Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Myranda Roberson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Myranda, we are so appreciative of you taking the time to open up about the extremely important, albeit personal, topic of mental health. Can you talk to us about your journey and how you were able to overcome the challenges related to mental issues? For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
This is a topic that always makes me hesitate. Talking about your mental health takes tons of vulnerability but truthfully, I think that makes it something that should be discussed more so I’m happy to be here and happy to be vulnerable!
I really can’t say I’ve overcome the challenges related to my mental health, that’s an everyday battle and something I’ll fight forever. But I can say that I do my best to persist, despite the challenges.
Persisting is defined as continuing with a course of action in spite of difficulty.
Says someone at Oxford, anyway.
Beyond the formal definition, here’s how I define persistence: it’s about knowing that anything worth having takes work, and it’s about committing to the work even when it becomes grueling.
I try to remind myself that new paths don’t simply appear, they have to be created. And that involves a ton of work to make and then take each step. Every road that exists was once overgrown, and someone had to do the work to turn it into a path that others could use.
Environmental impact of all those roads aside, the fact is, getting to a new destination requires you to be a trailblazer… and trailblazers do the work.
Truthfully, I’ve had to find any and every reason in the world to simply just keep myself alive most days.
Sometimes it can be physically painful to exist but if I can make up one reason every day to continue trying to persist in existing, that’s a win in my eyes. And sometimes the reason is simply out of spite, but I think that’s okay too.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I own Bat & Fae Witchery!
Bat & Fae was created to be a coffin furniture shop, and quickly turned into oddities, crystals, candles, custom art, and more coffins. I’ve always been so fascinated with the “vulture culture” aesthetic but I was never in a position to financially support having the decor or level of comfort in my space that I wanted. So when the idea of Bat & Fae first came to mind, I knew immediately that no matter how big it grew, I wanted to provide all of my products and my art at an affordable and obtainable price point as well as do everything I could to keep things environmentally conscious.
Currently, if you peek at our social media pages, you’ll see it’s been very *cricket noises* for quite a while.
2023 has been an insane thing for me personally and I’ve had to take a massive step back several times to prioritize my mental health which was not easy to do by any means.
But for the last 2-3 months I’ve had some big plans and a nagging feeling that 2024 is going to have something so good coming our way.
Theres some really exciting things coming up for Bat & Fae and I’m crossing all my skulls and bones that it’ll be a big hit!
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, as cliche as it sounds, confidence is SO important. It’s one quality I’ll forever be fighting tooth and nail to have and in hindsight, I wish I’d been more confident in myself from the start, or even just pretended to be. I remember thinking I must be so stupid, I had no idea what I was doing. I doubted and fought myself with every move I made and I would ask other people how to do things -things I already knew how to do- because I assumed anyone was smarter than myself. Looking back, I realize that sometimes you actually DO know what the best thing is for yourself and your journey.
Secondly, and I gotta be honest here, spite was probably my biggest motivator. I had taken a massive loss right in the middle of starting up Bat & Fae and almost immediately after that loss, someone that was very dear to me told me I’d never make it work with this business idea. They said that nobody would want what I had to offer and it simply wasn’t a good idea.
So I did it anyway, out of spite.
And now I have coffins in nearly half the United States and a whole new appreciation of power tools and battery operated angle finders (because yes, apparently those exist.)
And third, another cliche, perseverance.
Persevering is so hard when the easiest thing to do is walk away. Some of the closest people to me will probably tell you they hear me say “I think Bat & Fae is dead” at least 3 times a week. And 3 times the same week I’ll call them up whilst crying and say “I just got an order!”
Im learning that if you fall down 7 times, you must get up 8.
Good things simply don’t come easily.
My advice, if you’re just beginning on your journey;
You CAN do it. If you couldn’t, you wouldn’t have wanted to try to begin with.
You have to find something to remind yourself that you ARE capable. Figure out your “reminder” and make it your phone wallpaper, or write it on your forehead (don’t tattoo it, trust me). But don’t let yourself forget that you can do hard things. Even if you just do the hard things out of spite, I’m right there with you some days!
I also want to add, stop and take a deep breath from time to time.
It is absolutely acceptable to take your time.
You don’t have to rush into learning and perfecting a skill.
You don’t have to be the best at your craft. Theres always someone else you can learn from.
Be genuine, be ethical, and learn to love with the moments that make you wanna quit.
Sometimes those are the ones that are gonna launch you even further.
If it was easy, everyone would do it.
But few will hunt.
Alright, so before we go, we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think your biggest obstacle is currently. This may give other small business owners a chance to reach out with advice as well.
Currently, my biggest obstacle is marketing. It sounds so silly, even to me, posting on social media constantly to self promote is WORK. You could post 10 things and get little to no traction and that’s enough to make you feel like you’ve failed. I know, realistically, that a larger social media presence is related to the visibility you get. And the visibility you get is related to the content your followers see vs what the algorithm decides isn’t as important to show. But oh my goodness, self promotion is so important but it is so hard.
I’ve always wanted to grow my social media following and my reach and it just seems to be a huge struggle I’ve faced since day one.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://batfaewitchery.wixsite.com/batfaewitchery
- Instagram: @BatFaeWitchery
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/BatFaeWitchery
