We were lucky to catch up with Kaylee Trostle recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kaylee, 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.

When I was younger, I had done graphic design as a hobby, a lot of the DIY projects I enjoyed the most was designing my own invitations and stationery, scrapbooking, and even taking art classes

Little did I know, for the coming years , I had already done early market viability testing for my stationery business I would create later!

The story on how Cactuslily came about:

“Oh! I forgot to put a reminder in my calendar on my phone again!” As I look at the appointment I had for the morning that I now have missed… as I was going through my morning to-do list on my phone and stressing about work deadlines. My husband to walks over to me and says “you should just write it down on a sticky note! Then It would be easier to remember if it was right in front of you.” I realized he was right. It was time for a change, I hated looking at my phone or having my phone not ring when I had an appointment. I also knew that the stationery found in stores was just generic and not something I would actually use.. so this is how I got inspired to start a stationery business and finally do something that I love and stop stressing about work deadlines.

I started my stationery business back in December of 2020. Now you probably are thinking there was no way in the middle of a pandemic I could scale up my business since everyone was dealing with much bigger problems. However in the pandemic no one could see each other so it was a perfect time to start a instagram and post letter templates for those to write to the or family members. Soon with a product line of 5 letter templates I started getting sales!
I couldn’t believe it. Now fast forward 3 years have created 100s of designs. I’ve sold at local craft sales, designed for friends, sold in retail,, sold wholesale to customers across the country, opened an online shop, and designed modern and beautiful new type of stationery. Our customers are so impressed that I l create and design with my own hands.
My goal is to make something that seems out of style come back in, but more modern and beautiful. This is not your grandmas stationery!

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?

As a young person, I had always had a love for stationery items,whether it be pens cards, paper, invites, etc. I would always collect beautiful paper and have it stashed away for a special day. I always believed that sending somebody a handwritten card or doing physical invitations to a party was so much better than the digital world that we live in. As I grew older, I quickly realized that the beautiful stationary that I wanted was very far out of my price range, and most of the ones I liked were very rare to find since everything was a little bit more out of date and not brought into modern design . Around 20 years old I decided that I was going to create a business where everyone could afford, beautiful, fun and practical stationery. I create; calendars, weekly planners, shopping lists, letter writing templates, all occasion greeting cards, stickers, to do lists , habit trackers, and much more in my shop. I think the most beautiful thing about my products that set me apart from others is that I believe that everyone should be able to afford beautiful stationery for themselves. I also believe that if you absolutely love the design your more likely to use it more when you have a piece of paper right in front of you instead of hidden in an app. It’s easier to make sure that the task gets done or the appointment you had does not get missed. Cactuslily.Co is a stationery boutique made for those that may be just starting out in the stationery world, or for those that are more familiar with stationery and want new designs / layouts.
The other beautiful thing is that I can customize anything on my stationery as long as it fits in our shop guidelines.

I truly believe that the problem that I am solving with my business is having your beautiful chaos be beautifully organized.

How did you build your audience on social media?

When I first started back in 2020 I had a very low count of social media followers. I had realized that maybe my business was unfamiliar to some. I decided to stay consistent and post relatable content for followers to find my account. I have been able to run my own social media account for 4 years now.
Thankfully the creativity I had at the beginning still is relevant today and I am continuing to grown in my stationery business. A tip that i can share with other businesses owners that are thinking of growing their social media account would be to BE TRUE TO YOURSELF AND YOUR BRAND.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy For growing our clientele is a strong focus on the customers. By nurturing strong relationships with our customers and offering QUALITY products. We also offer a loyalty point reward program for our customers on our website, which grows our clientele when our loyal customers introduce their friends and family to our website which then in turn creates new customers.
Finally, I take advantage of local events or community initiatives where they may have an opportunity to meet potential clients face-to-face either virtually or in person. Attending these events is very beneficial as it allows us the chance to network and build stronger relationships with other professionals from the same field who could potentially become future customers, as well as find new customers that are just a consumer that loves the products as much as we do.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.Cactuslily.Co
• Instagram: @Cactuslily.co
• Facebook: Cactuslily.Co
• Other: INSTAGRAM @Cactuslily.Co EMAIL : [email protected]