We recently connected with Michele Howarth and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Michele, thanks for 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?
Most of my skills I use to make my products and run my business were really self-taught. Even ones that I picked up from other places or used a guide or tutorial for I changed to better suit my purposes.
In general, I certainly would have grown in skill faster if I’d had a guide or mentor the whole time, but even looking back I feel that the skill of figuring things out and adapting them is more valuable than the skills themselves. I was subconsciously teaching myself problem solving and adaptability, and was often thinking outside the box because I hadn’t been told there was a box in the first place so wasn’t confined to it. This has allowed my products to be more unique, my approach to my business more flexible, and given me the ability to pivot on a dime. I can pick up new techniques in minutes, create new product lines within hours, and even do things like go from inquiring about a pop-up mall space to opening my first retail location in less than a week!
Another valuable overarching skill I have developed is the humility to seek advice and input, listen to others when the offer it, and incorporate the best of what others suggest. I do consider myself to be a highly creative person with many ideas and the ability to pick up new crafts or techniques very quickly, but I wouldn’t be nearly so successful as I am without the people around me that I have collaborated with and learned from. For example: at a recent weekend event in a local mall, some teenage boys were playing “bigger and better” and we agreed to trade one of our friendship bracelets for a small resin coffin that another one of the vendors had made. We decided to use the coffin as a display piece, and one of my employees curated a selection of our charms to put in it with a spooky theme befitting the coffin. A customer purchased almost the entire set of charms we’d displayed, which sparked the idea of selling pre-packaged charm sets following certain themes. I came up with some ideas on my own, my team came up with more, we got them designed and packaged, and by our next event we had them ready. These charm sets so far have only been offered at two weekend events and in our two-week holiday retail location, yet we have already made several hundred dollars from them! And they really were a combined effort that I can’t honestly say I was solely (or maybe even the majority) responsible for. Another easy example is how many bestselling items I have that started out as custom requests. In many more examples than these I have been bettered or even astonished by the excellent ideas and advice of others, and my craft and business are so much better for them.
In short, I’d say the skills you want to learn are themselves much less important than being able to learn them with a humble, open, adaptable mindset.
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
I started Quiet Mischief in late fall of 2009. I was in Florida on a Walt Disney World internship and came down with the H1N1 virus that was going around at the time. I was placed in quarantine for a full week with no smartphone, a laptop with spotty wi-fi and no ethernet to wire into, three books, and no company. I couldn’t even call people much since I was on a pay by the minute plan (pay by the text too) and I couldn’t afford long conversations!
I’d learned to make friendship bracelets as a kid and had gotten back into them not long before, making some to sell to help fund my move to Florida. I had patterns memorized and a bag full of embroidery floss, so once I was well enough to sit up I threw myself into bracelet making to stave off boredom. By the time I was cleared to be around others again, I had more bracelets than I wanted to wear and the entrepreneurial streak in me that I’d first discovered at about seven years old was itching. I looked online, discovered Etsy, and spent the rest of my time in Florida splitting my time between working my Disney job, playing at the parks, and building up a little business that started making sales the very first week.
I returned home to Utah in January of 2010 and kept running my business. In April, my younger sibling showed me some items they’d made out of duct tape and asked if I’d be interested in selling them. My sibling’s skill, ingenuity, and attention to detail meant that they quickly developed a duct tape rose ring that was the first of its kind, a huge hit, and for a long time our signature product line. This was right at the beginning of the duct tape crafting craze and we rode that wave as long as we could, selling hundreds of finished rings and other duct tape crafts, and publishing tutorials that sold over two thousand copies combined.
By the time the duct tape crafting fad died down, my sibling and I were quasi-partners in Quiet Mischief and had discovered that we were both queer. We began making items that were LGBTQ focused, starting with simple bracelets in common flag color schemes and gradually working toward more variations of bracelets and an ever-expanding selection of flags (we currently stock about 40 and are always taking custom orders and searching for more!) These were a big hit the first time we were vendors at our state’s Pride festival, but so was something else: I’d brought along a bunch of charms with me that I had purchased over the years but not used or sold. What I’d brought on a whim sold faster than our handmade bracelets and led to our current signature line: twisted cotton bracelets with charms attached.
