Interview with the one and only Erin (AKA Sparrow and Wilde)
Hi everyone I'm so excited to bring this interview to you guys! Most of you, in the bookish community, know this amazing human. I wanted to highlight her because not only is she a content creator, but also a business owner, and working with our girls at Fantasy Fangirls Podcast as their merch coordinator. So unbelievably proud and excited for her journey and to share it with all of you. I’m linking her socials, website, and course in case you’re interested down below:
follow Erin on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/sparrow.and.wilde?igsh=MWNrNXV6d3I1cnhmZA==
Website:
course if anyone is interested in doing what she does:
https://sparrowandwilde.com/pages/print-on-demand-etsy-course
enjoy the interview!
❤️Carrie
Can you share the inspiration behind the the business name Sparrow and Wilde?
“Sparrow” is... drumroll... my last name! (Yes, I lovePirates of the Caribbean. Yes, I love birds.)
As for Wilde, that came about when I was brainstorming shop names and wanted something that reflected the two sides of my personality. Before leaving my 9–5, I was an accountant and CPA—but I’ve always loved art and design. It’s a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde situation, so I was looking for a name that captured that duality.
At first, I considered going with Wild (without the “e”) to represent the “wild side” of my brain. But then I stumbled upon Wilde, and the definitions sealed the deal. The word itself is chaotic, unhinged, and impossible to pin down—it has five completely distinct meanings, none of which are alike. That’s when I knew: this was the one.
Wilde
[waɪld] — noun
- A high-spirited leader
- A savage, uncivilized person
- A person who writes
- A person who has attained a higher form
Nominal origin (German):
Meaning: “Hunter”
I loved how many different meanings the word had—it felt so chaotic, and I absolutely loved that. So, I went with it. And thus, Sparrow and Wilde was born: two names representing the two sides of my brain, the two sides of my shop, and my business as a whole—order and chaos, logic and creativity.
Where do your ideas come from? How do you decide what makes it onto a product or not?
My typical process when planning a book-inspired merch collection starts with reading the book. While I'm reading, I’m actively highlighting on my Kindle. If I’m listening to the audiobook instead, I’ll jot down notes in one of my organization apps. These notes can be anything—from a quote, to a character trait, to a side character—anything that sparks an emotional connection or that I think might translate into a great design.
Once I finish the book, I consolidate everything. I go through my Kindle highlights and add them to the same running list. Then, I organize that list into sections. For example, when I was working on Fourth Wing, I had a “Xaden” section, a “Funny Quotes” section, and even an “If You Know, You Know” section. That organizational step helps me later, so when I sit down to design, I already have inspiration ready to pull from.
Honestly, that’s the most structured part of the process. After that, it’s chaos—in the best way. Everything depends on how I’m feeling that day, what ideas are clicking, and how creativity is flowing. Some designs make it all the way through; others don’t quite land.
I have lists upon lists—going all the way back to A Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass—of design ideas that haven’t been made yet. Sometimes, when I sat down to design for those books, nothing quite clicked. So I keep the lists and revisit them later with fresh eyes and a new outlook. Sometimes it takes a second (or even third) pass for an idea to finally hit the way I want it to.
For those that might not know what did the growth of your business look like from when you started to now?
I started my shop in June of 2022, and in the beginning, I designed for a lot of different niches. My initial business strategy was to find unsaturated markets—basically, areas where a lot of people were searching on Etsy, but not many sellers were offering products. There’s a tool you can use to identify these gaps, and inserting yourself into those spaces gives you a head start because you’re not up against as much competition.
So, I threw everything at the wall to see what would stick. I designed for music lovers, for various occupations, and even created accounting humor designs—since that’s my background. I kept iterating and experimenting.
Eventually, my mental health collection began gaining traction on Etsy. Around that same time, I was reading A Court of Silver Flames, and Nesta’s mental health journey deeply resonated with me. It aligned with my own experiences, and I had a moment where I thought: What if I could design for these books and for these stories?
I immediately started researching whether it was even possible to create book-inspired merch—and I reached out to SJM’s team. The rest is history. In May of 2023, I became officially licensed with Sarah J. Maas, who was my first author. Shortly after, Rebecca Yarros became my second with Fourth Wing. I had a strong feeling that Fourth Wing was going to be huge, so I reached out to her team early. I continued to reach out and I’m now licensed with eight authors, and have also done merchandise work for podcasts, fan films, and Colorado small businesses.
