We recently connected with Abigail Wagner and have shared our conversation below.
Abigail, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
Let me start by saying my parents and I do not have a perfect relationship. It often feels like we are on different wavelengths in many ways. I have gone through many mental journeys to reach our current relationship, and I’m curious to see where it goes as time passes. Despite our differences, they have always supported my creative soul.
Some key lessons I learned from them include:
~You can do whatever you want as long as you have a plan. The plan can change, but you need to have some sort of direction.
~Going to college won’t guarantee anything.
~Treat others how you want to be treated.
~Don’t be afraid to question things, use critical thinking, and go your own way.
~If you want something, you have to go after it. Things won’t just fall into place without some work.
~Be considerate of those who are different than you.
~Just try it. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to do it again.
I believe my parents are creative souls as well. They are just a bit buried under years of trauma, fear, and exhaustion. I think everyone is a creative soul, actually. My older brother has multiple disabilities that require him to have full-time care. As much as we love Phillip, deeply supporting someone for so long is difficult. Once they had kids, my parent’s mission was to give us the best lives we could have by using the skills they were most confident in. These skills did not include artistic endeavors. Even though I didn’t get direct career inspiration from my parents since they are not in creative fields, they always encouraged my creativity from a young age. I was an inquisitive, open-minded kid, and I am grateful to have taken classes in art, dance, and even yoga from a young age. I was in band, orchestra, chorus. I really wanted to try it all! And my parents let me take the lead in discovering my interests. They always let me dress myself, find my personal style, and would help me move all the furniture around my room every year. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized how much creative freedom I was granted that not everyone grew up with. I am grateful for this freedom. My whole life is just one creative practice that started as a kid. My visions for the future are constantly being sculpted and expanding! Thanks, Mom and Dad!
Abigail, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m Abby, and my business is called Warmer Studios! I am a multidisciplinary artist and integrative bodyworker. My work revolves around the overlapping therapeutic benefits of nature, creativity, and bodywork. I also specialize in prenatal support and will soon earn my birth doula certification! I primarily work creatively with clay and fiber arts but will dabble in various mediums. I work with the earth in my garden, making herbal products and using second-hand craft supplies whenever I can. I am also a massage therapist and certified yoga teacher, and I enjoy helping people slow down and connect with their bodies. As I deepen my experience within these fields, I am beginning to find more overlaps and am curating services and creative works that exemplify these connections.
Since I was a child, I have been involved in an abundance of extracurriculars, evolving from one interest to another. I’ve always been a creative! I was very interested in fashion and ceramics in high school and enrolled at Drexel University for Fashion Design. After my first year, I felt myself wanting something different. I discovered our school’s Custom-Designed Major, where I created my major, Ethical Fashion and Healing Fibers. I took classes, participated in internships, and completed a thesis centered around the intersections of environmental sustainability, social responsibility in business, and fiber exploration. I worked at farms, weaving studios, and schools and curated an interactive celebration of crafts event as my thesis, along with an informational zine about my journey.
After graduating, I moved to Chicago and enrolled in multiple yoga teacher trainings since I had practiced yoga since I was a child and was curious to learn more. These classes were valuable, but I wasn’t super drawn to being a yoga teacher. Thus, massage therapy became my next step. Before moving back to Philly to enroll in massage school, I was involved in multiple community gardens, led children’s classes, reconnected with my love of ceramics, and continued to delve into my interdisciplinary work.
After a few years in Chicago, I returned to my home city of Philadelphia to enroll in massage school. With the help of my family and friends, I was able to complete my studies, get back on my feet, and live independently in the city! I have been a licensed massage therapist for 2 years, am continuing my ceramics and fiber arts practice, and am slowly dipping my toes into birth work with an upcoming doula training. I have nannied for years and love supporting parents and children. Even in massage school, my mentors felt I had a touch that would be well-suited for prenatal work. While trying to conceive, my mom struggled for many years with fertility issues, followed by a traumatic birth. Though I was terrified of birth for the longest time, I always had a curiosity about it. I feel that, as a prenatal support worker, I would be doing justice to my mom and all the other parents out there who have not felt fully supported during their birth journeys.
Unfortunately, our modern society does not encourage us to slow down, to connect with nature, or to make art. These are some of the most important things we can do to uplift ourselves, our loved ones, and our greater communities. My mission is to facilitate and inspire these kinds of therapeutic practices in various ways, whether through one-on-one sessions, group classes, or spoken to the masses through writing. We mustn’t let this last-stage-capitalist society deviate us from what is most important for our minds, bodies, and souls. I constantly brainstorm for future projects and goals and am open to collaborations! I’m grateful for my journey and am excited to see where it takes me.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My creative journey is driven by what I have found to be healing for me along the way, what I observe as healing for others, and in honor of my family and friends who have not or were unable to tap into their creative freedom. I wish for the world to feel the balance of freedom and interconnected support that can be found in nature, art, and mind-body exercises. My whole life feels like one big creative practice, and I wouldn’t want it any other way!
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
For the longest time, I wasn’t focused on money at all. I feel a lot of artists and sensitive souls are “anti-money” because we’re not in these fields for the money! I thought I could opt out of all the worst aspects of money, greed, exploitation, and capitalism by just not paying attention to it. But as I’ve grown older, in addition to a growing desire for security, I’ve realized that having money is pretty fricken cool! Especially as a creative, the more funds we have, the more we can support other small businesses, artists, and those in need. The more we can fuel ourselves with good quality food. The more we can invest in ourselves and our futures. Instead of feeling scared of how we will afford rent, we can focus on more long-term goals and creative projects. I’m still on a journey of getting where I want to be financially and improving my “money mindset”. My management skills are also still improving, but it’s all one step at a time!
My favorite entrepreneurial creators include:
~Jen Sincero
~Kinzie Madsen
~Brooke Benson
~Amie Tollefsrud
~Cassidy Horton
~Ellyce Fulmore
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.warmer-studios.com
- Instagram: warmer_studios
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/warmerstudios