About Me

So who am I?

I’m Tonya and I’ve been making things since I was a kid and selling them to others since I was in college. I don’t ever remember a time when I wasn’t working on one business or three.

My earliest memories are me drawing some fabulous fashion designs for my dolls on whatever paper was around. Drawing turned to piecing fabric together with pins, which later turned to sewing around middle school.

Tech Tales

Thanks to the foresight of my parents, I started in tech around the 8th grade in a summer computer program. My first computer was a Commodore 64 – those were the days when you lost all of your work when you turned it off.

After 5.5 years and changing my major at least 3 times, I graduated with a degree in Information Systems.

Adventures in Business

Over the past 25+ years, I’ve launched multiple business & brands based on products I’ve sewn, designed, mixed, and painted. I’ve created the brand identify, packaging, and labels. I’ve created the social media profiles and designed content. I’ve built websites, listed items on Etsy and Amazon, and created Shopify stores. I’ve purchased liability insurance and signed retail leases. I’ve designed retail floorplan for retail popups and managed teams.

Professional Career

I’ve worked in a Fortune 100 corporation for the last 25+ years. From starting in technical support, I’ve changed roles numerous times as my interests chanted, moving to technology planning to project management to program management to learning & development to sales education to e-commerce strategy. Ironically, the last 4 positions I’ve held were because of what I learned from my entrepreneurial work.

Many times I find myself thinking, “how can a small business apply leverage this strategy or tactic to grow?”

My Passion

I’m here to share what I know to help everyday people who want to make money from what they create. I created GIG to offer honest, fact-based, tell the whole story business content built from experience. Too many are over-promising, with messages like, “Buy This & Become a Gazillionaire in 3 days!” Conveniently leaving out the face that if everyone buys and sells the exact same widget, you’re all competing for the same customers. My goal is to help you build a solid business foundation that will last. Do the hard stuff, then celebrate!