Meet Michelle & John Miller | Artistic Autistic Duo

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michelle & John Miller and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michelle & John, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
We had many different thought processes behind starting our own business.
1) Michelle grew up with the idea that she would be able to work any job with a background in business for a degree. Her parents pushed her to get the degree if she didn’t have a choice of her own. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize what she really wanted to do until the quarter before graduating so just got the business degree anyway.
2) Michelle has been trying to start a business for over a decade while John more recently wanted to have a business within the past two years.
3) We needed some means of passive income to help supplement our inconsistent finances due to our disabilities. It became a necessity as our physical capabilities plummeted.
4) We wanted a place to share and sell our art. We are pleased when others are excited to obtain and show off our artwork!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
This is going to be a two-part since John and I are both very similar but also quite different. Each question listed…I could write a page on as our journey has started since we were young. I’ll try to limit it as much as possible. But please message about clarifications, my husband is usually my filter to help explain some references I may make or explanations that apparently only Autistics pick up on easier.

For Michelle:
My art changes based on mood, availability of materials, energy, inspiration, and time. There are days when I do one style and then I’ll completely flip to a different style, unable to do the previous one. They do cycle back as in either a few months or a few years I’ll be able to repeat it. But energy dictates whether I’m able to focus and have control over my hands or they have a will of their own. My current style is heavily based on Art Therapy and recycling/upcycling materials. I use art to either connect emotions, explain emotions, share my emotions, or create something to purposefully evoke emotions. I’m proud that I have started creating art since in diapers and have never stopped since. I couldn’t watch TV without drawing or molding clay. I HAD to be making something. I still do this, always working on something while an episode of something is playing in the background.

Selling professionally was a struggle. I only slightly consider myself selling professionally though we have made quite a few sales by this point. Since my Social Anxiety was crippling, I had struggles just being SEEN let alone being able to talk about my art to sell them. I would freely make art to sell but never get to the selling point. I was always extremely anxious about being around people. My first craft fair was a heartbreaker. My parents helped me set up a business and set up the booth. Turns out the organizers didn’t advertise the location at ALL and literally no one showed up for 5 hours and a few vendors just sat around staring at each other. That was also the day I had pneumonia and only one family friend stopped by because my parents called and asked if they could stop by. They tried but that was a huge hit to my confidence. I tried so hard and it still haunts me to this day. The second craft fair (first with me and John) was ok but we didn’t even make half the amount we paid for the booth because they didn’t funnel the large amounts of people coming into our area. So most of the vendors by us suffered greatly. The one after that was also a dud. So my first three craft fairs were all disappointing after pushing myself to do everything and then more for trying to interact with people knowing it was going to heavily impact me for the next few days. Skip to recent year: Yesterday at the Skyway Artisan Market was probably the first genuine fun art event we have been a part of. Though we didn’t make MONEY, we made enough to cover our expenses and got to meet a lot of great and creative people. It is our first main push, in trying to get our brand out there. We want to be successful and that requires finding the people who are interested in your art and who are interested in YOUR story. It has been 2 years free from being suicidal from a 10-year spiral. The world is much lighter and brighter with possibilities when you aren’t breathing in the belief you are going to die at any moment (I genuinely thought I was going to die at age 26 and John didn’t think he would live past 18). So now we are going to do our best with this new chance! It’s odd that we pulled back for so long feeling discouraged when people didn’t like our products. After our class with Al McClausland, he heavily pointed out that there is always a percentage of people you show that may be interested. And from that a smaller percentage will want to buy. And from THAT a smaller percentage will actually buy. However, it also could be they don’t have money right now or are mentally distracted they don’t even notice. So repetition and reaching a higher number of people is CRUCIAL. It’s fine if some people don’t like your art or buy it, just keep sharing it with everyone and you’ll find those people. The bigger percentage who sees, the bigger percentage who will buy! We are trying not to be as discouraged learning this! (It was a struggle talking to TWO people so if neither of them bought anything, we felt like our art wasn’t good enough.)

For John:
He makes a variety of art with different ideas and themes. He prefers abstract art with a diverse mixture of tools and mediums such as making different pigments using natural and recycled resources in creative ways; but also enjoys digital art…he also jumps from different types of art depending on various factors. He is excited about experimenting with ideas and creating products that make people happy. He also really loves it when he gets to try and use new tools such as a resin printer, laser cutter, new printer with tanks of ink rather than cartridges, circuit machine, and laminator…each tool opens up new possibilities and he loves to figure out how to work each one. (Which is great for Michelle since she doesn’t have the patience). John’s art also varies a bit depending on the mood and energy. He has put in a lot of hard work and time in improving his art and finding better tools to work with. To get where he is today professionally, required more help from others guiding him through the next steps when he got stuck than much else.

