Conversations with Rachel Jensen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rachel Jensen.  

Hi Rachel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Brevity is not my strong suit, but I will give it a shot! Haha 

Growing up, my mom was always super creative, and she passed that on to all of us kids. My dad always had the entrepreneurial spirit, which he funnelled into his corporate job to keep climbing the ladder and keep our family moving from state to state every couple years as he moved up and up. 

So, since my age friends came and went; my family was my core group; my mom my best friend. She taught me and my distinctly uncoordinated self as much as she could about painting, drawing, crochet, etc. Most of it, I flopped with since I could never get my hands to do what I wanted them to, so I gave up. Once she put a camera in my hand, I took off though. Combining my left-brain creativity (without the talent to follow through usually) with my math-loving right brain, photography was my love. I took photos of everything, from my cat to my shoes as a kid, and eventually, as I grew it became a career photographing weddings and portraits. 

I always figured I was just made to be a nomad and never really considered myself a resident of anywhere, especially since my husband seemed to be following the same path my dad did, moving up and moving our family around the country. We had the dream of one day retiring from the corporate world and forming our own company but considered it to be a far-off dream once we had saved enough to comfortably retire and venture off on our own. 

Well one day, less than a decade into my husband’s career, the opportunity to achieve our dream announced itself. After recently depleting our saving for an MBA, with one kid in tow and plans for another one, God presented us with the opportunity to cut our salary by 50 percent and go out with a partner to start up a new business, replacing another one whose owners were retiring; and we took the risk. 

Suddenly this nomad had no more moves on the horizon and a need to face an entirely new reality. A year into this venture, COVID hit. Making it impossible for my husband to prove himself to his new partners, our future was suddenly more uncertain. Pregnant with kid number two and afraid to leave the house to indulge in my favorite creative release (photography), I needed a new distraction. 

I picked up a creative outlet that my mom had taught me years before but I had left dormant for almost a decade: crochet. I was making baby blankets and mommy-daughter hats, anything I could think of, when I saw an ad on Facebook looking for people, of any skill level, to crochet goods for compensation. 

At first, I figured this is too good to be true, but if it meant I could cover my three-year-old son’s weekly blueberry habit AND provide me a steady flow of new projects, I was in. 

So, I responded to the ad, and when I met with the person I would be working for and discovered she was a high schooler, I figured this might actually be too good to be true. But as I found out over time, Chloe is an extremely hard-working, mature, and business-minded person for any age. Working for her was eye-opening to the idea that I could actually make money by making fun things that people actually wanted to buy! 

I soon realized I had more things I wanted to make and pursue than working for someone else would allow. So, I formed my own company and started out at small craft shows selling normal crochet goods, hats, headbands, coasters, etc. I quickly graduated to stuffed animals, crocheted gliders for a crowd-sourced museum display overseas, and bigger crocheted sculptures, as I like to call them. As I changed products, the venue I was selling them at needed to change as well. So, I started doing bigger art fairs, and my latest venture was a booth at the local Midland Mall Comic Con, which was an amazing success! 

So here I am today. I have been greatly enjoying this art form as the perfect marriage of my love to create with my love of math and puzzles. We took a risk leaving everything behind to move here, but after a lifetime of being a nomad, I have finally found my home here in Michigan and consider myself a “Newly Minted Michigander.” 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My first show was a success in my book, but I had very low expectations. The second show I did, I sold two items the whole time. Bad location, a crowd looking to browse more than buy, and probably a bad attitude halfway through, holding me back from selling much. 

I continued doing the craft shows with mild success until I had a lady come by my table at a smaller show and tell me, “Honey, you don’t belong here.” I was taken aback for a moment till she continued, “You do beautiful work, but you need to be at bigger events, places where parents are taking their kids and want to buy them a souvenir. Take your time, build up stock, and go to a bigger events, trust me. That’s what I have done, and it works.” 

That conversation changed my view on the whole game. It was time to bite the bullet and pay the bigger booth fees and get a professional setup, and you know what? She was right. It has worked amazingly, and I have almost sold out at every show I have done since then and kept plenty of custom work going to keep me busy and broaden my skills. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My specialty is my sculpted items. I call them that because the way they are shaped is not with stuffing or things that can be moved and changed with use or washing. I use different stitches and size of materials to shape and mold the outside fabric to the shape I want it to be. I made a huge octopus for the Downtown Midland Summer Art Fest last year, where the tentacles curled and twisted around, not by stuffing them unevenly or anything like that; I crocheted the yarn into that shape using different stitches and techniques I have picked up over time. I also love to play with scale, making everything from tiny flower earrings to gigantic octopi and dinosaur heads. I try to make up my own patterns whenever possible and create one-of-a-kind items for my clients. 

What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is that I get a chance to give back and put smiles on people’s faces as they leave my booth. I consider a show a success if I have seen frowns turn to smiles as people pass by and see an item that makes them chuckle or if they enjoy whatever big showpiece I have made for that show. 

I also love having the opportunity to give back by donating items to local fundraisers, crocheting for the Saginaw VA, making goodies for friends and family. This is my way to bless others with what I have been given to manage, and I hope I have used it to make a positive impact on those around me. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/newlymintedmichigander
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nmmichigander