Ok guys-
I thought I might not have a lot to say here, but something happened this morning that stirred up all these thoughts, feelings, and EMOTIONS racing through my head. I realize I may sound defensive at points here, but I also think in the end I've acknowledged a topic with a pretty clear head. So rather than sit and be unproductive/sad/guilty feeling FOR NOTHING I decided it'd be better to "talk" about it. Even if it's to myself on the computer, then giving you all the option to chime in, or not but at least consider. As I've tooted in the past with pride, I've been making chainmaille jewelry FOR 10 PLUS YEARS, I've even designed 4 of my own weaves with 2 being published (and a 3rd to be published in the works!). I don't know every weave and I know I never will, I don't even have the desire to. In fact at first I never even liked the chainmaille style very much, that was until I found the style that appealed to me. I'm not a medieval, renaissance fair going, M.A.I.L. Artisans obsessed weaver. (and hey NO hate there), I was surrounded by that culture for years and it influenced where I am today. No I don't care for mixed colors, a lot of chunky layers - not too many "holes" or empty spaces should be in the weave. I don't like working in light metals either - aluminum is ok, but for me only unanodized, I'l work with aluminum to keep costs down. I like a heavy. solid. slinky. sexy? weave. Half persian 4-in-1 has ALWAYS been my go to weave. I like how it looks like a traditional chain, some people would never even consider that a piece might be hand woven and not put together on a machine. I also like how it feels and how you can fidget with it, I love that you can manipulate it depending on the size of ring and aspect ratio you use when weaving... anyhow. That weave has BLOWN. THE. F. UP. It's ALL over Instagram and I'm sure soon to be in an urban outfitters/ forever 21 near you, machine made or probably made by some poor grossly under paid person overseas somewhere. The weave has a look that is appealing to what I could call someone like myself - a hipster-millenial-use-to-be-punk-rock-western-loving-type. IT'S FREAKIN' IN. I remember the first time I noticed a friend wearing chainmaile in a photo on Instagram and I was like wait. wai.t.tttttt.t.t. you didn't get that from me, so WTF!!!! I felt shocked. I was like I thought I was the only one that did that, or made that look the way it does with my style. Nope. THEN I remember discovering someone in my own city making jewelry nearly identical to mine, but not in stainless steel, so I was like OKKKKKK you get a pass. But I don't like it. (But I did like their product - it was just like mine right?) Possessive much????? yeah! (haha we grow.) That person has since taken their shop to another level far surpassing the effort I had ever put into my Instagram, Facebook or Etsy. Flash forward a few months and I've put who knows how many hours into trying to take decent photos, start a REAL SHOP though Shopify, link all my accounts, navigate the tech shit, and finally start advertising. Which I've done for other people and companies. But now it's for me and damn it's a lot of effort. It's REALLY hard to have a successful side gig and have only weekends off. We're all tired at the end of a work day and dinner has to be made and time spent with loved ones. So here we are in the age of covid and we're at home with lots of time on our hands to get shit done. We all made bread of some sort, tried new recipes to the point of loathing trying to decide what the hell to cook tonight or the next night or when to eat again. Considered adopting pets with our free time, learning new hobbies (like the dude that sits in our courtyard practicing scales on his violin... good for him!), letting go of/ embracing fears and becoming better people. Ok all those options/feels went through peoples heads I know I've read all the articles too. So finally I felt like I had the time to sit down and put the work in. And I have. And it's working. My Etsy has been live since 2016. All my maille stuff was there and up for viewing, but it BOMBED. It didn't do shit. I've done a few pop ups and always done well in Austin, but quite frankly my anxiety doesn't make me the best sales person, it tells me I'm awkward and uncomfortable to be in front of and that I should probably give up. But apparently my jewelry sells itself because well, it typically sells at pop ups. But the sales haven't really been worth the effort. My husband has worked in digital advertising since he graduated college. In fact, as of today he's worked at Facebook for 3 years. I'm incredibly proud and EXTREMELY lucky to have him by my side. Not the place to go into all the reasons why, but lets focus on his ability to help me get this "business" off the ground. Once I started a Shopify I was able to harness the power of ecommerce and digital advertising. Like I said earlier I've done this for other people's business in the past, whether at my job or side gigging. Everything I've learned is from my husband's patient teaching and help. His experience combined with my e-commerce background (running two well known and respected chainmaille supply company websites for many years + now another jewelry store site currently, AND my own).... Well shit! it's finally MY turn and I get it. I'm up against other girls that look like me, like the same things as me and sell the same things as me. They might have better photography than me, and a hell of a lot more of a following than me. I have no idea if that's all organic or if perhaps they've put the money in and started to advertise to benefit their sales too. Anyways. The longer I write the stupider this entire post seems. I'm lucky as hell as I think I've made clear, so much so that I get a stipend from my husband when available to boost my business on Facebook. I don't have to spend ONE PENNY to reach 1000s of potential QUALITY customers using the power of Facebook and Instagram advertising (I sound like an ad for these services, but shit works!) Anyhow. Someone left a comment on my (seemingly) paid ad this morning - they all say "sponsored" on the top. So they commented to go shop at some other chianmaille store instead. On what they assumed was my paid ad. I look up the seller and sure enough their jewelry looks *JUST* like mine, though this commenting person probably assumed MY jewelry looked just like THEIRS. You know what SCREW that. I got so mad I started sweating. The owner of that mentioned shop actually followed me within the time of the comment. I read it as "oh look at this newb using all their money trying to take over the space with their big bucks advertising money" Then. I slowed down, I thought it through to the point that you're reading here. I get it. We all have our businesses we support, and there will always be competition. In the end I was so offended that someone might have thought I ripped their style off, when in fact like I've stated I always thought I was the only one. IT JUST ISN'T TRUE. like I said the owner of that mentioned shop actually followed me within the time of the comment. And their shop is really cool. Love their stuff! It's awesome they have the following they do as well. There are 100s of talented awesome chainmaille jewelry artists out there trying to make a living, or trying got make an extra $20 here and there. And we're all a bit unique even if we're using the same weaves or findings here and there. As covid hit I too have been working less. A LOT LESS. I am grateful for my current situation and will never complain. Here I am trying to make an honest extra bit of side cash (which I've just been cycling back into the business thus far and haven't made a cent really) and to have someone seemingly attack my efforts was just really fucked up feeling. I deleted the comment of course, I did not reply. I opened my Shopify to find another order waiting for me to be shipped. I am grateful. I am humble. I am calming down.
This wasn't a waste of time or effort to type out and in the end I think the lesson is just be respectful. Be humble. You might not be as big of a big shot as you thought you were (and I am applying that to myself here), as far as chainmaille goes you definitely weren't the first because its been around since about 500 BC. If you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all. Love your fellow maille maker <3
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It's Juneteenth and there's much more learning and reflecting to do. This was a small bit in my world, but now I'm going to go buy that pair of earrings I wanted from the black chick I want to support as a fellow artist and jewelry maker. <3
Love,
Your fellow maille maker,
Emily<3