Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Taylor Jackson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Taylor, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I taught myself how to crochet one random afternoon during my Sophomore Year of High School. To set the scene- It was second semester And I was extremely stressed. At the time, I was class president, taking multiple AP Classes, Competing at either Track meets or Debate Tournaments every Saturday, and just generally feeling a lot of anxiety. I’m the type of person that has to have a packed schedule, but it was getting to a point here all my hobbies were adding to the stress and anxiety. From a young age, I have always loved fashion and had the desire to design my own pieces, My mom taught me to sew at a young age, but between not enjoying the pace of hand sewing and not feeling confident in my sketches I had stopped practicing. While sitting in my room watching YouTube, I had the intrusive thought that I should learn how to crochet. Just like that I was in the hall closet pulling out a thick thread and what I thought to be a crochet hook (it was actually the type used for the hairstyle lol). I looked up a tutorial on how to make a crochet top, and eventually called my dad and asked him to take me to the store to get some supplies. It was a slow start and a lot of unraveling, but by Mother’s Day I had a finished top!

People always ask me how to get started, and I suggest looking up tutorials for something you’d actually use. I was able to learn the basic construction of a crochet top, and the necessary skills that are needed to crochet basic fashion pieces. By October, I was confident enough to design a top that I wore to my homecoming.

It’s been 6 years since my first piece and I still look at it in my closet, proud of how far I’ve grown in my craft!

Taylor, 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?

My brand NYGC By Taylor stands for Not Your Grandma’s Crochet and aspires design handmade clothing items that bring confidence to all who wear it! I started crocheting because I couldn’t afford to buy the trendy clothes I saw at the mall, so many of my pieces are inspired by current fashions and developed into pieces that you’ll come back to time and time again. While I started as a solely crochet brand, I recently have started selling needlepoint/plastic canvas purses in addition to plastic canvas and crochet corsets.

On that note, my business had been going at a nice pace from 2020-2021. When I introduced needlepoint in 2022, my growth has been exponential! I had a video go viral on Tik Tok in April 2022 showcasing my Small NYGC Handbag which catapulted me into the busiest summer of my life. I learned a lot of important lessons about the production process and had plans to relaunch Fall of 2022, but unfortunately my Senior Thesis (a 70+ page paper) kept delaying the collection. I tried to remain as consistent as possible on social media through it all and it paid off this January when a video of me making my mom a Large NYGC Handbag (103 hours of work!) hit 2.2 million views on Tik Tok. It was actually insane, and was a great way to start my last semester of college.

As a brand, I have only been selling for just under three years and the majority of that time I was in college. I recently graduated from The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio Cum Laude with honors in both Philosophy and French & Francophone Studies. Many of the pieces that I make take 20+ hours and it wasn’t easy always easy balancing class, two on campus jobs, working for my mom, managing multiple social media clients, and my own business. I am a sea of ideas and I look forward to having the time to finally make some of the pieces that I have been dreaming of!

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I kind of fell into crochet, and in doing so I have learned just how much it takes to produce items, let alone go on to market, reproduce, and manage orders for your business. Many small business owners are the sole employees of their business. After spending 48 hours making a bag, I still have to get content, make videos to promote the product, update my website, provide any customer service, and do the cycle again for the next item. It’s an extreme time commitment. I shock myself sometimes with the amount of hours it takes to make things. For a long time, I have undercharged for my pieces because I was scared of the expectation that may come with the real price. Setting the price for items is my least favorite part of the process because I hate feeling like I am pricing people out of my pieces. We live in a world where not only is the fashion fast, but its also cheap. As consumers, we don’t have to think about what it takes to make our clothes. Now that I am on the other side, I’m being forced into unlearning my consumerist mindset. This is a craft that more than material takes time and energy.

When I think about the probably thousands of hours I have spent on my brand, all of it is worth it just to have gotten this far. I pride myself on the fact that even if no one buys from my shop again I would continue to make myself pieces because I truly have found my passion. If you’re a small business owner who is massively undercharging yourself, ask yourself why you don’t think you’re good enough to charge what you deserve. If you’re a consumer, reflect on what it actually takes to make the things your buying- in most cases someone had to spend a lot of time to make it.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Before I had even come up with my brand name, I created an instagram to showcase some of my earlier designs. During the pandemic when I had more time to create, I started to invest more in making my room a good photo space. I bought a Back drop stand and tripod ring light which made me feel more confident in the photos that I was posting. To be honest, posting on Tik Tok has exponentially grown my following. When my first video went viral in April 2022 I think I gained 1,000 followers on Tik Tok and 700 Instagram followers within the first day. Followers who are really engaged transfer to my Instagram and from there they end up making purchases on my website.

You’ve probably heard this before, but the best way to grow a social media following is by being yourself. Keeping up with an aesthetic that isn’t yours is draining, and eventually your followers will see through the cracks. I try to make a balance between videos using trending sounds/ cute photos showcasing my products as well as videos of me talking that show my personality. When trying to make content, 1. be consistent with and 2. make the content that you want to see. Like-mided individuals will follow and engage with you. Through that engagement, you will eventually grow…even if it’s slow.

Contact Info:

• Website: nygcbytaylor.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/nygcbytaylor
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@nygcbytaylor
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nygcbytaylor

Image Credits
Most photos shot by Noor Ul Hannan (@noorinthestu)