The Truth Behind the Grind
I’ll be real with you. This past year has been one of the hardest of my life.
Ever since losing my day job, things have been rough. The job market right now is brutal, and finding something in my field has felt next to impossible. I’ve been out of steady work for about six months, and that time has completely wiped out my savings and maxed out my credit. The thing is, I didn’t spend recklessly. I put everything I had into building Char & Bloom from the ground up.
When I started this business, I had a full-time job. I thought I could slowly grow it on the side while staying financially stable. Then suddenly, AI came for my job and my career, and I had to pivot fast. I decided that if I was going to lose everything anyway, I might as well build something real. Something with meaning.
I took what I had left and went all in. I built a functioning lab for around $5,000, which still blows my mind, and spent the rest on bottles, storage, materials, and rent for my studio. Every dollar went toward something tangible, something I could hold in my hands and say, “This is mine. I made this.”
Right now, I’m sitting on around 2,000 bottles’ worth of pigment, fully ready to go. My ink is in eight stores nationwide, which is wild to think about, and I just sold my 100th bottle. These are small milestones, but they mean everything to me because they prove that people care. They prove that artists and calligraphers out there want something handcrafted, sustainable, and honest.
Still, the truth is, I’m barely getting by. I can’t afford paid ads, I’m behind on bills, and I’m about $12,000 in debt from starting this business. It’s not wasted money. It’s the cost of building something from scratch. But it’s still a heavy weight to carry.
On top of that, I’m still dealing with spine issues from my compression fracture. The pain is daily, and the stress and lack of sleep haven’t made recovery easy. Some mornings, it takes everything just to get up and keep moving. But I do, because this business is all I have, and it’s what gives me purpose.
I’ve realized that growth doesn’t happen in clean, upward lines. It’s slow, sometimes painful, and full of setbacks. But I’m learning to have patience, to just keep showing up, be consistent, and be kind to everyone who’s given me a chance.
My goal is to have 30 stores carrying Char & Bloom inks by 2026. I don’t know exactly how I’ll get there, but I will. I’m stubborn that way.
In the meantime, I’m still creating. I’ve been working on a new series of large one-line drawings using my own inks. One of the perks of making your own materials is having a lot of them to experiment with. Once I get them sealed and finished, I’ll be sharing those on my art page.
So yeah, this post isn’t upbeat or polished. It’s not one of those “everything’s great” updates. But it’s honest. I’m fighting like hell to stay afloat right now, financially, physically, and mentally, but I haven’t given up. Not even close.
If you’ve supported Char & Bloom in any way, bought a bottle, shared a post, or told a friend, thank you. You’ve kept this thing alive. And I promise you, I’m going to keep pushing forward. This is my calling. This is what I’m meant to do.
Just thank you for being here through the rough chapters too.
Steven G. Hall
Founder, Char & Bloom
