How do you find (or build) your community

The act of creating can oftentimes feel isolating, especially if you’re a one-person creative team or a solo maker trying to put up your own business. Having featured many successful partner makers in our Meet the Makers episodes, one piece of advice they often share when it comes to starting or growing their creative pursuits is the importance of having a community. 

For Studio Habil founder Marvz Conti, “It’s very important, so that you can have a support system.” The creator behind the distinctive moss art and terrariums explains that it can mean having someone you can reach out to for questions, get feedback from, or just be able to share with each other your experiences in your respective creative journeys.  

Jodee Aguillon, who reworks vintage pieces into even more delightful clothes and accessories for his brand, Glorious Dias, admits he’s been fortunate to have always been surrounded by other makers and creatives. From them, he got encouragement, honesty, and advice. 

But what if you’re only starting and haven’t found your own safe space with fellow creatives or makers? For Jodee, if you don’t think you have that community around you just yet, then create one! “That can be your ecosystem while you kind of take the next step, and then the next step, and the next.” So how do you build (or find) your own community of like-minded makers and creatives? 

Explore with a fresh set of eyes.

Jodee, who grew up in Canada, considered himself an outsider when he got back to Manila. Without his family or network of friends, he ventured onto bazaars, auctions, and pop-ups. “Exploring places and events with a fresh set of eyes allowed me to meet new people and also make connections for new collaborations,” he says. 

Even if you’re exploring your own city or something familiar, when you do it with a fresh set of eyes, you’re leaving behind your biases and assumptions. That doesn’t only bring about connections, it can also start that creative spark. That’s what happened to Marvz many years ago when he went to Saturday Future Market, an art market in Escolta (before it evolved into HUB Make Lab). “I was amazed by the wide variety of art and handmade items being offered by each maker. It reignited a spark in me that prompted me to create as well.” This led to Studio Habil, then Marvz’s side hustle every Saturday, becoming a staple in the Escolta market for 3 to 4 years before he decided to jump into it full time.

Let other makers inspire you.

As what happened with Marvz, meeting other makers when he decided to join the art market became the inspiration he needed to start creating. “I met a lot of like-minded individuals who share the same passion and joy to create. I was inspired to create knowing that there are people who appreciate and support the work of our hands.”

It was the same for Jodee. It was when he had his first pop-up “when we truly met folks who were into the same things we were.” When we put ourselves out there, put out the work we’ve been diligently completing, often that’s the time we find what we’re looking for—may it be an affirmation that you’re on the right path, a new insight into your own work, or supportive makers who know what the journey is like and how messy it could get. 

Find connections through the mess.

Connecting with fellow creatives is an opportunity to look at your own journey with kindness. While each path taken might be different, there will always be troughs and crests you have to ride out and knowing you’re not alone through it will help you to keep moving forward. 

“Getting connected to a community can be a positive and empowering tool in navigating the ups and downs of a maker,” says Marvz. It’s especially beneficial when you navigate through what feels like a mess. “Mistakes in the creative process have positive aspects. They can lead to the development of new ideas and practices. [They] can indicate that more consideration and action are needed. Embracing failure as an opportunity to grow and learn can also result in a more authentic creative work.”

Support people with the same dream.

Building or even maintaining a community where you feel like you belong, also means you yourself have to extend the same support and welcome to everyone who’s a part of it. Your own generosity to fellow makers, whether it’s simply a listening ear, a requested critical eye, or showing up when you’re needed helps the creative community you want to be a part of to continue to thrive. 

Of his own experience when he found a community of makers in the art market he got to be a part of, Marvz recalls, “We fostered a community of makers and creatives and with that we eventually became good friends. Sharing our individual and collective experiences as we navigate our creative journeys.” 

As Jodee explains in his previous interview, “If you want to start your own initiative or your own business or get into something that you're not into [yet], if you’re scared…  support those who are. You want those people who are doing it to keep going so you can be a part of that... you're contributing to a growing movement, a growing body of people, entrepreneurs, artists, and a growing industry.” 

Have an abundance mindset.

When you support those who are also working toward their dream, when you find generosity and kindness from other makers and in your own interactions with them, you realize you’re all in it together and there’s enough for everyone.

As Jodee says. “There’s room for everyone. The more the merrier, the merrier the stronger! I liken it to the culture of Filipino palengke/dry good markets. You’ll see the same/similar things being sold next to each other by different vendors, but somehow each one still brings their own unique offering.”

So when you do find others whose works or creativity is something that excites or enlightens you, focus on how it uplifts your own creativity. Celebrate it. Building or finding a community to call your own means that while the actual creative work can feel isolating at times—drawing that design, making that handicraft, finishing that manuscript, etc.—it’s a path that doesn’t always have to be lonely. When you’re part of a community, you only need to look around you to see that you’re not taking the path alone.