It started when I was really young… oh bother, let me sum up.
I’m part of an online handmade commerce coaching group called Creating Bloom. And in January there were several trainings on goal setting. Wonderful thought-provoking and inspiring training (link at the end if you are interested ;-). And through them, I worked on why am I doing this thing? I hope it will help with the glazed eyes when I say “I make eco-friendly high-end paper mache". I mean, that’s nice, isn’t it? But not in and of itself interesting. So lets back up a bit. Why do I make paper mache? Well, that is a fair bit of happenstance. On the surface, it’s one of those ‘see a need, fill a need’ things. The dance studio that my daughter danced at was performing the variations from Sleeping Beauty. Which several of the variations are animals, including Puss in Boots and White Cat, Little Red Riding Hood, and Bluebird. Since the kids would be required to do several quick changes, I offered to try and make them animal masks instead of trying to change their makeup for their next appearance on stage. So, besides trying my hand at making a 10-foot tall paper mache tree for the stage, I made 2 cat masks and one wolf mask that spring. It worked! They were usable, they helped the dancers tell the story with less flurry backstage, and I felt useful.
A meeting of minds…
See, one thing to know about me is that I’m a displaced biologist, my soul glides between a naturalist and an art lover. Always have. The picture here is of me at 6 in my pretty blue coat in front of a Giant Pacific Octopus at the Seattle Aquarium. It’s March and this is my birthday trip. My parents took my sister and me over the mountains to the Seattle Aquarium. I’m in awe, I’m in love, and I didn’t want to leave, ever. The octopuses seemed to dance with me. Goosebumps. I had been in dance classes myself for a year at this point. But that matters not. It wasn’t that kind of dancing at all.
Later in college, I leaned towards invertebrate zoology, microbiology, and ecology. I have a Bachelor of Science with leftover credits to fill a BA as well. I had several jobs after that that kept me close to biology but not close to home. I married and after my second child, I started to make pinatas and one particular cheetah mask. So by the time I saw the opportunity to make those masks for the dance performance, I had some experience with paper mache beyond grade school applications. It’s cheap, messy, versatile, surprisingly durable and the materials are non-toxic and spoke to my reduce/reuse/recycle heart.
This carried me till this January when my Creating Bloom fearless Leader challenged us to dig deeper. What is your purpose with your business? It became clear that I needed a better mission statement than ‘I like making masks for people without harming the environment further’. One reason to coalesce my thoughts is that I am often be stymied when a client of a custom order would request something that meant I would probably end up using my arch nemesis-plastic. In my studio as I learn and grow, I do use up products that I’ve found a healthier alternative to. So, yes, I still use some plastic glitter. But I have vowed never to buy it new again. I can’t just toss it in the garbage either. That would like.. tripple the waste. So I use it and try to be responsible. And the next time I need that color glitter, I buy glass, aluminum, or biodegradable (sugar) glitter and feel so much better for it. And so it goes.
Somehow I need these business practices front and center in my business model. It dawned on me that if I could work with wildlife rehabilitation centers, making masks and hand puppets for their emerging needs, this would bring everything into better focus. It would finally connect the two parts of my life art and dance with science and wildlife conservation. I’ll be scheduling time to contact local rehabilitation centers, work on how I can partner with them, and build my branding around this important work. So, that’s it! Look for a slight shift in my focus as I align my purpose with my vision to accomplish my mission. Peace out!
Oh, that Etsy handmade coaching group that’s making the difference?
https://creatingbloom.com/