Meet Emily Marella

We recently connected with Emily Marella and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Self esteem and confidence grew within me over many years and experiences. But a particular catalyst that makes for a good story: I shaved my head.

It was midnight on August 1st of 2023- do you remember where you were? Well, I was in my bathroom, giving myself a pep talk in the mirror that I could do something I was afraid to. I remember encouraging myself that the only thing stopping me was the fear of how I would look. Did I want to let that prevent me from doing something I had been curious about for many years? I could be brave about the result and finally get the answer to a basic human question, “Would I look good bald?”. So, after some sentimental moments, I turned on the electric shaver and went right down the middle of my scalp. Have you watched The Grinch? It was my Mayor May Who moment, which I did quite purposefully. It took a prompt 10 seconds for me to turn the shaver off and allow the reality of what I had just committed to, to hit me. I’ll summarize that evening with one word: crying.

The days that followed claimed hold of my confidence and kicked it underneath of an old refrigerator. I didn’t want to come out from underneath my blankets, let alone my apartment. My partner encouraged me to go with them for groceries, and I spent the trip terrified of the looks and convinced that people thought “Wow, what an ugly girl.” And I began to realize that people could very well think that and I would never know. It didn’t matter. I could carry on assuming that people probably were staring at me and it didn’t make a world of difference to my day. And although that did not remove the anxious thoughts, it began to wear them down.

As the days turned into weeks and months, I stopped considering the strangers around me as judgmental and wary and began considering them as friends I hadn’t met yet. I stopped worrying if people were analyzing my appearance and instead focused on making myself comfortable. It was a slow process of breaking down a lifetime of self-talk and automated thinking. But now, 2 years later, I feel safe in my body and sure of what it needs to be happy. My hair has grown out, sparking excitement at stages of growth. But more importantly, I feel that I have grown through stages of life and carried myself through with love, respect, and adoration.

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?

There are so many things I would like to share about Mother Gooses Craft Room! The first usually being, that it is not a physical space that you can visit, nor is it a craft supply store. While I would like to work towards having a tangible space for friends to visit, the craft room is currently a digital showroom and storefront. Here, you are able to view my collection of art and purchase a variety of pieces including original paintings, postcards, and prints!

I am currently working on bringing my artwork into existing physical spaces! I hope to share updates about where you may be able to purchase my artwork in person soon. On this same avenue, I am also working on involvement in local vendor markets and holiday markets. For this, I am workshopping a temporary physical setup and this step is very exciting! I can’t wait to meet new people and share my art with my community!

I also have a very exciting announcement coming up soon! This is the first time I have been offered something of this nature and it would allow for my art to be made available to the Baltimore community in a special way! It feels unreal to be typing these words, in all honesty, but this is a dream project of mine and I am ecstatic to share more. For now I will say that this is a multi-contract deal that will focus on one specific piece of art. I can’t wait to share more!

This experience has also encouraged me to open my thinking of what Mother Gooses Craft Room can offer. I would love to continue partnering with Baltimore businesses to bring creativity and whimsy into spaces held dear by the community! I would love for this to manifest into physical projects such as murals. If you’re reading this and have a space that you feel could benefit from a pop of whimsical color, or other visual element, email me at [email protected].

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Scheduling your time.
The most important thing for me has been to continue painting. As I grew my business, there was a steady increase in things vying for my attention and my bandwidth was slow to stretch. I became a website designer, advertiser, marketer, communication official, legal advisor, and endlessly more. It felt as though I were pushing a boulder up a mountain while balancing plates on my nose. How could I possibly manage all of these things to not only create my art, but share it? And slowly I realized that I had been painting less and less. So, I began scheduling days for each ‘hat’ and it has allowed me to completely focus on each topic at once. Mondays are for painting. Tuesdays are for updating financial sheets. And so on…
2. Letting Go!
I quickly realized that concepts I had been mentally planning for a long time might not be feasible. I had to learn to let those ideas go and move to the next thing that will work. I realized that partnerships usually involve a mix of opinion and a desire for some level of change. I had to learn to let those things go, to let them change if needed, and to recognize that I will create endlessly. The subject of potential change is not the only good thing I have ever made. I will create more.
3. Your Community Will Make or Break It.
So far, every opportunity that has afforded me success and development has come from the same community partner. I feel grateful beyond words that my art was given a platform to be seen and enjoyed at no cost to myself. And as this partnership develops, I realize that things happen because you are connecting with humans and not entities. So share your art with your community. Share your progress. Ask for feedback. Soon enough, they will ask for updates. They will be excited to see the finished product. They will cheer for you. And they will want to share it on your behalf, because you are a member of their community.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

In May of 2024, I was nannying while working on the beginning stages of Mother Gooses Craft Room. The parents became my good friends and before they moved in June, they gave me a book. “The Defining Decade: Why your Twenties matter- and how to make the most of them now.” Sure, I felt the way most 20-something’s did. Confused about what was next and how to navigate it. So, I began reading. Early on, a line stood out to me that shared the sentiment from a psychologist to a patient, ‘Are you going to be a nanny forever?’ and I immediately felt the spotlight.

As I read on, I related to these 20-somethings who felt isolated, confused, and afraid to make the next move. And the psychologist continued on with sentiments of making choices, actively participating, and trying things. So I decided I would make intentional choices to actively participate. I chose my next job. I chose what I would call my business. I chose what I was going to paint. I chose when it was completed and when I would share it. Suddenly, I was making choices that were building real experiences in my life. And for the first time, things didn’t feel so passive.

I would recommend this book to any one of any age, who feels like they aren’t sure how to get from one point to the next.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mother-gooses-craft-room.squarespace.com/config/?frameUrl=%2F
• Instagram: mothergoosescraftroom