We were lucky to catch up with Chrystal Haynes Singleton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chrystal, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

My business started with my former coworker showing me Etsy. Her and I had offices next to each other and we would often talk about various things and she showed me an item that she wanted to purchase on that platform. I got curious and decided to look at the platform myself and realized that it was a wonderful place for people who made things to showcase their art, sell it, and create their own revenue. From that moment I had an idea of creating my own product and selling it on Etsy as well. I began to think of all the things I had done in art school from glass blowing to bookmaking and photography and started to write down things I could possibly create. I used to crochet in the past so I looked up different crochet shops on Etsy and found a shop that made handbags. I knew I didn’t want to crochet handbags but I fell in love with handbags during the process. From there I went out, bought a sewing machine and took online sewing classes to learn how to sew and make my first handbag. I was in love! From there I introduced myself to a local handbag entrepreneur and grew under his mentorship to the brand I now have. Through prayer, learning curves and listening to many Etsy podcasts, I was able to open my own store and start selling the handbags that I had created.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Chrystal Haynes Singleton and I am originally from Guyana but grew up in Dallas. I got into the handbag industry by chance, really. I never thought I would be designing or sewing handbags but when I found other makers on Etsy creating beautiful products, I decided I would give it a try as well. I provide handbags that are multifunctional and serve as a way to help the busy woman stay organized as she goes about her day and week. What sets my bags apart from others is that that they are multi functional, can be worn more than one way, and help people stay organized. I am most proud of the fact that I have connected with other business owners to grow my business as well and create a quality handbag line that will last a while. I want potential clients to know that our handmade bags are very versatile and are geared towards helping them stay organized while keeping you on budget!

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

When it came to funding my business initially, I took a small amount of money out of the paycheck from my full time job every month to acquire the things I needed to run my business. At the time, I had quite a bit of money left over at the end of the month so I decided to invest it into my business. I put myself on a budget and would only spend that amount of money in the initial stages to buy the supplies and tools/classes that I needed. It’s definitely a slow way to grow but it helped me maintain a budget and focus on the quality of my products.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I actually have both. I have an Etsy shop as well as my own site. I originally started out on Etsy and saw a lot of traffic and growth on there. I then decided that I wanted to have my own site just in case Etsy ever went down so I created one and have been managing it ever since. I still have a few items in my Etsy shop that are top sellers but most of my handbags are on my website. The cons of being on a platform like Etsy is that you have to pay them a fee to list items and part of your sales and if they ever shutdown, so does your shop. But the pro is that they have a market place of people who browse their site daily so it’s like free traffic. The cons of having your own website is that you have to bring in your own traffic and maintain updates on your own. The pro is that you own the site and can get as creative as you want with it. You also get to keep all of your income and not have to pay a sellers fee to the platform host!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fifteenandfifteen.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fifteenandfifteen/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FifteenAndFifteen
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fifteenandfifteen
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fifteen_Fifteen
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCdpkXcpSa8rLTzdNeO2MMkA
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fifteenandfifteen Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/FifteenAnd15