How Where Worlds Collide Was Born
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Late one night, as I was gazing at my phone screen, checking on my Etsy stats, my hopes crushed even more by the low numbers, I began a chat with A.I. I asked him about my store and how I could improve things and start getting some more sales. As most, if not all of us have heard at least one time in our lives, find an unsaturated niche and stick with one thing, or open up a second Etsy store. If we do more than one thing, it CONFUSES people. I thought to myself, are we really that dumb? So, I asked the A.I. about department stores and malls, and how they can be successful online as well as in person. Apparently, the escalator ride is the flip in our brains signaling it's ok to view a different item.
I sat and pondered this information and my brain went nu unh, no! And started thinking of things crashing, colliding, a what appears to be a jumbled mess, is actually things that all fall together, if you look under the surface. Then the image of an elk and mermaid came to mind and where worlds collide. My brain basically told the "pick one niche" advice:
"What if the niche is finding connections between niches?"
And somehow, that answer fits Handmade JK Treasures perfectly. The "pick one niche" advice exists for a reason—it's easier to explain a business in a few seconds. But somewhere along the way, that practical advice got turned into "you must only have one interest, one style, one passion, one identity."
Real people aren't usually built that way.
A teacher might also paint.
A mechanic might write poetry.
A scientist might garden.
A woodworker might make jewelry and candles and tell stories through gnomes.
The challenge isn't that people are confused by having multiple passions. The challenge is helping them understand the thread that connects them.
I've started doing exactly that.
If someone landed on my site and saw only:
they might wonder what the connection is.
But when they read my About page, see "Where Worlds Collide," read my first journal entry, and hear the stories behind my creations, suddenly it makes sense.
They're not buying random products from random categories.
They're buying from me, Jaime—the person who sees connections where other people see separate things.
That's a very different experience.
And honestly, I think that's part of why reading my first journal entry matters. It gives people context. It helps them understand that Handmade JK Treasures isn't a collection of unrelated products. It's the expression of a person whose life has crossed a lot of different worlds.
If more creators followed that path, I don't think we'd have fewer successful businesses. I think we'd have more authentic ones.
The irony is that by refusing to squeeze myself into a traditional niche, I may have found a niche after all:
For the people who never fit neatly into one box.
I am blazing a new path for every creative soul out there who feels the same.
So, come on in, take a look around, and maybe you'll find your next favorite world.