Submitted PhotoJunior Mei Pak knew from a young age she was interested in selling things, and considers herself a money-minded and business-oriented person.
In fact, her elementary school in Malaysia allowed students to set up booths just outside of the cafeteria to sell various arts and crafts. Now, 10 years and thousands of miles later, Pak is an entrepreneur, selling jewelry and ornaments online.
The product
In 2006, Pak’s new company, Tiny Hands, sold hand-bound journals. As time went on, Pak became more and more interested in creating jewelry and Tiny Hands eventually shifted to normal, every day jewelry. However, Pak soon became interested in miniature ornaments.
“There are trends going on for little ornaments like these – little food (shaped) jewelry,” she said. “I guess I just picked up on that and decided I really like that stuff . so, I just taught myself how to do it and bought some books to learn the techniques.”
As time passed, Pak continued to perfect her craft and developed new items to sell. Now, more than 20 hand-made items are available online at her Web site, www.tinyhandsonline.com. Despite making countless numbers of each piece of jewelry, it still takes Pak more than an hour – and, in some instances, three hours – to complete each individual piece, which shows in the scrupulous amount of detail she puts into every item. The tiny slices of fruit on every miniature waffle have veins, and the cupcakes are covered with miniature sprinkles.
“It’s more of a hand-forming thing like Play Doh (than a sculpture). Polymer clay is the cheapest and most convenient resource to get, and from that I can make whatever I want,” Pak said, adding that every ornament begins as a lump of clay, not pre-shaped pieces.
In addition to the waffles and a variety of different types of cupcakes, Tiny Hands also offers a variety of different “Sugar Cravings,” as well as “Christmas Delight” charms and bracelets.
The place
Being an international student, Pak doesn’t have the luxury of retreating to her parents’ garage or workshop to do her work. In fact, she has had to make do with a variety of living and working spaces that are not very conducive to the creation of a small business
“After I transferred here from Malaysia, I moved into the dorms and did some work there,” she said. “Then, I moved in with a host family and did some stuff there too.”
After spending time with her host family, Pak, who described herself as a nomad, spent time in Minneapolis before moving to a house off-campus. Despite all the relocations, Pak managed to keep coming up with new ideas and improvements for her business
The process
Perhaps the most impressive part of her entire business is that she has taught herself how to do practically everything.
“I haven’t really taken (art) classes. I’m usually more math and science (focused) because that’s the way it is in Malaysia, but I do like art,” she said. “My family is pretty artsy – my dad paints, draws and plays the guitar. My mom sews, cooks draws and everything else. I guess I just grew into that environment.”
It doesn’t stop at the jewelry either. Pak has created everything for the business herself. She taught herself how to design Web sites. She taught herself how to use Adobe Photoshop to design the Web graphics – based off drawings she did while she had some down time at work – on the Web site.
On top of all those artistic and creative responsibilities, Pak must also make sure her business stays afloat. She estimated that in the past two years she has made about $5,000 – not bad for a one-woman, part-time business that was based out of a dorm room during a recession.
“(My profits) may not be very much though, because if you had a part-time job and worked every day, you can’t compare,” she said. “I wish I could pay for my schooling, but since I’m an international student, it’s much more expensive, so I do still depend on my parents.”
The possibilities
Tiny Hands has received accolades from around the world. The Web site boasts positive reviews from customers anywhere from North Carolina to Texas, Malaysia to Singapore and even Germany.
“There are some times in the business when things get quiet or I get too busy with school where I get discouraged and think I should drop this,” she said. “Then I thought it would be a really good idea if I kept going at it. Eventually, after working however many years, I could make my own brick and mortar store and actually sell these things. That’s kind of a dream, but I think it would be neat to achieve it.”
While Pak would like to eventually own her own store in the future, she’s already finding that other stores are interested in her jewelry too. She has signed contracts with stores to sell her creations, including a soon-to-be-opened store in New York City. However, if Pak hopes to keep Tiny Hands running after graduation, she will need to continue finding new ways to innovate her products.
“It can get challenging when I get busy with everything else. These artistic inclinations come when they want to, and they don’t come when you want them to,” she said. “It’s tricky when you make a new item and you really want to sell it, but you aren’t sure you can recreate it. When you put something up there you have to be sure it’s something you can create countless times.”
