We were lucky to catch up with Canetta Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Canetta, appreciate you joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

My hero is my mama. She is the strongest, most straight forward, and most courageous woman that I know. My mama lost her husband/my dad when I was 6 years old which was an unexpected tragedy. I was able to see my mama work hard to take care of her family. I have one younger brother and two older sisters. I was able to witness my mama’s resilience in fighting for not only herself, but her family as well when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. I had never seen anyone be strong while experiencing something so life changing. It was so scary, but life never stopped for her. She continued to work and attended activities all while going through chemotherapy and radiation. She taught me how to be brave, to never give up, to have hope and to work hard. She is the reason I am the woman, mother, wife, and creator that I am today. From childhood to adulthood, I saw her go through so much, but one thing she never did was give up.

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 Canetta, but most people call me Netta. I’m the creative business owner of Creations by Netta J. I have always been crafty as a child but as I got older, I became more interested in creating things for myself. I have always been attracted to custom items whether it was a T-shirt, a cup, or a keychain. In hindsight I became more interested in creating this for myself because finding items in the store with my name on it was difficult with the uniqueness of my name. I recently got married in 2023 and I knew what my vision was for that day. Not long after the engagement I purchased my first Circuit machine and got to work. I created all the custom items for my bachelorette trip and my wedding. Once people saw my customizations from these events, I started to receive encouragement from people to officially start my business. After careful consideration, I decided to start my business in June of 2023.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I’m a perfectionist at times which causes me to redo projects when I am dissatisfied with the completed product. One of the things that I pride myself on is always being willing to try things at least once. I received a request to make a welcome home sign last year which was the first time I had ever created one. It took three attempts to perfect a successful product by my standards. I wasted so much time, money, and materials trying to perfect the welcome sign, but I never gave up. I made a promise to fulfill an order and that is just what I was going to do. I screamed, I cried, and I vented to anyone whoever was willing to listen. However, once I figured out what I was doing wrong the finished product was beautiful leaving my customer both happy and pleased. The pictures she sent me with it displayed on her porch were so beautiful. She was happy and at the end of it all I was too.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Social media, reviews, and word of mouth have been extremely helpful in growing my clientele. I really appreciate and love it when someone tells me I saw your videos on TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook. I also love hearing when someone tells me that their friend posted a review and said how professional and great it was working with you. There is no better advertisement than honest personal reviews.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Creationsby_NettaJ
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/creationsbynettaj
• Other: TikTok: Mrz_NettaJ_23

Image Credits

Kayla Griffin-Lloyd
Photographer: Josh Lawton
Marcus Johnson, Jr.
Angela Hamm
L-R : Jessica Williams, Kimberly Ham, Tanecia Saunders, Canetta Johnson, Mariah Walters, & Shaniqua Louis