Today we’d like to introduce you to Jinx Kelly.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Uncanny Occasions was founded by Jinx Kelly (that’s me!) and Mae Lust. We are burlesque performers who bonded over all things nerdy and began working together in 2013 after co-founding a production company specializing in pop culture and fandom. In 2015, we presented cosplay workshops at San Diego Comic Con International and WonderCon. Later that year, we founded Uncanny Occasions to produce astonishingly unique events. However, health concerns started making it difficult to move the business forward in a meaningful way.
In 2018, I received a mermaid certification and we started offering in-person mermaid performances & appearances.
In 2019, we joined the Artsy Association and began to offer online paint & sip nights, art bars, vision board creations, and more. We also started working with Tube to Work Day in Colorado and other nonprofits to provide mermaid appearances for fundraising.
In 2020, we lovingly split our two companies between us (we are still very close, supportive friends). A week after this split, Mae experienced an unexpected life change and my health suddenly and rapidly started to decline. Everything was put on pause as the world was enveloped in a pandemic. I attempted to pivot, but my health wouldn’t allow it. I nearly died from health concerns. I ended up having two surgeries, my father had to step in to help me with my day-to-day life and expenses, the doctors couldn’t seem to figure out what was going on with my body, and many days I was so sick I didn’t care if I lived anyway. I had a lot of big T trauma from my young life and didn’t realize it had made my physical body so ill.
In early 2021, I started the healing journey I had needed when I was in my late teens or early 20’s. It was one of the scariest, loneliest, darkest times in my life. But, I finally had support, and the tools and resources I had been looking for my entire life.
In 2022, I rebranded Uncanny Occasions as a creative embodiment boutique combining creative expression and healing somatic practices after earning a 72-hour certificate in Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy.
I just relaunched the new website and memberships open in early February 2023! I am also offering new virtual workshops, mini workshops, and masterclasses starting in February 2023. I have had many different hopes and visions of Uncanny Occasions over the years but one thing that has never changed is how much I believe in bringing cozy, delicious vibes to the world. I’m ready to sprinkle these yummy ventral vagal vibes all over!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Obviously, I touched on some of the struggles along the way in the previous question, and yet I still had other struggles. I’ve had to overcome a lot of imposter syndrome, and changes within my nervous system that don’t allow me to function in the world as I did before I was ill. I was pretty much shut down and living in survival mode for most of my life. Trying to live as I did before caused me pain, it always had, and I tried to ignore it. I have had to focus on living more slowly. Slow is fast. That’s actually been a struggle for me. I was really addicted to the grind. I loved hustle culture. It made me feel tough, productive, and strong. And now I see that for me personally, I was abusing myself. I can’t do that anymore and I LOVE that!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Uncanny Occasions?
Uncanny Occasions hosts expressive creative embodiment experiences in safe, virtual community spaces. We blend sensuality, imagination, wonder, and whimsy to support safe embodiment, manifestation & goal setting techniques, nervous system regulation, and limbic system connection. Our experiences are a celebration of who you are, exactly as you are today!
Healing. Recovering. Doing the work. It can be heavy. It can be ironically and painfully isolating. We use community, Integrative Somatic Trauma Therapy training, a background in Internal Family Systems (IFS) Parts Work, and non-clinical therapeutic expressive arts to present these embodiment experiences with levity and in a fun, joyful way. We offer 1-month and 3-month memberships, and you can also purchase our workshops, mini-workshops, and masterclasses a la carte.
We also offer virtual creative entertainment, otherwise known as “paint parties” or “paint & sip”, but with a somatic, embodied twist. It’s more like “Paint and Meditate.” We offer custom creative entertainment for you and your guests starting at $60 per participant. In addition, we have 1-month and 3-month memberships. The weekly sessions that come with membership are a fantastic way to create amongst a nervous-system-friendly community on a regular basis.
I’m registered to get more Parts Work training in 2023 so that I can integrate Psychedelic Parts Work into my offerings and services. If that is of interest join our email list or follow our socials to stay connected!
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I think most people who know me will be surprised that I have fully embodied the work I do now. I am The Embodiment Queen so I better practice what I teach. I used to intellectualize and overthink everything because it didn’t feel safe to be in my body. I used to really seek validation from outside sources and I have come to trust myself in ways I never thought possible. I think people might also be surprised to know that I plan to have a psychedelic offer in 2023.
People who know my work may be surprised to see how this “event” company has evolved since 2015. Technically, I still produce events, but they are my events and because I also work in media, I predict fandom and pop culture elements will continue to influence my work on some level.
I think people familiar with trauma-healing work will be surprised that there can be more joy, art, community, fun, and levity involved in doing the healing work.
Pricing:
- Embodied Fusion Membership starts at $97 per month
- Paint and Process Membership starts at $59 per month
- Custom Creative Entertainment starts at $60 per participant
- A la carte Creative Embodiment Experiences start at $197 each
- Other current offerings range from $50-350
Contact Info:
- Website: www.uncannyoccasions.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/uncannyoccasions
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/uncannyoccasions
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uncanny-occasions/
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/uncannyoccasion
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC84aCBFBXXPx6k4twkrNWEg
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@uncannyoccasions
Image Credits
Photos by Andrew Kadikian and Jason Kamimura
