Today we’d like to introduce you to Amariah Andrews.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am the mastermind and hands behind Hands Of Joy. The story of Hands of Joy dates back to the year of 2013. Eleven-year-old me watched my fourth-grade teacher, Ms. Ealy, play with this yarn and metal stick. The class grew curious. “If you guys come after school, I’ll teach you all how to do it,” my teacher said. A few of us stayed after and she taught us all the basics. I played around a lot with it but never made anything serious. Freshman year of high school was when I stopped. Years later in 2020, we all got bum-rushed by the Coronavirus. The pandemic trapped us all inside for months. While in quarantine during the summer, I got bored and decided to see if I still had crocheting in me.
As you all can tell, I still got it. I made my first ever top and was so proud of myself. I started testing patterns, watching videos, and reading books to help me become better at my craft. I got to a point where I felt like the world needed to see my work. The pieces that were being pushed out deserved to be on everyone. January 28th, 2021 was when the business officially opened on Instagram and the rest is history. I hope you all enjoy my work as much as I enjoy making it. I got where I am today with God, hard work, and a good support system. I give all credit and honor to God for blessing me with this craft. I’ve worked endlessly with my business. My support system helped too. From friends to family to complete strangers, they have all helped me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Man, I will say the road has been a rocky one. A few of my struggles were internal. Fear was one of my major struggles. I had a fear of no one shopping, I had a fear of no one caring about my art. I had a fear of what everyone would think. I feel like if I hadn’t had that fear, the business would have been launched back in high school. I also had a fear of failure. I had a fear of sharing my craft with the world. Another struggle I faced was inconsistency. Inconsistency is one of those obstacles that I am still combatting. It gets challenging trying to be consistent with something you love when you have so many other things to do in your daily life. Another struggle would be downplaying and undercharging myself. When I first started I would, for some odd reason, knock myself. It even showed in the prices.
When I first started, I undercharged myself. People would always tell me, “Amariah your prices are too low” or “Amariah you’re crazy talented, you need to up the price.” My last struggle would be comparison. There’s a scripture in the Bible, Galatians 6:4, that says, “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” This scripture is very inspiring for me and my business. It’s basically saying that if you examine and focus on what you’re doing, you will notice how great you are and there would be no time to compare yourself to another person. When I first started, I would compare my work not realizing how great I was doing. Once this happened, the undercharging and downplaying started. It was a domino effect. Over the course of time, I am glad to say that I have and I am combatting these struggles.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a crochet artist and designer. I specialize in crocheting and creating never before seen pieces. I have a wide range of apparel. I make bags, outfits, dresses, hats, blankets, ski masks, and many other projects. I’m pretty sure I can make way more than what I am creating now. It’s all a process and takes time, trust me. Very soon, I am going to blow the world away. I could easily say that I am most proud of a piece I made or how fast I can crochet or how much money I make. But the physical aspect is not what I am most proud of. I am most proud of the joy that I am bringing to my community with my art. I am most proud of the immense glee that I bring to those around me. I am most proud of the lives that I have touched with something as simple as a crochet Shrek beanie. I am most proud of those who I have inspired along the way of my crochet journey. I’ve had so many people tell me that I’m the reason they started crocheting. Ngone Diawara is a crochet artist that I truly adore. She is seventeen years old and has expressed to me that I inspired her to start crocheting. I was very shocked at how Ngone hit the ground running with crocheting. She has actually shown me a few things about crocheting that I didn’t know. I call her my successor. I am most proud of the smiles that I bring to people’s faces. I am most proud of the spiritual and emotional aspects than I am of the physical. One of my pieces can get ruined, time can run out, and money becomes scarce. But nothing can take away the feeling of joy and inspiration that I bring to my community with my art.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory would have to be anything involved with my younger sister Hope. Hope is quite the character and we used to get in trouble together. My favorite moment would have to be our Lil Jon moment. When I was in middle school, I used to love the song “Get Low” by Lil Jon and The East Side Boyz for some strange reason. I was young and didn’t pay attention to the lyrics so I would play it around my sister. My sister didn’t understand the lyrics either so she started singing it around the house. It’s a pretty catchy tune. She’s singing it very loud around the house and as we know the lyrics get explicit. Our dad goes, “Hope what did you just say?” She got in some serious trouble. So she comes to the room, looks at me, and goes “This is all your fault.” Another good childhood memory would be playing Just Dance every morning before school. It was a part of our morning routine. I vividly remember dancing to “Promiscuous” by Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland every morning. To this day, I am still good at that dance routine. I can do it in my sleep.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hands-of-joy-2.myshopify.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/hands.ofjoy?igshid=MTIzZWMxMTBkOA==
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hands.of.joy?_t=8dpyXuKQGc7&_r=1
Image Credits
Akbar Khan (Photographer of the personal picture, pink dress), Christian Mason, Camille Trotman, Zoë Camp, Daniel Smith, Kolby King, Kaleb King, Jaylen Dickey, Toni Davis, Neka Davis