In the beginning, everything was print-on-demand. That business model was ideal for a side hustle because it was low-risk and required low upfront investment. I design the merch, and a printing partner creates the product once someone placed an order—hence, "on demand." It allowed me to grow steadily without holding inventory.
Then, in September 2023, I added temporary tattoos to the shop. I noticed a lot of readers were searching forACOTAR-inspired tattoos—especially Feyre’s—and I couldn’t find any options on Etsy. So I dove into research, tested countless suppliers, and finally found one that offered great quality at an affordable price. That launched an entirely new division of Sparrow & Wilde.
Since then, the shop has grown to include collaborations, events, stickers, accessories, more product types—and even a course where I teach others how I built my shop, both creatively and from a business perspective.
At what point did you know that you could quit your day job and go full time with Sparrow and Wilde?
I’m a very risk-averse person—my background is in accounting, so I tend to approach everything from a numbers-first perspective. It probably took me longer to make the leap than it might have for other people, because I wanted to be sure. I needed to go through a few seasons and prove to myself that the revenue wasn’t just cyclical.
Of course, there will always be some seasonality—especially with book releases—but I wanted to make sure that during slower periods, I could still find other ways to generate revenue and keep the business viable year-round.
I first started seriously considering going full-time with my business in early 2024. That’s when it began to feel like a real possibility, and I got excited about it. But I didn’t actually leave my 9–5 until the end of 2024. That was a full year of waiting, planning, and making absolutely sure it was the right decision.
What I didn’t want was for the business to become a source of stress or pressure. That can easily happen when someone quits their job a little too early. And for me—especially when it comes to creative work—I don’t thrive under that kind of pressure. I needed to wait until I could clearly see that the revenue was sustainable and had leveled out enough to be more predictable. Only then did I feel ready to take the leap.
Favorite and least favorite part of the job?
My favorite part is designing. I love getting into that design mindset and hyper-focusing; time flies when I sit down to create. It’s all about stepping into these characters' minds and into the customers' minds to think, "What emotionally connective design can I make?" Characters like Lehabah or Fenrys, who I connect with so deeply, become something that people can wear, something that lets them show their love and connect with other readers in the wild when they see each other. Another favorite part is the community I've been able to connect with through this business. It's honestly something I didn't expect—at all. Being an introvert, community was never part of my business plan. I prefer being behind the scenes and don't typically do a lot of social things. But seeing how I've changed, and how this business has changed me, has been so powerful. It’s brought me so many friendships. I’m going to book events at least once a month now, and I’ve made some of my best friends through this business and the Instagram community. That was an unexpected, beautiful surprise.
My least favorite part of the job is the admin side—the boring stuff, like insurance and accounting. These are the tasks I used to do every day at my 9 to 5. They're not fun, but they still have to be done when you own a business. I try to make them more fun by listening to podcasts like Fantasy Fangirls or Crime Junkie, or having one of my favorite comfort shows playing in the background (like Parks & Rec, Vampire Diaries, or The Originals).
What direction are you trying to take the company in and how can we, as the bookish community, help you reach those goals?
I wish I had a more solid answer for you on this one, but right now, I'm just focusing on getting into my new routine of doing Sparrow and Wilde full-time. As someone who doesn’t like change and isn’t used to it, this has been a huge shift for me. I was at my 9-5 for 10 years before I left to pursue Sparrow and Wilde, so creating a new routine is something I’m still working on. I’m trying not to be hard on myself with all of this change, and giving myself grace because my entire life took a 180. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect, but Sparrow and Wilde has really helped me let go of that. When you own a business, perfection just isn’t possible—you mess up, and that’s part of growing. Learning to embrace those mistakes has become easier over time.
With going full-time, I think I just thought there would be more hours in the day than there actually are. I’m still getting used to things being unfinished, delegating, and allowing myself to stop working. There’s always something more to do in a business, and that’s been the hardest part for me. Once I finish the design work, there’s content creation, finances, website updates, keeping up with new books, designing new collections, brainstorming for my course... the list just goes on. Turning it off at the end of the day has been a challenge because I love what I do and want to keep going, but balance is crucial. Not burning out is the key to making this work long-term, so I’m really focusing on finding that balance and getting used to this new life.
