The Benefits of Connecting with Other Makers | Podcast Episode #57

Episode Transcript

Brittany:
And welcome to episode number 57 of the B Hooked Podcast. I’m so grateful that you joined in with me today. I have a return guest on the show, one who has been very highly requested, none other than Jewell from Our Maker Life. I’m so excited to chat with her again today. She always has so much wonderful wisdom to share with us.

Now, before we get into today’s show, I want to take a quick moment to thank our sponsor, Yarnspirations, for allowing me to bring this podcast to you. Yarnspirations is the online destination for inspiration and the yarns you love like Peyton’s, Bernat, Caron, and Lily Sugar and Cream.

While you, as a BeHooked podcast listener, can take advantage of a special offer that they have just for you to redeem at Yarnspirations.com. My listeners can get 20% off your order of $40 or more at Yarnspirations.com when you use the coupon code BHookedPod at checkout. That’s B-H-O-O-K-E-D P-O-D.

Jewell and I mention a few resources in our talk today and you can find all of the links to that over on the show notes page. That is bhookedcrochet.com/session057 and you can find everything there. Don’t take notes or anything like that while you’re listening—I do all of that for you. You can also ask your questions and comments there. It’s a great way to connect with other people, myself, and my guest.

Jewell and I really wanted to bring to light two really big benefits of connecting with others online and offline—especially offline. The first benefit we talk about is some of the fear that we face when getting into a situation that we might not feel very comfortable with—and how that fear is really your cue that you’re doing the right thing.

The other thing we talk about is how connecting with somebody in person—at some kind of event or stitch night or whatever it may be—how becoming somebody’s friend is your number one way to suppress those competitive tendencies that you might feel toward someone in the same industry as you. Now that’s a completely normal feeling, and we all go through it. But we do talk about the importance of having a collaborative mentality and how that helps not only ourselves, but the industry as a whole.

And this is a message that both Jewel and I are very passionate about.

All right, so here we go. Jewel, welcome back to the Be Hooked podcast. It’s so great to have you again.

Jewell: 3:16
Thank you so much, Brittany. I’m so excited and thrilled to be back. Thank you so much.

Brittany: 3:21
I am so thrilled to have you here too. I was blown away by your episode. We had you on initially in episode 29. We talked about the stress of being a maker and it was one of those episodes a lot of people are finding—and I’m excited for what we’re going to chat about today.

Jewell: 3:37
Yeah, that warms my heart to hear so much. That’s so incredible to hear that we’ve been able to reach and connect with so many people through my story. It’s so humbling. I’m honored.

Brittany: 3:49
Well, for those who may just be finding this episode first—maybe they haven’t listened to episode 29 yet—I want to just give you a chance to talk a little bit about your journey and the Our Maker Life purpose.

Jewell: 4:05
Yeah, absolutely. So Our Maker Life is a knit and crochet movement at its heart and core. It’s a movement in the fiber arts sector for makers by makers. So that’s our pretty little tagline: a knit and crochet movement for makers by makers.

Founded by myself, along with my amazing team—Kelly of Knitbrooks, Allison of Leather Reserve Design, Nathan of Loop and Threads, and Kathleen of Country Pine Designs—in 2016, we came together with this just really amazing idea to connect with our community.

We saw that of course, there are some great makers out in the community, but we also saw a place where we could connect more and really get to know each other. It really started from just an idea of me thinking like, wow, I’ve known Kelly for over a year on Instagram—we talk and connect all the time and I’ve never met her.

So how awesome would that be if there was a way where I could go to Canada where she lives, or she could come here to the States in Chicago, and we could connect? And then I thought—wow, I wonder if there are people who follow Kelly and her Knitbrooks page and her journey and would want to connect with her? And I wonder if there are people who want to connect with me through my shop and business, North Knits?

I just had this pressing call on my heart to reach out to a couple of people and see what they thought about it—like, hey, do you guys want to meet up in person over pizza? And it just culminated into this really beautiful and grand and diverse movement that became Our Maker Life.

Because when we first kind of started and were brainstorming and reaching out to people about, okay—if we met up, where would we want to meet offline—we didn’t even have the name yet. It was just called, like, the “knitting and meet up for pizza” group.

So it became Our Maker Life, and it’s just become an amazing community and movement that I’m so honored to be a part of. We’ve been able to connect with thousands of people since launching our website and Instagram page in 2016. That’s when we began and had our first offline meetup.

We’re very passionate about connecting online, primarily through Instagram, and featuring our knit and crochet pieces. That was really an integral part—we felt it was important that we support each other online and provide a platform when we didn’t see too many platforms where we could say, “Hey, what you’re making is really cool and awesome—let’s show each other some love.”

But we also thought it was very important to connect and meet each other and just have a good time, let our hair down, and kind of de-stress in a really cool city offline.

And we didn’t know if it would work. We didn’t know if people were really going to be into it. But they were! And we had our first meetup in New York City and got incredible support immediately from We Are Knitters once they heard about it. It’s just been a thrilling adventure ever since.

We had our second meetup in Toronto, Canada last year, and—perfect timing—we actually just sold out for our meetup that’s going to be this summer in Chicago, Illinois. So awesome.

Brittany: 7:37
That is so exciting. Well, you know, the growth was explosive. I mean, a movement that’s barely two years old—that’s huge. That tells me that you guys are fulfilling a major need within the community.

And I think, if I had to guess, I would say that the reason why so many people rally around this is because you’re all about connecting and uplifting each other and sharing in the joy of what we do. You can see firsthand the benefits that this type of platform gives people.

So what have you seen over the years? I’m sure you’ve heard stories or read comments about why it’s so beneficial for people to connect with each other online—and offline too.

Jewell: 8:22
Yeah. Well, you know, one of the most beautiful things that I’ve really been able to see from a personal perspective—and I think us as the OML team, we’ve all been able to get different things from it—but one of the things that I have just seen is that like, wow, people really do have this beautiful inherent need to connect with each other online and support each other online. And that’s great.

