Meet Aya Druid

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aya Druid. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aya below.

Aya, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

I reframe my mindset. If I am the only one in the room who looks like me, then I have something that only I can share.

Also, asking people investigative questions- getting to know the person and listening to what they’re saying gives me insight into their possible likes and dislikes. Those details help me point them to something I have that aligns with whatever they’ve told me so far, and I make sure to tie that back into our conversation. It shows them that I’m present and absorbing what they’re sharing, which is important from both the selling and the personal side.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

One of the inspirations behind a lot of my work that I love most, and has heavily influenced the pace and direction of my growth over the years, is metal music. I’ve been listening to metal since I was in middle school and I can say with confidence that the vast selection of subgenres under the metal ‘umbrella’ have impacted my aesthetic tastes as I’ve grown up and till now I enjoy rotating between them, even mixing and matching.

So when I started making jewelry and accessories, it unlocked a bunch of new avenues for how I could ‘wear’ my favorite subgenres of metal. I could make things that visually made me think of my favorite albums. In fact, metal has pulled me out of artist’s block a number of times- whether I was revisiting personal all-time favorites or exploring new artists for a fresher batch of inspiration!

For four years I’ve been fortunate to be able to bring my art and my brand to metal festivals across the U.S.- being able to attend some of these festivals I’ve known of for so long was quite literally made possible by

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

First, resourcefulness. Find ways to make due with what you have currently. Explore alternative methods to arrive at your goal or even an adjacent goal- what may have started as just a temporary plan may end up being more suited to your mindset and problem-solving. A personal example: Rather than purchasing large backdrops to use for listing pictures, picking out small cuts of fabric from a craft store is more cost-effective, easier to store, takes up less space and allows me to have a larger variety of ‘backdrops’.

Second, flexibility. Don’t just assume that each tool in your arsenal only has one use. If you tunnel vision on what the tool is on the surface, you could be missing out on underlying uses that could benefit you greatly. Challenge yourself to find other ways to use your tools, you can truly surprise yourself with how many extra doors it can open for you. Personal example: I found some old cardstock from when I used to scrapbook. I haven’t scrapbooked in years, I know I wont be returning to it any time soon, so what do I do. with all this nice cardstock? Cut it up and repurpose it as packaging material/jewelry cards.

Third, initiative. If you wait for some outside signal to give you permission to do something, it won’t come- be your own starting signal. If you think you’re not prepared to put a plan into action, but you have no prior experience to base it off of… then pulling the trigger *now* is going to be your ‘prior experience’. There are some things we truly cannot gauge readiness for, and you may have outstanding qualities you weren’t even aware of until you jump into action. Personal example: For years I said I wasn’t ready to sell in person because I still needed to build up stock. All it took was excitedly applying to vend at ProgPower USA on a whim, just two months before the event… and within those two months I grew my stock to a size that might have normally taken me 8-12 months. It’s funny what you can achieve when you’re running on ‘fun adrenaline’.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

Metal. Bands. Musicians. I want to work with you. I want to craft pieces for you that help you reach the vision you have for your music- maybe you feel like elevating your visuals on stage, maybe it’s something specific for a music video, or perhaps a new album cycle and you’re looking to start with a clean slate.

I also want to team up with you to create something special and unique for your devoted fans. Wearable art pieces. I want to frame your guitar picks artfully, something fans can don proudly wherever they go. Or give a new lease on life to a shirt print, as a backpatch on a jacket with adornments chosen carefully and intentionally.

Listening to *your* art gives me visual inspiration for *my* art, and having the chance to share that with you is a fulfilling sensation in it’s own realm.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.druidnocturna.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DruidNocturna
• Linkedin: https://www.instagram.com/druidnocturna/

Image Credits

Personal image credit: Roaming Roach Photography