Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kaila Hamm. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Kaila, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
Possessing a high work ethic was an attribute instilled in me from a young age by my parents. Specifically, my mother was a first generation college student and an immigrant. Having this background awarded her a better understanding of the importance of work ethic, an understanding that she projected on me as a young child lacking such appreciation. In school I was pushed to receive high marks in my studies and out score my peers. Outside of the classroom, I played competitive soccer. Playing club and high school soccer at a high skill level, I was pushed to craft my game and receive scholarship to play soccer in college. Eventually, the external pressure for me to have a strong work ethic became not a force that I pushed against but a skill that I began to inherently possess. This understanding and drive in regards to work ethic was only exacerbated by the passing of my mom and stepmother my senior year of high school and the many other obstacles I faced in the subsequent years. I began to discern that despite the uncertainties of the world around me, I could control how well I performed in the opportunities presented to me through my strong work ethic. Today, I continue to project my drive and ethic into my career aspirations and business. I am able to juggle a 9-5 as a medical assistant while also running my business because I am passionate about both aspects of my life and want these entities to succeed.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
Hello everyone! My name is Kaila and I, along with my husband, own the small business The Missing Dragonfly. Before founding The Missing Dragonfly in 2022, I earned a degree in Biology from UNC Chapel Hill and aspired to further my education via physician assistant school. However, upon graduation, I was suffering from a major bout of burnout. Attending college during the COVID-19 pandemic, while navigating the academic rigor of higher level chemistry and biology courses, left me in desperate need of time away from academics and an outlet for the creative side of myself. With this in mind, my husband and I, on a wim, took a candle making class. Not only did I find myself in love with the methodical process of making candles, but I also thought of all the ways to diversify candles, expanding on their traditional basic look. In addition, the candles that my husband and I made in the class lacked the quality we expected and we believed that we could do it better. After doing some research, my husband and I started experimenting and the first candles of The Missing Dragonfly were made. Since that point in time, we have continued to build upon our original ideas, modifying old designs to improve quality and performance, and create new ideas to continue to satisfy and awe customers. All of our candles are made from 100 percent soy wax and are inspired by popular foods, drinks and landscapes. Some examples include our top sellers such as our acai bowl candles, french bulldog candles, and boba inspired candles. In our first year of establishment, my husband and I have worked hard to grow our business and gain exposure. We regularly attend in person events throughout North Carolina and love connecting with customers and being a part of the small business community. We are proud to say that we are in 5 storefronts; Curate at Crabtree Mall, Curate in downtown Raleigh, Art Deco, Unorthodox Vintage, Jitterbugz, and are working on building a website that we anticipate to launch later this year. We can’t wait to see what the future has in store for our business and we hope to continue to grow and grow for the years to come! Throughout the entire process of starting and growing my business I have never given up on my career ambitions of becoming a physician assistant. I am currently working full time as a medical assistant and am fortunate that my business has helped to financially support my medical career aspirations. My husband shares similar career aspirations and currently works as an active duty combat medic for the army. With my husband, we are proud to say that The Missing Dragonfly is women, veteran, and minority owned.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three qualities that have played a key role in our business’s success would include resilience, networking, and time management. When my husband and I first started our business, we struggled to be awarded opportunities. We were frequently denied acceptance to events and often felt as if many others regarded our business as “just another candle company”. In the face of such adversity and denial, we set out to prove these individuals wrong. As I continued to produce new ideas, improve products in terms of quality, and work to establish a social media presence, we began to gain acceptance into events that had previously rejected our applications. Additionally, through attendance of events, we were able to make connections with more and more customers and individuals with other opportunities for business growth. Overall, resilience in the face of adversity allowed our business to grow into the business it is today. Networking is another quality that has been instrumental to our business’s success. As my husband and I do not possess a background in business, we were ignorant of the community that small business owners possess. Through social media and attendance of events, we have been able to connect with other business owners and establish mutualistic relationships with these like-minded individuals. These relationships have fostered countless opportunities, business partnerships, etc that would not have transpired otherwise. In addition to opportunities, networking and connecting with other businesses has allotted us insight that has allowed us to make well informed decisions in regards to our business. For example, via connections with other business owners, we have discovered events to apply to and shops that allow small businesses to sell their products in their storefronts. Overall, connecting with other small business owners has brought to light many opportunities that have led to the growth of our business.
Lastly, time management has been crucial for our business success. Being creative individuals, my husband and I are always coming up with new ideas for products we want to try. While this quality has allowed us success and variety in inventory, these ideas can often complicate time allotment. Specifically, when we first started our business, we often struggled to balance working on new ideas while also producing enough inventory for events. To combat this issue, we have worked to fine tune our time management skills. Specifically, I work to create spreadsheets of all the events we have coming up, the inventory we would like to have at those events, stores that we sell products in, and inventory counts for each store. Having a degree of organization allows me to better determine the time frame for new product development in the midst of product creation.
Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
At The Missing Dragonfly we strive to create an inclusive product line that satisfies the wants and needs of all customers. We have candles that are aimed for younger customers, such as our space explorer candle with realistic planets and mica powder that shimmers as it burns, to our more contemporary and muted aromatherapy collection with sutler scents and an aesthetic design sure to match any room. Additionally, we provide products that are multi-purpose and sustainable to serve different functions for customers over time. All of our handmade cement vessel candles can be cleaned after use and repurposed into jewelry holders, planters, or home decor items. Lastly, we offer customers the option for custom candles which can be modified for vessel, scent, wick type, color, addition of mica powder etc. Some recent examples include custom candles for sports teams, custom candles inspired by pets, and custom repurposed candles such as repurposed thrifted tea cup candles. Overall, our ideal client is anyone and everyone!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://themissingdragonfly.etsy.com/ (closed for the summer)
- Instagram: https://themissingdragonfly.etsy.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themissingdragonfly/
Image Credits
https://instagram.com/mad_creates_?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Madison Cubbage
