Kayla Colson - Ivy and Kay Creations
My name is Kayla Colson, and I am an apparel and custom gift designer.
Art was never a big part of my life before I started Ivy and Kay. I was a business major in college, so that is the sphere my brain worked in rather than the artistic side. I was in a sorority at Florida Southern College and would always witness my sisters trying to order things from Etsy but then complain that they could not customize them enough or get them delivered in time. I looked at the things they were ordering and thought, I could do that!—and that’s just how Ivy and Kay was born.
When I first started, I was pressing shirts on the tile floor of my dorm room with my roommate’s iron. I didn’t even have my own! The desk provided by the school composed the rest of my workspace. It was definitely cramped, but I made it work. By senior year, I had a mini-workshop set up in our kitchen, and now, I run Ivy and Kay out of my basement.
Ivy and Kay started at home in Rhode Island the summer between my freshman and sophomore years. Senior year, my dad looked at me like I was crazy when I told him I had to bring my 100-pound t-shirt press all the way from RI to Florida. But I did it. I carried it out of the house, loaded it into the car, and drove it all the way to my school apartment, where my friends loved having the shop as part of our social environment. They always came to me with new ideas and pictures of things to make.
As I was creating this business, I was also attending business school. I was lucky to be able to take the things I learned in class in the morning and apply them to my business that same night, which proved really helpful in building my brand. After Florida Southern, I came back home to RI and spent a year at Brown earning my master's in innovation, management, and entrepreneurship. After that, I spent a long time looking for a full-time job with no luck. During that period, I poured myself into Ivy and Kay.
My main line of business, besides selling on Etsy, became in-person craft fairs. My mom and grandma are big fans of craft fairs, so much of my childhood was spent attending them. I thought that because I was not selling traditional fine art, I did not belong at a craft fair. My family kept pushing me to try it out, however, until I eventually agreed. By September of 2019, I was tabling at huge fairs with over one hundred vendors and twelve thousand people.
Craft fairs can be nerve-wracking since you can’t predict which products customers will want, but it is also a great way to meet people and make connections with local artists. Etsy–where Ivy and Kay is now based—is great for national exposure, but these fairs are where customers get to see the real people and faces behind the products they’re purchasing.
About six months into my job search, the Coronavirus pandemic hit, which essentially made finding a full-time job impossible and canceled all of the in-person fairs that I had grown to love. I looked at what I was doing and thought, This is the only job option I have right now, so I’ve got to make it work.
At this point, the shop sold a hodge-podge of items that I made for my friends and various sorority shirts that had taken off in popularity on my Etsy shop. But during the pandemic, when sorority season stalled and all schools were closed, I forced myself to take a look at my shop and reevaluate the items I was selling. I started asking, Would I wear this? and used my answers to determine what products I wanted to start making regularly. This pivot evoked a really positive response from my supporters, especially during a time when nobody wanted to go out to stores and ordering online from big brands was too slow. All of a sudden, people started turning to me more than ever to get gifts in a Covid-safe manner.
I was really excited about new craft fairs in the summer of 2020, but since they were all canceled, I decided to put together my own virtual market. I developed the webpage myself, then had local artists apply to participate. It was a great way to meet new creators and also strengthen connections with business owners that I already knew. The virtual market was so successful that I organized it again in the fall and at Christmas time, and I am planning for more in the future.
These themes of kindness and supporting others frequently show up in the products I make for Ivy and Kay. I recently started a female empowerment line with the slogan “lead-HER-ship” that grew popular and led me to make a lot of great connections. The ultimate inspiration behind everything I make, though, is really just myself. For instance, I approach my products by thinking about something I might want to wear or a gift I am making for a friend. Despite this personal lens, my products speak to a broad audience. Even my grandma wears my designs, and not just because she is my grandma; the themes I try to preach—like being yourself and supporting others—are universal.
It takes a long time to be confident in the work that you put out, and I am finally starting to get there. My goal is to eventually work for myself, full-time. I still have a ways to go, but I’m not going to stop working or believing in myself.
If you have an idea, you can take it and run with it. I want my customers to see that I am just a twenty-three-year-old who had an idea at nineteen, and now here I am.
But most importantly, take a look at what is around you; you are going to find so many amazing artists and local business owners. Don't be afraid to spend a little bit more to support a real human being, because trust me, it’s worth it.
Work Hard and Be Kind,
Kayla Colson