Meet Lyn Williams | Small Alternative Jewelry Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lyn Williams and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lyn, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I’ve always had this need to create and express myself unapologetically. I’ve had so many creative outlets through the years and right before opening my shop I was in ceramics classes. I fell in love with creating a physical version of an idea and being able to manipulate clay into my thoughts and feelings. Once COVID-19 hit, and I wasn’t able to do that anymore, I started looking into ways to create with clay from home without a kiln and I found polymer clay. Grimlyn actually started as kind of a fun therapy for me. During the beginning of 2021, it was one year into the pandemic and I had gotten into a traumatic accident that Feburary. I was experiencing a lot of new anxiety and depression from both the accident and the entire world being in a lock down. Creating was my way of sort of escaping what I was feeling at the time. Using clay as my medium was just so therapeutic for me to squish around and create something to make me feel a lot more relaxed and proud of myself.

I love making people smile and I think this was a big motivator in this decision. I wanted to create for others and give them confidence to express themselves through wearable art. I knew I needed to at least start a little shop online to get this craving for creation satisfied. I’m very impulsive so when I have an idea like this, I will do my best to make it happen and it worked out this time! A big part of starting was my branding. I love a good brand where you see their logo or something they’ve created and know exactly where it came from. With this in mind, I spent hours thinking up names, drawing up logos, picking out color schemes for my business that hadn’t even started yet! I knew I didn’t want to be stuck doing just one thing for Grimlyn either, so I really wanted the name of it to capture who I am and want to produce for others, while being vague enough to expand and freely create whatever I felt like. With all this locked in, I was ready to step into the business world.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a polymer clay jewelry artist that specializes in the dark and alternative style with just a touch of cute here and there. I’m very inspired by tattoo flash sheets, vampires, and even music when I go to create a piece. I love that you can always tell what mood I’m in by the style of my drops. One week I’m working on tons of tattoo inspired jewelry and I’m listing to a lot of metal and hardcore music, and the next week its red and black vampire themed jewelry and I’m listening to more romantic goth rock. I believe Grimlyn is special in that I’ve definitely got a range of styles while all still relating to my love of the darker side of life. Even when I feel like creating in pastel pink and purples with glitters on my work, the cutters I use are bats, moons, and coffins.

I’m really proud that everything that you see in my shop is handmade! My 3D printed bat wings for shoes and even some of my clay cutters were designed by me and printed in our garage workspace. It’s been so fun experimenting with our 3D printer and theres so much more I’ve got planned! I’ve come a long way since I first started and I’m genuinely thrilled by what comes next. I’ve learned so much about myself and what I want from my business through these two years. Looking back at my older posts on instagram and my first ever products, I couldn’t be happier with where I am today.

I first created Grimlyn at 19 years old in “Sunny San Diego” and eventually moved to Huntsville, AL where I grew my shops brand and community. After two years there, I’m now back in SoCal at 21 years old and I can’t wait to grow a community here! Starting my business, I had no idea what I was doing but I love to just set my heart on something and run with it. It’s definitely been a bit rough of a two year journey learning as I go. I first started my shop with cute mushroom and frog keychains to kind of fit what I thought people would want to see as Cottagecore was really big at the time. I quickly decided that wasn’t fully me and I need to just make things that make me happy and that I would want to see in the jewelry community. I wasn’t enjoying feeling confined into just creating one thing or trying to fit into what I thought people would like. I’ve had to learn to be confident in myself and my art and realize that people who genuinely like and enjoy what I do, will find and support me.

I want everyone who comes across my art or even who meets me at markets to just feel seen and connect with what I do or who I am in some way. Some of my favorite parts of owning my business is seeing all the people I make happy just by creating jewelry that they can feel seen by. As an alternative gothic person myself, I know a lot of times we’re not always perceived in the best way. With a business where I’m constantly showing off myself and my product, I want to make sure I’m representing the scene in a positive way for anyone who might come across it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d 100% have to take anyone to Hodad’s to eat as soon as they get here! The best burgers and such a great vibe! Always love seeing the shock on peoples faces when they see the size of those burgers! I’d probably have to take them to @Gardencoffee.sandiego for some delicious breakfast and chill scenery. My cousin took me there for my birthday and I loved it so much! Places that are put together with miss-match chairs and random items used as tables are the best in my opinion! Some of my favorite places I’d take people would be Seaport Village and that strip of downtown near the USS Midway as it always has some fun little shops and that gorgeous SoCal view. That area in general just hosts a lot of great memories for me.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
YES OMG! I’ve met so many amazing people along the way and a lot of them inspire me more than they may think! I’d like to give a big shout out to my friends @LordPineappleDoodles and @Sprinkles_of_Colors. Elsa from LordPineappleDoodles is an awesomefiber artist who I met at one of the markets I was vending at. They are such a supportive person both in the business world and even just in our friendship. Elsa’s one of those artists thats just a genuinly good person all around and I love seeing all of their new creations.
Anisten from Sprinkles of Colors never stops amazing me with her creations. Shes a multi media artist that specializes in rainbows! I met her at a Michaels craft store actually! She works with clay as well, just on the complete oposite aethetics so it’s so fun to see what she does! I love the way she mixes clay pieces with ribbons, yarn, and resin. It really inspires me to think outside the box and want to incorporate more into my art as well. They’ve both been such supportive people in my life and with my business.
I’d love to also just shout out a few of my business buddies that have made joining the community so fun! Big thanks to @ItsMadeofClay and @Juno3Dshop for the awesome clay cutters, @SweetCheeseStudio @ThornandAlchemyArt for being such great business buddies, @Mash.HSV for allowing the use of some photos they took of me at markets, and lastly my dad for helping me with so much in my business!

Website: https://www.grimlynshop.com/

Instagram: @Grimlynshop

Other: Tik Tok @Grimlyn.shop

Image Credits
@Mash.hsv