We recently connected with Jenny Kavjian and have shared our conversation below.
Jenny, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Initially, I was influenced by different rockstars’ personal styles. The mixture of fetish wear with their stage clothes really elevated their look and I found it infinitely inspiring. Although I am not musically talented nor find myself on stage, I did frequent goth clubs and danced many evenings away. I knew that I wanted to design my own harnesses to set myself apart from all of my fellow monochromatic dance floor patrons. At first the designs were strictly fashion but I started to design different items that leaned more practical. My favorite among these is a wide strapped harness with a detachable rectangle pocket that sat just under my arms. It was a simple idea that I then evolved into the Coffin Holster Collection. The styles in that collection started simply as a way to combat clothing that didn’t have pockets and then turned into a practical way to make an outfit look more complete while also being able to carry my phone and cards. When I wasn’t dancing my gear around on goth nights, I had a booth set up at the bar for the people who also wanted accessories like mine. Soon after I was inspired to start an online shop.
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 was always a creative person, even as a child. From drawing, making up songs for everything, to daydreaming it seemed pretty obvious that I would find a creative outlet as an adult. I learned how to sew as a high school student and quickly learned through making costumes for their plays and musicals that I had a knack for it and a flare for the dramatic.
After high school, I found a job making costumes for a theme park where my problem solving skills evolved as well as my knowledge of pattern making and alterations. I also costumed for a dance troupe that I joined specifically for their outlandish costumes. Since then, I have held various positions in the fashion industry from small businesses to a huge corporation. I feel fortunate that I had these opportunities because I wasn’t trained in college on how to costume or how patterns are made but I learned while on the job with all of the hands-on opportunities I landed.
Although I had these incredible jobs I still wasn’t fulfilled. The fashion jobs are demanding and draining with their deadlines and mostly unreasonable hours. I wasn’t able to bring my own interests into my skills until I started to make things for myself. This is where I found an outlet making my own unique accessories for when I went out at night. From there at my various jobs, I would daydream about the day when I could take all the skills I’ve learned and finally work only for myself.
It was a grind. I was influenced by a friend to make a shop on Etsy to sell things that I didn’t sell out of when I was vending at goth nights. Etsy was a big help back then because they did all of the marketing and it helped people find my slow growing instagram page. After a few stressful years on their platform, I pushed myself to make my own website. We have all heard of the horror stories of selling on Etsy so I won’t go too much into detail but suffice it to say my shop was no exception. I ventured out on my own and without the constant marketing assistance provided by Etsy my personal sales slowed. I felt ok with that. The stress of that platform and their demands for fast and robotic services left me ready for a slower and kinder pace.
Thankfully when I started my own website, I also started selling my accessories wholesale to my favorite local spooky shop Die With Your Boots On in Salem, MA. The owners, Amber and Nick, are so kind and always do their best to feature local artists along with the larger, national brands. I have so many new customers and connections by being a featured artist in their shop. Every tourist season a new batch of followers find me and I couldn’t be more grateful. I truly feel like all of the things that I have done so far have lead me to where I need to be and I look forward to the next evolution of my shop as well as myself.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
While building my business I moved 2000+ miles from my hometown in South Texas to Salem, MA. My following initially was linked to my nightlife. Being a person who took residence on the dance floor on goth nights and stood out because of my neon green hair I became, in a very small way, a personality. My shop felt like it was linked to my “popularity” at the time that I lived there. When I decided to make the move and live with my then boyfriend/ now husband in Massachusetts I did a bit of research. I looked into the area to see if there were fashion manufacturers where I could find a job and quite possibly even small batch manufactures where I could have my products made. I was excited to find the brands that called Boston home! At that time I hadn’t worked for a large company before and thought that maybe a job like that could be more fulfilling and I could maybe even let my small business go. That was a backup plan if indeed my success was linked to me being out and about.
While I did my research my boyfriend told me about a new shop that was about to open in Salem: Die With Your Boots On. I did my own research and started following them on Instagram. After that I put them on my internal “vision board.” I pictured myself walking in with a bag full of my goodies and showing them how perfect they’d pair up with their clothes.
After moving and settling into my new home and living situation I started the humbling process of finding a job. I had a lot of bills to pay. Moving the contents of my house half a country away wasn’t cheap! My job search went on for months and the hiring process for fashion jobs especially when you don’t have a degree isn’t for the faint of heart. My confidence dwindled and I almost didn’t think I could muster up the bravado to walk into Die With YOur Boots On. Luckily, I was asked to vend at a goth night. While I was there a person who worked for the shop actually told me that the owners had seen my accessories on Instagram and were interested in carrying my harnesses. After that conversation I had the courage I needed to venture in. We started very slowly at first with what I could make here and there between my job searching, to working, and managing my shop’s orders. Eventually it grew into wholesale and even shop exclusive pieces that we have collaborated on.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
The thing I had to unlearn is my natural predilection to people please. Since it is in my nature it is difficult. Having my shop on Etsy in the beginning kind of reiterated that. There is a pressure to get only 5 star reviews, to have items out exactly when you say you can, to be available to answer every and any question immediately no matter what is going on in your personal life, and to just be altogether perfect. Having a made to order business model with those goals in mind can get pretty tense. There were late nights, midnight drives to the South Station Post Office off the harbor, and huge crying sessions where I felt like I was doing too much. I had to realize that it is within my power to change my deadlines. No more two day turnarounds. I made my deadline a week or more even with the imaginary frowny face of Etsy telling me that it would put an end to my shop to tell people that handmade items would take handmade time. I made the move. I had a few upset customers who didn’t read the timeframe so then I added a message that I sent to everyone about the time frame after they ordered. That seemed ok but it added another task to perform. So when that platform changed even more policies and added even more fees I fled. I started my own website. I clearly stated the timeframe which increased even more over time because people pleasing to my own detriment had to be unlearned slowly. Now I let customers know that their orders could potentially take up to five weeks to make because I had a health scare. The stress and constant use of my hands brought on arthritic inflammation. Thankfully I have found a way to mitigate the symptoms and I actually allow myself to have days off with this timeframe. I still get orders out before the five weeks but it feels more calming to know that if I need a break I can take it. Honestly, I feel like people are still pleased.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jennymachete.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopjennymachete/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopjennymachete
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-kavjian-1094b416b