We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nina Brown. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nina below.

Nina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

I have entertained several different names for my business before I settled on Camille’s Custom Creations. I wanted the name of my business to represent what I do while also incorporating a part of me. I decided to use my middle name, Camille, since I don’t use it often for any other purpose. I added Custom Creations to give people an idea of what I do: create custom items. I also love the alliteration of the three “C’s”….lol…

Nina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have always been creative. When my children were little, I made their Halloween costumes and did simple arts and crafts activities with them. I caught the crafting bug while working as a mental health therapist at a group home for children. One of my fellow therapists wanted to make a scrapbook for our boss and she asked each of the therapists to create a page for the scrapbook. She had all types of scrapbook paper, tools, embellishments, etc. I was totally mesmerized after creating my page. I dived into the world of crafting by attending workshops, craft shows and classes. I learned different crafting techniques and used that knowledge to make unique gifts for family and friends. I fell into business when my family and friends asked me to make custom/personalized items and were willing to pay me. So in January 2011, Camille’s Custom Creations was created.

I create unique, personalized products. T-shirts, drinkware and other gift items. I help my customers stand out from the crowd with products that are unique to them or to the person receiving the item. I work to make sure my customers are showing up at the birthday party, baby shower or house warming with a gift that is unique, special and will be remembered for years to come.

I pride myself on bringing a customer’s ideas to fruition, providing excellent customer service, making sure my customers are satisfied and willing to come back to me with other ideas. I love seeing or hearing about my customers’ reactions to the items they purchased.

In addition to providing unique items, I also use my mental health background to share information about self-care because I feel it is important that we as women prioritize and take care of ourselves. I connect my products to practicing one of the seven pillars of self-care (i.e. customized tumblers help with physical self-care, drinking water)

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I work a regular 9-5 job, so I used money from my job to start my business. I didn’t need a lot of capital to start my business. I started off slow and went from there. I don’t have a lot of inventory. I do have quite a bit of supplies and tools that I use to make my products that I have accumulated over the years.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In the beginning of 2021, I started a monthly crafting subscription box. I marketed it as creative self-care. Each month I would send out a crafting activity that was based on the holiday or theme for that month. I had three subscribers, all family members. They subscribed for a year and cancelled. I got one additional subscriber for 2022 who was not family or friend.

I realized that my audience were not DIYers and did not have time to complete the craft activity. In looking at my social media posts and what my customers wanted, I found that most of my audience and customers were interested in t-shirts and tumblers. So I stopped the craft box and began focusing on t-shirt and tumbler designs. By paying attention to what my customers want and not what I want to give them, I am now able to serve my audience and customers better.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.camillescustomcreations.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/creationsbycam
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/creativelycamille