Today we’d like to introduce you to MerriJo Samayoa.
MerriJo, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’m a pyrography artist and I use a wood burning a pen to create unique pieces of wearable art. I started my business Whimsy Brims near the end of 2021. I had been working in management at a local factory for nearly 10 years and decided to take a step back and become a full-time stay-at-home mom. With plans to home school my two girls, I wanted to have more flexibility in my schedule, but was also searching for something that allowed me to continue to help support my family financially. The idea for my business really took off over Christmas of 2022, when I made my niece a custom hand burned hat for her Christmas present. She loved it and so did everyone else when she would wear it around! I had been dabbling in wood burning prior to that and tried my hand at a few small scale markets; once I decided to add in hand burned wearable art, it took my business to a whole other level. For the last 4 years I have attended nearly 30 markets a year, and with the help of my family, I am proud to say I have increased my revenue yearly by 40-50% depending on the year. In 2025, my gross sales were more than 3 times what I was earning at my factory job, and now I have the freedom to work from literally anywhere. I feel so fortunate to be able to do something so creative as a career and to be able to be an example of a hardworking business owner and mother to my daughters.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Nothing is ever smooth sailing. I think for a lot of small business owners one of the most difficult things to navigate is yourself. As the “boss”, there isn’t anyone behind the scenes checking to make sure that you are doing what’s needed to be done to run a successful business. No one can do what I do, I am the only one who makes my products, every single item is hand burned by me. In the last 4 years I have burned well over six thousand pieces. And while my family helps me out whenever and wherever they can, it’s a lot of pressure to know that if I’m not showing up every single day, my business could very easily fail. And that is just one small part of what makes running a small business hard, there are so many other things from the financial uncertainty, to the stress of knowing you have to always be on for your customers. Being your own boss isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. During the busy market season I can easily put in 70 hour weeks, between prep on inventory, travel time to and from markets and 8-10 hour days in front of customers it adds up quickly! All that being said, I wouldn’t trade it away for anything, providing for my family in this capacity is one of the most rewarding things I have accomplished so far.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a pyrography artist, my main tool is going to be my wood burning a pen. The long and short of it is that it is literally just a hot pen that I draw with. I mainly add floral designs to western and fedora style hats, but my ball caps and purses have also been super popular. And while florals are my most popular designs, I also love doing designs inspired by my childhood and the things that I personally love. As kids we watched a lot of Syfy channel documentaries, so don’t be surprised if you find a few items with Bigfoot and UFOs on them. I also grew up watching Jurassic Park and Land Before Time on repeat, so you’ll catch me working on dino designs pretty often as well. I love nothing more than when a customer comes in and connects with a piece that is special to me and that I just had a lot of fun creating. I’m so proud of what I’ve built over the last few years and how its helped to support my family; and I know that although there might be others out there doing something similar, it’s never going to be the same as mine, because each piece has my hand on it 100% of the time. No lasers or machines, just me.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I’ve always been a bit of an introvert, I loved being outdoors in nature and I loved drawing as a kid; I actually won a couple of small art contests at our local library! I was home schooled and started playing basketball in the home school league in elementary school, I loved it but never really connected with the other kids and to this day my best friends are my husband, my children and my siblings. Because of being introverted, setting up and chatting with people about my art at markets can be incredibly draining, but it is also so rewarding, I’m so incredibly grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had thus far! I’ve always been a super compassionate person, so I always want to see everyone win and look to find the best in people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://whimsybrims.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/whimsybrims
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/whimsybrims
