form is how I get the most satisfaction from my job. My favorite thing is when kids will come in and say things like “Oh my gosh, mom, this is the coolest place ever! I wish I could live here!” It just tickles me, and I find that it's what I’m doing all this hard work for.
Have you ever, or will you ever, create your own comic?
Technically, I’ve already created my own comic book when we did the Origins of the Hideout for Free Comic Book Day in 2014. I teach comic book creation and would love to work on comics if I had more time. I’ve helped a lot of students develop their own comics. I love to write – I wish I had more time to write.
What tools do you use to create comics, and what makes them the right tools for you?
The part that I do is writing, and you can use whatever tools you want. You can use a pen and paper if you want or obviously, type it on a computer. But, I teach comic book creation and offer the tools that you need as far as art goes – the comic book boards and the proper pens and pencils for the artwork. There are industry standards that everyone has been using for the last 75 years. A lot of it is digital now, but I teach traditional comic book making.
What has been the most rewarding and biggest challenge for you as a business owner?
Everyone loves the idea of being your own boss, but I feel like that’s actually the single hardest thing to do in owning a business. Holding yourself accountable. The thing that I wanted the most was to not have a cap – to have a ‘the sky’s the limit’ attitude. But that’s also the most challenging thing about it. You don’t have anyone else to tell you how to do your job; you have to make it up for yourself. You have to make it up for other people – creating a structure for employees. Having employees and creating accountability in others is difficult. It’s not the same as managing a retail store (as I’ve done before) where you have a set of guidelines you need to accomplish and
standards to adhere to. When you’re your own boss, you have to make all those up. it’s much harder than it seems.
What’s the most important big idea you have learned in life in or out of comics?
With enough passion and drive, you really can accomplish anything.
What advice would you give someone looking to open their own business?
It’s going to be the most challenging thing you’ve ever done in your life and I wouldn’t suggest anyone try it unless you’re really serious about it. It is like having a baby – you’re creating something and bringing it into the world and you have full responsibility for it. Everything that happens from the day it’s an idea in your head to the day you open the doors, it’s yours. You have to accept that – with great power comes great responsibility. But it is the most rewarding thing that you will probably ever do.