We recently connected with McKenzie Wilkins and have shared our conversation below.

McKenzie, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Three years ago I was working in a daycare as a preschool teacher and decided to invest in a Cricut machine to help with projects for my classroom. I quickly found out that I LOVED creating crafts and that it was a great way to destress after a long work day. Projects for my students and classroom evolved to gifts for family members and making my own home decor and sharing it to my social media accounts. A mother of one of my former students who owns a local floral shop, Artistry in Flowers, and was gracious enough to let me sell some of my crafts in her shop. That experience was really great in helping build my confidence in the products I was making and was a way to get my name and creations out there to the community. A year ago, Oly Harbor Markets introduced me to the amazing world of local markets where I was able to further push my business as well as meet so many amazing vendors. Seeing others be able to do what they loved and connect with their customers in person at these events really inspired me to work harder and create more. It truly is such an amazing community of small business owners who are there to help you succeed. Without their help as well as the support from customers, I would not be where I am today.

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.

My name is McKenzie Wilkins and I am the owner of Kreations by Kenzie. I started out just making little personalized gifts for my students and decor for my classroom. Once the pandemic hit, I found myself having much more free time at home and was bored so I spent hours on YouTube getting project ideas from other crafters. I made personalized cups for my family and dove into the world of sublimation and started making keychains and lanyards for my co-workers. That Christmas I decided to make a sign to decorate my front door and that is when I found that my true passion was in creating home decor. I loved that I was able to really create decor that fit my home perfectly, from the colors of the stain and paint to the saying that I was putting on it. I soon found that others really loved that personalization aspect of my products as well and there were not too many people in the community who did that. Something about my business that I really take pride in is that I truly love what I do and always strive to make products that I am proud of and would have in my own home. I am sometimes a bit of a perfectionist, but I feel that it has really helped me with my small business because it means that I only put out products that I am 100% proud of.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Prior to doing my first market last year, I applied for many others but either got waitlisted or just never heard back. It was hard starting in the market community with little to no social media following and not really having my name out there at all. It was defeating at times to see others getting into so many of these events, but I just kept creating new products and posting to my social media accounts. I am beyond grateful to the owner of Oly Harbor Markets, Sydney, who created such a positive market for those of us who were just starting out and struggling to get into the more popular markets. Because of the opportunity she gave me to join her events, I was able to get my foot in the door and meet so many other small business owners who provided SO much advice and support.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Something that I think has helped me build my reputation within my market is that I stand behind my products 100%. Before releasing new items, I test them by giving them as gifts to family members or using them myself to see the longevity of the item and make any changes before my customers can purchase them. I spend hours researching the materials I use such as the stains, sealant and glue I use to make sure that the decor and other products will hold up over time. I am also always making sure that I listen to my customers suggestions and make changes when needed.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kreationsbykenzie21/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067200696381

Image Credits
Kierstin Smith (kierstinsmithphotos)