“I just moved here from Cape Cod. And then I went to school in Boston. I went for fashion design and minored in art. I just took the basics of art because I was one credit away from the minor.
I lived [in Boston] for four years. I finished up and moved back home for two months. And then I was like, ‘I have to get out of here. I can’t stay here anymore.’ It’s just like everyone knows everyone. It’s so weird. Everyone’s in this mindset to get married, buy a house, and I’m just not like that. So I felt a little bit like the oddball in my family. Everyone’s married or in a relationship, and I was like, I don’t want that.
I moved here. I guess just to try something new. Before my student loans came, I just wanted to move and find a job. So I sold my car, packed up, and flew here with one suitcase. Found a really cheap flight. I like doing things like that. Now, I’m like, ‘Where next?’ It worked out. I have a car now.
I wanted to move San Diego, and there was 0 jobs whatsoever. I’ve never been to either, so I can’t really say I really liked it there. And then just looking on Craigslist and job websites – oh, there’s a lot of jobs there. I feel like this would be better than San Diego. I love it. People are great, and the weather is awesome all the time.
I actually didn’t really care for [art] much in college. I mean, I liked it, but I thought it was really time-consuming for the work I was producing with it. I was always hard on myself because everyone [else] was an art major, and I was just a minor. So it wasn’t that fun for me. So I stopped doing that, and then just like, focused on fashion and fashion design. But then I got a job in [fashion], and it – not put a bad taste in my mouth – but it wasn’t a hobby anymore. You know, like now, it was something I have to do, and it was more work. So then I started drawing again. Now, I just want to do watercolor.
Right now, I work for a children’s clothing company. [The style]’s mature. We use all reclaimed fabric, which is awesome. It’s a great company, but before I was doing women’s clothing. Day dresses and fun stuff. I still do [want to be in fashion], but it can’t be my hobby and my career. For now, at least. I need other creative outlets.
I guess I really like exploring. Especially just after getting a car; I waited six months and saved up. So I really only went to the places I lived next to. I like exploring new places and finding random hiking trails and stuff like that. Now that I have one, that’s what I’ve been doing, basically.
I guess what I want to do is basically open up this store, right? It’s going to be a multipurpose studio/store. It’s going to have a coffee shop in it. It’s going to have everything. Reclaimed wood desk. I tend to build random stuff when I find cool pieces of wood for free. Coffee tables and stuff. Not yet, but I want to keep going. I sold some stuff on Etsy, did pretty well, so I’m like, I kind of want to do that again, but I don’t have the space for it. And then I like antiques and going to the market and stuff. I just kind of want to make a store and have everything in there. And dresses! And watercolor prints. I don’t know. Something like that. I think that’d be really cool. But that’s future future.
You know what I really enjoy actually? When I was selling stuff online – the physical labor is tough But what made me so happy about doing that for people is the feedback they give me. It’s like I handmade this. Literally. I didn’t just give it to someone else to make. I think that made me so happy. It’s kind of cool to make other people happy. Getting really good feedback. I mean anyone can say, ‘It’s really nice, and it’s made well.’ But then it’s the little things they say that add to it. How nice it was working with me. Stuff like that makes me happy. I used to teach sewing classes when I first moved here. And so that was really satisfying to me. Fulfilling. I really want to do something like that. One on one, working with people.”
Excerpt may be edited for clarity.