In person and online, we offer a huge range of items: bracelets in several different styles with all the LGBTQIA+ flags we can think of represented in our color schemes, Pride-themed buttons and stickers, and charms, charms, charms. Online we offer charm sets in themes like RPG classes, LGBTQIA+ identities, and aesthetics and pair charms with bracelets to be sold together; in person we offer these but also set up most of our space with plain bracelets and a large and varied selection of charms (most of which we curate, but some of which we make) and help customers create their own custom jewelry. We live in a state where queer people are still often discriminated against and even in arguably the worst county for queer people, so our booths and popup shops become a temporary safe space for these members of our local community. We sell items that confirm identities and help people feel seen, but also offer listening ears and somewhere where people can feel comfortable being who they really are, even if only for an afternoon. Many of our items are subtle enough that someone who isn’t safe being out yet can still wear them, and are adjustable, hypoallergenic (most items are just cotton, great for those with metal allergies), and almost instantly customizable, so pretty much anyone can find something they want to walk out with.
This year Quiet Mischief is working toward an expansion of growth, centered around finally getting a permanent retail location! With this location we’ll finally have space to improve and expand our product lines, a steadier source of income as we work to rebrand and extend the reach of a neglected online store, as well as a place where queer people of all ages can feel safe in a state where being out can still be dangerous. As owner, I’m dedicated to providing high-quality goods, boosting other queer artisans by selling their items in our shop and/or giving advice and mentorship, and helping my community by being able to give work to people who struggle to work a more traditional job. Everyone I currently employ is queer with mental or physical disabilities that limit their working capability (including myself) and I want to grow this company into one that can support these marginalized groups through hiring and supporting local non-profit organizations such as Genderbands and Queer Meals.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
In running my own small business where I am personally handling online sales or present for in-person ones, the most rewarding aspect is that I am able to run a business with a heart. The fact that we are LGBTQIA+ focused has only increased that ability. Our customers find their flag and feel seen and supported. Kids and adults alike find joy in searching for the combination of charm and bracelet that feels authentic to who they are or will be perfect for a friend or family member. At every in-person event, people stop and tell us their coming out story or ask for commiseration and advice about how to come out to family members or friends. We have given hugs and shared tears with people who need community and support. We create custom items on the spot and strive to have every customer leave feeling excited and happy. And I’m able to do it at a price point that feels reasonable or even generous to our customers but allows me to pay my employees well and provide them with perks like flexible hours, a relaxed working atmosphere, and free food and drinks.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
It might sound a little mercenary, but the number one thing most creatives need is simply to be paid for their work. In some ways this is a big shift – there are far too many people out there who seem to think that creative endeavors should be provided for cheap or free – but in other ways, it takes only a small mindset change. Maybe not everyone can afford a $500 original panting, but most people can afford a $10 print or to throw a few dollars into an artist’s virtual hat once a month. Making an effort to shop local and/or small may be a little more expensive and time-consuming, but it supports creatives who are throwing their whole being into their work and almost always results in a higher-quality product or experience. And when creatives are paid for their time and effort, they are able to put in more time and effort to create even more!
For example, I could possibly lower my prices if I got a part- or full-time job in order to support myself and only charged for the materials/fees/etc. without trying to earn a living from creating. But to do so would close so many doors for me. I spend more than full-time hours shopping for the right materials, curating sets and finished pieces, making color schemes, coming up with my own patterns, perfecting my craft, and learning or developing new techniques. Many of these hours I double-dip by creating while I am also minding a pop-up shop that I set up and sit at for hours or even days at a time in order to make my goods more accessible to my local community.
Another facet to this, and one that I feel is very common at least among the creators that I know, is that this work provides a much higher quality of life for me. I have health issues that make it taxing to work a more traditional job, to the point where I have taken leaves of absence from jobs for health reasons. But the creative work I do is so much more relaxed, flexible, and fulfilling. A regular 9-5 makes me sigh sadly, but I’ll gladly throw myself into a short sprint of 13+ hour days in order to prep a large order or work a festival. And at the end of the day, instead of working to live, I am living through my work, and providing joy to others while doing so. When artists get paid, the whole society benefits.
Contact Info:
- Website: quietmischief.com
- Instagram: @quietmischiefcompany
- Facebook: facebook.com/quietmischief
Image Credits
Michele Howarth, Pan Lynn Arcadia, Total Wine & More, Tom McCorkle