We recently connected with Kimberly Lavon and have shared our conversation below.

Kimberly, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My product and business both carry the same name: Pad Tie. As a Master of Advertising, I’ve named products and brands for years, but for some reason, I struggled to name this one. That changed after a chat with my boyfriend Andy, who, like me, is a creative, though his training is in culinary arts.

We both love food, so one day over lunch, I asked for his help. I shared all the names I had come up with, and without hesitation, he said, “You should call it Pad Thai but change the spelling.” It was a genius move, and here’s why: The name tells you what the product does. Being punny is something I do all the time, and it connects my love of food. The name stuck the moment he said it. I’m so happy I asked him for help!

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.

How I Got Into the Industry:
I’ve always been creative, but the kind of creative I wanted to be was unclear. So, I tried everything that seemed fun. My first job out of high school was a tattoo artist apprenticeship. Then I went to undergrad and earned a BFA in Fine Art Printmaking and Graphic Design. After that, I ventured into entrepreneurship, opening a gallery/printshop while continuing to do design work, which involved a lot more drawing.

With years of solopreneur experience under my belt, I went back to college to get my Master’s in Advertising in 2020. When COVID hit, I continued my education online through creative bootcamps, seminars, and more. This journey made it possible for me to invent and produce my product, as I saw a need for it with no existing solutions.

The Product I’m Offering:
Pad Tie! The first sticker-based book band designed to keep your books closed and pages safe. It’s essentially a book lock for books without built-in elastics.

What Makes Me Different:
While there are many types of book bands on the market, none of them can do what mine can. Other products are made of silicone, zippers, buttons, and leather, and they typically fit only one size of book. Pad Tie, on the other hand, will fit any book of any size, is affordable, and is tactile-friendly for those with sensory difficulties.

What I Am Most Proud Of:
I’m officially an inventor! Of all the things I thought I could do, this wasn’t on the list. I never planned to pursue this path, but now that I’m here, I want to do it all the time. Delivering solutions to my creative community would be incredible.

What You Should Know About My Brand:
Pad Tie is woman of color-owned, made in the USA, and designed for paper lovers. So if you use sketchbooks, notebooks, journals, scrapbooks, or three-ring binders, this is the product you never knew you needed.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Grades aren’t everything, and the people tasked with helping you won’t always do that. Assume nothing.

From elementary school to graduate school, teachers and my parents constantly harped on me to get “good grades.” I always did my best, but my best didn’t always get me the “A” I wanted. Being a high achiever, every bad grade was a real disappointment. Teachers and family would make me feel worse when I shared my report cards, deepening my misery. So I listened to them. I tried and tried. I worked harder and harder until I got to graduate school and finally earned the honors I had been chasing all these years.

I was so proud until a professor said, “Grades mean NOTHING. Forget your grades—it’s about knowledge and ability. Focus on that, and you’ll do great.” I was beside myself. He was right. It was never about grades. Employers aren’t looking at those! They want to know you can do the job.

The big revelation was that I’d been chasing smoke for most of my life because I was poorly advised. If I had focused on my strengths and abilities, ensuring I knew them all inside and out, the good grades would have followed. But I was looking at everything wrong and placed my focus on the wrong thing. If I had known this in the beginning, my journey would have been much more pleasant! I hope this news helps everyone wrestling with the same issue.

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

I had the opportunity to work with a former graduate school professor on a big, private, invite-only project. I was so excited because this person was my favorite teacher in school. I learned the most from them and had been hoping for this moment.

Sadly, the experience was a complete reversal from the school environment. I was paid the least on the team—pennies, to put it bluntly. The project lasted six months, and I got paid only once while being “on call” 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It was a dehumanizing experience. I eventually left the project but was never paid for the additional work I completed. So, I went half a year without pay and had to chalk it up as a life lesson. Lesson learned. I know how to spot red flags faster now and can better navigate the business side of things because of what happened.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://padtie.carrd.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/padtie.co
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/padtie.co
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimberlylavon

Image Credits

©️ Kimberly Lavon INK