We were lucky to catch up with Manon Alexandra recently and have shared our conversation below.
Manon, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
Keeping my creativity alive is a very important part of what I do. Luckily, it tends to be relatively easy for me to find inspiration from different outlets. I can find it from certain places, people or things. Traveling, new experiences, and surrounding myself with things that bring me happiness tend to inspire me the most. Since I get to travel across the US, I am able to experience new cities, food, and people. Being subject to these new things excites me, which often tends to get my brain working overtime. For example, I had the luxury of work taking me to New Orleans, Louisiana. I had never experienced so much passion in music, food and the atmosphere. It gave me so many ideas to create things from the dark side of New Orleans, such as the voodoo and black magic that lingers around the environment. Something that is hard to put into words, but that you can definitely feel in the air.
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?
My name is Manon and I am the owner of Man on the Moon Mystics. I create sweet & spooky, vegan bath products with a surprise crystal inside! I have taken my love for oddities/horror and added my own twist of color to create fun & unique bath treats! My mission is to bring you bath products that are fun to use, safe for sensitive skin and also as ecofriendly as possible. I have always had sensitive skin myself, and I found that the products found in stores were just flat out boring. I wanted to create things that were unique and that people with all skin types would actually be excited to use. Human heart shaped bath bombs that smell like fizzy soda pop? Yes. Retro colored waffle shaped bath bombs that smell like fruit loopz? Yup. Rainbow skull soaps that smell like cotton candy? Yes, I make those too! The crazier the better. And I create special themed products for every season! I figured that adding a surprise crystal inside of each item would be a fun twist that people of all ages could enjoy.
What I find to be most exciting about what I do, is I have been given the opportunity to travel to some major cities across the United states on tour with The Oddities and Curiosities expo where I get to meet customers and sell my products in person. In 2024 I will be traveling to 25 different cities from Providence Rhode Island, and as far West as Salt Lake City, Utah and Denver, Colorado. Be sure to check out the full list of tour dates and locations on our social media!
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 think the most important thing anyone can do for their business is proper networking. I think it is so important to be open to taking every opportunity that comes your way, especially in the early stages, no matter how small it may seem and meet as many people as you can. It really is crazy what one thing can lead to, and everyone has to start somewhere. I also believe that building a strong social media presence is almost necessary in this day and age. Learn how to use social media to your advantage, whether it is through advertising or marketing and profit off of it. Use various social media outlets to showoff your business and art and reach audiences that you may not have been able to reach otherwise.
Lastly, and I am not sure if this would be considered a skill, but I would highly encourage you to show off your personality as much as you can. Whether it be on social media or actually in your work, people like to see the reality behind the scenes of any business and it gives your customers a face that they can relate to. Don’t be afraid to take chances and make yourself vulnerable. Thats what this is all about.
Before we go, any advice you can share with people who are feeling overwhelmed?
It is very easy to feel overwhelmed with business, especially during certain times of the year, or in my instance when I am traveling to shows. Sometimes I find myself getting behind on orders or certain deadlines, but it is important to remember it is okay. I used to only dream about where I am now, and now that I am here, I could not be more grateful. It is so important to take care of your mental health, whether you just need to pause and take a deep breath or you need to take a mini vacation somewhere. Everyone gets stressed out, it is just important to not forget about the goal at the end of the day and what the overall plan is.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ManontheMoonMystics.com
- Instagram: Manonthemoonmystics
- Facebook: facebook.com/ManontheMoonMystics
- Other: TikTok-ManontheMoonMystics