But also—we have a desire to meet offline. And I think, Brittany, it’s so beautiful because we’re in the era and the age where technology is king, you know? Social media is booming. I’m old school—I’m an eighties baby. I grew up just on the cusp of that.

My niece practically started walking with an iPad in her hand, knowing how to use it. As a child, I didn’t grow up with technology. I’m from a super, super small town in South Carolina. I grew up next to a cotton field, and no technology. I had my sisters and my community around me—and that was my connection.

So I’ve always been that type of person. As Facebook and social platforms grew, I was still very connected to the world around me, in person and offline. And as social media began to grow, I think a lot of us started to second guess—do we really care about meeting up with each other in person anymore?

Do I need to have those connections at the grocery store? Do I care about going to a Blockbuster? Right? Do I, as a person, need that in my world?

And what I have discovered through Our Maker Life is that the answer is still yes.

From our very first event—we sold out. And it was something we didn’t know would happen. When we actually got to the event, you could feel the energy, the exuberance, the excitement. It was almost like that aha moment—like, wow, this is what I’ve been needing in my life.

Because I think social media can create such a shell around who we really are. And being able to connect with people in person—who you admire, who you may have already developed relationships with—kind of peels that layer off a little bit and just allows you to relax.

That’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve seen from the movement—that what I felt inherently, just me as a person, that I love to meet people in person—yeah, there was something to it. When my team was immediately like, “Yes, I want this,” we knew we were on to something.

Even we were like, “Okay guys, just so you know, it could only be the five of us at the first one.” And we said, if that’s how it is, then that’s okay. Because we know the five of us are extremely passionate and want to meet each other. We’ve developed some really strong friendships online.

Then, when we had 50 people come to the first one—and then triple that at the second one—you realize that platforms can bring people together. You’ll have your community of people who really get it and can share that and speak to that.

So yeah—that’s one of the most amazing things. It makes me smile so much. I think I didn’t find this out until maybe last year, actually—that Kelly and Allison actually met for the first time as well at the Our Maker Life event.

Brittany: 13:48
Definitely a big benefit here is you’re gaining real friendships. I mean, we can have friendships online, but it just takes it to the next level when we get to meet somebody in person. And so that’s a huge benefit right there—to be able to connect with people offline, the people who may be already in your circle of friends online.

Jewell: 14:07
Yeah.

Brittany: 14:07
Another thing I was thinking too is—it sounds like, if I had to guess, would you call yourself an extrovert?

Jewell: 14:15
You know, that’s a good question. I would say that I am—how do I describe myself? I’m an extroverted introvert. Okay? That’s how I would describe myself, because I am typically—

And this is why I think Our Maker Life is so great, because I think if you kind of look at my shop page, North Knits, you might get the vibe that I’m a little bit more of an introvert. And I kind of am on social media. Like, I like to put myself out there, but I’m not doing, you know, lives every day or sharing tons and tons of stories all the time. I’m not even posting every single day.

So I can tend to be a little bit more of a quiet maker. I have my few friends on social media, and I guess I’m not super into being the most popular on social media. I’m a little bit more reserved.

Then when you meet me in person, I’m like, ah!

Brittany: 15:23
Yeah.

Jewell: 15:23
And super excited! So I am more of a quiet person, and I think that sometimes comes through on my social media. I can just tend to be more of a homebody. If I’ve got my yarn and my music and my coffee, it can just be me all day—and that’s fine. On a Saturday.

But, you know, if you meet me at the Our Maker Life events, it’s like, yeah—let’s party!

Brittany: 15:54
Well, that’s probably why I thought that about you, because that was the first time we met. And the only time right now that we’ve met in person was in Toronto last year.

Like you said, to me, you came off as definitely an extrovert. And the reason why I ask is because there are a lot of us out there who are introverts. And I say “us” because I’m included in that.

I like to say that I’m an extrovert in training, I guess, because I know that in order to go where I want to go in life and accomplish the goals I have laid out for myself, it does require some level of extrovert. And for me, that might be working a little bit against what my natural tendencies are of being introverted.

Kind of like you—being perfectly fine working at home all day by myself, just me and my yarn and my video equipment, and I’m perfectly happy there.

But I think when you step out of your comfort zone just a little bit, and maybe dip your toe into that extroverted direction and meet somebody in person—that’s when the real magic happens.

And so I say all of that and ask you that question to let the introverts know that it might feel a little bit fearful, but man—once you step your foot in that door, it’s like instant excitement. All of those feelings completely go away and it’s just a blast. It’s so much fun.

Jewell: 17:26
It’s so much fun. And definitely we hear that, Brittany, from so many people. For many, Our Maker Life is their first time connecting with their community and with fellow knitters and crocheters—at all.

Because again, I go back to that shell. I love how social media has grown and there have been more enhancements—you can do a live, or an Instagram story, or something like that to really connect with your community.

But a lot of people are very intimidated by that. I’ve spoken with makers who just get so absolutely nervous and overwhelmed about doing a post. And how long have we been doing Instagram posts? You’d presume people are super comfortable with it and know exactly what to say, but there are a lot of makers who really struggle with that.

And because of that, they’re not able to provide a platform to let people know who they are. And that’s what’s being put out right now—like, if you want to be successful in this business, you’ve got to connect with people, and you’ve got to build that community.

But a lot of people feel very uncomfortable treading those waters on social media. They don’t know how to do that.

Then they go to an Our Maker Life event and they’re really able to be themselves—or even just break those barriers of restriction, of feeling overwhelmed, of thinking they can’t do certain things.

When you walk away from an Our Maker Life event, you have so much renewed confidence—knowing what you’re capable of. Even trying things you didn’t think you were capable of. Just taking that leap of faith and taking that chance to do it.

I’ve met many makers who are like, “This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this.” Toronto was just mind-blowing. We had people come from as far as Florida, from all over places in Canada—even traveling hours by plane and car to come to Toronto.

And they said, “I’ve never done anything like this. I haven’t even created a knitting page on Instagram or Facebook, but I came to this event because I wanted to put myself out there—to try and discover not only who I am as a maker, but who I am as a person.”

