Who, What, and Why Is Siren Emylie

Hello there, my fintastic friend!

If you're reading this, chances are you've been following at least some of the journey of "Siren Emylie." However, at just over two years of existing (including what I call the "trial" year where I was still getting a bearing on ecommerce), I've come to realize that there's very little information on my business' roots. So, I've decided to take the time to share everything about how Siren Emylie came to be- and don't hold your breath, this is a long story with many facets.

While "Siren" is simply a title, my name really is Emylie- spelled like that from the very day I was born. The siren part has floated in and out of my life for the past decade or so- first being a pet name from my high school sweetheart for my singing voice (which, ironically, he ended up leaving me for someone else specifically because her singing voice was better). Despite the sting of spurned love, I kept the name and began phase two- I decided to join the fae cast of my local renaissance faire as the siren Lorelei Eldoris- who, much in spite of my high school sweetheart, had a dramatic and dark background. (I feel like it's important to note that at this point, I still had no clue about the hobby of mermaiding, and I in fact hated swimming.) With that, an elaborate character was developed, with a multi part novel that maybe one day I will finish. Tragically, I was still under the guardianship of my father, who pulled me out of cast the day before first rehearsals, and so outside of the written story, that character was never manifested.

(Concept art of Lorelei for the 2012 season of the Sherwood Forest Renaissance Festival)

For the following 5 years or so, I allowed myself to forget about my pet name and became very shy with much of my personality- most especially my singing voice. Adulthood hit hard and I found myself constantly struggling to simply navigate the whirlpool of life. Fun and fantasy temporarily were out of reach, and I spent entirely too much time considering trading my magic for normalcy. Obviously, that didn't last, and I sought out a swimming aid- literally! Being someone with a fast metabolism has always made it very hard to maintain even the bare minimum of "healthy" weight, and left me with no hopes of having muscle. therefore, I was a miserably, embarrassingly poor swimmer, and that made me hate going- and I didn't want that. Curiosity struck, and then a google search later I had a mermaid tail in my shopping cart. And there we had it, just a little desire to be "extra" and comfortable under the water and your fishy friend was born.

I spent the next few years determined to keep mermaiding as a very very passive hobby, avoiding the glamor and building of a mersona or online presence. Then right at the beginning of 2019, I began considering upgrading my hobby into a business, and even happened to start dating a performing magician who was eager to raise those ripples into waves. Pretty quickly, he helped me formulate a business plan as a performing mermaid, and all I needed to do was build a mersona for myself. Wanting something a little less bubbly than "mermaid", and a little more non-binary friendly, I found myself digging deep and brushing off the sunken little siren in the depths of my past. And there, Siren Emylie was finally beginning.

However, that year wasn't good for me, and my own insecurities (*cough* and probably also autism *cough*) around performing had inhibited me from diving into the world of showbusiness. While I held onto the idea, the hope, the dream, the facade of a goal for a year, nothing other than some weak concepts came from it.

While obviously something changed- I feel like now is a good time to back track and fill in some of the gaps from that 5 years of near normalcy to explain a totally different facet of me that led me to where I am.

From literally beyond my memory, I've been very keen on drawing things unordinary and fantastical. Art from an early age was my most prominent form of stimming and got me in trouble with every teacher I ever had- even my art teachers would get frustrated for drawing beyond what they were trying to structure into their lessons. Yet, early still, I was pretty set on it not being a career- I was constantly being pushed to be a tattoo artist or graphic designer, and neither of those appealed to me personally. I did on many occasions try to find ways to sell my art, but none of those attempts offered a sustainable or livable wage. Art as a career simply seemed foolish.

But in 2016, I got caught in a flood- literally, apartment underwater- and for reasons I still can't place, the trauma of it killed my passion and interest in art for several years to follow. However, ever creative and ever an over thinker, I very desperately needed a creative outlet. By chance entirely, I found myself spiraling into the vast complexities of....... fishkeeping! A rapid special fixation, it took me very little time to learn about the deep sciences of aquatic biology, and within months I could tell you about the very specific needs of dozens of species of fish. It was such an intense passion that it made making and keeping friends very difficult, and even my boyfriend at the time was often leery of spending time with me. And while I don't blame them, I still had no intentions of stopping or slowing- I had an infinity pool of information to explore and it brought me immense delight to do so.

