We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Krista Kunkel . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Krista below.

Krista , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I haven’t always been a business owner. I’ve had multiple jobs and multiple bosses. I’ve had strict clock in times and clock out times. I realized that I was putting so much work in for these companies but the companies didn’t really appreciate it. I never got raises or position advancements. I worked at a company for years and never got a raise and had to take on second seasonal jobs to pay bills and still stayed at the company because I loved it and was a loyal worker. I got to the point I was at a company over 10 years and still struggling. The company had given me so many roles but the pay of one role. They saw I was a hard worker and rewarded that with giving me all the responsibilities. I was running an entire store and worrying about everything under the sun. It dawned on me that if I could do all this why can’t I push my own business? I had started an apparel line I was working on for years and it never really seemed to take off. I think it was because I wasn’t giving it the attention and work it needed. So I saved up some money. Just enough for 2 months of my bills being paid and quit my job.

I’ve owned my own business for the last 6 years. You know the stress I had before? I still have it. I will honestly say it’s x10 the stress before. Even if my pay was low, I knew I’d get paid. That’s the one statement any business owner will relate with. I never know if I’m going to make money. I never know if my bills will be paid this month. All I know is I have to get up everyday and try. I take any opportunity to make side money. I run the social media on numerous of my platforms, product photos, making the product, shipping, customer service, running a brand rep team, and creating the designs. I just had to stop and laugh as I’m typing this because I would be a companies dream employee all the stuff I can do on my own vs them hiring in a team. I don’t want to scare anyone from owning a business. I just want you to know it’s a lot of work and not a lot of sipping drinks on a beach in the Bahamas. I will say the reward of seeing the business grow and (for me) seeing so many people wearing my apparel does make up for the stress. I blow cinnamon through my door each month for abundance. I tell the universe I got this and I’ll succeed everyday. That’s the only business plan I have and it’s working for me.

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.

If you didn’t know about me or my company. I own a witty apparel brand called Fakewrenching.com it’s a little bit of everything. It started out being strictly off-road branded apparel. Funny sayings like death wobble survivor. Over the past few years I’ve added sayings for everyone. Just witty things in my head. I’m a huge true crime podcast listener and have been adding more skulls to the line also and I’ve been branching off and adding custom made flannels. One of my popular sayings also is “Looking for a beer sponsorship .” My favorite line is my hustle line currently. It’s geared to people who work there a$$ off to survive. I see you. I respect the hustle.

I just try to stay creative and have a little something for everyone.

While also building a community around the brand. My brand reps are the heart of this company. They care about the company as much as I do. The best part is a lot of them felt like outcasts or didn’t have many friends. We all found each other. We are weirdos who felt misunderstood. Now we are all weirdos together while supporting a great company.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

This question is literally my jam. I built an entire media platform from nothing over a course of years. Tons of trial and error. With how social media is today it’s a lot harder to build a platform. I build my platform around me as the face of my brand. My media gets to know me. They know I hand make everything and they know who I am as a person. I make it a point to share my downfalls and problems. If I’m going to ugly cry over something I’ll share that. I want people to see the work put into a business. I hate that social media paints a picture that everything always goes right. I hate that. I hate when brands pretend. I don’t want to fake it until I make it. I want to bring all my media on the ride to success with me. We are going to stop at failures and take a turn at stress and we are going to keep going.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

I get told stories all the time from my customers but my favorite is when people wear my shirts and they turn into ice breakers. I had a fellow tell me he wore one of my shirts to a job interview and the interviewer just kept laughing and had to ask about the shirt. He told me he got the job.

Contact Info:

• Website: Fakewrenching.com
• Instagram: NotMJG
• Facebook: Fakewrenching
• Youtube: Fakewrenching
• Other: Instagram: @Notmjg @fakewrenching Facebook: @michiganjeepgirl @fakewrenching @Kristakunkel Email: [email protected]