Challenges & Wins
2023 has been a year of incredible challenge for me. I was badly rear ended in January 2023, resulting in back problems from my coccyx up to my jaw (I was diagnosed with lock jaw/TMJ at the ER the next day) as well as a wrist injury that STILL 9 months later hasn’t healed.
The kicker to this is I am already disabled from a severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) that occurred in 2003. I have found a fantastic community through the Brain Injury Association of Maryland and have learned, am learning, how to be an entrepreneur living with the realities of Long Term TBI.
As Tim Gunn would say, this recent injury was a make it work moment as my wrist injury has not allowed me to work in clay as I have for the past 20 years. The funny thing of being rear ended is it becomes a life imitating art situation imitating life. That sounds funny, right?
Let me explain further. In 2003 after my TBI I was still in college. I took ceramics as I already knew how to throw pots. What I didn’t expect to find was my conceptual, sculptural voice. My injury included two epidural hematomas, a subdural hematoma, a transient ischemic attach (mini), and a small part of my left frontal hemisphere that “died.” As a 20 year old woman I was learning how to understand the amount of damage I sustained while retaining a high IQ and no physical impediments. I began my exploration of the space between polarities, at that time brain life and brain death.
I’ve continued this exploration through my wonderful career and education. When I started MÖBIUS KERAMIKK in 2016 I did it as a challenge to myself— can I make functional ceramics that carry the same conceptual conversation as my sculptural work? I am so proud to say that the answer is yes!
One of my biggest struggles as a TBI survivor has been consistency. I’ve bootstrapped my business with my talent and work ethic and help from my family, friends and community. Often it seems that my work ethic and my daily abilities are at odds. I don’t multi-task well, it takes me longer than most to finish a project, and when my brain is done for the day it is truly done.
So imagine how I must have felt after this accident being crippled in my ability to produce the work I have built my business on? The first three months consisted of lots of physical therapy and grief. My life and my business had crumbled. It was time to assess solutions and make a plan to keep growing even as I was unable to physically do the work.
I am beyond grateful for my artist community, TBI community, friends and family who supported me (and continue to!) during this endeavor. It was time to look at where I am strong and the areas I am challenged in. I started taking SCORE and MWB courses online. I began looking for partners who can help me produce my work and get systems put in place for current and future growth. I am right in the middle of this, currently taking two accelerator courses. In fact last week I hired a business manager!
The point is, I am getting my team together. I am building relationships with contractors, finding folks whose ideals agree with my businesses and adapting. October 23rd I see a hand specialist to look closely at my wrist and see what the next steps are for healing. What I am beyond proud to say is that the work I have done the past 9 months has put me in a place that I can continue to create and grow even if my wrist is permanently compromised.
John Dunne famously writes “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” This injury has quite literally forced me to find my continent and begin to build a team that can grow and work to make modern ceramics and design accessible to the world. These challenges have also reinforced my believe in TBI awareness and the need for programs to help folks like me, functional enough to not meet the requirements for current disability laws, but disabled enough that “normal” career paths aren’t good fits either. This need ties directly to the conceptual narrative of my work and I will use a percentage of profits to begin a TBI survivor entrepreneurial grant.
Today I am preparing to drive down to North Carolina for a trade show with Shoppe Object at High Point Market. I am thrilled to be attending this market and cannot wait to share my work and vision.