We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Anna Kathryn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Anna Kathryn below.
Anna Kathryn, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
Born with different abilities, I hava spent the majority of my life overcoming challenges most individuals never have to face. These challenges have developed in me a desire to learn, a persistence to strive and work hard at every task I takes on, and a determination to be as independent as possible.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
My family and I relocated to another state back in 2021. We had lived in our former state for all of my life and had a great community of friends. After the move, my parents struggled to find something that they felt was safe but would also help me feel challenged. We prayed that God would open the right doors and after a couple of years, He did. My mom met a lady a church who needed help with her small business. I thought I was going to be putting tags on bracelets but she didn’t have any at that time, so she asked if I would be interested in stringing garland. I discovered I really loved it and we posted about it on social media. That led to people asking how they could purchase the garland I had strung. The owner of the garland then donated some felt balls to us, thousands of them, and told us we could sell whatever garland we made. Once we sold all of those, we ordered more felt balls and sold all of those. We decided it was then time to start our Instagram account, GarlandsmadebyAK. At this point, we ordered more than 6000 felt balls and trusted God would provide the buyers. We sold all of those and continue to order more. When I first started making garlands, my mom would have to do a lot of the work. She would sort all of colors and count them. Now I help sort the colors with her. She would have to cut the string. Now I can measure and cut the string. She would have to line the garland up in the right order, now I can line the garland up. She would have to thread the needle, now I am able to thread the needle. For now, I don’t have a website but you can purchase them by sending us a DM on instagram. Sometimes, I sell them at local pop-up shops which I advertise on GarlandsmadebyAK. We are able to make simple felt ball garlands or we can make specialty garlands. Speciality garlands, for example, are garlands with items to connect them with an event. Some people do garlands with their team colors and footballs for tailgating, while others use Easter bunnies with spring colors to decorate their mantles. The possibilities are endless. We had a lot of families who buy garlands for every holiday. With every garland you purchase, you are fostering my independence and I am very grateful for that. We purchase our felt balls from women in Nepal who make them all by hand to help support their families. So when you purchase a felt garland from me, you are making a dual purposeful purchase.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
There are two basic qualities that I possess which I believe helps with my success. The first one is a very hard work ethic. I work non-stop when there is something to be done. The other quality is pure joy and I believe people can feel it when they meet me. As stated on my business card, I hope people get as much joy from their garland as I had while making it.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
My entire family has always believed in me, supported me, and never underestimated my abilities or allowed anyone else to underestimate my abilities.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/garlandsmadebyak/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61569923480296
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
