I quit my job and started an artisan brand. Here’s what I learned.

A year ago, I made a dramatic pivot in my career. I left a successful position as a marketing executive, and founded (and self funded) an artisan-centric start up called This Same Sky.

I’m sure people close to me have at times wondered whether I’m having an early mid-life crisis, and I myself have marveled at the leap of faith.

Throw in a pandemic, mass disruption of global supply chains and dramatic shifts in consumer behavior, and it’s easy to miss and romanticize a more comfortable and predictable career trajectory.

This year has been full of curveballs, breakthroughs, and incredible lessons, and I wanted to sit down and document my takeaways, not from the lens of success/failure but in the spirit of curiosity, and contributing, in whatever small way, to the greater project of reimagining capitalism and industry to be more inclusive, and humane.

I was initially drawn to artisan goods because I felt like the process of making something by hand, that had been passed down over multiple generations, was a much needed balm and antidote to the frenzied consumerism of our techno-rational worldview. I felt like it represented a more soulful means of production and if we could weave artisan goods into our lifestyles, and learn to value them, we could empower…