I picked up rug tufting in January 2021 as my COVID hobby. I work on the computer as a full-time job and was itching to pick up a craft that was more tactile. Through hours of YouTube videos and reading message boards, I taught myself to make rugs with a tufting gun. I quickly turned this craft into a small side hustle called Zing.
Within the first year, I have created over thirty custom rugs to order, made fifty sales through Instagram and Etsy and have gained a strong following of over six-hundred people on Instagram. I’m now starting to expand Zing into store fronts through local Portland-based business and markets.
In this upcoming 2022 year, my goal is to collaborate with a dozen artists, gain a following of five-thousand followers on instagram and create one-hundred custom rugs.
On December 2nd-5th, 2021, I joined dozens of other small businesses at the Portland Night Market. I was able to hand out over three-hundred business cards to future clients, network with dozens of other artists on future collaborations and brainstorm new ideas for the new year.