Meet Alise Morales

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alise Morales a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alise, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.
As the owner of handmade jewelry business, I am no stranger to creative blocks.

They strike when you least expect – and sometimes even when you do! I find that they hit most often at one of the following times: when I have not given myself adequate rest (it is easy to ignore your exhaustion cues when you work for yourself!) or when I spend too much time comparing my brand to others’ online.

Because I genuinely enjoy working, I find that I can spend 50-60 hours a week working on my website, creating, and working events. That is fine until a month goes by and I realize that I have not seen my friends or spent time doing anything other than focusing on my business. YES, burnout can happen even when it is your own business!

I also have found that limiting my time on social media (as much as possible, because social media marketing is just part of the game these days!), has helped with creative blocks. When I start spiraling down a rabbit hole of “Wow, look at the things that person makes” or “They had how many sales in one day?!!!” I have found it leads to me feeling worse about everything – from how I create to sales to everything in between.

These days, when I feel the inklings of burnout and comparison, I do my best to take a step back and assess. I will take my dog on a walk, call a friend to chat, or grab a coffee solo to reset and get back into a better headspace.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Jasper & Elm was born in 2020 during a pandemic and deployment. As a military spouse, the time spent alone was alienating and I was searching for a creative outlet while musical options (like local theater and choirs) were out of the question. Having spent most of my life as a musician, I knew that having a creative practice was important for my mental health and self-care routine.

I found polymer clay, and the rest is history! I fell in love creating jewelry for myself and friends and felt ready to share it with the world. I opened an Etsy shop and started attending local markets in Jacksonville, FL. In the spring of 2022, I launched my own website and have not looked back! You can check out my website here (https://www.jasperandelm.com/).

Over the last two and a half years, I have expanded my creations to include all kinds of custom wares, from resin to macrame to polymer clay to acrylic! I am currently working on expanding into digital offerings, starting with a free quarterly planner download available here (https://www.jasperandelm.com/product-page/quarterly-goal-planner). This is just the beginning, as I have some other plans in the works for things like how-to e-books and maybe even a podcast for creators!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
There are a few things that I have worked on since college that have helped me along my small business journey. Working for yourself is incredibly rewarding, but it can be draining. There is so much emphasis to “keep hustling” that it can be easy to ignore what your mental health and physical body actually need.

Three skills that have helped me in my journey are resiliency, open-mindedness, and determination. Resiliency is what keeps me getting back up after hard days or failed launches and trying again. Open-mindedness has allowed me to receive criticism that has helped me build a stronger brand and product line. Determination is what keeps me from quitting, even when the days are tough and I feel like a total failure.

Being an entrepreneur can be a lonely thing, which is why I think it can be easy for me to succumb to creative blocks. Sometimes you just need another person to help you figure out in what direction you need to go! I have friends and family who are entrepreneurs, and I have found that cultivating a group of entrepreneurial-minded people has helped when I need to bounce ideas off someone other than myself.

By building a community, you will be able to foster the skills of resiliency, open-mindedness, and determination. There are so many people out there that support you that you can call upon!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
The biggest hurdle to my business is trying to break into the e-commerce sphere. As a military spouse, I know that my time here in Jax attending local markets is not going to last forever, so I am working hard on trying to figure out how I can maximize my website and social media presences so that when we leave it is not a detriment to my work.

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon problem faced by other small businesses! There is a lot of competition on the web, and when you are making products that pop up on Shein or similar sites for $1-3, it can feel like it is pointless. Especially because these discounted websites frequently copy artists by stealing their art!

However, I am leaning into the discomfort and working on learning all kinds of new-to-me skills, from email marketing to SEO to blogging. The only way to get past an obstacle is to go straight through it, which is what I am doing!

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