About April

I want every woman starting a creative business to feel empowered. I want her to take her excitement for her passion and turn it into something that makes her proud and makes her money. I want her to be able to spend the majority of her time on her art—not shuffling through resources and wasting time on stuff that doesn’t matter. That’s why I put together ARTrepreneur.

I enjoy taking the concepts from my background in therapy and helping women who feeloverwhelmed, struggle with procrastination, and wrestle with multiple passions. I love to learn and experiment with business concepts and then teach them in a simple way so they’re easy to understand and easy to put into practice. That’s why I blog regularly.

I want to make big changes for women who have big dreams. I want to help women who struggle to get their unique, handmade products in front of the right people. That’s my why—the reason I do what I do.

22 Things You Might Not Know About Me

1. I planned my wedding around a VT football game. Yeah, I love it that much. Go Hokies!

2. I wake up at 5am to workout, because it clears my head and makes me feel pretty.

3. I used to be a licensed therapist.

4. I’ve never smoked a cigarette, because my parents both smoked and the smell made me nauseous. My mom doesn’t smoke anymore, and I’m so super proud of her.

5. I like taking Advil over Tylenol. And, I don’t have a good reason for it.

6. The first time I hung out with my husband, I convinced him to get down on one knee.

7. I’m team Edward all the way.

8. My husband and I can’t play board games together, because we’re too damn competitive. He cheats. I play fair and get pissed when I start to lose. It usually ends up with board game pieces flying through the air. It’s not pretty.

9. I indulge in trashy romance novels.

10. I’m addicted to The Bachelor, even though the ending usually leaves me feeling unsatisfied and upset.

11. Cheeseburgers from Mike’s Grill in Blacksburg, VA used to be my favorite food. Now, I’m vegan and gluten-free.

12. I celebrate my birthday for an entire week. One day just isn’t good enough.

13. My mom wants me to curl my hair and reenact this video, so she can pretend that I’m five. Seriously—she asks for it for every holiday. I refuse. Yeah, my family is a little crazy.

14. My husband and I adopted a dog not knowing she was pregnant. She gave birth to seven puppies the day before our wedding. We kept two of the puppies and gave the rest to good homes.

15. I don’t like chocolate. Chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate candy—are all gross to me.

16. In sixth grade, I begged my grandmother to take me to get a perm and I ended up looking like a poodle.

17. I get super nervous when I have to fly. I’m not talking a normal level of nervous. I sweat through my clothes and cry whenever there’s turbulence.

18. Sour patch kids are my favorite candy, but if I eat too many, they make my tongue hurt. That can’t be good, but I continue to eat them.

19. I got kicked out of chorus in fifth grade, because I suck at singing.

20. I used to be obsessive about getting straight A’s. In fact, my first grade teacher told my parents that they needed to put less pressure on me, because I’d freak out if I got an answer wrong. And, my parents never put pressure on me—I was the freak who wanted perfection. If anything, my parents tried to get me to be less obsessed with grades.

21. Lazy people annoy me. I have no patience for it.

22. My idea of a good time is a glass of wine and a business book. I’m a NERD.

You want the factual boring bio written in 3rd person? Okay:

April Bowles-Olin graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in human development and a minor in psychology. Then, she obtained her master’s degree in social work from NYU. While studying at NYU, she worked with homeless adults who were diagnosed with HIV and AIDS and in a combination middle and high school providing counseling services to the students. After graduation, she worked with high-risk adolescents in the Bronx and Brooklyn providing individual, family, and group counseling. April realized that something was missing and she felt emotionally drained, so she looked for other job opportunities. Soon after she started blogging, left her career in social work, and started Blacksburg Belle. The rest is history. April has spoken at the Etsy Success conference, and has been featured on my many websites and blogs including Etsy, Design*Sponge, and BlogcastFM.

{Photography by Teri H Hoover}

You should also get to know my mother-in-law, Linda. She’s a full-time teacher, but she also helps out with Blacksburg Belle on a regular basis.