‘I think about what I want to see when I search ‘Micronesian’’: Kosraean crafter Joen Jesse
‘I think about what I want to see when I search ‘Micronesian’’: Kosraean crafter Joen Jesse
Micronesian Monday Feature
When Joen Bettylina Jesse couldn’t find what she needed in the world, she created it.
She was looking for stickers for her daughter’s birthday and scoured Etsy but, unfortunately, her search yielded less than desirable results. Joen knew what had to be done.
“No one had any Micronesian stickers,” she said. “I did some research again and bought the tools with the money I made from my other hobbies.” Add a generous investment from her very supportive husband and a shot of imagination and her first, and most popular sticker was born.
“It took a lot of creative energy to make my first sticker: the Micronesian skirts. Till this day that sticker has the most attention on my Instagram,” Joen said.
Joen makes stickers, magnets, wood signs, hoodies, and shirts promoting Micronesia but she also makes customized products too.
She is @signedbyjoen on Instagram.
The mother of two, now living in Alabama, is from Kosrae.
“With some Kiribati blood,” Joen added. “In Kosrae, our family is just known as Kilbuht.”
The 27-year-old was born in her home island. When she was around four years old, her parents moved to Hawai’i, “to find a better life for us,” she said. Later, when she was around five or six years old, Joen and her sister reunited with them in Hawai’i, at first living on the Big Island then moving to Oahu.
“That is where I remember growing up the most,” Joen recalled. In 2007, she, her sister, and her mom went back to Kosrae for the summer and they stayed back after Joen’s grandma passed away. Joen finished her middle school years in Kosrae then returned to Oahu and graduated high school.
Joen joined the workforce after high school but she never really found a decent fit.
Subway, 7-Eleven, Jamba Juice.
“It was all too repetitive,” she said.
Eventually, Joen met the man she would marry. After they wed, the couple decided to build their new life in a new place.
“We just wanted to start our lives in a different place. Somewhere we both haven’t been,” Joen said. They settled on Alabama.
The popular Micronesian skirt stickers that Joen created this year are the latest development in her creative career. About three years ago her sister turned her onto the world of crafting. Joen’s been building her repertoire of crafting skills ever since.
“The first project I made was a paper flower. I hung it up proudly on our kitchen wall,” she said. “After that, I started different projects and took on more challenging ideas: crepe paper florals, cake toppers, banners, t-shirts.
In the beginning, I was just doing it to keep myself busy and it was fun. But before I knew it, people wanted to buy them.”
Joen started selling her creations on Facebook. Most of her customers were Kosraeans she knew.
It seems as the days go on, Joen continues to learn and grow creatively. One day on Pinterest, she came across wood signs. Something inside her lit up.
“I said, ‘Bring it on,’” Joen recalled. “I knew I had to have that skill.”
She went full speed ahead, diving into the wooden sign craft space, researching online, and hitting up her local hardware store for the tools she needed that she could afford. Like her other creations, Joen’s customers approved and bought them up.
Recently she’s shifted her focus to making stickers.
“I started making stickers this year. It is my newest skill and I love it!” Joen said.
In addition to Micronesian skirts, Joen has memorialized Micronesian snack staples into sticker form like ice pahr, original flavor ichiban, and blue Kool-Aid.1 All of them are as mouth-watering as they are adorable.
“It’s a lot of work but I love it. My designs are pretty random. It’s usually right before I try to fall asleep my best ideas come up,” Joen said.
“Sometimes they come to me when I’m scrolling through Pinterest, thinking of my childhood, the islands, when I think about what I want to see when I search ‘Micronesian.’”
Her design ideas have struck a chord with the Micronesians of Instagram who flood her comments with praise, eager to find out how they can own a Joen original creation.
She works on her craft when she can while raising her two kids both under the age of seven.
More recently, Joen has made hoodie designs, taking what she learned from her previous creations and using them in her new product ventures.
“I want to use my platform to educate and invite people to our culture. But also and mostly, I want the next generation to see how proud we are of where we come from,” Joen said.
“I have left my island a long time ago, but in my heart and soul, Micronesia is home. That is my priority. We are here in the states to do what our parents came out here to do in the beginning. We need to keep pushing for more so that we can use it to better our people and our islands,” she added.
Be sure to follow Joen on Instagram, @signedbyjoen. DM her your orders and support her work.
Thank you Joen for answering my questions! I absolutely loved learning about your story. I think you’re so creative and so gracious.
Joen is an absolutely wonderful soul. I asked her for other Micronesian creators to follow and she came through with a whole list!
Along with her list, Joen said, “I think just being able to say there are more is such a big statement. I am so proud to be one of the many to put our work out there and represent Micronesians.”
Here are Micronesian creatives to support, thanks to @SignedByJoen
A humble businesswoman, photographer extraordinaire, and Joen’s sister in law who recently shot Joen’s latest hoodie designs
From Joen: “Tsunami and Shantel, my cousins/best friends. These sisters are the owners of Sienna on Instagram. They’re a Micronesian jewelry line. They inspire so much of what goes into my stickers now.”
@Cofeewithanislandgirl Jenny Asher
From Joen: “Talent! Her page is just oozing with creativity. She makes jewelry, resin art, home decor, pretty much everything I need and want.”
From Joen: “His work is so professional and highlights so much of what I was saying about using our platforms for our people.”
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Follow them all on Instagram, flood your feed with good islander vibes.
Thank you for reading. Write to you again soon.
Cheers,
Jasmine
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Blue Kool-Aid is an absolute banger. As far as Kool-Aid flavors go, blue is the best and I’m willing to get kidney disease for it.
i love this and everything about it !
Wow! What a trailblazer 👏🏽