Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kim Kowalski. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kim, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

One of the things I do that I find really meaningful actually started out as an attempt to create my own advertising. I was looking for witchy podcasts so I could try to advertise my jewelry business, Clever Kim’s Curios. I just decided why not make my own? I could say “This episode is brought to you by Clever Kim’s Curios” and give a little blurb every episode. It turns out that I just really like listening to, and sharing, the stories and lives that other witches share with me. I haven’t really seen anything like my podcast, Your Average Witch, where the point is sharing stories about witches ourselves, instead of talking about witchcraft.
I really enjoy hearing and relating to the stories my guests share. Based on the feedback I get from listeners, they do as well! I feel like it helps us feel more connected, even if we are solitary practitioners. Hearing that even our idols, people like Laura Tempest Zakroff or Corey Hutcheson, deal with impostor syndrome, or that other witches have unintentionally lit things on fire in their living rooms… it helps. It helps people feel like they’re doing it right, that it’s okay to make mistakes, and that your practice is still valid and relevant and real even if it doesn’t look like what you see in instagram or on TV. And really, that’s the whole point of my podcast. I’m talking to your average witch, and it’s us!

Kim, 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 am an Army veteran, and I was a military spouse. We moved a LOT, and I wanted to have a job that was portable in case we got stationed in the middle of nowhere with no jobs. I also love creating things, art and tiny little weird scenes, shadow boxes and things like that. At first I was using components I would buy from Michael’s and other craft stores, but very quickly learned that I am too picky. To get the effects I really wanted, I would have to fabricate components myself. So I found a soldering class at a local art school and that was it! Over the past 10 years I’ve put together a jewelry studio with nearly all the equipment I need to fabricate my weird little lockets and bracelets and earrings. I am still shopping for a few more things, but is one ever really “done” with buying tools? Not in my experience!
I also learned to process bones in a way that leaves them both sanitary and sturdy, which isn’t as simple as throwing them in a pot and boiling them, or even just leaving them outside. It took me about 2 years to figure that out. Now if I’m driving down the street and see some roadkill I just might pull over and grab it. Instead of letting it get smashed to bits or dumped in a landfill, I turn it into something beautiful. I feel like that better honors the life of the animal than just treating it like trash.
I really like to try to source my own materials locally, and not even just bones. Now that we live in Arizona, there are various minerals and crystals literally in my own back yard. We bought some lapidary equipment a few years ago so sometimes you might find a piece of jewelry with a rock that we cut, shaped, and polished, 100 feet from where I picked it up off the ground. I also try to recycle metal as much as I can, down to melting it down, pouring an ingot, and rolling it into plate on my rolling mill.
Since I’m a witch making jewelry for witches, that means I can put intention into every single aspect of a piece. From intuitively choosing the stone, adding a pinch of herbs as I melt the silver, to the shape and design- I am able to put so much magic into each piece!
One of the things I’m most proud of is that I’ve had several pieces, I think around 12 at this point, used on TV shows/movies. I belong to a group called The Artisan Group, and through that group I am able to get my jewelry in the hands of Hollywood stylists. My jewelry has been used on shows like The Vampire Diaries, Charmed, and even old standbyes like The Young and The Restless. It’s a bit more difficult for me to make things that will appeal to a lot of people, because I usually prefer to make things for “my” people- witches and weirdos.
I’m also really proud that I was able to develop a product that people love- my monthly spell box subscription. It’s very small, I keep the numbers below 15 per month because I want them to be filled with things that are special. I try to source most of the items from local or small businesses, or make them myself. The community that has evolved from my subscription service on Crepuscular Conjuration is one of my favorite things in my entire life. They gradually named themselves Bees, and we all hang out in “Hive House”- anyplace there is more than 1 bee at a time! I can safely say that I love those people, and consider them family. I love being able to surprise them with little boxes of magic every month.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I think one of my main goals has become community creation. In 2021 I was able to attend an event called Anahata’s Purpose. It was the first time I have been around a big group of witches who are all there to be together, have a good time, and learn. I like science fiction and fantasy books so I’ve been to cons and things like that, but it was never like that. Anahata’s Purpose happens in Pennsylvania, though, and I live in Arizona. I want to create something like that, where people can come together and feel comfortable and just be who they are without worrying about being labeled “weirdos” or anything like that. I now attend Anahata’s Purpose every year. The people I met there are in my life permanently, and I talk to some of them every day. We work together to help one another out spiritually, monetarily by supporting our businesses, and emotionally. It’s really amazing to see the changes we are helping one another make in our lives, and I want to share that with everyone!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resilience is kind of a funny thing. I don’t really want to have it, or want to need it I guess I mean. I don’t want to deal with things that I need to have resilience against. But that isn’t realistic. I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder back in 2007. It explained a LOT of my weird “quirks” from childhood. Once I got a diagnosis I was able to research it, and to get therapy that helped me work through it. I still fight to leave the house a lot of the time, or to make phone calls, or even to go out into the front yard, but it’s manageable. While it is NOT a fun thing to have, I do feel like it’s helped me in some ways. When I am working through projects I always try to think about what can go wrong. OCD tells me sooo many ways that things can go wrong! I don’t enjoy worrying all the time but I do feel like it helps me be prepared for mistakes, surprises, or anthing else that isn’t The Plan. It means my podcast goes out on time, because I record several weeks ahead just in case my power goes out or I get sick. It means that I have a backup torch in case mine dies. It means I set up my vending equipment three weeks ahead of time, in case I forgot where I put the tent weights and need to order more. OCD can be crippling. I’m lucky that it doesn’t usually get that bad for me, and that I have been able to find ways to look at it as a feature instead of a bug.

Contact Info:

• Website: crepuscularconjuration.com
• Instagram: @cleverkimscurios or @youraveragewitchpodcast
• Facebook: Your Average Witch Podcast
• Youtube: @YourAverageWitch