We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Camissia Gooden. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Camissia below.
Camissia , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?
I have a strong support system with family and friends. My family has always supported me. The women buy and wear the earrings and the males share my post on social media which means a lot. Support is not just about spending money. Support is sharing and spreading the information about the business. Also, support is when you have a team of people that believe in your vision and cheer you on as you bring new ideas to the table. My spouse is my biggest cheerleader when it comes to believing in me. As far as my friends, all of them purchase from me. This style is not for everyone, but my friends tell me their preference and I give them what they want which opened another style to my customers that do not like the full look of the earrings.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Camissia and I am the owner and founder of Craftyfingers by Camissia. I started crocheting about 7 years ago. Honestly, I don’t know what made me tap into crocheting, but I have fell in love with it as I found it very peaceful to my mind as I learn and create patterns. I started out doing crossbody purse for little girls, then started making scarves, ear warmers, beanies, earrings, tassel earrings, swimsuit cover up skirts and now I am working on bucket hats. My goal is to expand my craft with learning something new every month. My big hit right now are the tassel earrings. I been doing those since December 2022. I have customers that text me on the regular with an outfit or pair of new shoes and they ask for me to create a pair of tassel earrings to match. It makes me happy knowing I can provide a product where people don’t have to go from store to store just to match their accessories. People wear these earrings while on dates, girls’ trip, to church, to work, poolside matching with swimsuit, family reunions, class reunions, school team spirit, favorite football team colors, etc etc. I am a one call that’s all person. So, when they call, I send colors and we both get excited because the yarn matches perfect with what they send. I am very passionate about my work, and I make their earrings with love and always try to have them ready in a timely manner within 1-2 days. Fall and winter is approaching so I normally get busy with scarf and ear warmer orders especially for Christmas gifts. I am very excited to match all these items together and create a bundle deal with the earrings, hats, scarf and ear warmer.
Because my business was taking off so fast with the earrings, I decided to create a website this year to make it easy for my customers to shop. Currently I only my tassel earrings on there but I will be adding my other products as I do them this year. Here is my website: Www.craftyfingersbyCamissia.com
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I had to unlearn not to worry about how many people are making the same product as you. I had to go back to the story about the loaf of bread. There are a lot of breads on the bread aisle. All of them are different brands however, they all sell. I had to tell myself the same thing. It is enough money out here for everyone. We cannot get caught up in who selling what. I am glad I did not allow my thoughts to stop me because my business with those earrings has taken off in such an amazing way and I am thankful for the family and friends that pushed me and told me to go for it. They saw the vision before I did and that goes back to having a great support system.
How did you build your audience on social media?
Prior to me putting craftyfingers by Camissia out there publicly, I was a part of a network marketing business. I am a strong believer that God have you in situations for a reason and season. A lot of our training sessions in that business revolved around networking and being consistent. If you are going to build a social media presence, you have to network, build a relationship with your followers and stay consistent if you are a business owner. All of this will help with your algorithm. It does require work, but you get out what you put in. When people see you consistently posting and talking about your business, they start wanting to see how they can shop and support.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.craftyfingersbyCamissia.com
- Instagram: @Craftyfingersbycamissia
- Facebook: Craftyfingers By Camissia