We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jourdan Wechter. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jourdan below.

Jourdan , appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I am definitely not a master of my craft of Fiber Arts by any means and I was completely self-taught. I’ve always been what I would classify as a “maker” since I was a kid. Arts & Crafts of any kind was always something I gravitated towards and as I got older, I began to identify that I did have a unique eye. I wish that I trusted my instincts when I was younger and possibly explored a different major in college; however, that would have not led me to today.

In regard to my current creations – the road to get here was not so straight. I had always been of an entrepreneurial mindset, so my love of fashion was often married with my desire to coach and train other people. I was a manager in a Retail setting since my early 20s. I was given the opportunity to challenge my skillset, by taking on a new role being a Visual Merchandiser for a large retail company. This really pushed me outside my comfort zone but it where my love for Fiber Arts really began. One of our seasonal sets was to create a Large Scale Macrame Display in our Windows (Both External and Mall Entrance) and on our Feature Entrance Floor Fixtures. We were shipped boxes of string, given a few examples of the proto stores and that was it – GO! After a lot of You Tube Videos – I felt that I had really fallen into something cool and expressive. Macrame was not as popular as it is today, this was back in 2012 and I wish I would have leaned into those instincts early to pursue this passion. I continued to work on Macrame on the side making Home Decor pieces for friends and family. It wasn’t until 2018 after I had left my position as a Visual Merchandiser and moved back home that I felt confident to start making and actually sell my art to other people that I did not know. My biggest regret was not starting sooner. I also wish that I would have taken a professional class, which I am now exploring as I still feel I have so much to learn. The willingness to learn from others, put our pride aside and honestly, just putting ourselves out there is always the hardest pill to swallow, at least for me!

I think my process led me to today, however, had I trusted my instincts more – maybe I would be further along? Still, I’m very proud of the growth in my Fiber Art journey so far!

Jourdan , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am hardworking mom who currently is trying to balance a full time job outside of my craft (because you know, financial stability yada yada), raising my 4 year old daughter, pushing my creative limits with my small business of Mae Bloom, still make time for friends & family and support my partner in building our life alongside one another!

For my creative venture of Mae Bloom my goal is to create Vibrant Home Decor and Accessory pieces. I often give a nod to a Rainbow assortment of options or use it create full collections. Most of my local customers love that I have a variety of options and usually one of my biggest compliments at in person markets is that I have a little something for everyone!

I pride myself on not only have well-made product that I put a lot of energy and care into making, but that I am able to present it to potential customers in an eye appealing way. Something that I learned from my Visual Merchandising days is that we only have 10 seconds to draw a customer into our store, so the way we present our booth set-ups is everything! You can have great product but if you can’t even get them in the “door” – how will they be able to learn about your craft and support! I also put a lot of thought into my packaging, and it has really evolved over the years. My goal is for my potential customers to see that they can get one for themselves and treat someone else – very easy giftable items! (Although, this does not necessarily apply to my larger one of kind pieces)

I’m super proud of Mae Bloom and how it has grown over the years into a recognizable brand especially within my community of the Greater Indianapolis Area. I have expanded to be on Faire, the wholesale website and made connections organically with shop owners across the US where they stock my goods. There is currently 3 brick and mortar stores in the Indy area that carry my product and I only see the partnership potentials to continue to grow!

I’m always here for a Custom Project and some of my best customers now have been brought to me from just pure word of mouth (best form of advertising, in my opinion!)

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being an artist is seeing the impact my pieces make with customers. Whether we have created a custom piece together for them or as a gift – I feedback I receive makes me want to get up and do a happy dance every time! I love being able to interpret someone idea of what they want, be given creative freedom to make it how I see fit and then receive positive praise almost instantly after sharing the end result. Life is too short not to have a little textured decor in your space – so let’s decorate everything!

How did you build your audience on social media?

Oh my gosh! Hot Take – Quality over Quantity! I see so many people get so upset that they do not have a HUGE following on the socials, but I promise that big followings do not always equal sales. Sure, you might have a video or reel that “goes viral,” which might help you in the short run but if you are not establishing a true identity with your core customers – those viral sales will drop off fast. It has taken me 5 years to get to almost 3.5k followers on Instagram. Roughly 40% of my followers are from my community in the Greater Indianapolis area and most of those came from either current customers sharing my content or making the connections myself in person. Do not underestimate that SLOW BUILD. My goal is create meaningful content and I share more than just my creations on my account because I am more than just my art. As soon as I started to share more about just my daily life in general – my engagement for my Instagram account really started to take off for what I was looking to achieve.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://maebloomco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maebloom__/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mae.Bloom.Co
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/MaeBloomCo/