Watch: Tigersheep Friends creators build a ferociously off-beat, under-the-radar KC brand
August 6, 2019 | Rashi Shrivastava
From three-eyed leopards to strawberry cream giraffes, the creative minds behind Tigersheep Friends love illustrating off-beat versions of animals to keep their artistic passions alive, said Sarah Walsh.
Colin Walsh and Sarah Walsh, Tigersheep Friends
When the husband-and-wife duo started the company in 2011, they were looking for an alternate creative outlet, said Sarah Walsh, co-founder of the online product line.
Click here to check out Tigersheep Friends.
“I loved my job at Hallmark, but I really needed something to call my own and to have a purpose. It’s fun to make something … And you’re like, ‘I don’t know, maybe someone else will like it.’ So you put it up online,” she said about the couple’s quirky designs that are sold on Etsy as well as at select retail shops.
The name “Tigersheep” bounced across a conversation with friends, said co-founder Colin Walsh before they realized the juxtaposition would be an apt name for their company.
Though Tigersheep is their “side hustle,” sales of their products have been booming, he said.
Tigersheep Friends
“We try to put in as many hours as we can and burn the midnight oil. Slowly, we’ve started receiving more and more orders from all over the world,” Colin Walsh said, recalling that the couple sold 67 pieces of their best seller, the three-eyed leopard design.
The two product designers-turned entrepreneurs found creative inspiration in each other before they got married, said Sarah Walsh.
“I was always into graphic design and I always drew even when I was a kid, but I hadn’t done it in a while. And she made me remember why I wanted to be an artist in the first place,” Colin Walsh said.
Tigersheep Friends partners with a Los Angeles based company called Printful, which produces their illustrations on everyday products like coffee mugs, T-shirts, pillows and tote bags, he said.
“When we make art we keep in mind that this tiger style pillow will be on somebody’s couch brightening up their homes or this Dire Wolf painting will be on somebody’s wall,” the founders said, completing each other’s sentences.
Craft fairs like Strawberry Swing in Kansas City give artists more exposure and opportunities for community building, said Colin Walsh.
“Just going to these pop up shops and Strawberry Swing, we’re building our brand. We have fans now that come by our booth, and they’re really stoked about the fun orange on the bike, or the fun new pillows that we’re making,” Colin Walsh said.
This story was produced through a collaboration between Missouri Business Alert and Startland News.
Featured Business
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Hack Midwest offers coders freedom through 24-hour app creation competition
Technologists are often surprised by what they’re able to accomplish when they work together in a competitive format, Mike Gelphman said. That’s part of the reason Hack Midwest is returning this summer with the objective to inspire more techies to embrace their imagination, said Gelphman, founder of the competition, as well as KCITP, an area…
KCultivator Q&A: John Coler champions making a quick impact, packs of dolphins
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Today Startland takes a closer look at startup ecosystem champion John Coler. Check out our features on Made in KC’s Tyler Enders, Hispanic business builder Pedro Zamora, ‘fashionpreneur’ Jordan Williams, Plexpod founder Gerald Smith, innovation coach Diana…
Backed by $4M round, Hilary’s Eat Well expanding organic food line, hiring 10-15 workers
Hilary’s Eat Well is growing its plant-based food line, company leaders said. The move to diversify the company’s offerings — as well as to more efficiently produce larger quantities of its free-from (dairy- and gluten-free) products — comes as the Lawrence-based operation moves its storage to an off-site facility, freeing up manufacturing space, said Lydia…
City challenges startup leaders to swap social media for in-person dialogue on regulation
Editor’s note: Rick Usher is a member of the Kansas City Startup Foundation’s policy committee, and Sarah Shipley is a board member for KCSF, the parent organization of Startland News. This piece was independently produced. There’s a void of shared awareness between city government and the startup community, Rick Usher said. That’s why government officials and leaders…