Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kayla Wimmer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kayla, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

I get a lot of messages on socials about HOW to burn hats or HOW to get started with hat bars. I constantly strive to be an open-book with people when they ask that. It’s so so important to me. The amount of times someone messages back and goes “You have no idea how many people have told me to figure it out on my own! Thank you for actually answering!” Whether it’s sending links or showing someone over Facetime in another state how to learn a craft, it’s easy to be helpful.

I’ve always tried to run my business under the idea that there is plenty of room at the table. Why wouldn’t I pull up a seat for someone else? We’re all in this together

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?

Krew Designs started in 2019 and was a mix of paintings, calligraphy and other goodies. It transitioned in 2021 to wood burnings when I found myself unemployed during the pandemic. Honestly, losing my job was the best thing that ever happened to me! I was able to put my focus on what really lights my soul on fire, and that is creating.

I was working on a wood burning one day and saw a hat on the wall and thought to myself, “I wonder if I could burn that”. Turns out… YOU CAN! I posted a picture of the hat to my Instagram and within 10 minutes got a message that someone wanted to purchase it. I used the money from that sale and bought 3 more hats to try my hand at and within a month I had sold 14 hats. After seeing what a hit the hats were, I slowly phased out the paintings and the calligraphy.

Leaning into my community has been huge and I have learned so much and been given some of the most amazing experiences over the last 2 years. I’m currently in 150+ stores nationwide (thanks to the persistence of some really amazing women) and I am traveling all over Texas hosting hat bars in store and at corporate events. I try to take each opportunity that comes my way and see what I can do to make the best of it.

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

I have my own website and also sell Wholesale on Faire.com. I originally was on Etsy but transitioned out of that in May 2022 due to the increase in charges and lack of customization on their interface.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I still work a full time job and have to really make break down my time. I get up early to work on hats and go to bed late to get everything done and shipped out. It’s a lot of work but I love it!

Contact Info:

• Website: krewdesigns.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/krew_designs
• Facebook: facebook.com/krew_designs
• Other: tiktok.com/krew_designs