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

Kendall, appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Being an entrepreneur comes with risks. One of the biggest risks i’ve taken is doing what I want, how I want. When you rely on social media for e-commerce, it’s easy to fall into doing what others want to make a profit. Personally, i’ve always done what I enjoyed or liked. I remember for the longest time, I tried to use matching color pallets when creating, but in the long run it made all my design pieces look the same and boring. I couldn’t stick to a set pallet. A lot of business owners i’ve seen on social media really focus on the aesthetic of their pages. But does the aesthetic really matter if you’re not happy? Does the profit mean anything? For me, no. I want people to be happy, but my self happiness is always a priority. So, I decided to stick with creating what I want and posting, and my following still continued to grow! No matter what i’ve stuck to myself. As an artist, why limit yourself?

Kendall, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Kendall Davis, a 17 year old entrepreneur in the Kansas City area. I started Kendall’s Designs in February of 2021. I enjoy graphic design, and so that’s where my business sprouted from. My beginning goal was to share my art, and see what I could do with it. What started as a digital gallery on instagram, turned into a small business. My first plan of action was to attack social media. I started building my Instagram platform (@kendalls_designs) in a more business style. I designed my own logo, highlight covers, and started planning my feed aesthetic. My business runs well on Instagram. I enjoy being able to connect with other accounts and small business owners along the way. That’s where i’ve found a lot of joy, connecting with those who have similar interests/talents. The support i’ve gotten had been very fulfilling, and has motivated me to keep going, so in all that’s probably where i’m most proud.
I decided to reach out to more platforms. I created a Facebook page (Kendall’s Designs), as well as a Twitter account (@kendallsdesign.) My business runs off of Instagram for the most part though.
Within the first year of my business being up and running, I had 500 followers by the month of September. Currently, I have 735 followers on Instagram.
I sell digital portrait illustrations (my most loved product!) as well as vinyl decals and crafts, stickers, apparel, and accessories.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

A lot of my resources were YouTube videos, but overall what helped benefit me was my relationship with other business owners. I am in multiple small business owner groups via social media and we all share our stories and advice through there. It’s so nice to be able to connect with those alike you. Another thing that had heavily impacted my business journey was being apart of Missouri DECA. Deca focuses on marketing and entrepreneurship skills, and that really comes into play! Definitely a fun experience.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I sell on Instagram. I have tried Redbubble, Weebly, Freewebstore, and many others. Instagram had been easiest for me to sell my digital items. I have not yet ventured to Etsy, but am looking to do so in the future.. One of my favorites was Freewebstore. It’s the only free e-commerce website known, and works so well. I didn’t have to spend any money to run my website or create it. It works amazing for businesses who want to start out without spending a fortune. The only reason I shut down my Freewebstore shop, is due to not being able to sell digital items. That is my only downfall. And with digital being my most sold product, it wasn’t very beneficial to me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kendalls_designs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kendallsdesigns
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kendallsdesign

Image Credits
My Personal Photo was photographed by Laura Davis from Blush & Vine Photography (@blushandvinephotography on instagram)