We recently connected with Yas Awsem and have shared our conversation below.

Yas, appreciate you joining us today. 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?

in 2019, i was 21 years old and working at a vegan grocery store in south florida. at this point in life, i was already years into unfulfilling, anxiety-invoking service industry work… and i was burnt out, uninspired, and broke. i deeply craved financial freedom through work that felt authentic and enjoyable, but i felt completely trapped. there was a point where every time i went to work, i had a panic attack because i felt so unfulfilled and exhausted. my body couldn’t take it anymore. i decided to put it out into the universe and prayed for guidance on how i could connect my creativity with my work and make money doing something that felt nourishing.

that’s when the inspiration of screenprinting came. one day, i was lying on the couch and suddenly jolted up with this intensely clear vision of these shirts i had to make. at that point, i had never screenprinted in my life, but something inside of me urged me in this direction, so i listened. even though i was scared, i knew i had to trust this intuitive pull, so i spent my last $100 on a beginner screenprinting kit from michaels and learned off youtube. about two months later, i launched blessed up threads, my screenprinting shop, and it was very well received. i took the risk of quitting my job and decided to pursue my art full-time.

this was the first time i really experienced my intuition in this way, and it’s now the foundation of how i create anything in my life, including money, my dreams, and my goals. i have discovered that inside all of us, there’s an internal guidance system, and if you can work through the limitations, challenges, and fear – it will always guide us to where we need to be. that doesn’t mean it’s free from struggle, i worked my ass off these last years to become self-employed off my art and there were many moments of failure and defeat. but at the end of the day, i have built this relationship of trust with my intuition that led me to earn a full-time living off my creativity with freedom over my time and money.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

i’ve always been creative in many different ways. i’ve been called an artist by whole life, but i have never had a specific medium or focus. that’s why i resonate most with the label “creative”. to me, it’s a way i move through life and face challenges and conflicts. so far, my creativity has led me to screenprinting and the card game that i made, radical queer witches.

i’ve been screenprinting for almost 5 years. i started with t-shirts and hoodies, i’ve made coveralls, satin robes, then eventually moved on to create one-of-a-kind pieces that i would print on thrifted clothing. i have a strong foundation in self-growth and healing, and the pieces i make reflect that a lot. i’ve been taking space from screenprinting for a couple months now, but it’s something i revisit every now and then!

in 2020, i made a card game meant to be inclusive and centered around marginalized communities. it’s played similar to apples to apples or cards against humanity but queer, radical, and anti-racist. i sold the game as a sliding scale pdf game that people could print at home for two years. the game went viral multiple times and i was able to get it manufactured in april 2022 after getting funded on kickstarter and have sold 3000 copies so far.

Have you ever had to pivot?

in 2022 when i decided that i wanted to create a kickstarter campaign for my card game, i didn’t originally choose radical queer witches. i actually made an entirely new astrology card game called “blame the planets” out of nowhere and planned to get that one funded and manufactured. i ran into obstacle after obstacle, not to mention that the game had no hype yet because i had just recently made it. every video i posted on tiktok about it flopped, no one was buying the pdf… but for some reason, i felt convinced that this was the game i needed to get funded.

I’m not sure how i came to the conclusion, but i suddenly realized that radical queer witches already had 2 years of interest. i had an email list of thousands of people who had bought the game, i had people begging me to turn it into a real thing, and just an overall strong following. the light bulb went off and i realized i was pushing on a door that wasn’t open by trying to run a kickstarter for blame the planets. i switched up the campaign and chose to fundraise for rqw. there was an incredible amount of support and excitement that led to me raising $13,000 in a couple weeks.

this taught me such a valuable lesson about how sometimes when there’s a ton of resistance and something isn’t working, that’s because there’s another way, maybe it’s not time, or maybe I’m not seeing the bigger picture.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

i think more than anything, it’s the desire for a fulfilling life and fulfilling work. i am a child of immigrants, so i am very familiar with working hard. i love to work, i love having a purpose and contributing towards something. however, i quickly found out in my early twenties that i couldn’t spend my passion for creating in an establishment that doesn’t pay me enough to thrive, that wreaks havoc on my body and mind, and exploits me for profit. reconnecting with my creativity is liberating. my goal and mission is to create a life that is nourishing, restful, and joyful – something that my parents, nor my ancestors have fully experienced. i do it for the deep part of my soul that craves pleasure, authenticity, and freedom.

Contact Info:

• Website: radicalqueerwitches.com
• Instagram: @heart.led
• Other: Tiktok: @heart.led