Today we’d like to introduce you to Tia Mihelarakis.
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 grew up with 6 siblings all over the front range of Colorado, and spent my 20’s in Denver. I moved to the Western Slope of Colorado in 2021. Ridgway is now home, and I have a shop in Ouray. The first time I ever visited the area in 2010, I envisioned my life there. It still feels surreal to live this dream a decade after developing it.
While in Denver, I started my creative and entrepreneurial journey. I began by entering the pop up circuit, and trying to play the internet business game. I did both of these as often as I could get a weekend away from the bartending gigs I was surviving on. Over this time I also obsessively expanded my skillsets. I was in a place where I was mentally designing things I did not yet know how to make. I was selling crochet hats, and dreaming of fashion design and shop curating. So I started getting better. I took sewing classes, I watched videos, I made a lot of bad art and mediocre clothing.
This year, I designed a custom skirt that was worn at the MET Gala. I have a store in Ouray where I make and sell my art, and employ other artists. I run a free period product pantry out of my shop for the community. I still can’t really comprehend the level of happy I am in my creative journey. I now get to return to Denver in the pop up scene in a whole new way. I most recently vended at the Edgewater Music Festival.
This year I also wrote and pitched a Universal Basic Income program to my town council. I began realizing that we have a responsibility to the world, to build it as we want to see it. I then ran for Mayor in my small town, to continue sharing the perspectives of my generation and working class struggles in rural towns. I have spent a lot of time hating the systems of greed and oppression in this country. I have been trying to focus on what is next, after the “tear it all down” parts.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s still not. I am happier and more content than I have ever been in my personal creative and professional journey. This is in spite of constant challenges for small business owners and artists. I have learned to just become comfortable with the fact that there will nearly always be a crisis of differing levels. I’m learning to accept it and mentally separate from the weight of it sometimes, when I cannot change anything about the situation.
This summer we experienced wild fire threats like I have never experienced. They began near town, about 1 mile from my shop, and the whole community of Ouray. We watched this spread and rage for weeks, while access to my shop was constantly cutoff from home, because of fire fighting traffic needs. There were so many days that we could see flames from our yard, and we watched the population of our town double in size, with a heroic amount of firefighters, who kept our homes safe. While we celebrate the new feeling of safety, we also look back at the numbers, and have to accept logistics. This was happening during our prime tourist season, and all of the small businesses in town have been severely affected. The month of July is when we get to make the money that pays our winter bills.
This is just a very visceral and environmental challenge. I also deal with the nightmare of tariffs, fighting the algorithm, and Amazon smothering small businesses.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I design clothing, mostly using vintage and reclaimed textiles. I am drawn to the materials, and then I decide what they will be, based on the qualities of the textile. I often don’t know for a while. I incorporate dyes, felting, embroidery and other alterations to give life to damaged pieces.
I make tons of Solar Printed cotton shirts with varying designs.
I crochet, knit, and get my hands into any other process that intrigues me.
I compulsively want to figure out how to make the vision into reality. That often means learning new things as I go.
How do you think about happiness?
making. reading. being. laughing. community. learning. growing. loving. walking. eating. dressing up. dressing down. audiobooks. writing. scribbling. beginning. ending. doing. changing my mind.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shoprealmsupply.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realmsupply/ https://www.instagram.com/woolgoblin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/realmsupply/
