We were lucky to catch up with Tess Holechek recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tess, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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?
I’ve been artsy for as long as I can remember. It started with handmade life-size beaded roses back when I was growing up in France. Once I settled into being a full-time mom, Stateside, I started making beaded earrings, then leather earrings…and eventually when covid hit, I started finding interest in clay. It was such an interesting medium/material to me since it seemed to have unlimited potential. My friend Emily was moving out of clay and into selling her own hand-decorated sugar cookies, and offered to show me the basics of clay-conditioning, cutting, shaping, baking, decorating, etc. We spent a couple hours together and I was immediately hooked! She graciously and generously gave me some of her tools and clay and I ran home to buy more. Within a few days I was addicted to creating clay treasures.
Tess, 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?
My name is Tess, I live in San diego with my husband Stephen, and three children Micah (11), Elanora (8) and Nolan (4). I have an on-call job as a financial administrative assistant…however being a full-time mom has limited my ability to have a “conventional” work schedule. I created my company Frenchy Lane Crafts in 2020 at the height of Covid to keep my mind and my hands busy on something creative and fulfilling. I picked the name Frenchy Lane because I was born and raised in France and wanted my business name to be evocative of my roots. I absolutely love working with clay: it is a craft of precision and attention as it can be finicky, difficult and show all kinds of imperfections. Over the past 5 years, I have enjoyed fine-tuning and broadening my skills in clay- handling. I attend as many markets as I can to showcase my earrings in person and am currently working on an Etsy page. I work around major holidays and create collections accordingly. I also offer custom clay-earrings and work directly with clients to create the specific pairs of earrings they want. I have been asked to create within all sorts of fun themes: galaxies, bugs, alcoholic drinks, movies, flowers, pincesses, food items, anime and many more. My earrings can currently be found for sale in two different San Diego stores: Java Garden and Vinya. I am most proud of the progress I have made in perfecting my skills, and in the volume of product I am able to keep producing even as busy as I am in all other areas of life. It is truly a craft/hobby that I am passionate about.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I make all kinds of different earrings. I often make pairs that I love…and I also make some that I would never wear but that grow me as an artist. It is always such a joy to see different kinds of styles fly off the shelves, regardless of if I personally like them or not. It is a reminder that every person is their own unique and interesting self. People have such wonderful and eclectic likes and preferences and when someone says to me “oh these were made for me” it truly makes my day. Interacting with my clients in general, at markets especially, is so enjoyable. And when they come to me for a very specific pair of custom earrings, I very much welcome the challenge and strive to make their vision come to life as best I can.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Building my presence and visibility has been a real challenge. It’s just me working this business: I am the creator, the artist, the packager, the sales- person, the marketer, the website-builder, the photographer, the social-media poster. I have created for myself a schedule that mostly revolves around holidays and seasons in order to remain relevant and interesting to my clientele; New Years, Valentines day, St. Patricks Day, Spring and Summer, Halloween, Christmas and more. I will post the creation process in the form of a story on both Instagram and Facebook, and the final result as a well-manicured post on the same platforms. I will then market the products another couple of times and encourage my clients to reach out if they would like to purchase a pair. Up until recently I would immediately add them to my personal website (which is now closed in favor of an Etsy platform I am currently building). When markets are coming up, I will post as many times as possible with date/time/location. I find that a helpful way to build followers is to have friends and family enter occasional giveaways that encourage them to repost on my behalf and invite some of their own friends to follow my page. Word-of-mouth will always be the best way to garner visibility. I have exceptional friends who are constantly inviting others to check out my work and I am especially grateful for them.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frenchylanecrafts
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frenchylanecrafts
Image Credits
All pictures were taken by Tess Holechek