We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Renee King a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Renee, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

November 8th 2018 the entire town of Paradise California was burnt to the ground by a raging wildfire. In a matter of hours, the town I grew up in, and called home, was gone. We lost everything in the fire. Not just our physical home and possessions, but our places of work, our place of worship, and every piece of “home” I grew up with. Worst of all, I nearly lost my husband as well. Many lost their lives that day. I learned in that moment “things” just don’t matter. I was beyond grateful that my husband, family and friends all made it out alive. You may be wondering what this has to do with my business. But this event made a deep mark on our lives in every way. We stayed with many friends for the following 2 years while we tried to find a place to live. But due to the immediate flood of people needing homes, prices skyrocketed and it became extremely hard to find housing. I was unable to return to work due to sharing a vehicle and not living close enough to where my boss relocated. My husband was commuting 1.5 hrs to work to try and keep our income steady. Meanwhile I was volunteering full time with disaster relief efforts for families affected by the fire. But soon the time came, and I knew I needed to find a job. I began looking for other positions within my old field of work but to no avail. Then came March 2020. The Corona Virus hit. The world went on lock down. I wanted to make a change, and needed something that would give me control over my schedule, allow me to work remotely and ideally let me tap into the creative side of my brain. It was ar0und that time I discovered Polymer Clay on social media. I grew up doing lots of different crafts with my mom and always gravitated to creative things. My mom helped me buy all the tools and supplies needed to get started making clay earrings and so began my love of clay. I worked hard for nearly a year developing my techniques and quality before I began selling anything. Next came the weighty decision of a name. I knew I wanted something that sounded happy and whimsical, while also being personal to my brand. I toyed around with a lot of ideas but once again, it was my mom who helped me out when she came up with the winning option. The Clay Flamingo. It sounds simple, but it goes deeper than 3 little words. My grandmother who I was very close to, and lost at a young age, favorite animal were flamingos. And as grandmothers do, she had a lasting impact on me. I’ve always loved flamingos because they remind me of her and never cease putting a smile on my face. So cut to, January 2021 I opened my small business via etsy. It was exciting, terrifying and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Renee, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I knew social media was key in starting a small business, so I threw much of my time and effort into developing not just an audience, but a community. I wanted people to like my work, but it was as equally important to be a safe place people could stop by and share a laugh, smile and forget about their troubles, if even for a moment. The market for clay makers was very saturated when I opened my shop. But I’m a firm believer that there is a place for everyone, no matter the category. Theres only one you, and the world needs to see what you have to give. I try to lead with kindness, humor and joy. I just celebrated my businesses 2 year shop-a-versary and am beyond proud of the ever expanding “flamingo family” I’ve cultivated. My motto has always been “Community over competition” and strive to be a huge cheerleader for my fellow small biz babes.

If you’re new to my business and wondering what The Clay Flamingo is all about, keep reading. I’m girls girl. I love supporting other small businesses, especially women owned. I love to write poetry. I’m a total Disney nerd. I think music and dancing can cure anything you’re going through (just check out my Flash Dance Fridays), I believe pizza should be its own food group. Singing has been and always will be my love language, and I absolutely adore my husband of 13 years, Mr. Clay Flamingo. He’s been my I.T. help, my cheerleader, and best friend through it all.

If you’re new to clay jewelry, let me just say – you’re going to LOVE it. One of the reasons I fell in love with this medium, is its flexibility and weightlessness. Polymer clay is moldable into any possible shape and that is a recipe of an impossibly endless variety of designs. The icing on the cake here is its also extremely lightweight. I’ve had numerous people who said they are unable to wear earrings because they’re too heavy, become Clay Flamingo regulars! The most common response I get is “There so lightweight I forgot I was wearing them and fell asleep!” That’s how comfortable they are. But I strongly suggest NOT sleeping in them as proper care for your jewelry. I usually release collections during each month that all coordinate under a set theme, and don’t have a set style I stick to. I try to make sure there are options for everyone and change up my themes for each release. One of my favorite things to make are custom orders from customers that have a general idea for what they want and let me run wild with it. I’ve had the honor of making many personal and sentimental pieces over the last 2 years.

