We were lucky to catch up with Alexis Junge recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alexis, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success comes in many shapes and forms. For each person, it is defined differently & there are many things that actually factor into one’s “success”. Determination, drive, grit, flexibility, etc. But what I believe is the foundation of what it takes to be “successful” is having a clear idea of what success means to you. There is way too much influence in our daily lives that fogs our idea of what “success” means for us personally. We see other people in a place of success, whether online or in real life, but then compare our lives to them and decide whether or not we feel successful. But if you have a clear, definitive answer for what “success” means to you and how you experience it everyday, you will see your entire life shift around. It starts with your belief that you WILL be successful no matter what. Once your subconscious believes that you are already successful, you will see it in the way you present yourself and ideas to the world. You will naturally draw new opportunities and people into your life that will help you achieve your goals. Just remember, that even on the days where you feel like you didn’t achieve anything, YOU ARE STILL SUCCESSFUL.

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

My name is Alexis & I am the owner of Lex Moderne. I started my artistic journey in April of 2020 when I picked up macramé as a hobby to preoccupy my time during quarantine. After leaving my job in May of 2020, I paid my bills by creating custom macramé pieces for people around Lawrence, KS. After receiving enough positive feedback, I decided to fully commit to developing my artistic brand.

I have always been a free spirit. Someone who wants to “do it all” in life. I don’t want to settle on just one dream. This outlook has definitely shaped how I grew my business. I immersed myself into every medium I could get my hands on. I love experimenting with it all! That is how I got into painting, clay, jewelry, candles, cement, tapestries, and more! I spend hours a day, every day, researching what I want to accomplish next. There is just so much inspiration out there!

Over these 2 years, I have finally started to narrow down my niches. I have seen a tremendous amount of support for my jewelry, candles, planters, and home decor. This is what I plan to focus on going forward with my brand. I started wholesaling nationally at the beginning of 2022 and have seen my brand grow to new heights! I will continue to pursue wholesaling, in person shopping events/pop-up’s, and online retail. I would love to be able to own a physical shop/studio in KC! This would also mean looking to hire a team to help me because running a business is a ton of work for just one person. Eventually, I would like to branch out to start doing event decor, such as parties or weddings.

I am extremely proud of where I am today and how much I have grown, not only as a business owner, but as a person. I absolutely love helping other small business owners expand & reach their goals. I believe we all deserve to be successful & happy in our career. I actively participate in art shows around the KC metro area. If you see me, say hi!

Thank you for supporting my small business journey! I can’t wait to show you all what I will end up creating next!

Have you ever had to pivot?

My artistic journey is actually the result of the biggest pivot I ever had to do in my life. I got my undergraduate degree in biology & was pre-med. Towards the end of undergrad, I began to have a deep gut feeling that I was not on the right path. It no longer was my dream but instead a pit that ate away at me everyday. Everyone in my life ensured that I belonged there. I fought the feeling and wanted to believe that they were right but ultimately it became a disease I would succumb to. After graduation I decided I would take a gap year (or so) to figure out if med school was the right decision. I worked at a pharmacy for the following several years trying to use my time effectively in between schools but the longer I spent away from school, the more I felt like I shouldn’t go back. I even spent time looking into other grad programs that maybe would be a better fit for my science background, but nothing felt right; it felt as if I was stuck. Then the pandemic hit. Watching the way the world was treating healthcare workers & scientists was the last straw. I decided I was over it. It was finally the first time that I had to look at myself in the mirror and tell myself that I have to be OK with walking away. When I did that, I could not even express the amount of weight that felt was lifted from my shoulders. To be completely honest, it felt like there was a gun held to the back of my head every day I went to work. But I had to decide to put myself first and embrace the fear of the unknown.

I didn’t know what I was going to do when I quit my job , I didn’t know where I was going to go or how I was going to make money or even what career path I would take. But I believe everything happens for a reason. The pandemic was the perfect out. I knew in my heart that this is my chance to walk away, and I did. I moved back in with my parents to save money until I could figure out my next steps. This is when I spent all of my money on art craft supplies.

I was in a place where I had a lot of trauma healing to do. I had been living in constant anxiety & hypervigilance for almost a decade and my body was paying the price. I found my creativity through my pain. I learned about how to love myself first and to be someone who inspires others to do the same. That pivot from leaving healthcare to being an artist/ entrepreneur, ended up being the greatest thing I ever did in my life! I finally felt like I was contributing something. I was being myself, I felt free, I felt empowered, I felt like the world was finally at peace for me, and that I can finally let go and heal all of the anxiety that rotted my body for 10 years. That beautiful life is on the other side of that fear of the unknown. Now, I am the healthiest, most confident, most creative, and most empowered version of myself. And I will continue to push everyday to be a better version of myself. Because life is most beautiful when you feel your best.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

Yes, I manufacture most of my products! I did not know how to do any of it. I am really good at self teaching and if I want to find a way to do something, I will figure it out. Everything is figure-out-able . Once I had an interest in it, I would do some research on how to do it and what materials I needed before jumping right in. If I really didn’t feel like researching it, I would just try to figure it out ( and then usually after days of messing it up, having to research anyway). Not everything was a good fit for me. I didn’t find much passion through painting, clay, embroidering, leather, etc. But I did find plenty of mediums that ended up working well! Such as cement, candles, and jewelry! I also produce all my own packaging & labeling. It was something I started in order to save money but now is just something I keep doing for convenience. Until I find a branding method that I like, I will just do it myself.

One thing that drives me crazy is that there are no cohesive instructions for the best methods of execution for many art mediums. Or cohesive lists of products that work vs. dont work, etc. I feel like it is really overwhelming sometimes to even try something new because of how much information is out there. It makes it more difficult to search through to find the specific information you need. This is how it was/is with candle making and concrete. It gets frustrating when you have an issue you can’t find a solution to and have to spend time & money to experiment and find the answer yourself. I STILL have stuff I haven’t figured out yet even being 2 years into manufacturing. But if you have patience and enough desire to do something, you’ll make it happen regardless.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.lexmoderne.com
• Instagram: @lexmoderne
• Facebook: @lexmoderne
• Other: Tiktok: @lexmoderne
  Pinterest: @lexmoderne