(KXNET) — Art is a passion for many people, but for the two you’re about to meet, it turned their passions into a job.

Carissa Fournier turned her love of art into a business for three years but closed it when she started a family. Then, more than a decade later, she opened back up.

“My kids are all now in school,” explained Fournier, “so it was a great time for me to get back to my passion and do something for myself.”

Fournier provides a luxury floral service through Carissa Marie Floral, which is located in a studio– revamped from her Grandfather’s old shop.

“I have different clients who subscribe to my floral service,” she explained, “and they get two deliveries a month, every other week. So I do that, and then I also do custom orders. I service different events. I also host workshops, whether it be a painting workshop or a flower design workshop.”

On the other hand, Sundbakes offers handpainted cakes, cookies, and macarons, with no two orders being the same — and while many people think of going to the store to buy baked goods, Elizabeth Sund makes and sells them right out of her own home.

“All over the country, every state has different cottage food laws,” Sund stated. “And until a few years ago, I would have had to have built an entire bakery onto my house, which would have been impossible. But then they changed them, just a couple years ago. That allows you to sell from your home kitchen — you just have to label really carefully.”

Sund says her business started in October of 2021 when she was looking for a new challenge

“I had worked at the University for a long time,” she stated, “and that was a really great job, but I was just ready to do something really different and creative. I had this spark suddenly — and I don’t know, I just decided to follow it.”

That’s when she sold her first cake. Both Sund and Fournier say that social media plays a big role in how they sell their goods.

“I didn’t expect that to be my favorite part of running the business,” Sund said, “but I actually really love the social media aspect, and taking advantage of all those free things that you can do to get the community involved.”

“I actually didn’t have social media before I opened back up again, but I do love it,” echoed Fournier. “It’s a great tool.”

Another thing that these self-made women have in common is that they each have some advice for those looking to start or restart their own businesses.

“Take your time and built it into something that you really want it to be,” suggested Fournier. “Be open to changes, and your business may be going in a different route than you had planned.”

“There are as many ways to be a business owner as there are to be just people,” said Sund, “and so don’t look at yourself and think, ‘I couldn’t do that’. Because you probably can, you just have to do it in a way that fits you.”

Sund also added that business owners should try to see if their business idea would work first before they put a lot of money into it.