Hey Co!

Hope you guys have been well! It's been a while.

Welcome to the new blog - "Naeon & Co". It's a place for me to write updates, thoughts and any other notes related to Naeon and my life in general. I want this to be a way for you to be able to understand my thinking and what's happening behind the brand.

I'm sure you guys have noticed that we've archived most posts from our Instagram, changed our website theme and our branding for all platforms. There's alot that has changed.

Business Updates

Phillip and I are no longer working together for Naeon. He's been a huge help and a very skilled individual, and is now pursuing his own projects. Our time together has helped me learn so much about myself and what it means to have a partner in business. We both realised that we're better off pursuing other projects and I wish him the best! If you see him please ask what projects he's getting up to - he's doing alot of interesting things.

As for me - there's been alot of changes. Naeon has always felt like a heavy coat of expectations, pressure and "shoulds" - it's only recently that I realised that it's my brand, and I can do whatever I like with it, and it's been incredibly enjoyable since. I've never been this excited for Naeon ever in my life.

So what's happening with Naeon now?

Gone is the impression that Naeon had to be aspirational, luxurious or "better than", which felt like an egoic projection and extension of my own insecurities. I realise that I always approached Naeon as a way for me to "take" or "get" things from the world, customers and others. It was a pathway for me to "be better", either financially, status-wise or in self-respect.

I work in fashion - so when I go to work I'm constantly in contact with creatives and other unique personalities. Those personalities have helped me see the aspects of the self that I've hidden or suppressed (basically Jungian shadow work). Through that experience I've come to realise that I've been taking life too seriously (as a result of a hard upbringing) and I'm learning to let go of needing control and needing an ego as a self protective mechanism.

Since this realisation, I considered completely closing down Naeon - this was a thought that I had for the first time. Ever. I realised that I didn't have to do anything if I didn't want to - which may sound like a strange thought to some of you - but as someone who's life has mainly been about responsibility and doing what others wanted for relational and emotional wellbeing, this was a huge eye-opening moment for me.

So now knowing that I didn't have to do anything - I could do anything. Which lead to the changing of Naeon from what I thought it had to be to be "successful", to be something that reflects my own interests and passions. Which is partly why this blog and blog post even exist.

So what's the lesson?

Life is such a deeply personal and individualistic experience. There is going to be alot of radio signal that says "you have to do this" and "you have to do that" - but ultimately your journey is going to be an adventure of facing the things you've been hiding from as well as the challenges that make you realise how you've been living in disservice to yourself.

Naeon is now an outlet to share, create and enjoy. A place where I can put my heart and soul into something - not to be perfect and justify my own worth and existence - but a place to be fully human and create. Because I don't know what other things bring me as much joy as creating, and then sharing that joy with others.

Time to Put Your White Collar On

I jokingly wrote the above headline - only because this next part is actually business related.

I am so excited to share the next few products with you all that I'm considering pricing them at cost or something similiar - because I just want to be able to deliver value.

Marking them up is definitely the wise business decision to be able to fund other projects, but at the same time, I just want to do good work.

Asking for money definitely brings discomfort - I grew up quite poor, so charging the prices I do now causes my inner mum and dad's voices to go "whaaat?? You're charging how much?!" It makes me think "what if I'm charging too much?", "am I scamming people?". "what value are they seeing in the products I've made?". This is probably the next challenge that I'm going to face soon.

I love spending time on details that absolutely don't need that much time and attention put to them - zipper pulls come to mind - dimensions, alloys and materials, finishing, debossing and embossing depths, deburring, durability, injury risk, weight and many, many more details are contemplated, theorised and pondered. And I love each and every step. That is until I get so tired of thinking about the same thing for weeks on end and just want to get it done.

Maybe the prices are justified 😂

I'll leave you with an image sent to me by my partner of our cats cuddling together. Zuko is the black tabby, who is a solemn and ever-hungry older brother. Miso is the young ball of energy and affection that can't seem to exist without being pressed up and cuddling against any of his family members - even if it means ending up in positions that give me intense second-hand feelings of discomfort.

Appreciate you for reading this - keen to share more thoughts with you for future blog posts!

With love,

Frederic Klowe