Conversations with Taryn Jerez

Today we’d like to introduce you to Taryn Jerez.

Hi Taryn, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I learned quickly that every entrepreneur’s path is completely different. There are so many things that led me to where I am that I honestly never saw coming. You can’t see the dots connecting while you’re in the process of drawing them I guess. After interning in NYC with “W” Magazine my senior year of college, I got a paid internship that turned into a full-time technical apparel design job back home in Tampa, FL. That’s where I realized very quickly I needed an outlet where I could be my own creative director. I started a creative lifestyle blog called One Crafty Miss, covering everything crafting and DIY, and knew nothing about starting a blog. After a year, I started working closely with fellow makers and creatives interviewing them and learning more about the struggles they faced in their own businesses. I enjoyed tapping into my marketing and design background answering their questions and helping them build their creative businesses more than I did blogging myself. In 2014 I received (what felt like at the time) an irresistible job offer in North Carolina with Hanesbrands. I continued blogging and started teaching lessons in my Facebook group and hosting workshops on weekends for creative entrepreneurs which eventually led to coaching. I was doing all of this while working full time and traveling domestically and internationally for that job. Once you feel that fire start to spark from doing something you feel truly called to do, everything else feels heavy in comparison. After four years at my corporate job with a team I genuinely loved working with, I took a very calculated risk and decided to lean into my business and take One Crafty Miss full time. I worked part-time as a marketing manager for a local non-profit that helps creatives to allow me a little bit of financial peace of leaving a corporate salary and was able to really give my business the time and energy I had wanted for so many years. In 2019 I let go of that position and was able to expand my coaching business further with additional speaking and teaching opportunities both virtually and in person, increase my one-on-one clients, and have gotten to work with incredible women I absolutely love.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I am absolutely anything but a country fan, but that question makes me think of that Rascal Flatts song with the lyrics, “God blessed the broken road that led me straight to you.” The road to where I am has had bumps and potholes and road closures that I didn’t know were all for my benefit! Honestly, think one of the biggest struggles was standing in my own way for too long. I have the most amazing support system in my husband, Leo, and my family with so much encouragement from the time I first started going after what I wanted but I let doubt hold me back too often. I look back and wish I could tell myself to just go for it and ignore the false narrative that we have to do what we said we would when we were 18! Life changes, we grow, our goals evolve and that’s more than ok! Another struggle in my story that I think is important to mention because I know the impact that it made, it that I suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic pregnancy in 2018 around the time I was trying to really expand my business. It was an incredibly emotional and difficult season and at the time, felt like I couldn’t share what was going on with anyone outside of very close friends and immediate family. I’ve found that the social media world prides itself on encouraging vulnerability but often it feels like only to a certain degree. I kept thinking it wasn’t ok to share with my audience or clients because “who wants to hire someone who’s in the middle of experiencing a devastating loss?” While time doesn’t necessarily heal all wounds, perspectives definitely shifts, and only now after that loss and the nearly 3 years of infertility that followed can I say with certainty that I wouldn’t have left my corporate job or prioritized my life and mental health differently without those hardships. I’m grateful for those scars in this stage of my life more than ever.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I the owner of One Crafty Miss and a Creative Business Coach empowering women makers and creatives with the confidence and next steps to make more money in their business! I’m a huge believer that crafting a career where passion and purpose intersect is possible for all women and I love to help get them there- especially because it took me too long to get there myself. My business is centered on teaching women how to elevate their business by honing in on who they really are and what they were born to create, while confidently charging what their time and work are worth. From graphic designers and photographers to jewelry makers and artists, the creatives I get to work with are so talented, they’re just looking for those next steps and accountability to get to their goals. I feel like I’m known for being the cheerleader you didn’t know you needed and in a way that feels comfortable, like a friend you’ve had for years. It sounds crazy cheesy but I feel like that’s what I get told the most from my clients and students. I hope what sets me apart from other people in my industry- or, hell, just people in general- is that I’m not going anywhere. Once I start cheering for you it never stops. I’m on fire for what I get to do every day and who I get to do it for. I continue to work to expand One Crafty Miss because I want more! More ways to help women grow and succeed at what they have the raw talent to do. More chances for myself  to connect with the people I love to work with, and more opportunities to scale my business into something bigger than just me!

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I think luck plays a big role in most of our lives. I could have been born anywhere to anyone at any time and yet, here I am. I was born in a country where I have rights and privileges that a lot of people, especially women and people of color don’t inherently have. I had the luck of being born into a family where I was always told I was capable of anything- even if I struggled to believe it. I met the love of my life at fifteen years old at band camp our sophomore year of high school and he has supported my every move both personally and professionally and is even my CTO of One Crafty Miss. So, some of that could be deemed as “good luck”. I could also say some “bad luck” has played a role in my life and business. From being diagnosed with cancer at age 5 to losing my own father years later to cancer when I was 18 two weeks before starting college- but both shaped me and helped me learn the importance of not being complacent in life and going after what you really want. The infertility journey my husband and I went through for three years after our miscarriage could be “bad luck” but it helped us both understand just how badly we wanted to be parents and prepared our hearts for when our sweet baby boy, Isaiah Terence (named after my late father) was finally born.

Pricing:

Contact Info:

• Email: Taryn@onecraftymiss.com
• Website: https://onecraftymiss.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onecraftymissblog/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onecraftymiss
• Other: https://shop.onecraftymiss.com/

Image Credits
Madalyn Yates Photography

Katie Dickson Photography

Siobhan Lorraine Photography

Him & Her Photography