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

Mercury, appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

In the industry often led by the notion that there’s only one right way to do something. When you enter the space and declare and alternative method, it can perceived as radical. I believe that renters and the people who are not granted access to DIY, maintenance, and trades knowledge, are worthy of my our attention. The standard in the construction, maintenance, and DIY spaces are often targeted towards those who “know” or those who “have”. Those who “know” have the knowledge and often the skills to build, repair and change. Those who “have” are often the people who have the means to own their own house or have access to large collection of tools. My direction has always been to help those who “don’t know” and those who “don’t have”. I believe the train of thought is that there is little to no money in this direction, there why create this to be your target demographic. But by doing so they miss the opportunity to grow trust with an audience that is often disenfranchised. Be it, teaching fundamental knowledge many of us already know, showing solutions to problems that largely effect renters, or leading and ending with words of affirmation. All of these methods help to create a space that is uniquely different and in many way uniquely queer. Often I will post a video on a subject I belie to be boring, such as replacing blind slates in blinds for a window. Only to find out that not only did many people not have this knowledge prior but, thousands upon thousands professionals who just assumed they knew the “basics” didn’t have this knowledge prior. Proving that our vision of teaching those who are the most forgotten, can help teach everybody in the process.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Mercury Stardust, I am the Trans Handy Ma’am and I teach compassionate DIY on the internet. I rose to notoriety through TikTok by answering home maintenance questions from individuals often too afraid to ask these questions. Such as many women and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. I am a trans woman who worked in maintenance for over 15 years. I started filming those videos in my car, and later on job sites. Now I film in my production studio and largely focus on fundamental education in the home maintenance space.

Videos I cover are: how to unclog a bathtub or sink, how to fix door hinges, garbage disposals, drywall repair, how to find a stud, loose outlet repair, repairing a carpet, and much more. All of which are aimed towards renters who I feel are often left out of the conversation.

I am most proud of the impact that we often have on those who feel the least heard. And the impact we have on creating awareness for trans and non-binary rights. Often living your life outside of a label can lead people to seeing you as a fellow human. when they ask for help from me, they’re not acknowledging me as a trans person, they’re acknowledging me as a resource.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my business partner Maggie in February of 2022. I was hiring for an Executive Assistant, and she had applied, though her expertise was Business Operations Management. She believed in my mission, and in helping others just as much as me, and she had been a follower of mine for many months, so I brought her on as my Business Manager. We then worked together on some of my biggest gigs in the coming months, including raising $120k for trans healthcare, and getting a book deal with a major publisher.

We quickly grew close, and decided that we wanted to become business partners. I knew that I needed her support to do this business, and I wanted us to each be paid fairly and receive the benefits of the business as I’m a socialist at heart and try to run my business ethically in this capitalist society. I’m also a firm believer in community and people over profits, and my business partner has the same beliefs, so we knew we could create something amazing together. We created Mercury Stardust Media, LLC at the end of May 2022, and have since written a book, hosted multiple fundraisers, organized events and speeches, been interviewed for magazine and news articles, rented a commercial space downtown, and hired employees.

She handles all the business stuff: bookkeeping, budgeting, contracts, employees, etc. Which frees me up to do what I love, helping as many people as possible through my content. Now I’m able to try to raise $1 Million for trans healthcare through Point of Pride, all because of my amazing team and the work we do together.

Do you have multiple revenue streams – if so, can you talk to us about those streams and how your developed them?

As a creator, I have many streams of income. We also rely heavily on our community, who believe in me and our mission to help the most marginalized people through home maintenance education. Our main sources outside of the community are speaking engagements at businesses and universities, where I share my story as a trans woman and DIY knowledge. We also have had some big brand deals with companies like Lowe’s and iFixit, as well as my book, which will be coming out this summer! There’s no one source of income that we can rely on, so it takes a lot of work and tenacity to be able to juggle everything while still making content for free.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mercurystardust.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/mercurystardusttopz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mercury.Stardust
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4uAI3alDB7kUisg24_nKEw
• Other: TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@mercurystardust Patreon: www.patreon.com/mercurystardust

Image Credits
Main Photo and last two photos uploaded (Trans Handy Ma’am overalls and photo of me leaning on a desk smiling with clouds above my head: Photo by Hillary Schave Azena Photography All the rest are taken by me and my team.