Meet Shamel Jones | US Army Recruiter & Artist & World Traveler Content Creator

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

Hi Shamel, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Being active duty US Army takes a lot of out me. I grew up always expressing my creativity. I thought the military suppressed that creative side but I was wrong. I started my business as a form of expression to release all the built up creativity. I had to self-reflect and realize it never went away. I saw an old childhood friend of mine making a rug on instagram. It was really cool and I thought to myself, “I can do that…” so I invested into all of the products and started making rugs.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m one of those people who post EVERYTHING on social media. After graduating from University of Maryland with a Degree in humanities I was celebrating in Hawai’i. While on vacation I ordered all the supplies I needed to begin making rugs so when I got home everything was on my door step. I learned how to tuft rugs on secret and didn’t share the process with anyone. After about a month I completed my first collection and did a surprise drop online. All of my rugs sold out. This was very exciting for me. I was more excited to share the experience and showcase the work with the world. I had no idea they would sellout within hours of dropping. As time progressed I got better and expanded. I started taking custom orders and building a bigger social media presence. The hard part is time management. I am still full time active duty army and that has to remain my priority. Outside of that I have content creation as a world traveler. Even after graduating with my BA I continued my education and enrolled in a master’s program. Of course I have to maintain a social life as well. Sometimes I feel like all my free time is gone so I have to continue to make this fun. Some lessons I’ve learned are to stay out of my own head. I’m always my biggest critic and I’m too hard on myself. I’ve also learned that people want it because I MADE IT. Some of my request tend to be basic things I feel you can get off Amazon for mist cheaper, but NO. People want me to make it and are willing to pay top dollar just for that. That brings me so much pride and joy. I didn’t want to make a separate social media page to sell rugs or separate any of the other things I do. When people see me I want them to know you can be all of these things at once. You don’t have to separate it. People come to my page and see I travel the world making rugs and serving in the military all while going on random adventures. I love that for me. I am the brand. I have a close not following and we are our own community.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When my friends visit I actually build a custom itinerary for them. I want them to get an authentic Los Angeles Experience. Of course you have to go to Hamburger Mary’s for a drag show. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community our queens paved the way for me to live the type of life that I do. As a nerd if you’re rolling with me we are deff going to a YuGiOh tournament! Then we are going to hit the VR games in the mall to save the world from a zombie apocalypse. After we run out of energy we are going to hit up Korean BBQ. I lived in Korea for a year and speak Hangul. It gives me nostalgia and the food is simply amazing. Though I claim LA I actually live in downtown Long Beach. So you have to go skateboarding with me and checkout all the local spots. When all that’s said and done we are going to every art museum I can think of.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are five major people who played a factor into my success. The first is my mom. Growing up my mom gave me A LOT of freedom to just be myself. The second, my late grandmother Kathleen. From my earliest memories she had me in just about every class. My grandma enrolled me into comedy classes, videography, karate, Boy Scouts, painting, cooking classes, pottery, music, and so many more. Fast forward as an adult I still do all of these things on a regular basis that it’s become who I am. The third is my big sister also named Kathleen. She gave me my first needle and thread and taught me how to sew which honestly evolved into rug making. My big sister was always so creative and I wanted to be just like her. The fourth is my best friend Miranda. Miranda is going to always tell me the truth, she is my venting ear, and she ALWAYS shows up no matter what. Lastly, not sure if he even knows but a battle-buddy of mine SFC Fernando put me on this road. I was debating on investing into tufting. He looked me in my eyes and told me to take the risk and just have fun. He lives a pretty exciting life and encouraged me to take the financial investment because it’s worth the risk. Worst case scenario I lose some money, but at least I tried.

Website: www.ShamelJones.com

Instagram: @_shameljones

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HavlenApparel?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits
The image in the orange sitting down is credited to: @niasymonephotos The parasailing is credited to @longbeachparasail