I always like to remind people of the importance of shopping small. There is absolute change affected when you choose to spend your money on a small business. Instead of that monetary value being lost along a billion dollar industry, that money is helping to put food on the table, gas in our cars, and a roof over our heads. And more than that, you’re expressing appreciation for someone’s talents. The time spent honing a skill, the fails and triumphs. The hours of research and sourcing materials. Not to mention the huge undertaking of trying to be seen on today’s ever changing social media algorithms. You’re quite literally supporting someone’s dream. To me, there’s nothing better. So when I say Thank you to my followers, know that its with my whole heart. I often say Thank You isn’t enough because how can you properly thank someone for helping to change your life? All I can do is continue making things that spark joy, spread cheer and always always always lead with kindness. One of my favorite quotes is “Have courage and be kind,” and that is how I strive to run my business.

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

I knew from the beginning what an important role social media would play in my success or failure. I think that is where a lot of new businesses fail. They don’t respect the time in which we live and how vital the internet and being digitally accessible is. Before I opened my business I kept track of what I looked for in a business. It didn’t matter what the category was. Restaurants, shopping, looking for a new doctor or dentist, mechanic, etc. If they didn’t have some type of social media presence or decent looking website, I moved on. This was even more important in a field like mine where your audience is solely online. As a small business starting out, you have to find ways to get your products in front of peoples eyes. For me, the easiest way to do that was Instagram, facebook and tiktok. While I sell my work through etsy, I needed to create a new community for my business and a loyal customer base. I turned to some friends that already had their own small business and they were a great source of encouragement and help. But ultimately it comes down to really knowing who you are as a brand and what you want your business to be. What is your target audience? Then lead with your heart and be.your.self. You’ll be doing a huge disservice to yourself and the small business community if you are constantly copying other creators. I truly believe my success stems from two things. Being myself on social media, and hyping up my fellow small business owners, creators, makers and artists. Its a truly symbiotic relationship. Have you ever heard the phrase “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours?” Well its similar to that. But not in a selfish way. You get much further with engagement on social media by being a GENUINE supporter and cheerleader, than a hater. I’ve made so many incredible, talented, kind new friends through this business and its made all the difference for me. I’m so grateful to learn from them and their experiences, and share mine as well. And remembering its not one size fits all. Part of this line of work is figuring out what works for you and your business. And that takes time. There are no shortcuts. If you fail, you’re succeeding. Its not how many times you’re knocked down, but how many times you get back up. Putting yourself out there isn’t easy for many people, including me. Believe it or not, looking at my page, I’m a rather introverted person. But I try to look at it like sharing pieces of me with my best friends. Putting my best foot forward and knowing the right people, my people, will find me. And along with that, do not be afraid of the block button. I will preach this from the rooftops “ITS YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA, THEREFORE IT IS YOUR DECISION WHO FOLLOWS YOU AND WHAT THEY ARE ALLOWED TO SAY TO YOU OR YOUR FOLLOWERS.” I do not tolerate hate speech or unkind words from anyone, ever. And neither should you.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I sell my items on Etsy and that was a decision I made prior to starting my business because after much research, I determined it would be the easiest and most reliable way to get started. I had no experience running my own business and wanted to make sure everything was done correctly. With Etsy they took care of everything for me. And it was very user friendly. Shipping, marketing, finances, they keep track of it all. However, its been 2 years and I’ve come to the point where I am ready to expand my shop to wholesale buyers and creating my own website. I still believe Etsy is the easiest way for beginners to get started. But they have, in my opinion, really began to take advantage of the sellers. Their multiple fees and cuts taken out of each sale are astronomical and honestly ridiculous. They also really haven’t created a way to support sellers when there are customers who should be banned or blocked from purchasing from you due to bad behavior or hateful speech. They make it extremely difficult to resolve issues and don’t do much to keep you informed. I had a bad experience with a customer that I needed to block in someway but etsy made is very hard to do that. Eventually the matter was taken care of but they wouldn’t share any details with me along the way. They also use “bots” to control any rule violations on their site and shut down shops that have not violated any rules without reason due to poor technical support. Overall, as a small business owner who truly relies on their sales for their monetary support, I don’t think Etsy is the way to go.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.etsy.com/shop/theclayflamingo
• Instagram: @theclayflamingo
• Facebook: The Clay Flamingo
• Other: tiktok : @theclayflamingo

Image Credits
I took them all myself.