Meet Sarah Jones | Fiber Artist & Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah Jones and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
Ah yes, balance. Such a simple word to describe one of the hardest parts of life to actually get right.

We have gone through stages of spending countless hours working, with little or no down time. Landed on the other end of the spectrum completely burnt out and left with little to give to the business and or anything else for that matter.

Finding balance has been hard and honestly, it is something that we are still working on perfecting. Through the ups and downs, we have found that balance does not always mean equal amounts of time spent across all aspects of life. It’s about distributing the weight of your responsibilities in a way that helps you to move forward, avoid falling or to recover if you do.

I think of balance as most important things first. Physical, mental and emotional health are much higher on this list then when we first started off. This doesn’t mean procrastinating or not being pro-active but realizing that a business is a reflection of its owner; If the owner is not doing well the business cannot either.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
We specialize in making hand crocheted and knitteded fashion accessories. We don’t follow trends but opt for a classic, timeless approach that allows the handmade pieces we create to stand the test of time.

There are many lessons that we have learned along the way. One is definitely the importance of not comparing yourself to others. There is a fine line between inspiration and comparison. Inspiration motivates you to think about your talents and resources in a different way whereas comparison takes your focus off of what truly matters and paralyzes you. Through the years we have learned to be proud of what makes us unique and to stay focused on that.

Just as we continue growing so does our brand. We have started to implement small changes and we are determined to continue making strides towards sustainability. A big part of that is making a large portion of what is available in our shop customizable and made to order. In that way we limit over production and can spend more time making sure each one of our customers receives exactly what they desire.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Nature, food and culture are some the best things to share.

I would have to take my friend to The west side market, we would literally spend the whole day there eating and taking in all of the unique offerings.

Over the next few days we would spend a lot of time in Asia town. We would eat amazing Korean food at Korea house; after a delightful lunch we would walk next door to Mr. Kim’s and pick up everything we need to make tteokboki at home. We would go to Tink Holl for all of the authentic Chinese and Vietnamese offerings.

We would have to catch a showing of an old movie in one of the theaters downtown-perhaps An American in Paris. We could end the evening with street style tacos from Blue Habenero. For the rest of the trip we would head towards lake country and hike one of the many trails, perhaps Skok meadow with its lovely views. Visit lake Erie at least one day of the trip and maybe find some unexpected treasures along the way.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
We would like to thank our father, who is the business mind behind our story and who ultimately got us started down this path. We also must give a big shout out to our mom who is the person who initially introduced and taught us the skills behind the products we provide.

Website: https://reneeoriginals1.etsy.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/reneeoriginals1?igshid=M2RkZGJiMzhjOQ==