I grew up in Montego Bay, Jamaica, around people who knew how to make something out of what they had.
People fixed things. Reused things. Grew things. Blended things. Sewed things. Crocheted things. Took something apart to understand why it stopped working and then figured out how to make it useful again.
Nobody called it “innovation.”
It was just life.
That way of looking at the world is a big part of why Taylor’s Things exists.
The store was never supposed to fit neatly on one shelf
Most stores are easy to explain because they sell one category of product.
Taylor’s Things is intentionally broader.
When I look at something we make, source, build or recommend, I keep coming back to the same questions:
Is it useful? Is it well made? Is there something original about it? Does it offer good value? Is there a real story behind it? Would I be comfortable recommending it to somebody I know?
If the answers make sense, the product can make sense here.
That is how handmade Jamaican crochet, VitalLeaves products, software, custom computers and carefully selected Global Finds can all belong in the same marketplace without pretending they are the same kind of thing.
Jamaica is the root, not the costume
Jamaica is where the point of view starts.
That does not mean every product needs red, gold and green stripes. It does not mean putting a flag on everything. And it definitely does not mean turning the island into a collection of stereotypes for somebody else’s idea of “authentic.”
Jamaica is the root, not the costume.
The Jamaican part shows up in the resourcefulness. In the willingness to work with what is available. In the people and knowledge behind the products. In the confidence to put our own spin on something instead of assuming the existing way is the only way it can be done.
You can see that clearly in the Jamaican artisan collection.
The pieces are not factory styles ordered by the thousand. They are individual pieces made by hand, one stitch and one decision at a time. Colors move differently from one item to another. Brims take on personalities. Motifs change. Measurements change.
When a piece is one of one, we treat it that way. We photograph that exact item, measure that exact item and sell that exact item.
The exact piece shown is the exact piece you receive.
VitalLeaves carries another part of the same story
Jamaican life also gave me a close relationship with herbs, bush teas, natural ingredients and the kind of household knowledge that gets passed from one person to another long before anybody thinks of putting a brand name on it.
That is part of the foundation behind VitalLeaves.
VitalLeaves is where Taylor’s Things develops healthy alternatives for everyday life: products such as glycerine cleansing bars, Jamaican-rooted herbal infusions and body care built around ingredients we can explain without turning tradition into a miracle claim.
The standard is simple: know what is in it, understand where it comes from, make it properly and tell people the truth about it.
Useful things can also be software
The same instinct shows up in a completely different place when I am working on a computer.
Sometimes the question is not, “Where can I buy a better version of this?”
Sometimes it is:
“Why does this have to work this way?”
That question has led Taylor’s Things into software development and custom PCs.
If an existing tool creates more frustration than it solves, there may be an opportunity to build something better. If useful computer hardware still has years of life left, there may be a smarter configuration for it instead of treating “older” as another word for “garbage.”
The raw material changes. The instinct does not.
Curated Finds start with the recommendation
Then there are products we did not make at all.
Sometimes I use something myself. My family uses it. Somebody asks me where I found it. Or somebody needs something and I know who to call.
Those recommendations have a place here too.
Curated Finds are not a pile of affiliate links looking for a reason to exist. They are things we were already willing to point somebody toward. If there is a legitimate affiliate relationship attached to the recommendation, we disclose it. The recommendation came first.
One store does not need one kind of product
The more Taylor’s Things grows, the clearer the idea becomes.
I do not need soap to pretend it has anything to do with software.
A crochet hat does not need to justify why it is sitting in the same store as a computer.
The connection is the standard.
Useful. Honest. Well made. Good value. Original where originality matters. Rooted in a real story where the story matters.
And worth putting our name beside.
That gives Taylor’s Things room to grow without losing its identity.
Jamaican roots. Original ideas. Global finds.
Now that phrase actually means something.
Leave a Reply