Hello from Fursonalities!
The last couple of years have come with some enormous challenges for all of us, and as we move into the new year we’ll be making some changes here at Fursonalities to try to better serve everyone.
Please keep in mind that Fursonalities is currently owned and run by a single person. Responsibilities such as client communication, ordering supplies, office work, shipping and receiving, social media management, and the actual manufacturing of your costumes are managed by one individual person. There is only so much that I as an individual can manage at a time, so I want to find new ways of running my business so that I can serve you all as effectively as possible. I appreciate your understanding.
Keeping current clients up-to-date is a priority. It has been difficult and incredibly time consuming over the last couple of years to try to give individual updates to all clients who are waiting in the queue, so Fursonalities will now be posting updates regularly to an update channel on Telegram rather than sending out individual emails. This change should allow for more studio time being spent on the production of your costumes. Everyone is still welcome and encouraged to send private messages in regards to their individual commission inquiries, but this way all clients will be able to see what progress is being made in the studio so they have an idea of how the queue is moving along in addition to being able to check the already established Trello queue. Channel updates will include pictures and videos of parts that have been finished or are currently in progress as well as personal updates so everyone stays informed on instances that might impact message response times or work times. For anyone who may not be aware of how telegram channels are different from group chats, the messages posted in the channel will be from me only and will not include any kinds of responses from other users, so notifications will be minimal and updates will be easy to access. I highly encourage everyone to subscribe to the following update channel, otherwise you will not be receiving general updates. https://t.me/+wgmc4gkJVz9hYWMx
In the interest of maximizing work efficiency, I tested out working on projects in batches during the year of 2021 with mixed results. While it has shown to be more efficient to have more than one project to work on while I wait to hear back from clients about updates on their individual commissions, I cannot stress enough the importance of clients who have projects in progress checking and responding to their messages as frequently as possible. Effective communication with clients who have parts in progress has been difficult to manage, and it will be easier to manage having multiple projects in progress at a time if I get responses more regularly rather than receiving an overwhelming number of responses all at one time. Response times on updates that have been sent have an effect on everyone’s commission times in the queue, so making sure that you’re checking your messages at least once daily would be preferred. Clients who wait multiple days or weeks to respond to updates will have their project put on hold in favor of clients who respond regularly to their updates to maintain fairness and avoid further slowdowns. I understand that international clients may not be able to respond to updates within Fursonalities operating business hours, your availability has been taken into consideration as well, but please still respond to your updates on a daily basis.
As is the case for probably everyone in the world, the coronavirus pandemic has also had an impact on Fursonalities, some of the effects are ongoing as the world tries to recover from the initial impact of the pandemic. As you may be aware, supply lines and manufacturing have been impacted in a large way. I’ve had to adjust my procedures for ordering materials for commissions to attempt to compensate for slower manufacturing and the delays in shipping, and a number of manufacturers that we used to get supplies from have been shut down either temporarily or permanently. These changes have affected everyone’s commission completion times, and though I’m doing my best to continue work on commissions, the impact of the pandemic on my personal mental health has also been a factor in my ability to get work done. Your continued support and understanding would be incredibly helpful as fursuits are works of art and quality art is difficult to make during stressful and depressing times. I’m moving into the current year with a renewed sense of optimism and, with your help and cooperation, I anticipate being able to return to a more normal amount of productivity moving forward. As we start to see the much anticipated return of conventions and large events, I would like to remind everyone that Fursonalities does not guarantee event deadlines because clients tend to be happier with fursuits that were not made in a rush, and con crunches have a severely negative impact on regular workflow that will affect everyone in the queue.
On a more personal note, the last few years have come with a number of large life changes for me as a person. While I tend to prefer to keep my personal life separate from my work life for privacy and comfort, it’s important to me to let all of you know that I have accepted and embraced a new gender identity. As someone who struggles with chronic depression and anxiety, these changes have made an enormously positive impact on my mental health and it would be very meaningful to me if my Fursonalities family would be supportive in using my new name and pronouns. My name is Moss, and my pronouns are they/them or he/him. You’re more than welcome to still refer to me as Uru/Fursonalities, but please don’t use my legal name or my old pronouns.
Thank you very much for your time and your continued support, you all mean more to me than you could possibly know. I’m looking forward to working with all of you on your individual projects, and I’m incredibly excited to move into a brighter future with everyone.
~Moss~
Fursonalities LLC