We recently connected with Kayla Rodriguez and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Kayla , thanks for joining us today. Risking 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.
The biggest risk I’ve taken in life was Moving to NYC from Detroit. Growing up in Michigan had its ups and downs and I found myself always in the center of trouble. I joined the arts with a friend so they wouldn’t feel alone and ended up falling in love with acting. I originally moved to NYC wanting to be an actor. After dedicating so much of my time to the craft it seemed like the path I was going to go down. I had an agent, and was even booking gigs on some serious networks, but in my personal life I was couch surfing and working 7 days a week at a job I just didn’t like. The pandemic hit almost a year later as I was finally finding my footing. My wife, then girlfriend at the time and I had moved in together right before the lockdown and found ourselves being there for one another. Acting wasn’t really happening as it was before and needing to find a creative outlet I would do arts and crafts in the apartment just to pass the time. My wife encouraged me to keep creating and to even share what I was making with the world . With her support I started wire wrapping Knick knacks and momentos all over the house into pieces of jewelry and little sculptures. I posted them on my IG and all of a sudden people wanted to buy them. Another risk I was jumping into – a job I didn’t know how to manage, a business that was growing with every post. But with the support of my wife and friends, I was able to see so much success from it. And I attribute my social skills and performing ability to be able to be around people, now vending in the streets as a artist full time.
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 business name is QuelokayDesigns, a name given to me by friends who’d call me Kayla Kay and morphed from there. I make handmade wire wrapped jewelry and sculptures using crystals, repurposed jewelry and momentos from people all over the world. When I first started making jewlery, it was never my intention to keep it going! I was really into the 420 vibes and so I created a little joint holder out of a paper clip. Not thinking much of it I started making more and more using little beads, shells and crystals for fun. When I noticed how much support I was getting online, I started doing my research on securing an LLC and becoming a full time artist. I befriended vendors all around the city from Union Square, Washington Square and Prospect Park to figure out how I could become a street artist myself. It’s actually pretty simple when it comes to the paper work, it’s the drive to wake up at 5 am to secure a spot that puts a lot of people off. I worked 7 days a week 12-14 hour days in the streets, building my social media presence and street presence, becoming apart of the artist and vendors community. My biggest thing was making jewelry on the spot! If you wanted a ring, or you had a broken pieces of jewelry you wanted repurposed, I would make it and fix it right there and then in front of you. A big chunk of my sales were from customs made on the spot and I did it non stop! People even started to bring me bags of their own repurposed jewelry, beads and crystals as gifts so that I would incorporate their memories into my work. I got to a point where I no longer had to purchase anything but wire, as strangers were blessing me with materials on the daily. The best part about working with crystals, is befriending other vendors and being able to send clients to them for super specific stones. I’d team up with crystal who mainly sold the stones so that my clients would buy the stone from them and I would wrap it up! Some of my proudest moments were seeing the looks on my clients faces when I created something for them that was truly one of a kind. I always guarantee to never make anything twice, as I like the energy to feel unique to each individual.. I’ve had moments where a client would be drawn to a certain stone I was going to wrap for them, and as I describe the spiritual properties, they became emotional as it was something they needed. Those are always the stories that make this so worth it, to give someone a little faith, a little wonder, and some magic.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
As people may find this answer super repetitive, it is true: BE CONSISTENT! I am a very extroverted person. Not afraid to be in front of a camera and talk to millions of people. So for me it was making sure people saw my face, saw me wearing my work, telling the stories of clients who I loved, clients I didn’t love so much and making sure I responded to folks that had questions or just great comments! Social media is a place we’re people want to feel like they are apart of something. You have to be ready for the love and the hate that comes with it. I started like this: Monday I’d post something motivational about being a small business, maybe it had something to do with me or being a business as a whole, Tuesday would be for tutorials, I would show my audience how to make a piece of simple jewelry and request for them to tell me more they wanted to see for more content later, Wednesday I’d talk about my favorite wire wraps I’d made, Thursday was for throwbacks were I highlight what it is I’ve made and talk about the process that it took to get there, Friday was another flashback onto something else I loved from the past, Saturdays I wouldn’t post so much because I noticed it didn’t get that much love so I’d just post a photo and promote my events for the week, and Sunday was self care, talking about how I took care of my hands as someone who makes jewlery, or finding ways to stay motivated when all you do is the same thing everyday which is to be creative! You can mold this to your own thing, and you will find that it is successful. If you are someone who is introverted, to shy for the camera, just make sure your video quality is bright and beautiful, and maybe try using your voice for voice overs instead. Be the storyteller that brings life to your work!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Being an artist and a business at the same time can be a challenge in NYC. While there is tons of opportunities, you can truly be overwhelmed or feel like things need to be perfect. But the truth is, it’ll never be perfect right away. It’ll take time, time for you to learn and grow. And the sooner you start the more astounded with yourself you’ll be when you look back at how far you have come. I worked for three years straight 6-7 days a week for 12-14 hours a day. That includes the hot and the cold months. It is NOT easy having to hustle during those cold months, but I did it. Being a street vendor can be a challenge in itself. I always told myself I would forever sell my art in the streets that my business thrives there. But soon after working in the cold did I realize this was an impossible task. The weather can make or break your business, and even yourself. As I grew I started to let go of the ego I had of just being outside and started getting more serious if I was going to do this full time. I would hit the summer months hard while simultaneously getting ready for holidays gifts, I would promote going live on all social media platforms, to get people use to me being online more than in person. And when the weather started to break and became to cold I’d go full time online, selling my already made pieces and still promoting that I would make jewelry for you on the spot to keep my word that I’d always make unique pieces for people that they could be apart of.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://quelokaydesigns.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/quelokaydesigns?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/people/Quelokaydesigns/100087122551603/?wtsid=rdr_05H0dyI9GK2PoSjPY
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@quelokaydesigns
Image Credits
Model photos by: IG @PatPlushphotos