We caught up with the brilliant and insightful DeAyrra Greene a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
DeAyrra, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you take vacations? Why or why not?
Yes, I love vacations and feel they are necessary to keep me level headed and in a place to create. It also allows me to relax and take a break from everything in my life. Before vacation, I fulfill all orders and create a post letting all my customers know I will be out for about a week. They can still order online but the orders just won’t be fulfilled until I return. I think it is necessary for all entrepreneurs to take a short vacation because we aren’t our best selves when we are running on fumes. Our customers deserve the absolute best.
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?
I am the owner of The Era Exchange which offers handmade accessories. In addition to that, I work in the tech industry and I am pursuing another degree in Fashion Design.
Creating has been prominent in every aspect of my life since I was a child. The way I express my creativity has changed over the years, but I’ve learned that I love sharing that gift with the world. The process of making something with my hands and seeing people wear or utilize it warms my heart so much.
I started creating accessories because I love purchasing them. A purse can change the entire feel of an outfit. My goal is to make one of a kind statements pieces out of different materials. The items I currently make are crocheted or sewn hats and handbags. I plan to expand more in the coming year.
What sets my business apart from others is that I upcycle a lot of my fabrics and only offer limited quantities for sewn items. Crocheted items are made to order so my customers can pick the colors that appeal to them. In addition, I handcraft every single item myself with so much love.
I am so proud that I finally decided to take the leap and rebrand my business to something that allows me to create more frequently. It’s new territory for me but I’m so driven to make it the best. I have so much in store for myself and my business.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
I only sell on my site. Before I rebranded my business, I used to sell greeting cards for all occasions. I utilized Etsy for a little bit for more exposure. After about a month or two Etsy closed my account with no warning or explanation and I did not receive the money I made from Etsy until months later. To this day, I still can’t create an account or sell on Etsy and I don’t know the reason why. After some research, this has happened to other people which scared me to not use them anymore. While, I’m sure there are plenty of entrepreneurs that have great experiences, I did not. Since then I vowed to only sell from my personal site and promote as much as possible on social media.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I am still building my audience on social media for my business but I do have some tips. It’s important to post regularly on all platforms. I typically create a social media calendar and have content days where I record as much content as possible. This allows me to schedule post and prepare my content in advance. I also recommend creating content around the behind the scenes activities. Customers love to see different business aspects and how everything is created. If the budget allows it, I also recommend hiring a social media manager who could do majority of these things for you. Unfortunately, it’s not in my budget so I have to schedule time to do it but i throughly enjoy content creating.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theeraexchange.com/
- Instagram: @magicallyDee_ & @theEraExchange
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheEraExchange?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@MagicallyDee?si=Uje9YFualMTqy0F4
- Other: TikTok : @magicallyDee_ & @TheEraExchange