We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Page a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rachel, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
My purpose kind of found me. I have had 3 successful handcrafted businesses in the last 15 years and each one led to the next step of my journey. I think my purpose has changed a few times over my lifetime and it may eventually change again. For now I absolutely love what I do and plan to keep bringing amazing handcrafted art into the world! I took a lot of risks and jumped out on a limb more than a few times and have never shied away from a challenge or a new idea.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I handcraft Cosplay Animal Ears, Tails and other fluffies. I actually started as a jewelry maker in small events like local Art Walks and Market days. I always loved going to conventions for fun as an attendee, but never thought I could sell what I make at conventions. I had no idea how successful I would become and it has been an amazing journey!
It all started with customers saying I should try selling my jewelry at Comic Conventions. I thought “There’s no way people would want this at a Comicon!” I was definitely wrong.
So how did I go from a jewelry artist to ears and tails? That’s a big difference I know lol. When I first moved to Texas in 2009 I found a local Anime Convention and went. I had moved halfway across the country so as you can imagine money was pretty tight. I saw an ears and tails booth and wanted some so bad, but I couldn’t afford them at the time. I went again the next year. By then I had a fully launched the jewelry business and would run a booth at Artwalk on the first Friday of every month. The convention would start on Friday and I would get to go on Saturday with money saved for those ears I wanted. I would look all over and could never find the booth! Apparently they sold out every year on Friday and the booth and ears were gone by Saturday. Four years I tried to find and buy those ears! Finally I said “I’m crafty! I’ll make my own ears!” Then 2 seconds later I thought to myself “What if…I made ears and had enough for the whole weekend? If that booth sells out on Friday there must be lots of other people like me wanting ears!” And The Happy Cat was born!
It was a long road from then to now. This is my 10th year making ears and tails! Can you believe it?! Ten years! I can barely believe it, but it has been the most amazing evolution. My ears have come a long way over the years and it has been so amazing to see the booth, fan base and product grow.
What I feel make my ears and tails stand out from the crowd is all my patterns are hand drawn and created by me. Everything I make is mine from concept to creation! I have an amazing ability to see something and bring it to life. I do amazing custom work and love bringing people’s original characters into being.
So what am I up to now? Venturing into Horror Conventions. I had a concept for Zombie Kitty Ears and did a few prototypes over the years. This year I will have a booth at the biggest Horror Convention in Texas!
I’m launching Zom-B-Kitty and can’t wait to see what I come up with next.
The newest additions to my Happy Cat product line are Husky Tails and big Lop Lop ears!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I have always loved being artistic and creative. My wonderful Mom always supported every crazy whim I ever had. I have her to thank for my adventurous spirit and creative mind. My three qualities that I believe most impacted my journey are courage. Never being afraid to try something new. Resilience. Not being deterred when things didn’t go the way I’d hoped. And learning. Always seeking knowledge and learning how to do something myself. My Mom calls me MacGyver lol. Cause I can fix or make anything or I’ll figure out how!
I’m doing all this with incredible adversity. I have multiple debilitating health conditions and struggle everyday to keep pushing forward, but I do it! I believe no matter what we face, we can rise above it and succeed. If I did anyone can!
My advice is don’t be afraid to try something new or to fail at it. If you never try, you’ll never know if you could.
When I first started I had never even used a sewing machine! I taught myself how and just experimented. Just get out there and start doing what you want to. It never hurts to try and if you’ve never failed at something, then you’ve never tried anything new.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
My Mom! She has been the support and encouragement that has always helped me through even the darkest of times. She was there when I suffered from mental illness and has been there with me through physical illness and I wouldn’t be where I am without her. She encouraged every crazy idea and dream I ever had and let me walk away when it was no longer something I wanted to do so I could move on to the next crazy idea!
Contact Info:
- Website: tiktok.com/@thehappycatfurever
- Instagram: Instagram.com/thehappycatfurever
- Facebook: Facebook.com/thehappycatfurever
Image Credits
Rachel Page The Happy Cat
