Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Spenser Micetich. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Spenser thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
To me, success (like art) is subjective. Coming from a theatre/performing arts background, I used to think the only way I would be successful as a performer would be to end up on Broadway.
When the pandemic hit, my industry shut down forcing me to pivot artistically and challenging my view of success. I thought a few weeks away from performing would be great for my psyche, as I was less than thrilled with “the grind” of being an actor in New York City, but when weeks turned to months without any sort of artistic outlet, I was at my wits end. Suddenly my “vacation” from the career I was pursuing was turning into a furlough.
Fast forward to late summer 2020: I was scrolling on TikTok and saw quite a few people making earrings out of polymer clay! It caught my eye and because of the fabulous algorithm, it kept popping up enough on my feed to spark a genuine interest in starting my journey designer and creating polymer clay jewelry!
Not too long ago, I used to thing success was a “thing”, that I would be told I had “made it” and… then what? I would push myself past my limits, work through countless anxiety inducing callbacks and that would be it? I don’t think so. I have come to a place in my life where I determine my success through my joy. As a business owner, you get to call the shots and that means determining for yourself when you are a success! i am eternally grateful to have an artistic outlet turned career that allows me the freedom to create, explore and celebrate my joy without the crippling anxiety of baring your soul daily to a group of people behind a folding table. To me, that is the ultimate success.
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’ve been an artist as long as I can remember. My earliest memories are sitting at the softball field “watching” my sister’s games with my head buried in my drawing pad. I never envisioned myself as a jewelry designer. Yes, there was a time around 2008 when my obsession with America’s Next Top Model was deep and I would find myself sketching what I saw on the television, recreating the photoshoots and runway shows with my pencil and sketchpad.
Prior to the pandemic, I was an actor living and working in New York City. From the time I was 10, I was participating in as many productions as I (well, my mom who would drive me to every rehearsal) could make possible. By the time I was 16 I knew Musical Theatre what I was destined to do… little did I know what the future held!
Fast forward to March 2020.;.. I was living in New York when I got a call from my day job at Levain Bakery letting my know I was being laid off due to cut backs caused by the pandemic. I knew I would rather spend my pandemic days with my family in Northern California with a front AND backyard as opposed to my 750 square foot apartment.
Upon coming back home to California, I thought a couple weeks off of the NYC life would be nice, until weeks turned to months and I was feeling a massive hole where my artistic outlet used to be. Thanks to TikTok, I discovered my newfound artistic outlet: designing and creating polymer clay jewelry. When i was in high school, my senior year elective was Ceramics. I fell in love with the art form but when I left for college to study Musical Theatre I had little time for any extracurriculars, let alone enough time to catch my breath! I had just started a new day job and figured it was a great time to dabble in something new.
Little did I know that my dabble would transform into a newfound passion. I have always had so many influential women in my life and I knew that when I started this journey as a jewelry designer and business owner, it would be a way to honor and give back to them in a sense. Each earring and collection is inspired by (and sometimes named after) a woman in my life.
I know my foundation in performing arts set my work ethic as a small business owner. The dedication and discipline it takes to be an actor has transferred over to my business and how I show up for myself and my customers regularly. And truthfully, I like to work! This has become my passion, but let’s keep it real, it’s still work. There are days where I don’t want to, but the deadline needs to be met and orders need to be packed. Luckily enough, the wheel keeps turning enough with this medium that there is always new inspiration, new ideas and new things to create, keeping my job interesting and compelling enough to keep going.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Pretty early on in my jewelry designer career, I had about 90% of my tools, supply and inventory stolen from my car. Long story short, my day job takes me out of town during the week and I take my tools and supplies with me so I can continue to create when I get back to where I stay out of town. One weekend, I came back home and wasn’t in the mood to move everything from my car back into the house. The next day, my sister, a friend, and myself went out to a themed night on a local riverfront train. The train ride lasted a couple hours at sunset and by the time we came back to my car, we found the glass from my rear window shattered surrounding and in the car, as well as almost $4,000 of my supplies gone. To be honest, I kind of shook it off in that moment and didn’t process what had happened and what it meant until the drive home. With my car being the only vehicle burglarized in the entire parking lot, it felt personal, even though it likely was not. I guess I should mention, only three months prior, I had been rear-ended and my previous car had been deemed totaled. Needless to say, all of this felt like a sign that it was time to stop business for a bit.
I was set to have a summer collection drop on my website AND two vending opportunities the following weekend prior to this happening. I took the following morning slowly and eventually came around to letting my followers on my socials know what had happened and that business would be down and slow for quite some time. Not too long after I posted my announcement, I was shocked by the amount of customers and fellow small business owners I had sharing my incident and encouraging the community to come together and raise money so I could replace my supplies! It was in that moment I felt part of the Sacramento small business community and felt enough love and support to continue on my business journey earlier than I had anticipated. I used that opportunity to hone in on my brand and to accept the importance of quality over quantity.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Since the time I was 10, I was consistently performing in local community theatre productions. By the time I was 16, I knew I wanted to have a career as professional actor. By 19 I was working professional in Southern California and by 22, I was starring as Buddy the Elf in the national tour of Elf: The Musical. I had fulfilled my dream and moving to New York City and had even been cast in the workshop of a musical that would eventually have its premiere in London as well as being cast in my second national tour in as many years. Fast forward to late 2019, I was not thrilled with how my career was going. Yes, I was working fairly consistently and getting my name in with more and more casting offices, but the hustle and anxiety that came with it was wearing me down. By the time we rang in the New Year, I was hardly auditioning for anything and had come to accept that I wouldn’t be pushing myself to the point of discomfort while auditioning that year. Only a few months in, the industry had completely shut down due to the Covid-19 pandemic and I was left with no opportunities. At first, I was absolutely content with taking a break, but as the pandemic continued I felt the light at the end of the tunnel fading away.
Luckily, there are multiple options when it comes to being an artist and creative. I feel perpetually grateful to have found a new passion working with polymer clay and the opportunities and friends it has brought to me along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.the-claydade.com
- Instagram: @theclaydade