We were lucky to catch up with Ommeni Richardson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ommeni , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

The beginning of my art career was solely based on trial and error. I pieced components together with lots of joy, but no formal training. One thing that I should have considered was joining local art guilds or associations. I was a teenager who welcomed mentorship and enjoyed shadowing others. Thankfully, I did develop a keen eye to color, pattern, and texture mixing. This skill advanced my designs and pushed me to learn new techniques. One obstacle that has disrupted my career has been procrastination. Last year I began tackling this obstacle by organizing career development into my calendar.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

OmmYuNique, my handmade art variety brand began in April 2012. I was a freshman in high school and had not planned to be a business owner in grade school. I was still on the fence about my career projections. The business began over a weekend while out enjoying yard sales with my father and brother. On our last stop my father handed me an organization box and suggested I make the purchase. The yard sale host offered a three-dollar deal and it was mine before I even looked inside. On the way home I peeked in the box; I saw beads, stringing materials, clasps, and more. I immediately pieced together earrings and made sales as soon as we arrived home.

I continued to make beaded jewelry the primary product selection and did repair work as well. In the beginning I enjoyed the one-on-one interactions with my clientele. I mainly prepared inventory and traveled to the customer’s location of choice. This was fine at the moment being that I mainly served my school’s staff. I eventually had to pivot to pop-up markets and am now looking at shelf placement in boutiques. In addition to having ready-made inventory, I gladly fulfill custom order requests and virtual shopping experiences. Additional details on events, how to place a custom order, and access to virtual services are on my website.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

One of the main things that non-creatives might misunderstand about a creative individual’s journey is the contribution to society. Creativity is used in every field no matter if it is intended or not. The final product could be simple and minimalistic or extravagant and innovative. Food, water, clothing, and shelter, the survival checklist cannot be produced or manufactured without a level of creativity. Creative harvesting allows for efficiency in agriculture, fashion designers are involved in the development of basic t-shirts, and architects use crafty techniques to develop stable housing. Creativity is inescapable.

Have you ever had to pivot?

After an almost two-year hiatus and an out-of-state relocation I had to pray, pivot, and press on to revive my business. At the time I no longer had an established network of loyal clients nor did I consider e-commerce. I started out by introducing my brand to those who I built a relationship with in Georgia. There was some traction but not sustainable. Next I joined the inaugural cohort of an entrepreneurship initiative at my university. Through this program I received business coaching and attended inspirational speaker sessions. We held a spring showcase for those who were ready to (re)launch their businesses. It was such a success that I began attending other events and eventually joined seasonal markets,