How I Built Two Creative Businesses That Generate $5 Million a Year

🎧 Listen to this episode: Apple Podcasts

In 2011, Stacie Bloomfield was fitting an Etsy shop into five focused hours a week — squeezing it in after bedtime, from a 1960s ranch house in Springdale, Arkansas, while caring for young kids. Those five hours were not a limitation. They were the foundation. Today, that same rhythm drives two creative businesses generating over $5 million a year.

In this solo episode of Art + Audience, Stacie breaks down the S.T.A.R. Productivity Method — the four-phase creative cycle she has used since the very beginning to move projects from idea to launched. S is for Strategize. T is for Think & Create. A is for Adapt. R is for Reach Out. It sounds deceptively simple. The results are not.

Whether you have five hours a week or fifty, this episode will change how you think about your creative time — and what a sustainable art business actually requires to grow.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Artist's Side Hustle — Stacie's Hay House book on building a profitable art business with the time you actually have. Sold out its first print run in four months.
• Side Hustle Society — Stacie's membership community for artists building real income, with ongoing accountability, resources, and support.
• Leverage Your Art — The full course on building a licensed art business from scratch, covering portfolio strategy through landing deals.
• Art Licensing Pitch Playbook — For artists at the Reach Out phase: how to write pitches that actually get responses from companies.

HERE ARE THE 5 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE:

1️⃣ You Don't Need More Hours — You Need a Better System

The STAR Method is how Stacie Bloomfield built Gingiber into a $2M+ art licensing brand on just five hours a week. The system — not the hours — was the variable that changed everything.

Most artists think the problem is time. They are waiting for a block of free days, a summer break, a less chaotic season before they really commit. But Stacie built the foundation of Gingiber while her toddlers were asleep and her schedule had no margin. The constraint forced the structure, and the structure is what made the time compound over months and years.

If you are waiting until you have more time, you are misreading the problem. The STAR Method gives you a framework that works inside the time you already have.

2️⃣ What Is the S.T.A.R. Method?

The S.T.A.R. Method is a four-phase productivity cycle for creative work: Strategize, Think & Create, Adapt, and Reach Out. Each phase has a specific job, and the sequence is non-negotiable — that is what makes it work.

S is for Strategize: map your priorities, study what is working, and decide what matters most before you make a single thing. T is for Think & Create: this is where the actual making happens — design, write, draw, draft. A is for Adapt: refine, polish, and prepare your work for the world. R is for Reach Out: launch, pitch, share, and gather real feedback.

Most artists skip straight to Think & Create and wonder why their work does not land. Most skip Adapt and publish things that are not ready. The STAR sequence protects you from both traps by making the right order the only option.

3️⃣ Themed Days Turn the Method Into a Real Schedule

Knowing the four phases is one thing. Assigning them to your calendar is what moves the STAR Method from a framework to an actual working rhythm.

Stacie has themed her entire work week around the STAR cycle. Monday and Tuesday are for education and CEO mode — Strategize. Wednesday and Thursday are for art and product design — Think & Create in its purest form. Fridays are what she calls "Stacie Days": coffee shops, thrift store treasure hunts, vision casting. That is her Adapt-and-Restore day, and it is non-negotiable.

Themed days do one critical thing: they eliminate decision fatigue. When you know what kind of work each day is for, you stop spending your creative energy figuring out where to start. You just show up and do the work that day is for.

4️⃣ The STAR Cycle in Action: A Real Week

The clearest way to understand the STAR Method is to watch it run. Here is a real week from Stacie's education business — a complete cycle, finished in 48 hours.

S — Strategize: A three-hour team summit to map 2026 course launches and identify what her audience needs most right now. T — Think & Create: Building an ideal customer avatar tool and outlining a brand-new mini course based on that summit. A — Adapt: Beta testing the tool with community members, gathering responses, and refining what did not land. R — Reach Out: Sharing the refined tool inside her mastermind group and collecting feedback that will seed the next strategy session.

From summit to feedback loop in two days. That is the STAR cycle doing exactly what it is designed to do — compress the gap between idea and real-world learning so you can iterate faster without burning out.