And it’s what it’s done for me, too. I’ve literally realized that I’m capable of doing things that for most of my life, I was very fearful of and thought, “I can’t do that.”

But I’ve gotten so much renewed confidence, and a lot of other makers have been able to do that as well. So it’s been an incredible experience to see—like you said—how if you are an extrovert in training, you may walk away from an Our Maker Life event being an extrovert fulfilled.

Brittany: 20:26
Yeah, definitely. The one thing I want to mention about all that too—and I have shared this quote, I’ve probably overshared it—but this quote really, really resonates with me right now. I think it has the power to maybe help somebody who’s on the fence about doing a meetup.

If you feel a little bit scared, well—there’s a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt that I just love. She says, Do one thing every day that scares you. That’s my mantra right now.

If I feel a little bit scared about something, that is my number one cue that—yes, you need to do that. Because that’s stepping me out of my comfort zone just a little bit, or maybe a lot. It depends on the situation.

That’s how you constantly move forward, right? I think we have to get out of our comfort zone a little bit. And for me, the way that I know I’m out of my comfort zone is—I feel a little bit scared.

So I love that quote. I have it posted right here next to my desk and I look at it every day. It’s a constant reminder that I always need to be pushing forward, no matter what the goal is.

Jewell: 21:39
Absolutely. I love that. And I love Eleanor Roosevelt.

Actually, my alma mater—my grad school alma mater—is Roosevelt University here in Chicago. It’s a social justice school that was started by President Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor. So yeah, that quote is hanging all throughout the school.

Like I said, just being a small-town girl in South Carolina, those were the same words that propelled me and compelled me. It doesn’t matter if it scares you. Actually, it scaring you is a good thing. You should definitely do it.

Hearing quotes like that, as a maker, have definitely pushed me outside my comfort zone. Because Brittany, I’ll tell you—I was terrified when I started thinking about Our Maker Life.

Yeah. I got the vision to do it and the idea. And I didn’t know exactly what it was going to be, but I just had this push to reach out to my friends.

And I was like, what?

I actually reached out to just people. Because like I said, I can tend to be a little more reserved through North Knits. I had my little community and I was kind of in my comfort zone with my seven or eight thousand followers—I think that’s all I had at the time.

And I was like, “I’m not doing—” yeah. Because it kept scaring me. And I just—just gave me chills. I would get these little spurts of visions of how big it could be. I’d see hundreds of people meeting together in a space.

And I was like, “That’s weird. Who does that?”

And it scared me. But it also gave me that push—like, what’s the worst that could happen?

The worst is everyone says no and unfollows me. That’s the worst that could happen, you know? And if that happens, I’m still going to wake up the next day and still be me. I’ll still strive.

But luckily, because I took that chance, people were on board. So many people connected with it. I love how We Are Knitters supported it too, because they also do small “WAK” parties.

They’ll send you kits and you can just meet with like 10–15 people in your community. So I love how they supported it. Even though now WAK has been doing these huge mega parties—mega knitting parties is what they’re calling them.

It’s just so awesome that they supported what we were doing. Because they could see what OML could be, even at a time when I, as an individual maker, didn’t fully see it yet.

That’s also why it’s important—if you’re thinking about doing something in your maker life and it scares you—don’t let that be a hindrance. You never know who is on board with it or how your ideas could connect with theirs, or how you might be supported.

We always try to encourage and uplift people to just go out and try it.

Make sure you’re doing it from a good place, because I know envy and unhealthy competition is real. So you want to make sure your emotions and your reasons are coming from a genuine place. That’s equally important.

But never let fear stop you.

Because a quote I always love to think about is: “What if I fall?” But oh darling—“what if you fly?”

Brittany:
Oh, I love that.

Jewell:
Yeah. So whenever I get really, really afraid about taking a leap of faith or doing something when I don’t know how it’ll turn out, I’m always like—yeah, but I might fly. So I’m going to go ahead and jump off this.

Brittany: 26:29
Oh, I love that. I’m going to have to write that down. You know, you gave the best piece of advice there to figure out what’s the worst that can happen, right? If you feel like you’re really scared and you don’t know if you should move forward and what that might look like for you, just sit down and think about, okay, what is the absolute worst that could happen? And let your mind run wild because I can almost guarantee that the worst case scenario might not actually be that bad.

Jewell: 26:54
Yeah, that’s good. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I completely agree with that because I remember, you know, I’m a self-taught knitter and a self-taught crocheter and you know, it’s, it’s funny. Like you said, kind of like thinking back on it now, like what’s the worst that could happen. But when I was trying to teach myself various stitches, like if it was, you know, fair isle or a certain crochet stitch or something—excuse me—something like that, you know, I would sit there for the longest time and just kind of just be wallowing in my own fearful thoughts of almost talking myself out of it.

Yeah. Like I can’t do this. I can’t do this pattern. Like maybe someone else is already doing this pattern. And I can’t do this pattern because how is that going to turn out? And then I don’t even know how the finished piece is going to look because I’ve never tried this yarn. This is so stupid. Why did I even buy this type of yarn? Like, oh my gosh. And I, you know, all these just thoughts of fear. And like I said, just kind of talking myself out of it because I don’t know what the end result is going to be.

But then I take a second and say, you know what? What’s the worst that could happen? The worst that could happen is I can make this piece and no one buys it and doesn’t sell. And that’s okay. Yeah. Right. Yeah. I really got into this place in my life where I’m like, that’s okay, you know, because I know that I still get to wake up in the morning and take a breath. And so that, you know, I’m thankful and I’m not going to let a no or a closed door or a not at this time or a no response or, like I said, unhealthy competition or self-envy within myself or anything like that stop me.

And I don’t think as makers we should ever let those type of things stop us because that’s not—that shouldn’t be the ceiling, right? Like that shouldn’t be the barrier, your fear. You should always be willing and open to break through that because the worst that could happen is maybe really at the end of the day, not that bad.

