406 | From 0 to 60+ Stores Selling Watercolor Kits with Kate Talcott

Aug 5, 2025

This week’s guest is Kate Talcott, a talented watercolor artist and owner of Splatter & Bloom, who transformed her business from zero to nearly 70 retail locations. Kate shares her journey of niching down to specialize in watercolor kits and the incredible impact of going viral on TikTok. She dives into the challenges of burnout and the importance of community support in entrepreneurship. Plus, Kate discusses lessons learned from trade shows and how adapting her inventory strategy fueled her wholesale growth.

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ANECDOTE

Kate's Product Line Evolution

Kate started with diverse products like cards, stickers, and tea towels before focusing on watercolor kits.
She realized spreading herself thin meant she couldn't go deep into any one product line.

ADVICE

Prototype Then Evolve Packaging

Start with a simple prototype of your product and improve packaging based on feedback.
Your first version doesn't need to be perfect; evolve it over time.

ANECDOTE

Making and Packaging Kits

Kate creates watercolor kit designs digitally and films tutorials in one take to show authentic process.
She sources quality paint and custom brushes, illustrating the hands-on kit assembly challenge.

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I'm curious, have you been thinking about niching down or focusing in on one product type? But maybe you're nervous about making that transition or having all your eggs in one basket?

This is exactly what Kate Talcott did and she reaped the benefits and then some.

Kate is our guest this week, and I'm excited to share her story. Kate is one of our Paper Camp alumni and her business is called Splatter & Bloom. She sells watercolor kits that give you instant creativity boosts without any of the hassle.

Before joining Paper Camp, Kate was in zero stores and now her products are carried in nearly 70. She didn't always focus on selling watercolor kits, though.

During this episode, you'll hear Kate share about the challenges she faced evolving her product line, the pivotal moments that led to her distribution of her watercoloring kits into 60-plus stores, and her experience of going viral on TikTok.

You'll also hear her talk about burnout and her experiences with that, which is super important for us to talk about. I know you're going to love this one.

Before we jump in, I wanted to tell you about a free workshop that I'm hosting on August 12th at 9:00am Pacific Time.

Wholesale buying season has been really eye-opening. As someone who has been in the wholesale game for over 17 years and I've worked with over 35,000 thriving wholesale brands, I have a really unique viewpoint to spot mistakes, missed opportunities, and more importantly, I can troubleshoot and find solutions for those that are facing a sales slump. The market is changing and our strategies need to shift with it.

In this free workshop, I'm going to talk about how you can land consistent wholesale orders without over-relying on Faire without using bad wholesale pitches or discounting. RSVP for this free workshop at http://prooftoproduct.com/RSVP

You can view full show notes and more at http://prooftoproduct.com/406

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