Jewell of North Knits

Are you a knitter or crocheter in the maker sphere? If you are, you’ve probably heard of the incredible organization and movement, Our Maker Life.

I was so excited to chat with Jewell on “How I Built My Maker Biz”. Jewell is an incredible knitwear and crochet designer for her shop North Knits, inspirational force in the maker sphere, and founder of Our Maker Life. This conversation was incredibly moving and powerful. We chat about how her business came to be, the maker community, diversity, racism, and how we can create a better space for each other.

Jewell began her knitting journey in college as a way to manage her stress and anxiety. When she moved to Chicago for grad school, the colder weather went hand in hand with making more knitwear, and her shop North Knits was born. As she began meeting more makers on Instagram, it dawned on her that it would be so cool to actually meet these friends in person! From there, the idea for Our Maker Life was born and now hosts an annual summer meet up with guest speakers, events, and all things yarn!

On the incredible strength and connection of the Maker Community

“Building connections has been so important. We’re so often told that we can’t form authentic relationships with 1000 followers, but we can create meaningful relationships with 10 of those 1000 followers. These 10 relationships are so powerful and deep.”

Jewell and I chat about how having real conversations about diversity, inclusion, environmental issues, and other important topics issues has been one of the incredible strengths of the Maker community. The support and openness of the community to have these conversations publicly has been amazing and so important in our current climate.

The maker community has created a space for deeper conversations to occur. In light of the Black Lives Matter movement, the maker community has also been challenged to speak up and speak out as well.

“As businesses, it is important that we aren’t silent and there is a sense of relief and pride that

we’ve been able to have deep conversations within the community.”

Jewell describes that having this platform has created a sense of confidence for speaking up in an industry that is white dominated. To be able to tell her story and have space to discuss topics of racism and diversity has been very profound. It is so eye opening when you have a platform that can be openly and publicly discussed in such a meaningful way.

On branding, authenticity, and creating connection with your audience

As a small business and as part of a community, we all have a platform and public space. The Black Lives Matter movement has been so important and its not enough for us to be silent on our platforms anymore. People want to know what their dollars are supporting and having a public stance now is important. In our current climate, we can’t speak about things behind closed doors anymore.

As a business, how do you find your “je ne sais quoi” and create connection with people? As a marketing director, Jewell describes that having a story behind your business behind your passion is essential to good brand messaging and development. It starts with transparency in your business. It’s about real engagement and opening up on a more personal level.

You stand out by being yourself.

Connecting with your audience on a personal level is one of the strongest marketing tools that you have.

This conversation with Jewell was so heartfelt and powerful. I’m incredibly thankful to know Jewell and am grateful for how much she shared in this chat. The topics of racism, diversity, and inclusion are so important and this conversation was gold. Her final words of wisdom :

“Be braver. In a world right now where there’s so much fear, be braver.”

There was so much more amazing conversation in this interview. To watch the entire video and learn even more from Jewell, tune in below!

You can find Jewell on

Instagram: @northknits and @ourmakerlife

Website: https://northknits.online and https://www.ourmakerlife.org