Brittany: 29:36
Exactly. I love how you related it back to a physical project too. I always say, I always tell myself, honestly, if I’m working through a pattern or a design, a lot of times my designs are very inspirational. Whatever hits me at that moment, that’s kind of the direction that I run in.

And a lot of times, I don’t really know if what I’m doing is going to work out. And then I do get fearful that I’m investing some time into something that may not work. And then I might have to work a little bit harder to meet that deadline. But for me, what helps me through that is I tell myself that whatever the outcome of that—whether it be exactly the way I want it to, or it is a complete and total mess—it’s not a failure because I learned something from that.

I might have learned why I did that stitch wrong or maybe why this yarn doesn’t work with the stitch pattern or this type of project. And so for me, even though, yeah, I might have spent that time and have to redo it, I learned something through that. So then I won’t waste that time later.

Jewell: 30:40
Yeah, absolutely. I agree. And I think it’s very important in our community as makers that we keep that in mind because what I’ve discovered—I’ve been knitting for more than probably 10 years now. Yeah? Yeah, I’ve been knitting for a long time. And I realized over the years, especially once… I think the maker community started to evolve and get really big on social media.

Because for me, as a knitter, it was a very solo task. It was something that, you know, me personally, I would do it in my quiet time when I was listening to Christian music and just praying and just kind of having my own me time. It was not something that I ever really did with other people. And I also lived in South Carolina. It was very hot. So it’s like, who’s wearing like chunky scarves and hats and stuff down in South Carolina? Like no one.

So I would just sort of make these scarves for my mother to wear in the office, you know, which was the only place where it was cold for her. And it was just a very solo task. But, you know, as I started to see the maker community begin and evolve on social media, it’s like you really see so many other people and their talents and what they’re capable of.

And I think while that is beautiful and great, as an offset of that, I think it’s created a lot of inadequacy within people because, you know, me personally, I’m like, yeah, I know how to do garter stitch all day. Like I know chunky yarn. And then I got on social media and I’m like, wait, there’s different weights of yarn? And like there are names to it? And other stitches? And like you can actually make garments from this? Like what? It just blew my mind.

And I think it also created a little bit of inadequacy within me of like okay, I don’t know how to do that. And people are, you know, being taught from early ages and just knowing all these things. And so it created fear in me. And then I realized, you know what? A lot of that is because… yeah, yeah… evolve my craft.

I even went back to the very basics. I remember I saw this great Craftsy video of the different types of fibers. Like I wanted to start from the very core of really understanding what this whole knitting thing was really about. And once I educated myself just a little bit more, it kind of eased some of that fear and that tension because I just learned how to do something new.

And then it became even more fun because I’m like, wow, I can do so much more than just garter stitch now. This is really, really incredible. And so I think it’s important for us to remember that—go back to the source of where you think your fear could be starting from. Because a lot of times we just hit that barrier, we hit that terror barrier, you know, which is an actual psychological term for it.

And often the terror barrier is your actual mental capacity. Your mind is like, I don’t know this. This is uncomfortable to me. I’m not educated in this skill set. And because of that, I’m going to put a barrier up. And so… the result of that barrier is going to be fear, not excitement and you’re having fun with it.

So I think it’s very important to kind of really dig deep within ourselves and really be honest with like, okay, where’s this fear starting? Because I’m an honest believer that it doesn’t always start with the fear. It could be something under that for sure.

Brittany: 35:02
I love that perspective. I haven’t ever heard it spelled out that way. It makes so much sense. It’s very logical.

Jewell: 35:08
Yeah, I really started to research fear and emotions a lot, especially once I moved to Chicago, because I was here on my own pretty much. Yeah. And I experienced a lot of fear and a lot of inadequacy. But I was also getting a lot of revelation of doing a knitting shop, people were asking me about doing knitting. And like I said, it was very different from what I had ever done before in my life.

And so I wanted to overcome it. I wasn’t satisfied with just being fearful. And I started to just research, okay, like what could be the core of this emotion? And I came across something that said, you know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again. I’m just kind of like satisfied with that.

And I’m like, well, oh no, I don’t want to be insane. So, you know, how can I do something where I’m not doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting the same results? Well, that’s by educating myself. I’m like, I’ve got two whole degrees. Like, I am a master of education. And, you know, I’m like, so if I can learn communications and get degrees out of that, then I know I can learn knitting and crochet.

And there is just a vast amount of education, you know, in our market, in our industry where you can really become a professional—for lack of a better term—and really get your own PhD, your own master’s degree in knitting and crochet. And, you know, as I began to have that realization and learned that and just explored that, as a result, I just gained more confidence.

And so I kind of connected the two of like, okay, I think a lot of what is holding our community back from doing A, B, or C is because, like I said, we’re seeing that our maker lives are different. You know, our talents and our skills and what we have learned and how we’ve learned it and what we can bring to the table as a result of that is so, so different.

And while that is beautiful and thrilling and exciting, it’s also very scary. Yeah. You kind of jumped into this for reason A, B, or C, or you’ve been doing it your whole life but you’ve been afraid to make it more than what you know it could be your whole life? Well, come to an OML event. You know, connect with other people, put yourself out there in your voice and your talents.

And as a result of that, you’ll walk away from our events and within our community a stronger person. And then you can go back online and do what you know that you’ve been born to do in many ways. And we’ve just seen it over and over again with so many makers.

Brittany: 38:31
brought up in the maker community and that is feeling competitive towards one another. I think when you set yourself up to become someone’s friend, it’s almost impossible to feel jealous of that person. And I think there’s no better way to be someone’s friend than to physically meet them, see their excitement, hear their story, learn why they’re doing what they’re doing—and share your story too.

And when you make those kinds of connections, like I said, it’s almost impossible to feel like that person is your competitor. If enough people adopt this frame of mind, I think that our industry is going to explode because when we all work together, our industry does better as a whole.

So we might be looking out for ourselves, and that’s completely natural. That’s something that we all kind of feel and go through. But if we can look at the bigger picture and see that by working together as a community, we’re going to help the industry as a whole—because our goal really is just to share what we love and get more people to learn how to knit and crochet. Because we truly feel that it could change their life the way that it did ours.

