When I’m representing other people’s work, whether online through cosa verde, or in person—helping a friend sell at a fair, or running an event like our giveaway at Crafty Bastards—I find that I work harder than when I’m representing my own crafts. I find that the fact that I’m accountable to someone else—I might make the difference in whether their site sees more traffic or they make that extra sale—for whatever backwards reason means more to me than being accountable to myself for selling my own product.

When I’m shipping out boxes of giveaway goodies I find myself wrapping everything so carefully, when I’ve admittedly thrown together packaging for my own work in a crazed rush more than once. Same with customer service—I try to go ten miles extra when it’s for cosa verde, but I’ve definitely let opportunities for my own work slip through the cracks because I was “too busy” to answer a quick email. And when it comes to talking about my own work..ugh!…I get shy, I hedge…but if you ask me to tell you about someone else’s work I can babble on and on and on.

I don’t know if this is a common problem—I’d love to hear from you if you’ve ever found yourself in the same situation. I imagine there are a bunch of us out there, because I know that devaluation of our work is an endemic problem among us crafty-people, and I think this goes hand-in-hand with that.

So what if we all take the attitude that we’re representing something bigger than ourselves when we set up our Etsy shop, or our fair booth? What if we’re ambassadors for ourselves, and act the way we would if we were covering a friend’s booth, or the way we would hope someone else would represent us?

These are all learned skills—good customer service, the ability to put on a cheerful face even after you’ve been standing for 12 hours, the ability to talk confidently about your work—and they’re skills that every crafter should hone. But stepping into that mindset of “Ambassador” might help make that learning process a little easier, and might help you give yourself the credit, and representation you deserve.