Life cover - the story begins like a fairy tale: "Once upon a time there was a small village on the edge of the forest and there lived a girl."
The story later continues in its own way: “He had just moved from his eastern neighbor and was tired of collapsing sports around the world at the time.
He believed that it was possible to slow down the passage of this world a little by creating beautiful objects from natural materials.
He also believed that a person would feel happy to touch the softness of wool and feel its warmth. The beauty and uniqueness of nature would soothe the human mind and hand-making would strengthen man.
But could a former professional athlete become an artist in a new country, family, and new circumstances?
I don’t know where I got so much courage that I started Ellunhuopa. I just remember I had no other options. I had a very strong internal fire.
I thought that when I make good products “it works”. But that was not enough! In addition to crafts, running a business also required me to have other skills.
Even though I knew how to felt well then, I didn’t manage marketing: customer service, language skills, pricing, accounting, etc.
In August 2011, I applied for a business ID. I felt the baby in my arms. I took numerous breaks and tried to work with one hand. Our dining table was full of wool and fluff.
I had no other felting facilities. I couldn’t imagine having my own studio someday!
Fortunately, I was sensible and did not apply for a bank loan. This was how I was able to start in small steps according to my strength. There was still enough stress. Working without funding was slow and awkward.
In my first show, I had my husband as an interpreter and assistant. I could already say something in Finnish, but I was very excited.
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All of my clients ’emails came through my husband. He had to explain some of the wishes of his clients to me in English and of course he answered them for me.
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I cried many times and asked myself why?
Why did I choose this path? But fate steered me in that direction.
A small family member demanded his own time. Felting continued from morning to late night.
In terms of workload and effort, my earnings remained very small. My faith ran out.
After my first failed year, I decided to apply for other jobs.
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I was in the service industry for four years. In my new job, I learned and developed. I gained a lot of experience in customer service
⠀ and marketing. And best of all, my Finnish language skills improved! In 2015, I acquired Finnish citizenship.
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In 2017, I graduated from Piippola Vocational and Cultural College as an artisan.
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At the same time, I got acquainted with the evaluation criteria of Finnish schools and
practices. I felt this was important to understand how I would teach my course participants. Life is full of surprises. I couldn't imagine going back to Piippola later as a course teacher!
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Now I already had three degrees! My motto is: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ONLY WHEN LEARNING NEW! So I continued my studies by completing numerous online studies.
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My life was not boring! I always had something to do and something new to think about.
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Over the years, I have accumulated quite a lot of information that would be useful to others as well. With me, you will learn felting quickly, as well as extensively. See more >>
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