And some of us… we’re in this because it’s our business and we do have to make money, and that may cause feelings of competitiveness. But again, it just goes back to that core principle: when we work together, the industry does better and therefore we all do better.

Jewell: 40:08
Absolutely. I totally agree. And I think, again, that’s something inherently that we realize online. I think just because we’re people—and people are people. Yeah. And we judge, you know, and we make assumptions about who we are.

And it’s one of the, I think, sadder sides of social media and technology that sometimes you make this assumption and this misconception about who someone is based on their highlight reel—of who they’re putting themselves out to be on social media, even, you know, on our knitting and crochet pages, definitely.

‘Cause you know, people see what you show them, right? And so if you see that this person is just creating the most beautiful pieces and they just have the cozy set up for the coffee and it just—you know, you’re putting out all these amazing patterns and you’re connecting and, you know, people are engaging and just killing it basically on their pages—you may form some type of misconception or assumption about that person.

Being like, that person has it all together, you know? That person—they’re obviously haughty and just—they think they’re all that. Yeah. And as a result of that, I’m going to compete with them, or not engage with them, not support them, not be their cheerleader.

And then again, you have an opportunity to meet someone in person and you’re like, wow, you’re not like that at all. Yeah. And you’re actually inherently better. Like, I liked you, you know—but now I love you, you know?

And I’ve even seen that where there are some very bold personalities online, and then they come to an OML event and they’re kind of quiet and more reserved. And I think that it’s—I’ll give an example—I wouldn’t say Jessica of The Hook Nook. She has a big personality, you know, and it’s a big, beautiful personality.

She stands up for who she is. And she’s all about woman empowerment. She’s just a powerhouse. And she’s just a beautiful person that knows her tribe, knows her community, and she uplifts everyone who she reaches.

But I kind of had this assumption about Jessica before I met her at the first Our Maker Life event in New York City. That like—I don’t know—I was like, she’s kind of like the Beyoncé of crochet. I was like, I just know, like, you know, it’s going to be like super celeb status.

Like, I’m like, if Jessica walks in with an entourage, I’m not even going to be surprised. And I’m like, Nicole of Mischoo is coming. And you know, Nicole of Mischoo has an equally like very large following, but it’s like little old North Knits over here. I’m just like assuming like, wow, like these are basically the celebs. Yeah.

A different personality than what I assumed who she would be at the event. And it was mind-blowing for me. And I said, you know what? I can guarantee—and I think we ended up saying it in the room—like, we know that we have assumptions and, and, and misconceptions. And we’ve already—we can sum somebody up, you know, all their whole feed—you know who that person is—but it’s not true, you know?

And so it was kind of a challenge for all of us to walk away from OML and go back online and be the example really to say, hey, don’t assume that you know who someone is—even if that’s a good assumption or a bad assumption, you know? Don’t assume that you know that person.

And if you do want to go that far and say, okay, I know who that person is—I can sum them up in, you know, one Instagram caption—then take a chance and try to meet them in person.

Sometimes we’re making assumptions and it’s just like—I like to call it—like you’re a confused fan. You know, there can sometimes be just, you know, like you said, that unhealthy competition and it’s because it’s like, you really love that person, but either you’re too afraid or, you know, you just feel inadequate about meeting them or you just feel like they’re larger than life. They’re larger than your life.

But if you take a chance on yourself and really meet someone in person, you will just—you know, who knows what you can garner from that.

And it also—I think it’s just fair. I think it’s just fair to our community to break down those… to just run through and crash down those walls. Yeah. You know, assuming we know who we are based on our highlight reels on Instagram.

It’s very, very important, like you said, to keep our community authentic and genuine and to also grow it into what it is very, very capable of becoming—and what I think already is becoming—to just be real, you know, with each other.

And if we’re going to be a real community—because sometimes we put this personality to community, right? Yeah. Who we really are is each other. So my mission is to have OML reach every part of this earth so that we can all give each other an opportunity to say, “Okay, I’ve been following you for years on Instagram or Facebook, and I think I know you—but I don’t really know you.”

And then say, “OK, I think I know who that person is, I’m going to make this assumption,” to “I actually had a chance to meet that person and they’re pretty incredible. And now I can speak and make a testimony to that.”

Brittany: 45:59
Yeah. Oh, so cool. We love you, Jessica, by the way. Just had to throw that in there.

Jewell: 46:05
So amazing. I love her.

Brittany: 46:06
She is. She is. So let’s form an action plan. Because we completely see the importance here. What is one thing somebody can do today, like right now, to connect with one person?

Jewell: 46:20
Wow, what is something that they can do today right now to connect with one person? And you mean online, right?

Brittany: 46:27
It’s probably more practical to say online. Or maybe they just take that first step towards connecting with somebody offline.

Jewell: 46:35
Well, yeah, I would say definitely there’s one thing that you could do online. I would just say go and like something that that person has posted. Support them, basically.

So whether that be by a like or by a comment or even a response to the DM. I love now how we can post our stories and then you can send that person, you know, a direct message to whatever it is that they’re talking about.

Yeah. Be that person’s cheerleader. Even if you don’t know them—even if you have never had a conversation with them before—you don’t know what type of beautiful things can come out of that.

And it’s really how I’ve been able to cultivate some beautiful relationships with people like yourself and Jessica of The Hook Nook, Alexandra of Two of Wands, Stephanie of All About Ami. So, I mean, I could just go on and on and on. Amia of Peony and Time, Teresa of Des Brosses NYC. So many amazing makers.

And honestly, really, it started from me just saying like, “Wow, your picture is awesome.” Yeah. Or “Thank you.” You know, I’ve oftentimes sent makers messages of just like, “You know, thank you. That really helped me today.”

You know, “Your bit of advice or what you said about being encouraged or to keep going, to try something new, to put yourself out there. The fact that you even finished your pattern—and my pattern has been sitting over here for weeks—thank you for that.”

And there have been some really beautiful conversations that have started from there that have led to really beautiful collaborations and partnerships.

