Meet Kailee Mathews

We recently connected with Kailee Mathews and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kailee , really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

From a young age I always knew I wanted to be a mom. I wanted to get to experience all the things I experienced with my parents, but as a parent this time around. When I found out I was pregnant I begged my husband to let me stay home with our son, Maddux. Unfortunately, both him and I are teachers so that wasn’t in the cards for us. Thankfully, he took a chance on me and let me work part time to still spend most of my time with our son. When my maternity leave was about over, I realized I wanted to create a small business to give our family extra money so we could do things with Maddux! As an avid earring lover with very sensitive ears, I decided I wanted to make earrings. A preschool teacher always loves fun earrings + I thought “I can’t be the only one”, so along came Penelope + Co. Maddux has 100% been the passion and purpose behind this little business of mine. Because of him, I get to meet so many new customers (and friends) while giving me a creative outlet to share my creations with anyone who crosses paths with me.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

Hi! My name is Kailee + I’m the owner of Penelope + Co a small business named after my dog, Penelope! What started as a way to make extra money for our family + be with my son turned into so much more than I could have ever dreamed of. Penelope + Co has shown me that with some hard work, your dreams can come true. Throughout my small business journey, I have made countless new friends and spread so much joy with so many people. My hope when you walk into Polly (the pink bus), or any pop ups I may attend, that you instantly feel joy. The joy I have creating these pieces is almost the same feeling as selling them to local customers. If you’re here to follow my journey, grab some cute hypoallergenic earrings, or even a piece of permanent jewelry, I want you to leave knowing you made a difference in my little business. So, if you like fun affordable earrings, being happy, + having fun, follow along on my journey! I’d love to meet another smiling face and chat for a bit (something I’m working on, I’m a yapper)!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

In my experience, I’ve learned to research everything! While I’m still learning, I know that with the right training + effort I can be the best version of myself to make the best product possible for my customers!

I would also like to add in, that if you can take a course to help you in your trade, it could be worth it. When it came to permanent jewelry, I took a course to get certified. I felt that my customers may feel safer knowing I had taken a series of courses to better understand what I was doing! To be honest, I still look into new things to keep up with all the new trends + keep my info sharp!

And finally, don’t just pick a small business up to make extra money. You have to love what you’re doing to be successful at it. Small businesses are so fun + so rewarding, but you have love it. I pushed myself hard last year and it paid off. I’m already planning into 2025 and I just know it will be the best year yet!

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am always up for a new collaboration!! It not only helps my business, but it may bring new customers to yours! Typically when I pop up with other businesses I bring my permanent jewelry + my handmade earrings/ accessories! Permanent jewelry is huge right now! Permanent jewelry is when I measure, cut, + weld a piece of gold filled or sterling silver chain that we custom fit to you! Theres no clasp + it’s fits perfectly to you! Customize it with charms, letters, + more!

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