We were lucky to catch up with Shannon Gallup recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shannon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
This is one that I have been pondering more and more lately throughout the years, and especially this year so far. I have had Auragon running as my main gig and source of income for 10 years now. It feels surreal to say that! Like many small businesses and fellow maker friends who run their shops online similar to how I operate, we have all felt a shift in the economic climate. People have had less money to spend on non-essentials, and the drop in sales has been a reflection of that strain. Us small shops and independent artists have had to adjust what we sell, how we sell, and where we sell in order to make ends meet. It can get overwhelming to stay afloat with no promise of a paycheck at the end of all these efforts. I have found myself often wondering if I would be happier having a regular job. My conclusion to this thought always leads me to the same place which is why I started my business in the first place. It boils down to – I am simply not cut out for regular work life! I am an artist. Through and through. Art is my oxygen, and without it, I’d wither on the vine. No matter the lack of pay, the struggle, and all the uncertainty, there is nothing else in the world that I would rather be doing. I’ve come to terms with “trading it all” for the opportunity to do this. My perspective may be unconventional, but to put it straight, I would rather become a homeless man feeding bunnies than to sell my soul short for a minimum wage existence. To me, the most genuine measures of wealth have always been held to the standard of happiness and freedom. I believe that everyone, to some degree, must uphold and protect what in life that is important to them. For me, it’s creating art.
Shannon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I first began Auragon as a side hustle when I was 18, still in high school and unable to find a regular job with no prior experience under my belt. I knew what I wanted to do from a very early age in life – it was all about fashion. I was obsessed with drawing outfits, dressing up, collecting fashion magazines, ignoring trends and doing whatever I wanted. I was immersed in the Hardcore music scene in my early to late teens and had a vast collection of graphic t-shirts from almost every show I went to. This path opened the door to the world of screen printing. I knew what I had to do! I needed a job in order to invest in my screen print set up. I was already tinkering with whatever crafts I could get my hands on from Micahels at the time, and decided to make an Etsy page to try to sell these little crafts since finding actual employment wasn’t working out. I was AMAZED when I made my 1st sale on Etsy! It was for one of my Yin Yang dreamer designs. Once this door of possibility and opportunity opened, there was no turning back. I still searched for a real job because I was convinced at the time that my sense of worth was attached to a dollar sign, and I wanted to speed up the process of getting my screen-printing equipment. I was eventually hired on at Target! A huge victory for me and my self-worth! I no longer felt embarrassed to say I didn’t have a “job”. I could proudly say I work at Target. This job only lasted 5 months before I put in my notice to quit. Sure, the guaranteed paycheck was nice, but what it was doing to my soul was at a breaking point. I still had my Etsy, and was making more and more consistent sales to manage being “unemployed”. My top selling works were always the Dreamers, so it was there I put my main emphasis on creating. Eventually, I was able to save up and purchase the whole set up I needed to start screen printing! I decided since I already had the business name Auragon that I would simply transform my business of what it was to now being a clothing brand. Auragon Apparel was born. My very first designs and prints from this time were an absolute mess! I had no idea screen-printing would be so hard to figure out. It became a financial drain and was met with major defeats. I needed to re-access. Through all of this time, I remained hard at work on my Dreamers, which were bringing me the most sales and attention on my business. I found my obsession with clothes and fashion shifting to what was bringing me the most joy and fulfillment which was creating the Dreamers. My obsession sky-rocketed from there! I dove down a completely new rabbit hole and Auragon was re-claimed by my first love of crafting. I was creating purely from a place of passion, genuine interest, and defiance. People began seeking out my works specifically and I built a name for myself on Etsy. I eventually moved away from Etsy to have my own website. I wanted a more professional and branded appearance for the extravagant works I was creating. I wanted to be taken seriously as a designer. – The story would not be complete without mentioning Hollogon. The brand name my dying clothing brand dreams turned into. I started Hollogon shortly after my defeats with screen-printing and after re-claiming Auragon to the lighter side of things. I refused to let everything I worked so hard for fall away to nothing. I began out-sourcing the actual print work to ensure I was producing pieces I could actually sell and stand behind as quality I could put my name on. Being the one-women-show that I am, I wanted to pick a brand name that would not only represent the brand but would be recognized as being tied to Auragon. Since they are both passion projects of mine, expressing both the light and dark sides of myself, the names couldn’t be more suiting. Auragon came to be as my shining star name! My early work, and even still to this day, I work with a lot of geometrical designs. For this reason, I picked the root word “gon” – relating to geometries like hexagon, octagon, pentagon, etc. The word Aura being your energy field, the light within you. And thus, the name Auragon came to be. When the time came to split my creative outlets, the relation between the brands needed to be within the names themselves. I kept the root word “gon” as the tying element between them. After much thought and careful consideration amongst all facets, the root word “hollo” stuck. Hollo means a cry or a shout. Exactly suiting to the energy my path with clothing always felt like. A shout into the void. Taking on a darker energy to itself entirely. – Auragon and Hollogon. The light and the dark. The all-encompassing essential balance of the world at large. The Yin and the Yang of life. Through being able to express myself in both manners, I am creatively fulfilled. With my first ever sale being that of a Yin Yang dreamer… I find it difficult to write off divine alignment as mere coincidence. A premonition and a calling answered. To this day, both brands exist in distant harmony. My main priority and focus remain set on the Dreamers… for now ;)
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Social media has been a true blessing to me and my artistic ventures! In this day and age, it is such a wonderful tool to connect with your audience. Having the confidence to share on social media was a small hurdle for me. What I found that helped me mentally overcome this was just to remember not to take myself too seriously, have no attachments to an outcome, and to mainly just have fun with it. Get personal! People like to know there is an actual human behind the screen. Share your story with others. You never know who you might reach. Building a large consistent audience takes years, don’t let yourself be discouraged with the slow nature of the process. You will be glad you took your time and acknowledged every detail along the way in years down the line.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My goal and mission with my work has held the same value and importance since day one. I aim to spread as much beauty, joy, and wonder around the world as humanly possible! Creating works that provide people with a fresh sense of self and identity. I hope my path with art can inspire someone else’s. We have been gifted this unique experience of being human, and our ability to create art sets us apart. I think that alone is reason enough to practice art in any medium of your choosing!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.aurvgon.com
- Instagram: aurvgon
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/Auragonart
- Youtube: auragon
- Other: https://pinterest.com/aurvgon
