For one self-starter, a bad experience spun a new business venture
For one self-starter, a bad experience spun a new business venture
“My Economy” tells the story of the new economic normal through the eyes of people trying to make it, because we know the only numbers that really matter are the ones in your economy.
Adella Colvin is the owner of LolaBean Yarn Co., which is named after her daughter, Lola. Colvin lives in Evans, Georgia, and started her business after experiencing “a not so lovely reception” when she was walking into a local yarn shop for the first time to make a purchase.
“I was told that their bathroom was for customers only. And I immediately knew what that was about — my appearance, Black woman, Afro … I couldn’t possibly be there to buy yarn,” she says.
So, Colvin left the shop and decided to dye some yarn herself. But getting her foot in the door wasn’t easy.
The yarn and textile industry “is very much a white industry,” Colvin said. “I didn’t see many makers of color, who looked like me or had the same background as I did.”
Once she began dyeing her own yarn in her kitchen, she started posting about it on social media, where it got the attention of fellow yarn lovers who inquired about pricing. That’s when Colvin decided to nurture her love of yarn and turn it into a business. It has become a successful venture.
Now, Colvin hopes to grow her business and find a bigger location where she could also provide classes to yarn enthusiasts.
“I’d really like to do something that caters to Black makers in this community, so that they don’t stumble and come across, you know, as much adversity as I did when I first entered this business,” Colvin said.
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