We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Heather Billingsley a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Heather, thanks for joining us today. Do you have any thoughts about how to create a more inclusive workplace?
I’m the co-owner of Glitter Critter Studios, and we really focus on inclusivity and accessibility. Our owners and staff are all lgbt and disabled creators, and it’s a huge passion project for us to be a beacon in those communities and do our best to provide safe inclusive spaces. It’s so important to have everyone play to their own strengths, and feel comfortable with voicing their own concerns or feelings.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’m Heather, or Onigiri, and i’m the sole owner of OnigiriArt. I have been a professional freelance artist for the past 5+ years, and as of 2 years ago I branched out into a studio with some other artists, and together we run Glitter Critter Studios. We are an all inclusive lgbt and disabled run studio. This career can be taxing and competitive and i’ve found that it’s important to have a team to work together with. Together we travel to tons of events throughout mainly the south, and sell our artwork to the community! We provide super fun and colorful collectibles and accessories, lots of pride merch, and hypo allergenic jewelry and sensory friendly accessories.
How’d you meet your business partner?
When I first started selling and posting my art online, I met another artist just starting out like I was, her name was Crystal and was starting up her business (cosmic candy shoppe). We became buddies online and supported each other from the start, giving each other advice or helping boost each other’s posts online. After covid hit, me and some other artists in my local community wanted to provide a safe space for artists to sell their artwork in light of all of the canceled conventions and job layoffs. It was this tiny little pop up in Memphis in my friends works parking lot. Crystal drove a whole 6 hours to come and sell with us and finally meet each other in person, and we had the best time. A year later I had some events in her area and invited her to come share my booth, and we realized how amazing we worked together. The rest was history. We slowly morphed into a little artist collective and chose the name Glitter Critter Studios out of our mutual love for little critters, a few other small artists have joined our studio since, and we all love helping each other out and working together.
Glitter Critter Studios has been going strong for over a year now and I couldn’t imagine doing this job any other way. It’s amazing being able to travel together as a group and not have to shoulder all of the stress and responsibilities of running a business on my own.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
On a less pleasant note, I have unfortunately had to learn that not everyone has your best interests in mind in this field. It’s been a really hard thing to unlearn, as an autistic person i’ve always struggled with other people having hidden intentions and not being able to recognize them. For the longest time I just assumed everyone wanted to be best buddies and had good intentions, and as a result I wound up dealing with a lot of art theft or even stalking at events. It’s so important to set boundaries for yourself, and to stick to them. Mixing business with friendship can both be difficult but extremely fulfilling. It’s important to listen to your gut, and to learn how to politely and professionally handle conflicts.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.onigiriartshop.art
- Instagram: @Onigiri_art