Winter Retreat Sponsor Highlight - UNGLUED

The retreat is just a little over a week away and we are so excited! There are just a few days left to register, so if you've been planning to do that but just haven't gotten the chance - now is the time!

We want to share a little more with you about another one of our awesome sponsers - Unglued! If you haven't been in to visit Unglued yet, by all means drop everything and go! A lot of you are probably pretty familiar with their shop and the craft fest, but today we get to dig into what makes Ashley Morken tick.

We've known Ashley for several years - Unglued and Modern Textiles go way back. I have to say I'm not sure there is anyone in the businesses world that we respect and trust more than Ashley. She's a crazy hard worker, an innovator and just really stinking nice! She's been a huge inspiration for us along the way and we are so grateful for her support of not just the Winter Retreat, but Modern Textiles as a whole.

I got the chance to pick Ashley's brain this week - enjoy!

Tell us about your business!

Unglued is a modern handmade gift shop with creative workshops and an annual craft fest! We feature in our shop over 200 local, regional and some national makers!

Great, now tell us a little more about yourself.

I'm super restless. That would just it all up. I was a cardiac RN for seven years prior to doing Unglued full time but hosted events of all sorts throughout that time. I thrive on inspiring others to propel their creative businesses and for them and others to simply take time to have a creative outlet as well because it makes life so much richer! I recently am into motorcycles, sewing and trying to figue out how to balance life in a way that isn't always exhausting but still adventurous, awesome and purposeful. Also if I didn't travel I would go crazy.

What do you think makes your business unique from others out there?

What sets Unglued apart is the focus on local and regional handmade with a modern flare to it - and the variety of events we craft up to inspire our community! Also our incredible creative and growing team.

What exciting things do you have planned for 2015?

2015 is already proving to be overwhelming and adventurous with dreams for Unglued getting bigger than I thought possible - but some are a bit too soon to specifiy! We'll have a special summer series, a 2nd annual round of super fun kids' summer camps, late night craft parites a bit more regularly and 2 HUGE announcements coming for summer in the next couple months. And of course our 5th Unglued Craft Fest is February 20 and 21st at the Plains Art Museum!

Do you have creative parts to your job? What are they and what do you like about them?

Through Unglued I thrive on supporting the creative nbut ultimately in small business there are so many things that are super boring but take a lot of my time! My favorite actual creative parts are creating new events (my dream job), coming up with project ideas with Chelsea, our main instructor, doing DIYs with Valley News Live and occasional (but currently rare) DIY blogging. Window displays are something creative I work on with Justin and I LOVE it! I love that no matter how bogged down I get with all the back-end things of our business, ultimately I HAVE to take time to do these things and that's what I freaking love!

How do you stay inspired? What helps you when you get stuck during the creative process?

To stay inspired I hit the road or travel - even something as small as getting coffee with a friend in Hillsboro! Whenever I'm on the road is when I have time to clear my mind and 'create' new ideas and dreams. So doing our holiday pop up shop in Sioux Falls was dangerously inspiring because I had to drive back and forth so much! I've recently also been meeting up with a lot of friends and people who have approached me to talk about starting a small business or their dream jobs and those conversations in themselves have been enormously inspiring! At home, Justin is always making things so that fosters an atmosphere of curiousity and creating which make a big difference as well to stay inspired. If I'm in a total fut and most likely have no option to 'hit the road', I'll try to clear a free hour or two (or just stay up super late) to create something, catch up on creativ blogs, listen to a podcase, catch up a bit on Pinterest, or grab a drink with an awesome friend...or just do something out of the norm.

Do you have creative hobbies that you enjoy outside of work? How do you balance work/fun?

Sewing is my renewed favorite hobby! Garment making and being addicted to making yak blankets are at the top. I currently fail miserably at balancing work and fun but as Justin puts it, when your work is your passion it's both work and fun and it's hard to sometimes know where or how to draw the line! I'm taking on 2015 regardless of all the things coming up to hone in on some more personal things I've wanted to do that have suffered a bit with small business craziness and try to have at least one real day or evening off a week to do that.

Any words of advice about living a creative life?

Don't be afraid to fail - what holds so many people back is simply thinking they aren't creative enough to make something worthwhile. Making is so freeing and renewing and it doesn't have to be perfect or just like the pattern, tutorial, DIY, etc. you are trying. Try new things and let others inspire you.

How can we stay up to date with Unglued? Be sure to join us for our 5th annual Unglued: Craft Fest! Check out our general workshop schedule and our Maker Clubs too. Our store hours are Monday - Saturday from 10am - 6pm and late on Thursday night until 8pm. Check us out on Facebook, our Website or Pinterest! Unglued is located at 408 Broadway in Downtown Fargo.

Thank you so much Ashley for sharing your thoughts with us! And thank you to all our amazing sponsors!