We recently connected with Kayla Davis and have shared our conversation below.

Kayla, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative path was when I was a child. Growing up I always loved watching my mom do her art hobbies and seeing her vision come to life in art form made me really excited to make my own art.

I love reading, books are big part of me and how they impacted my life made me want to do the same for others. I would fall in love with these fictional characters and the world they live in and I thought how amazing is it be able to spark such an emotion from others with words on pages! So when I was a kid I would write stories and look up publishing companies determined to become an author!

That love for creating continued in high school when I took a beginner clay art class. Working with my hands and creating these fun beautiful art pieces that meant something to me made me decided right then that I would for sure open an art shop and become my own business owner.

Creating feels natural to me whether it was working with clay, writing stories or drawing as a kid all the way up to now being an adult I love the way I can express myself in so many different art forms that I thought if I can professionally be creative in so many different ways then I would want to do it forever.

Kayla, 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?

How I took my first step toward creating my small business was when the pandemic started. I was in my early 20’s just gave birth to my son a few months ago and it was a scary time where people stopped working and everyone was quarantining. I spent time on social media and saw small business owners selling their art online from their homes and I thought this is a great time to finally start my business! I can be a stay at home mom but still bring income in doing what I love.

I started off with drawing sticker designs but then I got a bit overwhelmed and nervous about learning how to actually produce the stickers. I was definitely overthinking it but it made me pause on creating stickers so then I turned to making shrinky dink charms and made them into keychains, necklaces and earrings! Those were the first products in my shop and I kept exploring from there I got a cricut and a small handheld heat press and tested out some designs to create toddler shirts for my son.

My small business journey was always taking a different turn, I was finally getting to create art and sell it but I did bounce around with learning new products with wanting to create toddler shirts for my son I decided that I didn’t think I would want to sell it and that made me look up other materials I could use with my heat press and I found tote bags!

Instantly I fell in love with making tote bags designs and as I started my small business about 3 years ago they’re still one of the main things I love to have in my shop. It took me about 2 years into my business to finally go back to trying to make stickers, by that time I had made several good small business friends that really helped encourage and inspire me to keep creating and overcome challenges.

Now I sell stickers, bookmarks, tote bags, bracelets and I’m working on more stationery products like notepads and prints! It took me awhile to get out of my comfort zone and create products that I really loved and felt a connection to because I was worried about what others would think but when I finally decided to create art inspired by Korean dramas, Chinese dramas, and book theme items those quickly became my best sellers.

It was such a heartwarming feeling knowing people love these things just as much as I do , that I found a community where I could express myself. It pushed me to stop overthinking as much and create more unique art for all the other individuals who loves these shows and books but didn’t have anywhere else to find products for the things that they loved, I want my shop to be that for others. I want them to feel comfort and happiness when finding my art!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative artist is the freedom, you have so many different paths and arts you can try I feel like the possibilities are endless.

When being creative you’re in charge and if something you create didn’t turn out the way that you wanted or you feel like it isn’t for you that’s okay because you can have the freedom of changing it up or trying something new!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Yes! At the beginning of my journey I wish I knew just how much the library has to offer. The library is an amazing source to use , it has access to free books on so many creative art subjects, and they have a makers space with a whole bunch of equipment to computers, printers, recording studio, green screen areas, laser 3d printers, sewing machines and more! It definitely helps saves money if you’re interested in doing creative art this is a reminder to check out what your local library offers!

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