The Origin Story of my business, 사극 Paradise
As part of a project I’m working on to help my business improve, I had an assignment to write about the Origin Story of my business. Thank you for reading my story!
사극/Sageuk Paradise Origin story.
What my business 사극 Paradise is now, is a bit of an interesting, but unintended mix. It consists of 사극/Historical K-Drama and Period K-Drama anime fan art, as well as Xianxia and Wuxia anime fan art. Additionally, we have handmade dolls with Korean Three Kingdoms inspired fashion, and handmade Korean 한복/hanbok, and Chinese Hanfu. The Fan art is a group effort between myself and a team of artists in Indonesia. The dolls, 한복, and Hanfu are all made by me. Many handmade business gurus would strongly advise against this much variety in one business. They would also strongly advise someone who looks like me to absolutely not dare to make and sell these items. Guess what? Rules are made to be broken, and since we’re not in the Gusu Lan Clan sect, I don’t think chaos will be entering the realms any time soon!
I’m originally from Southern Idaho, currently in Albuquerque, New Mexico. If you get a good look at me, I’m definitely not the person who would come to mind when you see the products in my store. In other words, I am not AAPI, I am an enthusiastic AAPI ally. For some, this may not sit well, but my response is, if you limit yourself to only one way of thinking, you’ll never grow, and you’ll remain stuck.
Because of my obnoxious, determined, innovating, independent spirit, I could never stay chained to a career for very long, no matter how hard others tried. It’s boring as hell being chained to a desk all day, and it makes me go cross eyed. In the words of Epik High “There ain’t no fucking paycheck to make it worth the pain.” I was miserable, depressed, and angry.
I originally began as a photo card seller. My plan of action in leaving the Employee world was to purchase an investment property in Waikiki, and I needed a down payment, so I had to find a means to raise the funds! I soon learned, however, that photo cards are copyright infringement, and if I want to go bigger, I have to step out of “The Safe Zone.” So, I eventually found a team of artists in Indonesia, and started off with 사극 and Period K-Drama fan art. Success and enthusiasm on that part of the adventure was very mixed.
All the while, I was making and wearing my own 한복. When I wore them the entire week I was in Honolulu, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. So positive that I could not do anything or go anywhere without someone wanting to strike up a conversation about where I got my outfit. I then realized that my clothes had to be included in the mix. After Hawai’i, every time I had a vending event, it was always the same thing, people saying I should sell 한복. So, I took it as a sign and got started.
Since then, I’ve expanded my business other ways. Focusing my fan art more on Xianxia, as people of all shades have the most enthusiasm about action fantasy, even if they may have never seen a Xianxia in their entire lives. I make it a point to make a statement with my fan art, in that we focus on sexy men and empowered women. Women have been the sexy accessories in art long enough, so this time around, the women are fully clothed, in positions of authority, while the men are made to be nice looking accessories. Although, some of my customers do still get a little self conscious about the shirtless fan arts I have of Dongfang Qingcang from “Love Between Fairy and Devil.”
But mainly, I want people, regardless of whether they grew up immersed in AAPI culture, or in a small semi-homogeneous farm town (like I did), to really learn more about and embrace Korean and Chinese cultures. They both have some very relevant and helpful perspectives and insights.
