Cool Kids on the Block — Maria Macatbag (ArawAraw.Co)

Welcome to Cool Kids on the Block, Recess Media’s weekly feature project where we showcase different creatives on campus who are passionate and committed to their work. New stories up on Medium every Wednesday.

This week’s Cool Kid is Maria Macatbag, who designs and sells her own jewelry through her business ArawAraw.Co! She is currently a student at UW Foster and has successfully turned her quarantine passion project into her own small business. Read more to hear about her story, her experiences of running a business, and her words of advice.

Stay up to date with Maria at @arawaraw.co on Instagram or via her website!

Who are you, what’s your story?

Maria: My name is Maria, I’m a junior now at UW Foster focusing in marketing. I’ve been making a bunch of creative things. I don’t know, it’s just me… I like to design or create because it’s my way of expressing myself and [it’s] also stress relieving. At first, I kind of did this just as a hobby and then I was talking to my friends and I was like what if I made these earrings… they told me to just do it. I kind of just manifested it and was like why not? I had so much time on my hands and figured I would start small. I really didn’t expect people to keep ordering from me and want more from me.

Since you just gave me a brief rundown of yourself, can you give me a brief rundown of your business?

M: My business is called ‘Araw Araw’, which is a Tagalog word for “every day”. I named it “every day” in Tagalog because these are designs and products that can be used every day. Like stickers, who doesn’t use stickers? And earrings are things you wear every day. For this brand, it’s meant to share Filipino culture. When you see Asian products it’s mostly East Asian — like Japan, China, Korea, and not a lot of representation for Southeast Asians. So, I was thinking, I can show my identity and put more Southeast Asian representation in my designs. And I also made a promise to myself to always make unique designs and make them true to me and represent my culture.

How exactly did you get started in jewelry and sticker design? Were you always interested in doing that?

M: Honestly, for the sticker thing, I was like “just do it”. Last year, I started off at The Mill at UW and made stickers with my friends as a hobby. It was kind of just a hobby thing. Over last summer, I was really bored and started making artwork. When I came back to school, I started making stickers of those designs and a lot of people started loving them. So then I figured that I should make a shop. As for earrings, I think it’s my lack of not wearing earrings that made me start my shop. In March, when I left Seattle, I just dipped. I thought I was going to come back and I left all of my things there — my makeup, jewelry, and my clothes. My ears felt lonely so I thought, maybe I should just make my own jewelry.

How does your heritage affect your business and who you are as an artist and a creative person?

M: Honestly, my cultural sorority (Pi Nu Iota) and FASA has been playing a big role in my business. It’s because of them that my shop has been gaining support. At first, they probably made up 90% of my customers. They gave me a lot of support and a lot of ideas. They gave me that confidence and affirmation to put out my goods, like “yes, your products are good enough to put out so put them out”. They’re like my number one supporters and they mean a lot.

Is there a specific person or thing that inspires you to do your work?

M: Honestly, I don’t really draw inspiration from people… it just comes up in my head, you know. It starts from me mostly and then like… this is a tough question…but you know, at first, it comes from me, but since people like it so much…it’s like… so you’re telling me you want my stuff? My stuff is actually that good? For me, I started earrings since I like doing it and I love seeing my friends or anyone wearing my stuff. It brings a lot of sharing a lot of Filipino culture and representation so I love that…. I just love making things. I love making jewelry. While I’m making it it’s like stress-relieving for me. You know, it’s artwork. I like seeing it and I love seeing my friends wearing them.

In what ways does having a creative outlet serve you? Since you’re not necessarily majoring in something super creative, how important is it for you to balance having that non-creative academic field and a creative outlet on the side?

M: I chose business and not a creative outlet as a major because I didn’t want this stress-relieving activity to be something I’m stressed out about. If I get a job with this I’ll get stressed out about it. I don’t want to put stress on something that’s meant to be stress-relieving. And also lowkey I haven’t been that confident in my artwork so I don’t see myself getting too much into it… I don’t want to go full, full time with it and have it be my whole career. Just for some things for me, I like to keep things the way they are and the way that I like them.

How does your work being a business affect it? Are you ever in a creative rut? How is it different from just being a hobby when you have to run your own business?

M: Definitely, with making this a business, you have to be more strict with yourself with the quality. If something breaks you have to fix it… usually if you do it for yourself it’s fine because it's for you but it does put more stress into it because you know someone’s going to take it and have opinions about it and opinions about you. It’s just something you have to worry about… the quality you’re putting out.

Does the pressure of what other people think about your art get stressful? Or do you consider it more as a motivator to make the best stuff that you possibly can?

M: I feel like it’s both… like last week I was actually having so much doubt about myself… Like if people will actually like these or if I’m spending too much time and money on something that people don’t really like. I always have those self-doubts. I don’t know if it’s the business or just me personally but I do think about what people think about me… it might be just a me thing. I’m pretty sensitive to what people say but like at the end of the day I try to tell myself that whatever and whenever you do it and whether you make money or not off of your artwork, it’s your artwork and you should be proud of it. I’m trying to work towards that mindset,… I’m not completely there but I’m working on it. I put it down on a piece of paper but my goal is to represent me and my culture and I’m not going to think about anything else. I want to do this business just because I like it and not to make a profit.

Do you have any advice or words of wisdom for people starting out in jewelry design or just starting their own small business?

M: Just MANIFEST it.… just start doing it. You never really know until you try, you know what I mean? Yeah, like if you don’t try it you’ll never know but at least if you do try something you know the results of it. Also, just networking is a good idea. Finding your community… oh yeah, I feel like a big reason why my business has been taking a lot of traction lately is because I know which community my business is targeted towards. I mean, my shop is pretty suitable for everyone, but they are representing Filipino culture. I think it's very important to know your audience so you know which community to market to and to promote to. Finding your audience and just manifesting it, would be my advice.

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