As for support through the bookish community can provide support, you all are already doing it every day. I try to be as transparent as possible on social media, sharing both the fun parts and the hard stuff—the anxiety, the pressure. I don’t want anyone to think that starting this business was easy, or that it’s all fun and sunshine. I want to be able to share the tough moments too because without that, it feels like I’m on an island. But seeing the support that comes through, not just from other business owners, but from the community as well, has been incredibly uplifting. I wouldn’t have been able to make this dream my livelihood without you all, and I am forever grateful for that.
What is the licensing process like for new designers?
Licensing with authors is actually a lot easier than people think. I have a licensing startup guide, and I'll link it here in case anyone wants to check it out. The process is really just about reaching out to an author, introducing yourself, and explaining what you're looking to sell. Typically, the author will respond with information on whether merchandise licensing is possible. There are several reasons why licensing might not be available—for example, some authors have TV or movie deals or existing merchandise partnerships. But most of the time, authors will get back to you and let you know.
If they do offer licensing, they’ll send over a contract for you to review. Once everything looks good for both parties, you sign the contract and submit your designs. Most authors will want to review the designs before you can sell them, just to ensure that they align with their vision. The process is usually pretty fast, and from there, it’s a simple rinse and repeat: you keep designing, they review, and it becomes a mutually beneficial partnership.
https://sparrowandwilde.com/pages/licensing-startup-guide
Do you have any particular designs you’ve kept for yourself?
Other than designs I started that just didn’t work, if I finish a design, I post it right when the author approves because I want to share it with you all. But my list of unfinished designs? It’s miles long. Sometimes, you start a design, and it just isn’t clicking. Instead of forcing it, I’ll just bail on it. Sometimes, I’ll come back to it later, and sometimes I won’t.
What does a typical day look like for you now that you have all these different things going on, merch coordinator for FFG, content creation, and Sparrow and Wilde?
I’m still figuring this out, but I’m trying to allocate one division of the business per weekday for Sparrow and Wilde. For example, Monday is focused on my course and implementing the feedback from the first cohort. Tuesday is content creation and prep day, so I’m bulk prepping content and scheduling it out because it’s so much more efficient. Wednesday is new Sparrow and Wilde merch day, where I look into new products, make designs, create new collections, and research what people are looking for. Thursday I typically leave open in case any tasks from the previous days spill over, and then Friday is admin day—meaning I handle author licensing calculations and bookkeeping.
Throughout the day, I’m also on Instagram, responding to DMs and comments, researching book ideas and content ideas. When I say researching, I mean scrolling through reels and posts, because that’s how I get many of my ideas for designs and content. Also, I make sure to work out first thing in the morning before starting any Sparrow and Wilde tasks. I found that if I waited to work out, it wasn’t happening. I tend to get hyper-focused and I’d look up and realize it’s dark outside and I haven’t worked out yet, so I had to start doing it in the morning to avoid neglecting that part of my life.
My hours are getting a bit more manageable now that I’m no longer balancing a 9-to-5. I’m finally able to tackle the long-term admin tasks I created while juggling two jobs. These were things I had put off—nothing urgent—but now that I’m full-time, I’m focused on getting everything set up properly. While I’m working fewer hours than when I had both jobs, it’s not by much. My goal is to work just 8 hours a day, but I don’t think that’s realistic anytime soon, given how much there is to do. Eventually, I hope to get to a point where I can delegate more and bring on help, as there are so many aspects of the business to manage.
What’s coming up for you any exciting teases for the future of Sparrow and Wilde?
A new Kindred Curse collection is definitely on the way! I’m currently working on designing it, and it will include stickers, temporary tattoos, semi-permanent quote tattoos, as well as more apparel and accessories. I’m really excited about it, especially with the Mountains & Magic Everflame Ball coming up in August (Castle Rock, Colorado).
I also have one author I’m licensed with, but I haven’t had the chance to design for yet. Here’s a hint: it’s based on one of my top 2024 reads. If you've seen me chatting with anyone who's reading it, you’ll know I’m usually DM’ing them that I’m absolutely obsessed with it and saying it reminds me of Zelda mixed with Game of Thrones. There’s your hint—good luck!
Thank you for reading!
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