what I’m most proud of

We recently connected with Kayla Harper and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kayla, thanks for joining us today. Risk taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

This year, I took the biggest risk yet with my business: I left corporate America and took on my business full-time. For the past nine years, Coasters & Co has been a side business that I spent my nights and weekends building. After dropping down to part-time at my day job in the fall of 2021, to experience more of the holiday season with my craft, I knew I would be making the leap in 2022. When April rolled around, I officially became my own boss and navigated a new life. I had to restructure my finances, find my own health insurance and other benefit coverages, and hone in on my daily routine. There were many stressful aspects such as not having the consistent, guaranteed paycheck that I was used to getting every two weeks, and questioning if I made the right decision for myself and my family, however, I kept asking myself “if not now, then when?”

Kayla, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Kayla and I’m the owner of Coasters & Co. I started making coasters nine years ago as a hobby. I was actually just bored one day and had an urge to do some crafts. I got onto Pinterest and scrolled through some ideas and came across some DIY coasters. I ran to the store, grabbed the materials, and within a couple hours, I made my first set. After a few days, I decided to list it on Facebook Marketplace just to see if it would sell, and it did! I was shocked. The rest is history. I rebranded to Coasters & Co in 2020 and officially registered it as a business. I currently sell online through Etsy and locally at RF Home Co in Kirkwood, MO and Joys Collective Market in St. Charles, MO.

What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my dedication to my brand over the years. Before taking it full-time this year, I was the Director of Operations for an online E-commerce company, and pursuing my MBA at Lindenwood University, all while tending to my kiddo and several furbabies at home. I constantly had a full plate but I never gave up and I kept chugging along, even through crazy holiday seasons when I didn’t think I would make it through, and during slow months when I didn’t think it was worth continuing.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I currently sell on Etsy. Although I plan on working towards creating my own website next year, Etsy has, and still continues, to serve its purpose, and I’ll continue selling on there even after I have my own website. Like any selling platform, Etsy does have fees they charge with every purchase that is made, as well as with every listing you list. However, I view Etsy as a marketing expense. Customers go to Etsy to look for handmade items; as long as you know how to effectively work your SEO with your listings, you’ll likely do well on the platform.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Coasters & Co started as a side hustle but turned into a full time business in April of this year when I decided to take the leap to see the potential it could have. When it was a side hustle, I went through stages of getting it to where it was. In the first couple years of doing it, the sales were slow. I mostly made sales to friends and family through my Facebook page and I would attend some craft shows through the holiday months. Around the summer of 2017, I created new, custom last name monogram designs that I posted in a popular crafting group – Crafted in St. Louis – that gained a ton of traction. That was the next ‘stage’ of my business that helped level it up. I was able to gain a lot of visibility around the area through posting on this page, as well as scale my sales and opportunities. In 2018, I began selling in brick and mortar locations around the St. Louis area. I’ve been in a total of six locations, however, I’ve scaled down to just being in two currently. Being a one-person show, I’ve learned that running around, trying to stock and maintain multiple locations (while doing this part-time, at the time) was just not realistic. I also started picking up wholesale accounts, and wanted to transition into doing more of those than consignment opportunities. Sometimes scaling a business happens quickly for some while others progress slowly. Mine has been on the slower route, by choice, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Now that it’s full-time, I can start picking up that pace a little more and I’m excited to see the milestones I’ll hit in 2023 and beyond!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CoastersAndCoLLC
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coastersandcollc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Coastersandcollc/