ MADE : Fest 2025
My first inter-state event! It was a fun drive and the people we met were SO so kind and supportive! Also June is HOT in San Jose. Holy cow! I might opt for the indoor event next time if they'll have me. I don't know if I can do another outside event in that heat and be happy. The hosts and customers I met at this event were amazing and the sales were some of the best this year- but I might have to opt for another venue if the heat is that intense!
Lesson Learned: Do events you would be happy to attend so that your customers can be rewarded with a good time too!
11/8/2025 Honey & Butter : A Cat Collaboration
Oh my gosh this event was a life goal come to reality! I wanted the weekend to be here and then I never wanted it to pass! The amazing owner of Honey & Butter, Pawel, was able to open his doors to support my roughly 1.5 year old business and have my art decorate his store! I learned A LOT leading up to this- how to collaborate in an artistic way, how to try to shake off my corporate stiffness and have more fun, and was also reminded of the amazing community that supports Whisker Dreams!
I still cannot believe my cats were made as Macarons by Honey & Butter in Irvine!!
Lesson exemplified: Shoot your shots people! The worst people can say is "No!"
Numbers:
986 followers (Instagram) (+657 "Hello all of you!")
129 Posts (Instagram) (+57)
81 followers (Facebook) (+16)
174 Mewsletter signups (+105)
12 Blog posts (13 if you count this one!)
Donation:
As of this time with the support of people like you I was able to donate $1,871 (so far- there are three more days left in December) for the year of 2025!!!
I don't know about you, but holy cow, I'm so grateful that we were able to raise this much this year! We surpassed $1000 and almost hit 2k this year!! Wow!!! I'm so excited for the opportunities this these funds might be able to bring to cat medicine!
Bandit and Ghost thank you all too. <3
Overall Transactions in Review:
When you compare this to last year you might think that I greatly decreased my online transactions compared to last year, but I am very proud to say that this year I had 3.25x more transactions than last year overall so my sales my be less in %, they did increase overall.
Looking at this chart you can see where the in person markets really started to make a huge difference. I threw myself into many markets starting February and then between April to June 1st, I had bigger conventions. I had only one smaller event in September and the rest was just full of larger activations!
Online sales-wise, My first two months of 2024 I actually had a lot of family and friends support me (Thank you!), so if you remove the first two months from both years and compare the numbers I technically sold 15 more orders online in 2025 than I did in 2024!
So with that being said... did I hit my goal from last year?
2024"Moving forward into the next year, I hope to keep a steady stream of activities both online and in person, while focusing more on my SEO and site improvements!"
I would give myself a 75% complete on the above challenge. Not the best results but honesty important when you review your work!
Did I have more online activities? Nope
Did I have more in-person activities? Yes! I did a Stamp Rally at my SJ Made Winter Wonder Market! I also attended 12 more markets this year than last. I also gave out green circle stickers to customers who remembered me from a previous market!
Did I improve my SEO? Yes! I hired an SEO specialist and have been meeting periodically to review results and apply findings to my site data!
Did I add any site improvements? Yes! I updated my site to accept Google Account logins for easier & quicker account access and purchasing!
It may feel silly to call out a single item as a "Mission complete" mark, but as a solo little lady working on this full time, I feel that these efforts are definitely worth the credit!
Goal(s) for 2026:
Find a way to better manage inventory/streamline made to order products. (The con crunch is too real)
Identify an alternate (ideally passive) revenue stream with my business.
Have at least one Online Focused activity.
Try to Streamline Booth Building/Improve My booth
Visually Fun Data:
Top Sellers at in-person events:
(In No Particular Order)
Top Sellers Online:
(In No Particular Order)
I hope that these details are at least a fun read! Thank you all who reviewed this data and I hope it makes you smile! I know I had a small teary eyed moment when I was writing about the donation total. I'm so grateful!!