Today we’d like to introduce you to Rona Van Rensburg.
Hi Rona, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
This whole journey actually started with curiosity. I came across someone creating coloring books, and it made me wonder if I could create one myself. One of my friend’s sons had a birthday coming up, and I thought it would be such a special gift to make him a coloring book that was created specifically with him in mind, something he wouldn’t already have sitting on a shelf somewhere.
That curiosity became my first book, Vehicles Coloring Fun. I had no grand plan at the time to start a publishing brand. I simply had an idea and wanted to see if I could bring it to life. But while I was working through that first book, I started thinking about a second one. Then another idea came. And another. Before long, I realized that what had started as one creative experiment had opened a door to something much bigger. I love children, so the idea of creating something for them made the process even more meaningful to me.
That’s ultimately how Rinkels Rise began. While children’s coloring books are where I started, I don’t want Rinkels Rise to be limited to one type of product or even one creative medium. The bigger idea behind the brand is intentional creativity.
Intentionality is something that carries through almost every area of my life. I value understanding why I’m doing something and making thoughtful choices about the things I create, the work I do, and the life I’m building. I wanted that same philosophy to exist within Rinkels Rise. I don’t want to create things simply for the sake of creating more things. I want what I put into the world to have thought, purpose, and meaning behind it.
So although it started with one coloring book and a little bit of curiosity, Rinkels Rise has grown into something much bigger for me. I’m still very early in that journey, and I think that’s actually one of the most exciting parts. I’m discovering what it can become as I build it.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I wouldn’t necessarily describe the road as rough, but I also wouldn’t call it completely smooth. More than anything, it has been a process of figuring things out as I go.
When I created my first book, there were so many things I simply didn’t know. I had to learn the technical side of formatting and publishing, but once I figured it out, I had a workflow I could build on for the next book. The same thing happened when I decided to create my website. I learned how to build it, purchase my own domain, connect everything, and work through each new challenge as it came.
Marketing has been a learning curve for me. I’m an accountant, not an expert in marketing, so I’ve definitely had moments of wondering, “How am I actually going to get these books in front of people?” My approach has been the same as with everything else: I’ll learn as I go. Fortunately for me, my childhood best friend has a strong background in marketing and is now part of Rinkels Rise. She has been an incredible sounding board and has helped guide me along the way. I don’t expect Rinkels Rise to become something enormous overnight. I actually want it to grow organically and in a way that continues to feel completely like me.
The biggest challenge has simply been finding time to build it. I’m building Rinkels Rise while working a full time job, and there are definitely days when I would much rather spend the entire day creating. Sometimes I come home with ideas or things I want to work on, but I’m simply too tired to do them. I’ve had to learn to give myself some grace with that and focus on smaller, achievable goals instead of trying to do everything at once.
My first vendor event is a good example. Rather than worrying about every possible future step for the business, I made that event the goal and focused on getting ready for it. That’s really how I’ve approached this entire journey: one step at a time, learning what I need to learn when I get there.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Rinkels Rise is rooted in what I call intentional creativity. I don’t want to create something simply because I can or because it might sell. I want there to be thought and purpose behind what I put into the world, and I want the things I create to encourage curiosity, creativity and connection.
Right now, that vision is taking shape through children’s coloring books. But I wanted to approach them a little differently. Rather than creating pages that children simply color and then forget about, I began incorporating affirmations and journal prompts alongside the illustrations. The goal is still for children to have fun and be creative, but I also want the books to create opportunities for conversation, reflection and connection between children and the adults in their lives.
That’s what I’m most proud of with Rinkels Rise so far. It feels genuinely like me. I’m not trying to build it around what everyone else is doing or force it into one particular category. I’m creating the kinds of things I would want to give to a child myself, with intention behind why each element is there.
Children’s coloring books are the beginning for Rinkels Rise, but the larger vision isn’t limited to coloring books. I want the brand to have room to grow wherever that creativity takes me. What sets Rinkels Rise apart is that, whatever I create, there will be thought, meaning and intention behind it.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I honestly don’t know exactly where the industry will be in five or ten years. Technology will continue to change, the way people discover and purchase creative products will evolve, and there will always be new trends influencing what people create and consume.
What I do know is that I want Rinkels Rise to remain true to its purpose through those changes. I’m naturally curious, so I will continue learning, paying attention and adapting where it makes sense, but I don’t want trends to determine what I create. I would rather follow my own intuition and create things that genuinely have meaning.
I think there will always be room for things that feel thoughtful, personal and intentionally made. That’s the space I want Rinkels Rise to occupy. Five or ten years from now, the things I’m creating may look completely different from what I’m creating today, and I actually hope they do as the brand continues to grow. But my goal is that the intention behind them remains exactly the same.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rinkelsrise.com
- Instagram: @rinkelsrise
