How to start a creative business with a friend: Lessons from Hello!Lucky & Rebel Girls

When like-minded, confident creatives come together, magic happens! You’ll see that magic in the recent collaboration between Rebel Girls, a brand with a mission to empower Gen Alpha girls, and the sister team behind Hello!Lucky designs.

In a new episode of the “How to Rebel” video series, Rebel Girls’ Ina interviewed Sabrina and Eunice Moyle to get the story behind Hello!Lucky. Viewers get some awesome insights from the sisters and expert tips on how to start a creative business.

You’ll come away with a reminder that confidence, creativity, and storytelling are among the most powerful tools for young creators. Plus—tons of inspiration for your own creative storytelling projects.

Meet the sisters behind Hello!Lucky

Sabrina and Eunice Moyle are sisters and co-founders of Hello!Lucky, a brand known for colorful, playful designs. Their product line includes hand-printed letterpress cards, illustrated books, notebooks, puzzles, pen pal kits, and more. Hello!Lucky also has a partnership with Mixbook, where you’ll find their collection of photo book templates.

In the interview with Rebel Girls, Sabrina and Eunice discuss the creative process behind their designs, which blends writing, illustration, and storytelling. The sisters also explain how they balance creative roles and essential business tasks.

Sabrina explains, “when you're running a creative business, obviously there's the creative side and then there's the business side, and we each have clear roles and responsibilities in both of those areas.”

Eunice is the illustrator and designer who handles visual style and execution, while Sabrina is the writer who also takes on a directorial role. Both sisters generate ideas, conduct research, brainstorm, and collaborate with editors.

As for inspiration? Sabrina and Eunice draw on their (many) hobbies, finding that artistic pursuits like dancing and pottery feed their “creative juices” and naturally generate ideas for Hello!Lucky designs. There’s also a significant research phase, the sisters explain, “to see what else is out there. What's distinct? What are people looking for in this space?”

Smart collaboration through all these steps is what distinguishes a creative business from everyday creative projects for teens and kids. Maybe you’ll be inspired by Hello!Lucky’s story to launch your own creative business with a friend (or sister).

What young creators can learn from Hello!Lucky

From pre-teens and teens who want to launch their own creative business to parents and educators planning creative activities for kids, there’s much to learn from the Hello!Lucky episode of “How to Rebel.”

Here are some top takeaways:

1. Start with an idea

Creative businesses often begin with a really simple project or experiment. A word, a doodle, or a favorite hobby can all be the starting point for project ideas.

As Eunice explains, “I have a million hobbies, and I credit that with a lot of… where my inspiration comes from. Like, I roller skate, I dance, I do pottery, you know, everything. And… those other hobbies really feed my creative juices and give me ideas for books, cards, and other things like that.”

If you’re stuck for ideas, start with your own hobbies. A kid who loves learning about outer space might start by doodling stars and planets. A ballet class could inspire an experiment with ink-pen lettering that looks like it’s dancing. Maybe you’ll imagine a book about a musical mouse, or a robot soccer-star, or a magical library.

2. Collaboration makes creativity stronger

While Eunice and Sabrina share the workload (and fun) of Hello!Lucky, each sister knows and works with her own strengths. Sabrina describes how she and Eunice collaborated on a book project:

“I wrote the text… it's rhyming text, and then shared it with Eunice. And then Eunice did the illustrations. We went through rounds of sketches, lots of feedback, and then she colored the illustrations. We got input from our editors and then, finally, we approved the final art.”

Maybe your BFF is a whiz with rhyming words, and you have an eye for color palettes. Bring those two skills together to create something remarkable. And don’t forget to ask for feedback from others as well.

3. Research and inspiration matter

Sabrina and Eunice explain how their Hello!Lucky design projects always start by studying what already exists before creating something new. This is a step that distinguishes a business from a just-for-fun project.

For each idea, research similar products or designs that already exist. Brainstorm how yours can be different and unique. Also figure out if there’s a need, or a market, for your idea before launching it.

4. Creativity helps you discover your voice

With Hello!Lucky, Sabrina and Eunice transform their creative ideas into business success. They offer some really helpful tips for other creative women who hope to do the same. But—there’s so much value in creativity beyond potential profits.

For kids and teens, the emphasis should be on creativity as a way to explore individuality and personal ideas, and to boost confidence. Start every storytelling project with this in mind, and it’s sure to be rewarding in so many ways.

Explore Hello!Lucky Mixbook Templates

Mixbook is proud to collaborate with Hello!Lucky on a best-selling collection of photo book themes. The brand’s playful style is a great fit for photo books. These designs are bursting with bright colors, punny text, and fun patterns. They embrace a casual scrapbook aesthetic, but with ample space to let your photos shine.

One of our favorites is the Wild & Free Photo Book by Hello!Lucky. In the Rebel Girls interview, Eunice talks about the fun she had designing its “happy, joyful vibe” with washi tape accents, cool patterns and “funny, tongue-in-cheek” motifs like fried eggs, cereal shapes, and lollipops.

Also check out the sunshine-y California Dreaming Travel Book by Hello!Lucky, or one of several children’s books ready to personalize with your kids’ own creative photo book ideas.

Maybe you’ll be inspired by Hello!Lucky to design a photo book with your own words and pictures!

Download these free Hello!Lucky creative activities

For photo book projects and other creative activities for kids and teens, download these exclusive designs from Hello!Lucky. We’re excited to offer the following free downloads:

• “You are so Egg-cellent” card featuring a simple, cute egg design and signature punny typography.
• “You are Every Nice Thing I Can Think Of” card with adorable doodles to color—and then send to someone you care about.
• Two Hello!Lucky sticker packs with dozens of full-color drawings. Print the stickers or upload them to Mixbook Studio™ to decorate custom photo books.

How to start your own creative project

With all the great advice from Hello!Lucky, it’s time to start your own creative project. Just follow these key steps:

• Start with an occasion or idea, perhaps inspired by a hobby
• Brainstorm creative concepts—as many as you can think of
• Sketch or design your idea (it doesn’t need to be perfect)
• Share with friends or family and ask for feedback
• Refine your design and turn it into a tangible product—how about a greeting card or photo book?

And finally, never forget these wise words from Sabrina and Eunice: “Don't be afraid to try. It's super fun to build something that's all your own. Start simple and just go for it! ”

Ready for your own creative storytelling projects?

If you love Hello!Lucky’s designs—and the words of wisdom from the sisters behind the brand—then it’s time to launch a creative storytelling project of your own. Explore Hello!Lucky’s Mixbook templates, and create your own photo book today!