And like I said, you don’t always want it to just be about, “Okay, well, what am I going to get from this?” But if it’s really just about connecting with people, that opens the possibility to help your business and your maker life.

Don’t feel like you have to reinvent the wheel. You know, we’ve already been given so many of the tools put in place that are really there to help us. And sometimes that’s as simple as the like button.

Yeah. You know, because you never know what can come from that. Or commenting, like I said, on someone’s post. I know every time I see someone comment on my pictures and my page, it makes me smile.

You know, because… And like I said, it doesn’t have to—sometimes I see people comment on photos that I posted weeks ago. And it’s like, wow, that person really spent some time and thought to leave me a nice message.

And it could be on the day when I needed to see that nice message. And yeah, I think that’s definitely something that you could do. And you absolutely never know what could come from that.

And I would say… if I could say something just small of offline, I would say take a chance on yourself and give your business an opportunity—a networking opportunity—to meet with other people.

So if you’ve been delaying and like, “Oh, I’ve heard about OML, I’ve heard about OML, but I’m so scared. I don’t know what it’s going to be. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if I could actually do it.”

Give yourself an opportunity to just try something new. OML at its core is a way for people to meet up offline in a really cool city—strategically, you know, just before the start of the maker season hits, where it can be really high stress and everybody’s moving really, really fast.

Yeah. We want OML events to be an opportunity for you to kind of like be the vacation part of your maker life.

And so we were very strategic about, okay, meeting up in a cool city. And we as a community, as makers, we vote. So every event has been voted on by the community of where we meet up.

And you can meet up and you have these amazing yarn companies. Like this year, We Are Knitters is a top partner. Lovecrafts of loveknitting.com and lovecrochet.com, Lion Brand Yarn. All these amazing, amazing companies.

And so many more are going to be a part of this year’s event. And so it’s a really amazing way for you to connect with people that you never thought that you would normally be able to connect with.

And connections with people like that. And what would I have missed out on if I hadn’t taken that chance? So I would say just buy the ticket. Yes. And you never know what could come out of that.

But like I said, if getting a ticket and traveling to a city or going far to a city is something that you’ve never done and you’re not there yet, totally fine.

Then start online and just reach out to that super, super big maker who you think, like I said, is just larger than life. And you’ve created this whole celeb personality of them and you never think that—like, okay, they’re so big, like they wouldn’t be able to engage with me.

Some of the largest makers—yourself, Brittany, included—have been among the most genuine and personable and just open. And you send a DM and you get a DM right back. You’re like, wow.

Brittany: 52:04
That warms my heart. I try so hard to answer as many messages and comments as I can. Yeah, because that’s a big thing for me. That’s a big deal — being reachable.

Jewell: 52:15
Yeah, and I think sometimes we miss that. You know what I mean? Like we’re so oftentimes… we’re looking at the yarn and we’re looking at the patterns and we’re looking at, like I said, the person — this persona of the community — and our shops and Etsy and all of those things. And sometimes we can just overlook that. Like, yeah, we’re actual real people and very genuine and very beautiful people.

And sometimes I think the numbers get in front of that as well, because that’s what it was for me. It’s like, you look at somebody’s page and you see that they’ve got like 50, 60, 70,000 followers. And you’re just like, they probably didn’t even see that I liked it. Yeah. And then people respond and it just really… I think it’s just heartwarming and it’s beautiful and it goes both ways.

Even if you are, you know, considered quote unquote “larger maker” or what have you, or, you know, even if you feel like you’ve amassed the following, maybe take the time out to respond back to those comments. Or if somebody likes it, just to… I know now on Instagram, it has the feature where you can just like someone else’s like.

So, you know, even if it’s something small like that, if somebody does a live — to support them, you know, in their live and cheer them on — because those things can be quite nerve-wracking. Yeah, yeah. It can take a lot of forethought to do. I just think finding little small ways to leave just little diamonds, you know, in your maker life to really support someone… it can really brighten someone’s day and who they are as a maker as a whole. You never know how that’s really reaching and helping someone.

Brittany: 53:51
In terms of the event, so you said this year that the event is now sold out. For the people who maybe have missed that, what can they do to have next year’s event on their radar?

Jewell: 54:05
Oh, well, I would just say, go ahead and mark it on your calendar. We typically do have our OML events in the summertime, typically in July. I think maybe for 2016, we had it at like the tail end of June. But last year, July 15th was the date. This year, it’s July 14th here in Chicago, Illinois.

So I would definitely say if you’ve been thinking about coming to an OML event to kind of plan your vacation time around that time. And I love that. I don’t think we were intentionally trying to have it be like a full-on vacation — seeing how the OML events, it’s a one-day event. And so it’s kind of culminated into this really beautiful thing of when you, you know, if you have a week vacation time, like you can structure and schedule that around the OML event. And it’s really cool.

So I would say definitely mark some vacation time off in your calendar if it’s something that you’ve been thinking about. And like I said, it’s really why we also try to have them in like really cool cities — so that you can explore and just make it an adventure. I got to see so many cool parts of Toronto during the week and the weekend of the OML event. It’s really fun also.

Yeah, it’s incredible how quickly we’ve sold out, and I’m so excited to see so many new makers. And there are going to be some returning makers, and I’m so excited about it. And we do have a waiting list because sometimes spots do open. So if you are still thinking about maybe trying to get your seat for OML 2018, then we definitely have our waiting list on our website, and you can sign up there. And if seats come open, we’ll contact makers that way as well.

Brittany: 55:47
Awesome. Well, I’ll have all of that on the show notes page as well, so you don’t have to memorize any links or addresses. I want to throw out your Instagram handle too, because I know a lot of people, I’m sure they probably already follow you on Instagram, but just in case there’s somebody who hasn’t — you are at Our Maker Life, correct?

Jewell: 56:05
Yes. Okay. Our Maker Life on Instagram, on Facebook, on Twitter.

Brittany: 56:09
Okay. And I know you have one exciting thing coming up and I want to talk about that just real quick before we end.

