We were lucky to catch up with Kalli Ohton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kalli , appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve dreamed of selling my art since I was young, but I don’t think I ever had the drive or motivation to fully commit to any specific project until a few years ago. What really pushed me to go for it was when I started selling my earplug earrings. It has been nothing short of amazing being able to see both my friends and strangers go to events wearing my earrings knowing I was able to make something that protected their hearing but was also stylish and different. I’ve gotten pictures from all over the country of people at events thanking me for changing the way they listen to music and that’s what really has driven me to pursue this professionally.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Well, I am an Arizona native who fell in love with dance music back in 2013 during my senior year of high school. For a long time, I was the only one of my friends who enjoyed that style of music, so when I was old enough to go to shows, I started going alone. Funny enough, it wasn’t until a house party a few years ago that a good friend introduced me to my now husband, and I was fortunate enough to be introduced to a group of like minded and passionate individuals who felt the same way about music as I did. I was finally able to experience music with people I loved and really foster a new appreciation for it altogether.

Up until that point I had only been making jewelry for fun to match outfits or events. I ultimately stumbled upon the idea for my earplug earrings after having the shared experience with several friends always losing their earplugs or asking if I had any extra. What started as something small for my friends and I, began to grow into this stream people reaching out asking if there was any way they could get a pair as well.
I have been able to cater to people with gauges, sensitive ears and I am even able to make custom beaded chains for people without their ears pierced. When looking for new styles I really do my best to help make options for everyone. Something I have been extremely excited to see happen more frequently over these past few years is the fact my earrings have started to help people outside of just music. They have been able to help people protect their ears while working loud jobs and even facilitate people who have sound sensitivity. There is nothing more gratifying than having a solution to better improve the lives of others and I’m happy to have found a purpose in that.

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

I think the most rewarding part so far has been going out and running into multiple people wearing my earrings and being able to listen to them share their experiences about where they’ve used them or who they’ve gifted a pair too. Something that’s started happening that I really enjoy is when people see me out at events they can almost guarantee I have earplugs so they will run up to me and ask if they can look through the earrings I have with me. Being able to show people the importance of wearing ear protection is an added bonus to the cute selection of different earrings i often carry!

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

You know honestly, social media is something I started a little late in regards to my art account and I’m definitely working on being better at it myself. It can be difficult to balance your everyday life while also keeping up with business/art accounts and responding messages in a timely manner. What many people just getting started might not realize, is that it takes consistent posting, and a variety of different content to build a steady following. If frequent or everyday posting is something you aren’t used to it can be extremely overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. One thing that has helped me, is sitting down and writing out my goals for the different type of posts I want. Once I have an idea, then it’s important to make sure I get enough content for multiple posts, and then schedule them in advance so that I have a small buffer and don’t need to focus every day on a new post. Setting reminders on your phone is also helpful to keep up with posting and try to gauge when you will run out of content. Most importantly, just have fun. You shouldn’t take social media too seriously and if it starts to stress you out, just focus on what you love.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @under_a_lilac_skye

Image Credits
Tyler and Jadyn Dannika Jason Ashe Jack Alicia Gabi Idgafnk