Fear is integral for me as a small business owner. It’s a motivator & my most frequent reality check. It keeps me going when days feel long & inspires me to hold onto this “job” that means everything to me.

Shifting seasons into autumn looks on Leelanau County. In consistent fashion, Mae Stier captures the transition beautifully & showcases IndieGrow in full glory.

Maneuvering sales as a small business owner. When does it feel right & exciting? When does it devalue time & skills?

A birthday reflection of sorts, to my toddler baby business. So many thoughts, so many pieces made, so many goals for Year Three. You all will be right alongside me & for that, I’m so grateful.

Unorganized thoughts on the current seasonal transition, appreciating the fleeting beauty all around us & the financial struggles of a small business in Northern Michigan. Concluding with summer goal-setting.

A quick little Q&A with Eileen Fisher, as a Pride feature to highlight queer designers focused on textile sustainability.

Writer & photographer extraordinaire Mae Stier contributes to the Glen Arbor Sun for multiple articles but is frontlining a continuing project featuring collaborations in Leelanau County. She believes there must be “something in the water,” as an explanation for the area’s high concentration of connections & collabs. Here, in this little waterlocked sliver of a peninsula, artists of all mediums find reasons to work together instead of alone & frankly, Mae Stier aims to figure out why.

A big thank you to Brian Freiberger for the “Peninsula People” feature in the Leelanau Enterprise. We met at the nykamping studio / shop on a Tuesday morning to talk about the upcoming one year anniversary of the space & my hopes for the summer. As the end of winter transitions to the tourist rush of summer, there’s plenty to plan, design, sew & share with the Leelanau community & beyond.

The Los Angeles based magazine, BoldJourney, reached out for an interview highlighting some of my intentional aspects of small business ownership & being a creative for a living. We talked about nykampers: my ideal clients & the three impactful characteristics of this journey.

A blip for the upcoming collaboration between nykamping & The Mill / Outpost. Limited amounts of unique bags will be provided with a subscription for regular, fresh baguettes. Coming soon, this spring / summer.

A follow-up interview from Voyage Michigan magazine’s sister publication called CanvasRebel.

An upcoming interview for Voyage Michigan magazine in their Inspiring Stories section.

a summer of soil under nails & caked around wrists inspired the nykamping W22 / OO2 collection based on the properties of soil

thoughts on the places bags will go, resting on new shoulders, carrying necessities & treasures