Meet McKenna Weinbaum

Today we’d like to introduce you to McKenna Weinbaum.

McKenna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Throughout my Freshman and Sophomore years in high school, I suffered from clinical depression and eating disorders which completely consumed my life. By the time Covid hit, my mental health had hit rock bottom. I got to a point where I truly didn’t feel like myself. I felt as if I was forcing myself away from my own happiness minute by minute through choosing to wallow in my suffering. Soon, things begun to shift. Quarantine started. Everyone got sent home from school where they would stay there for the next year. As one can probably imagine, this shift forced me to reflect on how I’ve been choosing to live. By the summer (June 2020), I decided to go on a quest for new hobbies. I searched through the internet in attempts to spark interest in something, however, unsurprisingly, I got distracted and begun online shopping. Little did I know that the jewelry I was looking at would completely change my life. As I was browsing on Pinterest, looking at rings and necklaces and such, I thought to myself, “I wonder how people make these things.” Following that, I spent hours researching, soon leading to me purchasing all different sorts of materials, and to this day, I am still constantly learning new crafts with all sorts of different mediums. By August, I decided to open my own Etsy shop. I had spent all my time that summer making art and jewelry and I wanted to share it with the world; not only my creations themselves but also to inspire others during this time. I wanted to show that even in the midst of unknown and suffering, there can still be light; there may still be happiness. We just have to live beyond our current mental limitations (thus the name of my shop: Live Beyond Limitation). Plus, I did photography to the side beforehand, so I thought taking my own product photos would be extra fun.

Before starting my Etsy shop, I decided to first open a blog. My intent was to spread my message with the world through opening up about my struggles and experiences I had endured and how I got through them. I did this because I knew that even though I was alone (quarantine), I was not Alone (in my struggles). Through this, I realized my purpose in this life: To bring more love into the world. This knowing has been my ‘North Star’ that has guided my work ever since.

From August of 2020 to now, I have had 21,600 beautiful souls visit my Etsy shop, I have run artisan booths at farmers markets, and I’ve opened social media accounts dedicated to my shop. (So far, I have an Instagram and TikTok — both titled livebeyondlimitation) I have gotten so much support from people all across the country, as well as some outside of the US as well! Incredibly, I have received an immense amount of love and encouragement through my supporters from Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Poland, the UK, and the Netherlands. I have learned how to wire-wrap to create necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, ear-cuffs, and so much more. I have even taught myself how to make realistic-looking fairy wings through this skill. I have taught myself pyrography, where I hand-design and burn wooden slices; Resin, where I hand-pick flowers and create decor pieces; Macrame; Crochet; Candle-making; Clay. I have learned how to make crowns, wands, and wings. I’ve even begun making Nature Worlds, which is where I take different containers (ex: fishbowl) and craft the inside using fake moss, clay, paint, and other sorts of materials to replicate forests.

I can confidently say that opening my Etsy shop and blog have allowed me to step into my own shoes again. I felt such an intense disconnect from myself for so long, I had forgotten what it was like to truly Live rather than simply Exist. And as difficult as my past was, I am so incredibly thankful for it. I never would have become the person I am today if I hadn’t pushed through.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It hasn’t been a completely smooth road, however it has gotten better over time. Life is crazy; especially during this Covid-era. My main struggles on this journey have been motivation, as well as learning the logistics of how to run my own business. I had never expected that I would become an entrepreneur at the age of 16.

The struggle with motivation is not rooted in the idea that I dislike what I do but rather the grip that mental illness had over me. I constantly had to remind myself of why I was doing what I was because of the depressive-fog that would consume my headspace. I had to learn how to build new habits through consistent reinforcement. I knew those thoughts were not going to dissipate through pushing them away, but rather recognizing that they are holding me back and choosing to remind myself of my Why.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
It’s always so interesting when I receive this question from others because of the vast array of work I do. Not only am I a high school student entrepreneur with my own jewelry and art business, I am also an aerialist and the yoga and meditation teacher at my school. I have been an aerialist acrobat for four years now where I specialize specifically in aerial silks, and the school’s yoga and meditation teacher for two years.

My freshman year of high school, I begun taking yoga classes outside of school and found that they completely changed my life. I loved the outcome of what the classes had taught me and I was determined to share it with others.

I have always loved public speaking; for I love inspiring and raising others up, as well as expressing myself. Thus, I went through a long, tedious process to start up a yoga club at my school. I find that I am quite intuitive, and yoga is centered around tuning into your higher-self, so I used this intuition to guide my classes; whether the energy from the individuals in the room were in need of being energized or relaxed, as well as the level of intensity of the physical moves. By the end of each class, I would either lead a short guided meditation or read off lifting messages and quotes I would either find or write.

Being honest, what I’m most proud of is the fact that I choose to live how I truly want to live. I do the things that resonate with me without fear of judgment and limitation. If someone tells me that I can’t run a business at 16 while also being a high school student, aerialist, and yoga teacher, you better believe I will prove them wrong. I don’t choose to do a lot for the sake of doing a lot. I participate in all of these professions because I love them. And if you truly love something, you are meant to do it.

What sets me apart from others is the fact that everything I do is motivated by the objective of bringing more love into the world.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I am an activist at heart. We all only get to experience these unique lives once, and people shouldn’t be held back from happiness and fulfillment based on the color of their skin, the shape and size of their body, their sexuality or gender, and especially not their own environment around them. Apart from simply being passionate about these subjects, I’m not afraid to take action. I stand up. For as long as I can remember, I’ve done this. In elementary school, my friend and I found out that the forest surrounding her neighborhood was going to undergo construction for new apartment buildings. In response, I decided to make posters protesting this change and hung them all around the neighborhood.

I’ve participated in various marches and have directly spoken out about injustices through my social media platforms.

Contact Info:

• Email: mariemouse1234@yahoo.com
• Website: livebeyondlimitation.etsy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mckennaweinbaum/
• Other: https://livebeyondlimitation.com/ 

Image Credits
McKenna Weinbaum