We recently connected with SaRoan Gaston and have shared our conversation below.
SaRoan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)
I feel like any investment that isn’t rooted into bettering you or your surroundings is the worst investment you could do. I say this, because if I had known that investment isn’t just dealing with money, but also your time and patience, then I wouldn’t have took so long to start my own journey in the first place. Spending so much of my energy and time at previous jobs where they didn’t like for me to be creative or tried to keep me in this box. Only for me to end up finding a place where I can truly be comfortable and see the progress of me giving my all. Previously, I worked at an elderly home and I didn’t necessarily like my written job, but I made it tolerable by actually getting involved with the people living there. Unfortunately, if it isn’t one thing it was always another when it came to my managers, so I quit. Me being the person I am, I hated not doing anything, it feels like I always need to be creating something or being productive. A few months later, I found myself working at Wholey Goods, a place where I can express my interest in healthy life styles, creating art, etc. Not once has anything I’ve done here, gone to waste whether it went to somebody else or me. Nonetheless, I am not ungrateful for the experiences before because every experience has taught me something.
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.
For starters, I’m not as independent as I want to be as far as having a craft and business. However, don’t let the sound of that scare you from continuing to keep trying. As far as starting to pursue my expression of creativity, it had always been inside of me. I just never knew how to emit it from my mind into reality. The hinderance on that came from typical things like childhood trauma, anxiety and limiting beliefs. I’d say the easiest way to break free from the hesitance is to literally scare yourself by taking risks. Me, being a Tarot reader, starting off, was very random as far as how people interacted with me. One moment somebody appreciates my service, the next moment somebody thinks I’m the ‘wicked witch of the west’. That applies to my other services as well, even painting has its hardships. I’ve had friends, really close friends, somewhat doubt the success of my jewellery making saying things like, “Do you really think that’s worth that money” or “Do you think somebody will buy that?”. And yes, it does hurt but you have to realize that even your family and friends are not your target audience and you have to find your people. The main questions, especially when I make jewellery or do Tarot readings is “How?”. Whether that be them asking, “how did you know that” or “how did you envision such jewelry?”. As a far as Tarot Readings, I don’t know how to answer that. With creating accessories, most of my clients know that I don’t make repeat jewelry. Anytime I make a piece and sell it, that customer is the only person with that design of jewelry. I feel like that’s what makes my creations and my service so unique and I am very proud of that because one of my biggest fears is falling into that loop of following what everybody else does just because it’s a trend, I fear not having authenticity and realness. I’ve made it this far without losing and I’m happy about that.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
The best thing society can do to support artist and creatives is to start localizing your everyday life. Read your cities newspaper! As a Memphian, I always see musicians, actors/actresses and artists wanting somebody to come and watch them. Start buying from local farmers, this would cut down the chances of your food being contaminated and tampered with. Little things like buying flowers from a flower shop instead of a One-stop-shop corporation helps the community. A major one for me is to make common and leisurely places, more inviting for the public, especially the youth. Keep the areas clean, put more public garbage cans, encourage volunteer work, plan more public events. People don’t realize how much we need community at this time, I would love to see more people take on these kind of roles and mindfulness.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
A lot of people definitely misunderstand my journey because it dives a lot into the metaphysical and holistic ways of life. I know that there are people out there that will abuse their power and their gifts for the wrong thing, but that is with anything in this world. However, that does not make it okay for people to blindly judge me, or anybody else that does what I do, or even similar to what I do. I’m an Omnist, meaning that I believe in all religions. I feel like I have no right to say, who is wrong or right as far as religion, but rather to believe they all exist for a reason. With that being said, I am very open minded to a lot of things period and am not so quick to judge anybody.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/SaintRidingHood