Jewell: 56:15
Oh, our super, super exciting news too with the Our Maker Life event is that you, as well as Jessica, are our keynote speakers. I wanted to make sure that I mentioned that because — amazing, amazing. We’re so excited.

So each year at our Our Maker Life events, we felt it was really important to like, yes, offer these wonderful opportunities to network and showcase your business and connect with yarn companies, because we know that that’s an integral part of what we’re trying to do with our shops and our businesses — to be able to have really cool collaborations with companies like We Are Knitters and Lion Brand and Yarnspirations and Lovecraft and all these amazing companies.

But we also felt that it was equally as important to have a platform where we as makers can talk and just encourage each other as well from a very professional but, you know, down-to-earth perspective as well. So we have keynote speakers.

In Chicago, we had Alexandra of Two of Wands and Talene of The Half Full Mug, who were our keynote speakers. And in Toronto, we had Danielle Komu, who is a local shop owner of Spun Fibers in the Hamilton area, come and speak — and she was incredible as a keynote. And we also had Stephanie of Miyuki Crochet as a keynote speaker as well.

And this year, we have Jessica of The Hook Nook who, like I said, is just an amazing powerhouse — such a wonderful being. Yeah, I’m like, I can’t talk about how awesome Jessica is enough. And yourself — where you’ve been able to just reach so many people and makers in an encouraging and uplifting way through your podcast here and through the beautiful, beautiful pieces that you create. And so the OML team and I could think of no better people who we would like to have as keynotes. So we are super, super excited.

And I know makers are thrilled. They’re like, “Oh, Brittany is going to be there! Jessica is going to be there!” So we’re super excited that you guys are going to be at the event to share your story and your maker life, and to also be able to give practical advice on just treading our industry and treading these waters. So we’re super, super excited about that. We know that it’s just going to be an experience.

Brittany: 58:30
Yes. I am equally as excited. I mean, honestly, the invitation could not have come at a more perfect place because I have always known — well, at least for the last couple of years — that the direction that I want to go in is in the realm of public speaking. I want to attend events and I want to just be able to share my message and my experience in a completely different way.

And I was telling you before that I try to do one thing that scares me. And if I know — if I feel a little bit of fear — that’s my cue that that’s what I need to do. But I know that that’s the direction that I need to go in, because I’m just moving the needle forward that much more. Because I know I’m getting out of my comfort zone a little bit. And I know that there’s a reason for that.

I don’t know if it’s because one person needs to hear my message or if that’s the direction that I’m supposed to be going with my business. Whatever it is, I am so excited to figure that out. And starting that journey this year in Chicago is just going to be amazing. So thank you so much for extending the invitation to me. And I’m so grateful. And I just, I can’t wait. I’m so excited.

Jewell: 59:40
Yeah, it’s going to be so cool. And it’s definitely one of my favorite parts of the event. Because like I said, you really get to hear so much more behind who we are as makers than just our shop bios.

Yeah, I mean, man, like my life is still changed, like two years later from Alexandra’s keynote — Two of Wands — I’m sure so many of you guys know who she is and the incredible pieces she creates. But Alexandra just told this amazing, beautiful, compelling story of like, the story behind her shop name and how she literally like climbed mountains. She actually climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. And it’s just this really beautiful journey of how her trek on Mount Kilimanjaro led back to her shop name, Two of Wands.

And I tell you, it created chills at the event. And we were pretty much all in tears by the time that Alexandra finished her presentation. And, you know, it’s just always resonated with me — like you said, of things that I’ve wanted to do personally as a maker and through Our Maker Life. When it’s something that it’s like, “Oh, this scares me,” I’m like, I got to climb that mountain. I got to get to that mountaintop and see which way I’m supposed to go.

And even if the journey that I’m supposed to take really, really scares me and it could be hard and a tough road, I know that it’s where I’m destined to go. And that was really kind of the core of Alexandra’s story behind her shop. And like I said — years later, in my own maker life — it sticks with me.

So all of these amazing stories and missions and initiatives and visions that really come out of these presentations… I can only describe it in one word: just life-changing. You know, it is just truly, truly life-changing. And so I know that it’s going to be the exact same thing in the presentations with your story and with Jessica’s story. And I just — I can’t wait to see it. So it’s going to be really, really awesome.

Yes, it is. We’re going to be sharing bits of those even through our Instagram Live. Like we show bits and snippets of the OML event as it’s live. So I know a lot of people are like, “Oh, I wasn’t able to grab my ticket. Will I still be able to see some of the presentations?” And so we will — we will have that to be able to be shared as well. So yeah, I’m super excited.

Brittany: 1:02:03
Yeah, it’ll be so cool — and more incentive to follow you on Instagram if people haven’t done so already. Do we want to circle back around to the Makebook real quick?

Jewell: 1:02:14
Absolutely. Yeah, because the makebook, like I said, and like you said, it’s kind of one of the quieter pieces, I would say, of OML, what we do. And it’s definitely a baby and it’s growing stages. But Kelly and I both have a communications background in journalism. And so we’re always, we have always been very, very passionate about print. And we really wanted to do something during the maker season.

So we have the OML events in the summertime, and we’re so supporting makers online through our Instagram and Facebook throughout the year. But, you know, we really wanted to do something really at the height of the maker season that, again, is supporting and uplifting. And the OML team and I were just like, we got to do a book. We just have to do a book.

So that’s what the makebook is. It is a print version that continues the OML vision of supporting who we are in our maker life. So we highlight makers and in three categories, primarily through maker stories, visual lifestyle, and patterns. In the first makebook, so we’ll be having multiple volumes, but in the first volume, it was released early last year. And we featured approximately 30 makers in the makebook.

And it was just an incredible project to work behind the scenes. We kind of kept it a secret. So we didn’t tell, like, we didn’t put it out online that like, oh, the makebook is coming. We just worked with these makers behind the scene and helping them write. They all wrote their own stories, contributed their own patterns, took these really, really beautiful photos for visual lifestyle to kind of just visually showcase who they are as a maker.

