Where We Came From And Where We Are Going

Howdy everyone!

I mentioned in the last blog post that Left Handed MFG is leveling up. Well that can really mean a lot of things and I thought it would be appropriate to explain what I mean when I say it.

Left Handed MFG started in its beta form long before it ever got a name. I have had some form of jewelry or art business for going on nine years now, which is insane to think about how long it has actually been. I started this whole business thing with the idea that I would just like to sell my art and leave it at that. 

(This is one of my first real metal-smithed necklaces from 2015)

I had it in my mind that the art would just sell itself. No need to figure out the actual business side of things because that's for the power and money hungry etc etc etc. I was young, I didn't know about nuance, I had a lot of lack programming around money and what it meant in the world. Well nine years has gone by and in the last two I would say, it has been very clear that running a business is not a hands off task, and if I wanted to be able to sell my art and make a living, and thrive I would have to get serious. 

In the nearly 4 years since I have graduated from college and gone out on my own, the Sabina I once knew has died and been reborn a dozen times. I had to work through some really heavy childhood traumas, root out as much programming that wasn't serving me as possible, and get myself to a place where I felt like I deserved to thrive before I could even consider working on my business as a business and not a vehicle for me to keep making art. 

(One of my favorite pendants I made in 2018)

After doing all of that soul healing work, I came to realize that I really needed to take myself seriously so I started asking really hard questions. I went through several periods of burn out and not really knowing where I wanted my life to go. I felt really trapped by the creative job I had created for myself. I focused solely on jewelry for close to 3 years and I felt like I really needed to make time and room for the other areas of creating that I really enjoy, and need to stay grounded in my artistic practice.

I had a breaking point at the beginning of this year after finding myself deeply in the void for well over a month. I had to take control of the reigns of my life again. I have been playing with the idea that we humans are conscious co-creators of our lives, and we can really order up whatever we want to happen in our lives, but it takes a lot of intention setting as well as action to make it happen and I felt like it was time to take action. Time to get out of my depression, time to switch the game from surviving to thriving.

As a result I had to figure out why I was only surviving and not thriving. It came back to my business and how everything was set up. After nearly 3 years of running this art business full time, I was seeing that without a solid foundation and understanding of what the business was about, I couldn't properly market the business to the right people who would actually become customers. And I knew I needed to make a change, figure out how to rebuild that foundation.

(Monstera Necklace from 2019)

So I spent the last two months learning and building the foundation of my business. I remember when I created Left Handed MFG the brand and name originally I wanted the name to reflect something within myself, but be open enough for when the business expands beyond jewelry it won't be confusing. And I feel like now is the time for it to expand passed jewelry. I have always had a deep love for ceramics as well as painting and drawing. During my brainstorm sessions at the beginning of this process I could clearly see myself releasing collections of drawings and ceramics and jewelry and combinations of the three and It gave me that manic excitement, you know, where you want to stay up all night birthing the idea because if you go to sleep you might lose it and it feels way too important to let slip through your fingers.

So this leads me to the up-leveling bit. With all of the work that I have been doing to build the foundation for Left Handed MFG, I have also been thinking about how I can best serve my awesome customers and followers. 

(Ceramic Buffalo Head 2017)

My core values within this brand are to one, live a spirit driven life, regardless of what you call that spirit. Connection to the true self and true self that can be found in all things. Honesty & vulnerability. I feel like honesty and vulnerability go hand in hand because in order to be vulnerable with you guys, I have to be honest. These core tenants are what I would like to bring to the table for y'all. 

I want to share my relationship with the great spirit, because I have found a lot of healing in it, and I know that there is a path for connection to that force outside of Christianity. I feel like connection is so important in our lives, especially during these strange times of intense division. We are all human beings at the end of the day and regardless of our political views and world beliefs, we all deserve compassion and love at the end of the day. And as far as the vulnerability goes, I feel like the best way to help others heal is to share your own healing process. It gets scary to go out on a limb like that but the content I love the most are people sharing their lives, balls out, not hiding from what others might think of them. 

This all might look like more and different content in different ways. Blog posts twice a month at least sharing inspiration, spiritual topics, funny stories and behind the scenes moments. Tik toks sharing my day to day life, allowing myself to be in front of others in a raw and vulnerable way. Weekly news letters that bring you all of this information directly to our inbox. We are also pledging to donate resources to our local loaves and fishes ministry, which seeks to help provide resources for the unhoused population in our area, being Phoenix Arizona. 

All of that to say, the up-leveling I was talking about before really boils down to making a brand and business that has more of an impact than just another place to buy jewelry or prints or maybe even a mug. It's more than just another instagram brand that sends you a bunch of targeted ads and then disappears from your life once they got your sale. I want to make an impact on those who read these blogs, and those who benefit from the donations we give. A lot of hard work is going into making this a brand that is more than just a brand. 

I know this was long winded, I am still trying to learn how to condense my thoughts to make these blogs more enjoyable and streamlined for the readers. But this is kind of something that I have been wanting to do for so long and have let fear really put the block on it for far too long. So i'm starting and just letting it be what it will be while I learn. So if you have any questions, comments, concerns, critiques (within reason), feel free to reach out. I want to grow with y'all and the best way to do that is through open and honest conversation.