We had the good fortune of connecting with Kaylah Edwards and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kaylah, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I wish I could say there was some sophisticated, Shark Tank-esque logic to me starting my crochet business, but there wasn’t. I was in middle school when I began selling my crochet items. I was a fidgety student so I took my crochet to school to have something to do with my hands while in class. One of my classmates noticed I was making hand warmers (à la Avril Lavigne in the early 2000s) and asked to buy one off me. From that sale, more classmates would ask me to make them random things and I saw this as an opportunity to be able to afford all the Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch I could ever want. When my mom noticed I was consistently selling items and creating new things at home, she helped me turn the operation into a full blown business. My mom went to school for Fashion Marketing so it worked out perfectly. She gave me all the creative control you could give an 11 year old, and I got to work on creating my business name, logo, and trying to create my own signature items. She helped me find other venues to sell my items (besides school), set up my business card and even helped me get my items in a local consignment store. As I’ve matured and grown-up, so has my business. However, thanks to Vivian for being my first sale in the sixth grade and helping me bring home that $14 in revenue.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I really enjoy being collaborative with my work. I also like to make use of any and everything at my disposal to create a crochet piece. To me, this is what sets my work apart. I love seeing a finished project where I get to incorporate whatever crazy color combo a customer suggests or incorporate the scrap fabric, embellishments, different yarns, etc. that I have laying around. The place my business is at today, I am definitely proud of, but I don’t think this is my final form. I really hope to continue improving my craft, and making and selling more creative and different items. Nonetheless, it took time and patience to get here. When I first started my business I wanted to be perfect and innovative out the gate. Constantly striving caused my relationship with my business and crochet as a whole to become more of a chore where I heavily critiqued myself. My business suffered as a result and I had to take some time off. The biggest thing I learned from this is that you don’t have to be perfect at the onset of what you do. I benefitted far more from giving myself time to learn, improve, and settle into my own creative style than all the competitive striving I ever did. Now I’m looking forward to the future and all the things I know I’ll create.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’m an Atlanta native and I love my city. If anyone were coming here and I wanted to show them a good time, we’d likely start somewhere off Ponce. I usually suggest Ponce City Market because it’s an easy, fun stop for any type of tourist activity. There’s plenty of restaurants and cool things to see, especially along the belt line. Otherwise, we are headed deeper into Midtown for the High Museum or a picnic at Piedmont park. Someone who’s really not from Atlanta or the south in general needs to try some wings, so of course there’s the historic J.R. Crickets on North Ave but I’m an American Deli fan and will be until I die. I love to eat in general so if they’re STILL hungry, we can head to Fat Matt’s for ribs. We may pop over to Little 5 Points to some of my favorite vintage stores. Some honorable mentions would be making it to an Atlanta United game if we have the chance, or the Battery for drinks and a fun night out.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shoutout to my mom! Thank you for being the best, most encouraging business manager and creative supporter.

Website: https://kimlucretia.com/collections/milk-honey

Instagram: @MilketHoney

Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/blackberry29ish

Other: You can also find me on Depop: https://depop.app.link/MYvauChRQib

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