We were lucky to catch up with Kayla Chanel recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kayla, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
The original idea for Peculiar Creations came up in 2016 i was around the age of 18 . I’ve always dreamed of being a fashion designer/stylist and one day having my own brand, but i wanted my brand to be more than just another custom clothing side hustle. In these years the name of the business was simply Peculiar . The first ideas for the brand was to create and hire a crew of young creatives like me that had dreams of starting in the creative industry but didn’t really know where to start , didn’t really have professional experience , or that were just self taught like i was . I wanted the Peculiar Crew to be a one stop shop where people could come and get everything they needed whether it was a Fashion Designer , Stylist, Makeup artist, Photographer, Creative Director , Event planner , literally anything they could come to us and hire their team all in one place . I felt this idea would be very worthwhile because for the employees it was a place where young creatives could get their foot in the door . It would be the first big step to our long term goals. For our audience i felt it would almost speak for itself . Imagine you’re looking for someone to create you a outfit for a photoshoot and you want it to be made just for your style different and exciting never before seen and as you’re getting things together you realize i need makeup or who’s gonna do my hair or i need a Party planner., and you came across Peculiar Crew and found every single piece of the puzzle in one place. So I always strongly believed that this idea would grow into my biggest dreams. Of course with every big dream you have to have a starting point, even though i felt so confident in the plans that i had and it’s almost a devastating feeling to know that even though you dream of something and you’re confident in it you have to step back and realize things just don’t always happen that way . Yes i believed and still believe God is able to provide and work miracles but sometimes you have to put in the extra work for it , it won’t always fall in your lap because you feel like it should . With that knowledge and faith in 2017 i focused on just my field of work which was making and styling clothes. I rebranded to being Peculiar Clothing . I was restyling and creating custom pieces for customers and styling for different events. In these particular times i was dealing with a lot of self doubt and also negativity around me. I feel like a lot of creatives deal with a lot of the things i was battling with . I was a self taught creative coming out of high school , usually around that time everyone is pushing you to go to school graduate college or get a job and although i was always interested in college it was never my dream i always knew i wanted to be a entrepreneur and be my own boss . I never even thought about having a job , i can’t even remember a time where i talked about having a normal day to day job it was just never in my plans. Of course these things out me in a weird place i learned everything i knew from YouTube and research never took a class i believe God birthed me with a creative gift everything i knew how to do i lessened by just doing it. My business wasn’t really established at this time because for one i was still teaching myself the technicalities of running a business and i also had no credibility , most people don’t really do business just because God gave me a gift , there was nothing to really back it up but my faith and i feel that was the hardest time in my career because i believed God could make a way for me because he gave it to me but i doubted my own ability. I started applying to different colleges every year trying to please others and actually have some credibility and i never finished a class . Even with the doubt and the failures i had and still have so much faith in my brand and my future. In 2019 my official rebrand , we officially became Peculiar Creations LLC . I wanted to Brand my business in a way that it wasn’t trapped in one lane. I wanted my brand to be more than just a clothing brand especially because i created more than just clothing . I decorated and designed for events , made custom glass plaques , created murals and wall paintings and so much more, so i wanted to be known for all things creative and not just clothing even though clothing is our main focus i never wanted to be stuck being only a clothing brand. I also understood when other successful business owners would teach “find your niche and stick to it “ but i always believed even when you find your niche you shouldn’t have to trap your creativity and I took a chance with prayer, faith and hard work and created a brand that was exactly that. With more faith, research , and YouTube i learned the fronts and backs of running a business, marketing, sales, etc . I created websites , started doing my own graphic designing , and launched my business as a LLC .
Kayla, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Kayla Chanel the Owner and Creator of Peculiar Creations . Since i could remember I’ve always had a passion for all things Fashion and Creative . I am a self taught creator and designer . Peculiar Creations provides many different services and products such as, Streetwear Merch, Custom Clothing , Hand Painted Pieces , Party Decor, and more. We were created to provide a Brand that gives God-Fearing Creatives a way to Express themselves through their Clothing . Us as Creatives are always labeled as weird or different or Peculiar now we have a platform to express ourselves unapologetically ! We wanted to make it known that’s It’s Regular to be irRegular #itsirREGULAR . It’s Regular for young creatives to serve God unapologetically, it’s regular for young creatives to be bold and confident in themselves and be exactly what they are Chosen to be . The name Peculiar was created because i wanted something that described me , described the customs and described the audience. My favorite Scripture is 1 Peter 2:9 “ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;“ . Peter describes what Gods people was supposed to be and do. I felt the word Peculiar Fit perfectly because in Biblical terms it meant ‘ Belonging Exclusively To ; Gods Own Possesion ‘ and the dictionary definition is to be different, strange, and special. As creatives we are chosen by God to be different and set apart and we express ourselves in many different ways. I have never been the most vocal person I’ve always expressed myself through my creativity and one way was through my clothing . I created Peculiar Creations to give other young creatives to have an outlet to do just that . We are Creatives, We Dont Fit In , Never Did , Never Wanted To !
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I believe my entire journey from 2016 to now showed my resilience. Throughout my journey of becoming an entrepreneur i experience many many pit stops and road bumps along the way . The biggest i would say was in 2019, the year i lost one of my favorite people. My best friend Tyler Johnson was a big part of my daily drive and motivation. September 1,2019 began the darkest period of my life. I lost a lot of motivation to do just about anything . I had to be the most resilient in these past few years because as much as i wanted to give up everything and not push through with creating and building my business i pushed and leaned on the faith that i had left to not give it all up. I had to be resilient in this because i believed and still believe that God has a bigger plan and destination for my life. Even with this resilience i know i haven’t yet began to work in my highest ability with my business since then but i believe if i push myself even harder i will get back to that soon.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
I learned mostly everything that i know in regards to running a business through research . Social Medias like Youtube really has been the most impactful outlet in my career . I faithfully watched and studied people like Troyia Monay, Dakira Taylor (ByRedd/Reddsworld), Boujee Barbiee , and Sidity Dess. I purchased and completed slot of their books whether physical or e-books to learn the ins and outs of running a business and marketing strategies. In most recent years i have added a few others to this list like Kayla Parilla, The owner of God Is Dope and the Owners of WRLDNVSN . All of these platforms have a major hand in the way that my business is structured and ran.
Contact Info:
- Website: PeculiarCreationsLA.com
- Instagram: @peculiarcreationsla
- Youtube: Themoguls_kloset