And oh, how I was so desperate to try and make some sort of career off the aquarium hobby. At first, I just ran a tumblr blog dedicating to being a virtual fish doctor, one by one fighting to dismantle the misinformation in the aquatic world and help aide others into cultivating a thriving environment for their fishes. Next, I tried working at a mom and pop pet store as their aquatic specialist, but that store closed before I ever made it past being a shop volunteer. From there I developed the dream to breed betta fish and have my own line of genetically ethical betta, and then use that business to fund an actual brick and mortar fish store. Sadly, I didn't have a spare penny to my name to even make it beyond ideas (mind you, I had some pretty solid ideas and business plans), and instead I ended up at a PetCo as their aquatic specialist in 2018. At first I was happy here- finally I had a place where my knowledge of fish was wanted and welcome, and I worked alongside someone who knew even more than I and quickly became an inspiration and mentor to me. It wasn't until he quit working with the company that management started to decline and put immense pressures on me- in ways that disallowed me to care for and about the fish so passionately if I hoped to meet their expectations. After about a year of selling fish to the wrong homes, or not being able to spend the needed time educating them into the right homes, my passion for fish (as pets) began to die, and I realized it was time to leave.

At this point, the stories collide- it's 2020, I'm a mermaid, my passion for art is returning, I'm dating a magician, and the world is starting to fall apart as we know it. So what's next? How did Siren Emylie go from fishkeeping to mermaiding to performing to ecommerce?

Simple- my love for fish, and the happenstance that my magician boyfriend had a laser (basically a robot that uses fire to cut trough and engrave on various materials). Eager to make the most of this, I asked him to teach me to use it- as the two years at PetCo had made me painfully aware that the aquarium industry was sorely lacking in aquatic themed jewelry.

And so it truly began, as the world came to an end. The tsunami of one reality, into the hurricane of another, into the paradise of today. Performing was essentially off the table and an ecommerce shop was all I had, other than an intense determination to succeed. I spent the next two years cramming myself with the most up to date business advice and tactics, practicing with various digital art programs, fighting to be seen on social media, and even to this day it is a constant battle and learning curve- but it's the most rewarding thing I've ever done for myself.

So... Who is Siren Emylie?
An (occasionally) performing mermaid and fish enthusiast, who spent nearly a lifetime of trying to figure out her niche in the world while also trying to understand herself.

What is Siren Emylie?
A little online shop providing the passions of the heart of Emylie in the form of tangible products for anyone who shares a love of aquatic life and fantasy.

Why is Siren Emylie?
The result of a drive for manifesting magic, defining dreams, and spreading both light and enlightenment. A focal point of both education and inspiration with the hopes of influencing others to be more confident in themselves and the things they love.

All in all, my mission is to become a one-stop-shop for all things aquatic themed. I aim to have a balance of not just mermaidcore, but also what I'm calling aquaticcore.
As there are more species of fishes (not even including the non fish aquatic life) than there are birds, mammals, and reptiles combined- with over another 1,000 new species still being discovered annually), I definitely have a long journey into the representation of species to go, but I currently have over 40 designs as it stands- each one with a little educational blurb in the listing. From there, I hope to also have a vast variety of aquatic mythology designs, and as I mentioned before- hopefully a novel or two.

Siren Emylie as a mersona is ever developing, with three different species of fish mingled into the inspiration of my tail and a secretive backstory based in mythology. Things truly are just getting started, and I hope to continue providing inspiration on every step of the journey.

But at the end of the day, I could not be here without you. Thank you for every bit of support you've ever been able to offer- big or small. Even simply reading this further affirms that the path I'm on makes a difference.

Make Waves and Have a Beautiful Day,

Siren Emylie