We were lucky to catch up with Maggie Shenker recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Maggie, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
I so wish I had dug into my creative side sooner in life. I always said “oh I’m not a creative person”, and I think that comes more down to me not being confident in myself or knowing what craft to try first. I ended up taking a leap after my second son was born, during a hard time in life. He wasn’t an easy baby, and I was completely losing myself, I felt like I had no idea who I was other than a mom and wife. I needed a hobby, poked around Facebook to see what fun things other people were doing, and chose to try creating epoxy tumblers! I fell in love with it. Career wise, I had a stable job, but it wasn’t in the least bit fulfilling. I think I stumbler upon this craft at the right time, but I do wish I had started looking at my creative side sooner.
Maggie, 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?
As silly as it sounds, I became interested in epoxy tumblers after posting on a Facebook group asking what other moms do in their spare time! My second born was a terrible sleeper, so I wasn’t really sleeping much, all of my time was dedicated to my family and my job, leaving myself put to hang, so to speak. I genuinely just needed something that was purely for me, and my family would only be involved if I wanted them to be. This was during the first year of the pandemic, so that definitely added to how I was feeling and needing that escape. If I’m being completely honest, I’m most proud of how far I’ve come in terms of not being in such a dark place. Some days are still hard, but finding this business of mine has been a game changer for my mental health. And I think that’s what sets me apart, I know what it’s like to find some kind of light in all of the darkness through creativity, and I care deeply about every product I create because of what pushed me to startthis.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding part of being an epoxy tumbler artist is seeing the finished product, and hearing how much my clients love them! I love finishing my tumblers and seeing how pretty they turn out, but finishing a custom order and having a happy client is hands down the most rewarding!
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
The best support we can receive outside of purchasing our items, is sharing, liking, commenting on our posts! Word of mouth is what’s helped me grow the most, and I don’t know that I’d have the clients I do without word of mouth referrals and my content being shared!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CrankyMomDesigns
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/crankymomdesigns?igshid=ZDdkNTZiNTM=
- Other: https://linktr.ee/Maggieshenker
Image Credits
All photos taken by me