Today we’d like to introduce you to ASHLYE KACZMAREK.
Hi ASHLYE, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Created in August of 2010 by owner Ashlye Kaczmarek, AshuriiYuki Productions was originally a cosplay and prop service that focused on helping those who were not able to make the costume of their dreams learn and or purchase their costume at an affordable price. Now, AshuriiYuki Productions LLC is a small studio located in East Peoria, Illinois. We focus on the idea that ” A jack of all trades is a master of none, but often better than a master of one”. Every day we create new experiences and content for a variety of markets; This lets us explore and learn about ourselves. In 2020 We began focusing on content creation on Twitch and other platforms. During this time we published our first game called “Lingering Legacy” on stream. We travel and conduct business all around the United States, most recently we were apart of Twitch Con in San Diego. Twitch con is a convention that celebrates content creation on Twitch.tv. There are educational panels, brand meeting and communities coming together for the first time since meeting during the Pandemic. Our goal is to always push through and do what everyone has told us we aren’t capable of doing. Being self sufficient and free to create what we want when we want to is our passion.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road. Starting a business from the ground up with no investors, no funding and just a girl with her dream gives several interesting obstacles. Through the years i have had to learn everything I can from owning a business, Taxes, and even marketing. I didn’t originally think i would have to do all of this on my own. I simply was a college student that wanted to make crafts, sell them and make content. It quickly became more than just a hobby for me. I would work part time jobs to pay for supplies and everything i would need for a convention, and then once i had earning it would all continually fund itself. After a while it finally did, each show payed for the next one and had funding left over. I never took out loans, borrowed money or had investors. That alone made doing this on my own extremely difficult.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
In my studio, I take my own artwork and turn it into cute accessories and usable items, with the goal of making the world more beautiful one item at a time. Each product I have is fully customizable, not only can you purchase my artwork but you can even send me your photos or artwork and i can make it into things such as Stickers, Tumblers, Keychains and even mousepads. I have worked with many Twitch Streamers to get their Emotes and artwork turned into merchandise for their community to purchase or to give away. Aside from creating products, I stream on Twitch.tv playing video games and breaking them down by their mechanics, talking about how things are made. This utilizes my Bachelors Degree in Game Design and it becomes very educational for my community. We have had the amazing opportunity to partner with several indie game developers such as GlossBird to take a look at their games, playtest them and give them full reports on our thoughts and what bugs we have found. We get the community into it as well by streaming our work and promoting the games.
How do you think about luck?
My friends and I have always said that I have notorious bad luck. When there is something that I want or need todo there will be a million pitfalls before we reach the other side. I have had to learn how to navigate all of these in order to keep going. It has made me quite stubborn and I never go down without a fight. If there is something I want todo, one way or another I will do it.
Contact Info:
- Website: ashlyemk.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashuriiyukii/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AshuriiYuki
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzBDj98fSeHXS8cP_xMJubw
