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

Alright, Lynnette thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about how you got your first non-friend, non-family client. Paint the picture for us so we can feel the same excitement you felt on that day.

My first client was the owner of the only black owned brick and mortar book store in Memphis,TN. I shopped there a lot and one day I showed the owner the bookworm bookmark I made to match the book cover of the book I was reading at the time. After I showed the owner my bookworm, he mentioned wanting some bookworms for his store. I have to be 100% honest. I thought the owner was just saying that to be nice and went on about my day, but the owner’s comment never left my mind. Fast forward a few weeks, I reached out to the owner and asked if they really wanted to order some bookworms for the store. Of course the answer was yes and I was so excited. Then this overwhelming feeling of fear hit me and I started to doubt accepting the order. I talked to a couple of family members and friends and their response was “Do it scared”. I worked to make sure the bookworms were perfect and delivered them personally to the book store. I will never forget this moment and will be forever grateful for the opportunity and the push to “Do it scared”.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I learned how to crochet a few years ago while living in Arkansas. I didn’t have much of a social life during that time and wanted to learn something new. After I moved back to Tennessee, I no longer had the downtime I previously had and crocheting took a back seat.

Hippie Harris was born in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, I was at home, like most people, and had a lot of extra time on my hands. I no longer had to fight traffic going to and from the office and all of my normal errands/appointments were no longer a high priority. During my downtime, I started to crochet again. My first big project was a blanket for my niece. I wanted to give her something special for her to keep forever. Next, I got the bug to make cute and colorful bookmarks for myself since I was reading more. I finally started to challenge myself with following different patterns to create items like scarves, hats and etc. Being a person that isn’t afraid of color, I created crochet pieces that I liked and started posting on social media. I had a few of my Facebook friends ask if I planned on selling the items I made and some friends even came with specific requests. I finally decided to turn my hobby into a business. I created Hippie Harris to bring color to the world and create a space for myself.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

One goal of Hippie Harris is to bring color and uniqueness to the world. Being that there are so many yarn variations, I get to use my imagination to create goods that my clients and I are proud of. The second goal is to make accessories that readers will enjoy to use in their favorite books. I get excited when I have a new bookmark and I know there are other people like me out there.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

This might sound crazy, but I wish I knew about the different hand exercises and stretches for people that crochet or knit. When I first started this journey, I would crochet for hours without taking a break and stretching. Needless to say, my hands and wrist weren’t happy. Now, I set a timer to get me out of my crochet zone and I do some of my favorite stretches I found on YouTube.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hippieharris.com
• Instagram: @hippie__harris
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/HippieHarris901
• Other: If you would like to discuss custom requests, email me at [email protected].