We were lucky to catch up with Summer Taha recently and have shared our conversation below.
Summer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you wish you had started sooner?
I think I started this business at the perfect time in my life. It all happened so fast and so unexpected and it all fell into place perfectly. In 2019, I found myself with an intense urge to start buying plants. I felt like I needed something to look after other than myself. During the pandemic, that urge grew stronger and my collection grew larger. I eventually found myself with no more space for my green babies. They all lived in my little egress window and I had the idea to find a plant hanger on Amazon so that I could fit more plants into the small stream of sunlight I had in my room.
But with all the free time I had on my hands, instead of buying a ready made plant hanger, I bought some cotton cord and wooden rings. I found a YouTube video and I, more or less, perfected 3 different knots in about 2 hours. It came incredibly natural to me. I posted a photo of my plants’ new hanging home on my Instagram story and the next morning I woke up to two friends asking me to make them one too. That’s really when the business flourished.
I had just graduated college and had quit my job at an elementary school about a year prior so it seemed like the best time to really dive into something new. I have always been super creative, whether it was with singing, cooking, henna, nail art, painting, doodling mandalas, everything I have ever loved allowed me to express myself creatively. Something like this was bound to happen for me, but if it weren’t for the tiny plant obsession and the pandemic that was keeping us all locked up in our homes, I wouldn’t have found this beautiful craft. I think everything happens when it is supposed to and with all of the experiences that I gained from working for and with other people, I had a lot of the tools that I needed to figure out how to do it on my own.
I have found myself in the middle of so many beautifully talented women entrepreneurs and they have all been extremely welcoming, supportive and helpful during all the growing pains and learning curves that come with owning your own small business. I wouldn’t go back and change a thing. I found something that I have a true passion for and it all happened the way it was meant to.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am an Arab owned small business based in Crystal, MN. I’m a foodie, a singer, and I love basketball, volleyball and my newest obsession, pickle ball. I love to travel back home to Egypt, my happy place, for all of the food, culture and family.
I specialize in plant hangers, accessories, wall art, and more. My work is very raw, organic and natural. I really love that I allow the cord and the twists and turns of the knots really speak for themselves. That being said, I do very little with color. I save the colors for my earrings and keychains and other accessories and I even have a hand-drawn coloring book that allows people to add their own color to my art.
My favorite projects are always my commissioned pieces because I love getting the opportunity to see their space, find any repetitive patterns or textures, and really get a feel for who they are as a person and then make a piece WITH them, FOR them. Macrame is so versatile and everyone has their own style. It means so much to me to bring someone their piece and have it be something that we both created together with their space in mind.
I am most proud of the backdrop I made for a family friends’ wedding. Their piece took me quite a long time, but seeing it made and hung behind them as they said “I do”. . .that was a moment I will never forget.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect is the freedom to create pieces for others. Seeing the look on their faces and knowing that the literal blood, sweat, and tears were all for a purpose. It is a very fulfilling job for me because I truly thought I could never do it. I never thought I could make a living off of art I make with only my two hands. But I am and it feels really good to say that I have gotten this far and I’m doing it on my own.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
The way that I grew my social media following was really just going around to markets, introducing myself to the other vendors and connecting via Instagram. I do question boxes on my stories on occasion and encourage people to share their favorite women owned small business, I give them a tag and we end up connecting that way. It’s good to show people that you also support other businesses and value their success as well as your own.
Oh, and I’m sorry but. . . REELS, REELS, REELS. I won’t say reels are going to give you all the followers in the world because for me, it didn’t work that way. But reels are fun to make, they get you out of your comfort zone and keep your existing followers engaged and entertained.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tahamade.
com/ - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/tahamademacrame/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/TahaMadeMacrame - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/summer-taha- a35695175/
Image Credits
Photos by Graciela https://www.facebook.com/