—
Both:

We have learned so many lessons from our struggles dealing with domestic violence, trauma, being Autistic, having ADHD, OCD, struggling with Insomnia, PTSD, and chronic physical pains. We have learned that adapting our lifestyle to fit our Autistic diagnoses (as well as our health in general) has done WONDERS for our well-being in so many more ways than one. We want to use our life experiences to help teach and inform others of the struggles of having Autism and other forms of mental struggles. We want to prove that it’s possible to make it with the right adjustments. We want to prove we are serious about our health. We want to prove that when we are talking about our health, we have deeply delved into and analyzed as much as we can from our traumas in order to squeeze out as many lessons as we can and utilize the information. Our website is going to help share our views and experiences; as well as share what interests us and why. We also are trying to find ways to get others in creating as art is a great release of emotions. It helps process, it helps relax, it helps rejuvenate, it helps to communicate…all depending on what you need. With that, Michelle has started creating ATC kits with Who Gives a SCRAP to provide free curated materials and instructions for creating. In our first Art Installation there, is a Trade Display where people can bring their art cards (2.5″x3.5″ pieces of artwork) to trade for someone else’s art. This is located on the right of the store’s entrance! We also create and provide free ATC kits for anyone to take home to use right under the display. Our longer-term goal is to find locations that would be willing to start a display at their place for the people that frequent the area. Free kits would be provided for those locations to help reach out to others who may WANT to give art a try but don’t feel like they are an ‘artist’. That’s not the point. Everyone is an artist anyway. It’s just how you manipulate the materials and if the finished product makes YOU happy. But we want more people to at least enjoy the process and have fun experimenting! Sometimes people just don’t realize they want to create because they haven’t found the right medium!

Also, once a month there is a Monthly ATC Event at the East Library on the last Friday of the month for people to gather and create as many cards as they’d like with free materials and trade for other’s artwork. We are hoping for groups of people to create their own little groups as well during the months. Such as a kid at a certain school wants to be the ambassador to lead events or groups at their school while we help provide materials and instructions for them. We want to push the ‘act of creating’ everywhere with everyone.

We want to go further. Spreading out into other businesses. Such as John wants to work more with laser cutters, AI technology, 3D printers and topics pertaining the hard sciences. Michelle wants to get her PhD in behavioral research and open up a mental hospital with binders of plans in the works. We have a lot of skills and abilities, now to take them and use them!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We don’t go out much due to high social anxiety and the amount of time it requires us to decompress afterward. We also tend to take our food home to consume as the sensory overload kills our tastes and interferes with our digestion (anxiety).

Most of our excitement is at home with our art supplies, our projects, and our adorable cat whom we love dearly. We are surrounded by what excites us: our art, our tools, and the unlimited possibilities and ideas our brains come up with. And our adorable cat who could take hours of your time a day with her playfulness.

For places around COS:

Who Gives a SCRAP of course. Anything and everything we need is there. If it isn’t there this week, VERY high chance it’ll be there next week. They have been so kind and generous that we can’t NOT recommend them. Also, the store is a trap for those who love art. The place is so exciting!

Torchy’s Tacos is a very highly favored food place we get to eat at once a year. Extremely delicious food. <3

Glen Eyrie Castle is beautiful and so peaceful. For some reason, we barely knew this existed in COS until earlier this month. Even living here for over 8 years!

21C PPLD Library is one of our favorite places to go! Michelle tends to check out far too many books to enjoy at home. 21C was the first library she went to and visited when she moved to Colorado. It has a makers lab and hosts creative events like PPLD Makes which we were a part of too.

Thai Taste Cuisine is also another location we love to eat at!

John cooks extremely well, (Cooking is also a craft of his that he enjoys). He delves into the science of taste and cooks us AMAZING food so we wouldn’t have to go out to different locations. So again, another reason we prefer staying home.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are MULTIPLE people who have inspired us and motivated us. Since we were struggling with a lot, there were many areas we needed help in. It would be a disservice to only mention one as we couldn’t have gotten to this DAY if it weren’t for the combination of all of these people.

Jen Manabat – she was our OT and now our friend. She has been such a blessing helping encourage and validate us on our progress.
Beverly Gardner – a therapist helping Michelle stay alive during tough 2yrs with PTSD and being suicidal after escaping from domestic violence back in 2014. I wouldn’t even have this chance if she wasn’t the only kind and consistent person who stuck with me for so long to keep me alive when no one else seemed to care.
Al McCausland – his Disciplined Entrepreneurship class last year helped us learn more about what was needed to be entrepreneurs than Michelle’s 4-year business degree. The business playing field has changed. With that, his brother’s book 7 Strata of Intrapreneurial Organization by Michael McCausland was used in tandem with the class.
Of course, Michelle’s parents (Melinda and Richard) have constantly helped us in our times of need so that we can be as independent and self-sustaining as we can. We also wouldn’t have made it past our first few years together without their help. Their consistency helped us break away from our suicidal tendencies and find hope in living.
Both of our sets of siblings have been a huge motivator to help take risks and help teach them to make better decisions than we have. We hope to learn the ins-and-outs of running a successful business to help them on their path once they hit that age. We want them to be successful!
Lastly: Who Gives a SCRAP. Lorrie and Sally there are AMAZING supports who have welcomed us with open arms and are willing to help wherever they can. They have given us opportunities, support, and supplies to help us build our business. We are thrilled to be partnered with them in their mission as it aligns nicely with our own!

There are others that have impacted us, but these are the main people that have strongly guided and directed us as well as give us encouragement. We are deeply grateful for all they have done for us and hope to make them proud!

Website: onourtrail.com

Instagram: onourtrail

Image Credits
Michelle and John Miller