Meet Miles Mcalpin | Toymaker

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

Hi Miles, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
My work life balance has been a something that I started out battling with, but when I fully accepted it I have tried to actually make it an asset – a forced schedule to exist within. I have been making action figures for 5 years and exactly 2.5 years ago (almost to the day)I had a son – so exactly half the time I have been trying to turn this art into a business my time was of course incredibly shaken up by fatherhood. Because my wife works during the day, I watch my son from 9 to 5. Then I do my best to make time for my family in the evening, having dinner with my wife and son, helping out with dinner time, and then trying to enjoy some time with my wife alone. Then work starts – I generally work from 10pm to 2am. So to sort of reiterate, when I just accepted this as my schedule instead of trying to steal moments to work throughout the day while chasing around a 1-2 year old, I have been much more efficient and successful in the work aspect of my work life balance. And I also know this time with my son will continue to go quickly and I want to soak that up in every way that I can.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
When the pandemic hit, I got furloughed from my job in the travel industry where I had been doing social media and email marketing for six years. With a lot of free time on my hands and nowhere to travel, I decided I needed a hobby. I had been following a couple of artists on Instagram who made bootleg action figures and because the materials seemed cheap and accessible, I decided to give it a try. I spent countless hours of watching youtube videos teaching myself how to sculpt, paint, and design and create the packaging for my figures. Lots and lots of trial and error finally began to yield work that I was proud enough to share and the response was even better than I could have expected. I was quickly getting requests to purchase my work and later to create custom pieces for people and then celebrities and brands and five years later I have a full time business on my hands.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
In transitioning from hobby to business, I was lucky to meet Dov Kelemer of DKE toys in Los Angeles. DKE Toys is one of the largest designer vinyl and art-toy distribution companies in the world. Dov and his team have helped me to scale my business by taking my one-off figures, molding, casting, repainting, and packaging them, allowing me to take on much larger orders than my usual one-off pieces. While I still love to make pieces that are one-of-one, I would not have the successful business that I have without the ability to scale my work from one to many, as I have now been able to produce large orders for musicians, athletes, celebrities and brands to sell or otherwise use for marketing.

Website: https://sircollectalottoys.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sircollectalot/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/miles-mcalpin-12781511/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sircollectalot

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SirCollectALotToys/