FERTILE, Minn. 鈥� When Willow Larson decided her hometown of Fertile, Minnesota, could use its own commemorative mug, she designed one 鈥� even though she doubted it would sell.
Little did the then 14-year-old artist know what that simple project would unleash. People from surrounding communities spotted the mugs and asked for similar ones for their towns. Word of mouth, social media and media coverage helped build the audience for the teen鈥檚 whimsical cups.
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Last summer, KARE 11 TV's Boyd Huppert in his "Land of 10,000 Stories" series. The story was shown on the "NBC Nightly News" and a CNN morning show, helping to make it one of the station's most-viewed stories in 2022. In retrospect, Willow says, 鈥淚 think I would have been a lot more nervous if I knew how many people would see it."
Suddenly, people from Alaska to Wisconsin to Stockholm, Sweden, were reaching out to order mugs from Willow鈥檚 Ivory and Sage 鈥減roduction facility鈥� 鈥� actually a tiny corner of her parents鈥� on Fertile鈥檚 Main Street.
Today, Willow says she has sold well over 10,000 mugs and created 150 designs which are available in more than 120 different communities and stores. Mom Caty Larson also helps her maintain a lengthy waiting list of future mug commissions.
Caty says Willow鈥檚 college is paid for, should she choose to go. The ninth-grader now has her own financial adviser to help her invest her windfall wisely. And although at age 15 she hasn't received her learner鈥檚 permit yet, she is shopping for a new SUV 鈥� preferably a black Chevy Trailblazer with sunroof 鈥� so she can make deliveries when she's road-legal.
鈥淚 was looking at a Mercedes but the insurance on that was terrible,鈥� says Willow, who sometimes sounds like any teen and sometimes sounds like a 35-year-old business owner. 鈥淪o I wound up going in a more reliable direction.鈥�
As Willow not only designs the mugs but manufactures them on a small heat-press machine, she鈥檚 had to amp up production by buying two more heat presses. And now parents, Caty and Terry Larson, along with her grandparents, routinely pitch in to help produce, pack and ship the mugs as the orders roll in.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about five orders a day and Christmas was really, really busy,鈥� Willow says.
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With schoolwork, extracurriculars and her mug-making, Willow doesn鈥檛 have a lot of free time. 鈥淚 make sure I work enough every day for me to keep up with all the orders,鈥� Willow says, adding that it鈥檚 the only option when you have your own small business.
To this day, Willow seems slightly awe-struck by the incredible popularity of her mug project. 鈥淚 wondered about that 鈥� what makes people buy something from a 15-year-old in a small town? Why would people care about what I do?鈥� she asks.
Her best guess is that people like the idea of supporting a small business, as well as the opportunity to celebrate art.
On the other hand, one could argue that it鈥檚 Willow鈥攁 blend of promising entrepreneur and charmingly unaffected teen鈥攚ho has captured people's attention. So has Willow's seemingless effortless drawing style: Her community mugs are covered with stylized designs of town landmarks, breezy sketches of lakes, ZIP codes, town mascots and nicknames, which are free-handed by the artist in creative fonts.
So what does the future hold for this promising young talent? Like her namesake, one suspects she'll stand strong 鈥� regardless of which way the wind blows.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what I鈥檒l do in college,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 even know if I should go to college or if I should keep doing stuff like this. I would like to license my art, so I鈥檒l see what happens.鈥�
Learn more about Willow's art at
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