Meet Danny Winters | Owner of Yewpets

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danny Winters and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danny, what do you attribute your success to?
I believe that authenticity is the most important factor. It’s being real with who I am and how I interact with the world—not sanding away the edges for some theoretical version of perfect that doesn’t exist. I like drawing cute, bubbly cat things just as much as I like writing edgy, dark stories. My brand, in a way, is me. And I’ve rarely found more success than when I’m being 100% me.

When I draw, my focus is on the face of the subject in question, in bringing out the expression, the emotion that they are feeling at that moment. My goal at the end of the day is to create products that can elicit a chuckle and have people say, “Hey, that’s me!” Its making things people can identify with, so they can show their most authentic self to the world as well.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Running my own business has not been easy. As of now, I currently still work a full-time job that is not my own company, so all of my efforts have to be piled on top of a 40-hour work week. I wear many hats as an entrepreneur-owner, marketer, designer, and occasional debugger —though admittedly, I usually get my husband to iron out the bugs when one pops up.

The biggest hurdle I had to overcome was my pride. There’s a certain measure of pride that comes from doing it all yourself. However, there are downsides to that. Some things are harder to do, or things that aren’t my expertise. My best way of overcoming these limitations is knowing when to ask for help or hire someone for it. A business owner has to wear many hats, but some people just can’t pull off a fedora like my husband can.

Sure. Maybe I could fix that website bug if I hammer away at it for an hour or three, but then I’ve burned through both my energy and time, and wind up super crabby by the end of it with no spoons to do anything else. Whereas my husband could fix it in ten minutes and not have a crabby spouse by the end of it. Genuinely, I’ve found knowing when to ask for help has helped me go farther than I ever could alone, and that there’s no shame in it.

As for what sets me apart from others? I can’t say that this is a one in a million trait, but I believe art is a concept that trends mediums. Its about the act of creation itself, expressing a part of yourself, or exposing an element of human nature to the world. I am a writer as much as I am an artist of the pen, paper, and digital tablet. My best art has a story lodged with it. Sometimes it’s as simple as “I really like coffee, even though coffee does not like me.” Other times its about the characters who have grown in my head over the years.

I’ve developed a real passion recently for discussing mental health and talking about the queer experience. I was born on the spectrum, and Robert Kennedy’s statements on autism lit a fire in me, and I felt compelled write and draw about my own experiences so that people could better understand what its truly like to live with autism. Autism is a spectrum of experiences and people- there isn’t a cookie-cutter one-size-fits-all- it’s not a caricature to villify or be repulsed at.

I mentioned earlier that authenticity is at the core of my brand, and I believe my experience as an autistic, afab person is valuable and deserves to be heard. The political climate? Scary, sure. But it’s times like this that I feel voices like mine-or perhaps even you, my dear reader-need to be heard louder than the neighsayers. It’s not easy living and succeeding as a neurodivergent person, but it is absolutely possible. It takes tenacity and a willingness to reach for help when needed.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in the Boulder area, and my favorite place to go eat is the Dark Horse. Karaoke nights on Thursdays are to die for as well, and I like singing a few songs myself.

This city has some very nice walking spaces, and Pearl Street is one of the best places to spend an entire afternoon just walking through. There’s such an eclectic mix of storefronts. When its Spring and Summer the flowers there are gorgeous. The street performers put on quite the show as well.

I’ve honestly yet to find a place I’ve disliked eating or drinking at on Pearl Street, but my favorite place is certainly Trident. It’s a coffee book shop hybrid with both indoor and outdoor seating, and the best vibes to just relax and read a book.

The Boulder Bookstore is a must-see as well. One could even call it a*maze*-ing for the multifloor setup of thousands of books you could get lost in. Pun intended, of course. I always intend my puns.

If you’re lucky, there may even be an event on Pearl Street. There have been days when I didn’t even know there was an event being hosted, and the wide variety of vendors comes as a pleasant surprise. Boulder certainly earns its name as a college town, but I would still call Pearl Street the heart of Boulder.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to to shout out my husband first of all, who always encourages me that what I’m doing is enough and will absolutely succeed. He is unrelentingly supportive no matter what. He is also the tech saavy one of us, of which I am forever grateful when my website’s acting up for seemingly no reason.

I’d also like to give a shout-out to Tycho Dwelis, the editor of my book, The Blight of Avenir. His critique is to the point, yet fair, and with him, I was able to bring my book into being, even as my anxieties had been railing against me for years. He’s a well-established author himself, and meeting him at a convention helped spur me to action, where I had let my fears of failure rule me for too long. I wanted it to be perfect, but perfect doesn’t exist in any shape in this world. However, I’d very much say he helped me polish my first chapter book into something I can be proud of!

https://www.tychodorian.com/

Website: https://yewpets.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yewpets/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DannyEWinters

Other: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/christmas-plushies/christmas-plushies-cat-and-deer

(Side note for the editor/don’t share this part in the brackets with readers, its just for you: I’m trying to get a Kickstarter to make plushies kick off the ground, so if I can put that here, I’d be happy. If its not the kind of thing that’s okay to put here, that’s okay. Just figured I’d give it a try.)

My Email is also Yewpets@gmail.com