If thereâs anything quarantine summer taught us, itâs that hobbies are important. Whether you became a plant mom or picked up a new craftâwe all definitely felt inspired this summer. To senior, Abby Reyes, this extra free time was exactly what she needed to turn her long-time hobby into her very own macramĂ© business.
Abby first began making macramĂ© in the summer of 2018, never really thinking it would turn into a business. âI started looking for dĂ©cor for my apartment and came upon some macramĂ© wall hangings,â she said. âI was like âletâs do itâ and eventually I just kept making more wall hangings. I made them for friends and family but really fell in love with how relaxing it was.
Her talent at macramĂ© didnât go unnoticed. Soon enough friends and family began asking her where they could buy a piece of her own, but between school and involvement, Abby never really had the time. It wasnât until quarantine when suddenly there was too much time!Â
Soon enough Abby put her marketing degree to work and made her dreams into a reality. âIt was always something I said Iâd do for years and then I finally sat down and got to it,â said Abby. She started looking into the best place to sell her products, eventually deciding on Etsy. This soon became the birthplace for Knotted by Abby, but singlehandedly making her own business didnât come without some bumps in the road. Abby does everything herself from making the plant hangers, trying new designs, researching trends, branding, advertising and photographing her own hangers. Running her own store while being a full-time student with an internship may be overwhelming but somehow Abby makes the best of it by finding comfort through her designs.Â
âI realized how much work it really was. When you first think âI should sell thisâ it all seems so simple but it really wasnât. Itâs not just taking pictures and posting them on the internet; thereâs so much more to that. You had to brand yourself, learn how to optimize your searches on Etsy, make products. Thereâs so much marketing to it that I never realized. That was where I got stuck the most. As a marketing major, I know all this information, but when it came to applying it I had to figure out how to do it all myself,â Abby said.Â
Since the launch of her store, Abby has sold products to people from all over the world making her work pay off. âI had told my friends and family about the store but my first few sales were just random people from all over. That was the most rewarding moment because it wasnât just people that wanted to support me but strangers that really loved my work.âÂ
The future of Knotted by Abby doesnât end there. She hopes to expand her designs and colors by creating more playful designs, and she is inspired to create more plant hangers due to her ever-growing plant collection!
âIf thereâs one thing Iâd say to anyone thatâs starting their own business itâs to make sure youâre passionate about it,â Abby said.
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