We recently connected with Kristi Williams and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristi, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I would say it’s more like going from Visions to Execution. I will have to share my story in order for you to understand the Visions. I will provide a brief summary. I was molested by a family member at a young age, pregnant at the age of 16 and 17 (2 kids in high school) , in a teenage domestic violence relationship, 4 children by the age of 24. I was angry, depressed and suicidal. I experienced a lot of barriers throughout my journey. In my early to mid 40’s, I was tired of being angry and unhappy. I started looking up to the sky and found a sense of Peace and Tranquility. I started taking pictures of the sky and that is how it all began. I became an LLC on June 6th, 2016. I created my first product, a writing journal using the pictures that I took, in 2016. In the next year or so I created my children’s journal and attended several vendor events. In order for my business to move beyond the idea stage I had to research graphic designers, manufacturers and local/national small business supportive organizations (SBA, SCORE, Women Business Center, African American Chamber).

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?

My name is Kristi Diane Williams (maiden name Wilkins). I was born and raised in Cincinnati Ohio. I have 4 children. I am a Licensed (LSW) Social Worker with a Master’s Degree.

It was never my goal or desire to become a business owner. This business was created because of the trauma that I experienced as a child, teen and adult. With a lot of Prayer and visions that I received, I created inspirational, self-affirming designs and placed them on products. My products include shower curtains, bath mats, throw pillows, comforters, bean bag covers and journals.

KRISTIKOLLECTIONS is Home Decor’ with a Purpose and provides home goods with creative designs, inspirational and affirmative messaging that can be used to enhance the living space for children and adults.

I am most proud of being able to continue to grow my business and spread inspirational, positive and self-affirming messages throughout the World.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I am still working on building my social media presence. I would like to share that one of the best investments that I made for my business was partnering with a Branding Coach. My Branding Coach, Nahamani (ny@nahamani.org) and her team have enhanced my social media presence on FaceBook, Instagram and Wix website. My advice to others would be to explore utilizing a Branding Coach. For me, engaging in the social media platforms and creating content was not a strength and I recognized early on that it is okay to reach out to businesses that specialize in a particular service that was not “in my lane”.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

Yes, I do manufacture my products. When I first got started, I did not know how to connect safely to manufacturers outside of the United States. I used Google a lot. I came across Alibaba.com during my Google search but I still did not trust the website. One day I was watching a news channel on the television and the CEO of Alibaba was on there talking about the Alibaba website. That was my cue to start exploring manufactures on their website. I would reach out to more than one manufacturer requesting bulk pricing quotes and samples. You still need to be really careful on the Alibaba website as well and make sure that you always communicate and send payment only through their website. One of the lessons that I have learned along the way about manufacturing a product is that the higher the quantity the lower the price per product. Another lesson that I learned is to take your time when dealing with manufacturers. You want to make sure that the manufacturer is the best fit for your brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kristikollections.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristikollectionsllc/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristikollections/