We were lucky to catch up with Beki Bi recently and have shared our conversation below.
Beki, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
After years through my youth being certain I would make a career of creative writing or comic creating, my mother tried to steer me into finding a career that would be a “for sure” way to earn money, but still encouraged my drawing and writing as a hobby.
I entered high school and my worldview changed with meeting one of the most colorful traditional art teachers ever and finding my way into a new and highly nerdy friend group.
I was introduced to the world of manga and anime all over again, something I’d only known of via afternoon cartoons in elementary school until then. This was still mid 2000’s and my family had not had the privilege of owning a computer for very long by this time. While falling down the inevitable rabbit hole that is looking online for more media about your favorite anime and manga, I came across blogs and websites filled with the same thing.
Cosplayers.
Countless nerds LIKE ME creating costumes and props and TRAVELING and meeting one another! It was a world I instantly knew I wanted to be a part of. One thing in particular stood out to me that was seemingly common throughout these various conventions – cat ears.
It seems silly now but it made a great impact on me back then. I thought of the cat ears as an easy but creative way for those who couldn’t do full cosplay to still dress up in some way during events. Naively, from the outside looking in, cat ears were like a symbol of solidarity in these conventions.
With so many people wearing similar but unique accessories, surely there was also a MARKET for them? After testing my own skills and seeing not only could I create costumes and these faux-fur accessories for myself, but I could also create them for others. I was thrilled at the idea of being able to also bring my old original comic characters to life with headband ears, and the thought of being able to do the same for others has always been a huge drive for me.
I only recently shifted gears back into the creation of cosplay accessories and have been pushing myself to actually market them to the world beyond my friend group and into the huge market of my fellow cosplaying nerds.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Buy local. Trust the little guy. Give smaller shops a chance. Without support they will not flourish. You get far more from buying local than buying mainstream or big warehouse and overseas. A lot of people have traded the convenience of premade affordability and quick shipping over quality and longevity of their costumes and accessories. If you can, try to feed back into the cosplay creatives community instead of lining the pockets of a certain A to Z conglomerate.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think something that’s hard to get is that it isn’t always about the money. When it comes to selling at events of course there is a need to do more than break even on the table cost. The overall drive in working in a creative field is very reliant on taking something you love and are passionate about and trying to make a livelihood out of it.
It’s just like any other job – it’s hard to make it a career if your heart isn’t in the work or the industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: Etsy.com/shop/cutecustomears
- Instagram: CuteCustomEars
- Facebook: Cute Custom Ears https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082984340212
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@cutecustomears
Image Credits
Beki Bi