We were lucky to catch up with Monica Morones recently and have shared our conversation below.
Monica , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
I work in the cannabis industry and I went from being a General Manager and opening retail stores to getting a promotion to Director of Media and Marketing and being able to utilize my skills as a graphic designer and photographer into my new title is what I’ve been working towards my whole life as an artist.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Cakes the Maniac and I am a multidisciplinary artist from California with a style I would describe as pure raw feminine energy. I am a photographer, painter, seamstress, graphic designer, businesswoman. I own a company called The Maniac Girls. We sell handmade goods along with printed products and vintage clothing and collectables. We have an online store and also vend at art and community events throughout Southern California. I’ve recently brought my mother on as a silent partner and she also helps me keep up with the demand of sewing. We love to sew. We are latin women with mean attitudes and the work ethic of 10 people combined. A lot of energy. I am most proud of my handmade bags I make. I make my own patterns and designs from scratch and sewing is like a puzzle or being good at math. I am not that good at either but for some reason, I can take almost anything apart and figure out how it is sewn.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
It amazes me when people who aren’t artists or aren’t creative say, “How hard could it be?” Or they undervalue the pay that needs to go to people who create things. If you think something is easy, I strongly suggest to try it yourself, time yourself on how long it takes to learn it, do it well and then give yourself a price for what you would want to get paid if YOU did it. Just because it is considered an “art” or seems “fun” doesn’t mean it should be undervalued.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I started on instagram from the beginning and it was different then. Now I struggle with keeping up with content or making my page have a “niche.” I boycotted Tik Tok for a long time until my roommate moved in and after watching him create content and seeing him receive products from companies and flying him out to do events and actually getting paid from it, I am a convert. I do need to make the time to work on the business Tik Tok. Having 4 different social media platforms is exhausting and I understand why people hire social media managers who should be making content everyday and posting everyday and interacting with millions of people on the web. On top of being on top of my social media, I also run social media for my job and make the content and I’ve learned that being organized and making content everyday and ready to post ahead of time is very helpful. Plan your week or longer and keep up with the trends.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.themaniacgirls.com
- Instagram: cakesthemaniac