5️⃣ This System Works at Every Stage — Side Hustle to $5 Million

The STAR Method works because it respects how creative work actually functions. You cannot polish what has not been created. You cannot launch what has not been adapted. The sequence is the system, and the system scales.

Stacie used it when she had five hours and a kitchen table. She uses the same rhythm today with a team of twenty and two businesses generating over $5 million a year combined. The phases are the same. The container got larger. What scales is not the method — it is you.

And critically, the loop feeds itself. Every Reach Out generates feedback and data that flows directly into the next Strategize phase. The cycle closes and begins again, sharper each time. That compounding effect — over months, over years — is the real reason Gingiber exists at the scale it does today.

MORE FROM STACIE

Follow Stacie on Instagram at @gingiber for behind-the-scenes looks at both Gingiber and her education work. Subscribe to Art + Audience wherever you listen to podcasts. And if you want her full roadmap for building a profitable art business around the time you actually have, grab The Artist's Side Hustle (Hay House) — it sold out its first print run in four months and meets you wherever you are in your creative journey.

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW THE ART + AUDIENCE PODCAST

If this episode shifted how you think about your creative time, take two minutes to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It takes 30 seconds and helps other artists find the show. Hit subscribe so you never miss a new episode — and tag Stacie on Instagram @gingiber to tell her which STAR phase you are working in right now.

Frequently Asked Questions About the S.T.A.R. Productivity Method

What is the S.T.A.R. Method for artists?

The S.T.A.R. Method is a four-phase productivity cycle developed by Stacie Bloomfield: Strategize, Think & Create, Adapt, and Reach Out. It gives artists a repeatable structure for moving any creative project from idea to launch — in the right sequence, without skipping the steps that actually matter. It works for licensing pitches, product launches, fabric collections, courses, and any other creative project.

How did Stacie Bloomfield build two businesses generating $5 million a year?

Stacie started with five focused hours a week and an Etsy shop in 2011. Using the S.T.A.R. Productivity Method as her operating rhythm, she grew Gingiber into a $2M+ art licensing brand with products in 1,400+ brick-and-mortar stores, then built a second education business at staciebloomfield.com that has helped 5,000+ artists build income from their work. Her book The Artist's Side Hustle (Hay House) tells the full story.

Can the S.T.A.R. Method work if I only have a few hours a week?

Yes — and that is exactly how it was designed. Stacie built the foundation of Gingiber using only five hours per week. The STAR cycle scales to whatever time you have, as long as you work through the phases in order. For artists building a creative business around a day job or family commitments, The Artist's Side Hustle is the best companion guide for applying this in tight windows of time.

What does themed day scheduling mean for creative entrepreneurs?

Themed day scheduling means assigning specific types of work to specific days of the week instead of switching between tasks throughout the day. In Stacie's schedule, Monday and Tuesday are for strategy and education, Wednesday and Thursday are for making art and developing products, and Friday is a creative restoration day. This eliminates decision fatigue and lets you go deeper into each kind of work. For community support as you build this structure, the Side Hustle Society is where Stacie's students work through this together.

How do I start using the S.T.A.R. Productivity Method?

Pick one active project and block four separate sessions on your calendar — one for each STAR phase, in sequence. Do not skip ahead to Think & Create before completing Strategize. The sequence is the system. For ongoing accountability and community as you build your creative business rhythm, the Side Hustle Society gives you Stacie's guidance and a group of artists who are doing the same work.

About Stacie Bloomfield

Stacie Bloomfield is the founder of Gingiber, a surface pattern design and art licensing brand she built from her dining room table into a multimillion-dollar business with products in 1,400+ brick-and-mortar stores. She has earned $500K+ through art licensing and has taught 5,000+ artists how to build real income from their work.

She is the author of The Artist's Side Hustle (Hay House), a Moda fabric designer, and the host of the Art + Audience podcast. Her programs — including Side Hustle Society, Leverage Your Art, and the Art Licensing Pitch Playbook — help artists at every stage turn their creativity into consistent income.