Haley of Ozetta is one of the makers featured. Teresa, again, of De Brozé NYC, tells her maker’s story. Toni of TL Yarn Crafts tells her maker’s story. Knititude is in the visual lifestyle section. Nicole of Miss Coon gives this amazing, beautiful pattern. Makin’ Do Crew contributes a pattern. And so, so many more makers that I’m trying to think of off the top of my head. Talena Ginn of The Half Full Mug tells her story.

But I mean, it’s just an incredible, incredible book of where, again, we just really believe in those offline moments. So good, you know, social media is so great and technology is great, great, great. But we also just really believe in shutting down that screen, turning off that phone and having some time to yourself to do something offline.

And we also really wanted to do homage of the craft through the medium of what knitting was before. Because, you know, knitters of Instagram hasn’t always been here.

Brittany: 1:05:04
Yeah.

Jewell: 1:05:05
And so we sort of wanted, you know, the makebook is also a homage to that in a way of the only place of where you can learn a pattern. It hasn’t always been through Ravelry or through an Etsy shop. Like at one time you had to open a book and learn how to read those patterns. And so we think that there’s something inherently beautiful about showcasing it in that way.

And, you know, the book is just laid out really beautifully and really traditionally, I would say. And then being able to showcase stories. It’s like, wow, it’s, we really encourage the makers who contribute in that way to the stories to go beyond, again, just the shop bio, to go beyond writing it in a blog posty kind of way and really, you know, really open up and share some tough moments.

You know, the moments that made you cry as a maker or, you know, that made you smile because you overcome and you push through those barriers and those mountains. And we really encourage them to tell their story in that way. And like, wow, they like really knocked it out of the park.

Like to hear their story behind Toni of TL Yarn Crafts and how her mother and her grandmother encouraged her from the time that she was like 10 years old, you know, to, you know, they put yarn in her hand and taught her various stitches and to see who she is today. It’s like, you were born to be that, you know what I mean? Like that was in your blood from when you were little.

And it’s something that people may not know, you know, just by looking at her social media persona, but to just be able to curl up and read about Toni of TL Yarn Crafts and like I said Haley of Ozetta who her great grandmother taught her how to knit and crochet and to just read those stories of how they started and how they pushed forward to be who they are is just really beautiful.

And it’s so fun and it’s one of the other parts of OML that we do and we’re very, very excited about it and we got such great feedback and support from the community when we kind of sprung it on everyone—it was like, surprise! We have a book.

And I think I touched on this a little bit the last time we talked, Brittany, of how I really got into the deep waters of producing the makebook when I had gotten laid off from my job, my former job. So it was something really beautiful that came out of a really tough moment.

When I was producing the makebook and reaching out to the makers, I had no job. And by the time the makebook was released, I had a new job. And so it was really just kind of a journey within a journey for me. Yeah. Yeah. It’s just, you know, I get to put my reporting skills together. And like I said, my editor skills and it’s just really, really fun.

And we also think it gives a great platform for people to be featured and just showcase who they are in a really—

Brittany: 1:08:03
Awesome way. So can people get a copy on your website or is this something that’s available on Amazon or in bookstores?

Jewell: 1:08:12
Both. So you can go to Amazon if you just click, like, I think it’s Our Maker Life Makebook. It will pop right up so you can get it through Amazon. You can also get it through our shop on our website.

And yeah, we also have them locally in certain areas. We’re trying to definitely get them in more local yarn stores here in the city as well, in Chicago where I live. And it’s also at Spun Fiber Arts. They carry the makebook as well, which is Danielle Komu. So yeah, we can get them to two places.

Brittany: 1:08:48
Yeah, I’m going to link to, I’ll link to various places so people can have an option over in the show notes. So if you like to shop on Amazon, I’ll have the link for you there.

And man, this has been such a wonderful conversation. Jewell, I have to say, I think we broke the record for the longest episode here on the podcast.

Jewell: 1:09:05
Oh, awesome. I hope that’s a good thing.

Brittany: 1:09:09
I think so. I mean, honestly, the way I am as a host is if a conversation is really great and I think people are going to get something out of it, I’m not going to say, “Oh sorry, we’ve hit our max and here we go.” No. If the conversation—the conversation will be as long as it needs to be. And in this case, I think it needed to be a little bit longer.

Jewell: 1:09:28
Well again, thank you so much Brittany for the opportunity. To have an hour and 20 minutes with you is an hour and 20 minutes definitely well spent. So I definitely appreciate it and I’m so excited to see you and so many makers this summer at OML 2018.

Brittany: 1:09:45
So that was an amazing episode. I’m so excited about it. I hope you are too.

If you have any questions or comments to add to what Jewell and I talked about today, just leave those over on the show notes page. That link, once again, is bhookedcrochet.com/session057. And that is the only link you need to memorize. I will have all of the resources that Jewell and I talked about. We mentioned the makebook, the waitlist for the OML event 2018 if you do want to try to get in this year. And of course, the Our Maker Life social handles and their website.

I appreciate you so much for listening in to today’s podcast and once again I’d like to thank our sponsor Yarnspirations. Whether you knit or crochet, Yarnspirations is your online destination for inspiration, free patterns, video tutorials, and of course the yarn you love like Patons, Bernat, Caron, and Lily Sugar’n Cream.

In case you missed it at the beginning of today’s episode, you as a listener can get 20% off your order of $40 or more at Yarnspirations.com by using the coupon code BeHookedPod. That’s B-H-O-O-K-E-D-P-O-D.

If you haven’t done so already, I would ask that you subscribe to this podcast. If you love it, if you look forward to listening to it every single week, that one simple little action really helps the show. It really helps to inspire me as well. And that little act will help the show grow, be seen in Apple’s podcast search, which you may or may not know is a very big search engine.

So subscribe to the show if you love it and you haven’t done so already. If you have, maybe you just tell a friend about the show and maybe they’ll find some inspiration in it too.

I will be back at you next week with another really cool guest and another amazing episode, if I do say so myself, and I look forward to that. Until then, have a wonderful weekend. Bye-bye.