Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla DeVito.
Kayla, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I founded my first company when I was 23 years old and my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I watched her go through many reconstructive surgeries and set on founding a business that could have a positive impact on women’s body image.
Jewelry was something I was passionate about making, and it made sense; after all, clothing size and bodies fluctuate, but jewelry always fits. I sold my jewelry in local boutiques and began selling at wholesale trade shows. Eventually, my jewelry company was in over 100 retailers nationwide.
After a few years in the wholesale industry, I realized that my favorite part of my job was getting to interact with women face to face at these trade shows. I’d made so many friends along the way and my jewelry’s story really resonated with many people.
It wasn’t uncommon to walk past my booth and find shared laughter, tears, and hugging amongst strangers-turned-new-friends. The shows were only a handful of times a year, and I decided that I was too lonely in the wholesale business, so set out to open a retail store.
It began with a mobile store- a minibus I named Melvin. My then-boyfriend/now-husband, Matt, and I worked together at every trade show and festival and decided to take on the highly-involved conversion together. We spent a year converting it into a fully operational traveling jewelry store, complete with a checkout counter, multiple antique furniture displays, and an old door that opened with a brass skeleton key.
We sold our jewelry line at festivals that would accept our bus, but due to local mobile store ordinances, we were only allowed to have it at specified events, so we became limited to 10-15 shows a year. Once again, I came to crave those connections that I had experienced at wholesale shows.
We decided to save up to open a brick-and-mortar shop to accompany our minibus. We saved up over the course of a few years and lived as inexpensively as we could to see the dream through. We signed the lease on our current retail shop space in November of 2019.
We knew what we had in the bank and estimated renovation costs. We needed to do all of the work ourselves and be open by the second week of March 2020, if we wanted to start out on the right foot. It was going to be tight, but we decided to try and run the shop without any loans. I knew I had a month of operating costs left in the bank after buying inventory, so we got to work.
We worked straight through Thanksgiving, straight through Christmas Day. We ate cold leftovers on the floor of our construction zone more times than I care to remember. We put literal blood, sweat, and tears into turning a former real estate office with cubicles and bright red walls, into the old-world, European-style haven that our shop is today.
We knew from the beginning that we had to open by the second week of March. We opened on March 12th, 2020.
Then we closed 5 days later.
We fought hard to keep our store afloat during the height of the pandemic, and every day after. We reinvested all of our profits back into the shop. We put in all of our stimulus checks, and tax returns, and sold beloved items like our sweet little sailboat. We focused our efforts on our online store, and I took to our shop’s Facebook page to grieve. We were not going to make it.
I began to share our journey- the ups, the downs, and the everything-in-betweens. I used our page as a journal to share what I was going through. Writing has always been a therapy for me, so it felt natural to connect with people on social media. We were all going through hell, and I wanted people to know they weren’t alone.
I began writing lengthy “novel” type posts filled with life lessons, the trials of trying to keep a small business afloat during the pandemic, and more. People began to flock to our page and share their stories, too. My posts were shared wide and far, and the online orders came pouring in. We were able to stay afloat because of those posts and those kind people.
We celebrated our 2nd anniversary a few months ago, and although business is fairly slow right now, we’re happier than ever. Matt was able to quit his job in April and come to work for our business full-time making gorgeous, heirloom-quality furniture that we’re shipping all over the country.
I still personally make the jewelry in the shop and run our social media which has recently surpassed 20,000 followers. We are busy, and we are happy. Trials still pop up constantly, but I know that if we can make it through the pandemic as a brand new business, we can make it through anything.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, of course being a new business through the pandemic was extra difficult for us.
When Matt quit his job on March 30th of this year, the attack on Ukraine happened a week later and the cost of living began to rise. After the initial shock and sales in-store dropping drastically, we kind of laughed about it. “Of course, something like this would happen.”
But it’s okay. As I said, we feel like we can make it through anything at this point. Are we exhausted and running on fumes? Yes. Do we work 8 am-10 pm 6 days a week? Also yes.
Is it 100% worth it? Hell yes.
As you know, we’re big fans of Amidst the Alders. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We’re different, there’s no denying that. Our dark, moody color palettes and soft, lulling scents and conversations are our signatures, but so is hand-picking every item that makes its way onto our sales floor.
It’s difficult to run a shop. It’s even more difficult for us because 80% of our inventory is literally selected in person by myself, and 85% of our items are handmade and made to order to reduce waste.
Not a single bit of our jewelry, clothing, shoes, antiques, bags, furniture or home decor is ordered from a catalog. Everything on the sales floor at Amidst the Alders has been shown love by one of us in some way or another. Our bags are made from repurposed leather of sofas and vintage jackets too far gone to be salvaged. Our furniture is restored antiques or new designs by Matt made from reclaimed wood (I’m looking at you, Re: Purpose Savannah!).
The jewelry is recycled and vintage sterling silver. The fossils are all found in the Savannah River. The clothing is mended, reworked, and vintage. The apothecary and makeup are clean and made by other small, women-owned businesses here in the US. I paint all of the oil paintings and make fine art prints of them. We even carry recycled polyester bikinis with my art on them.
We’re strict on our packaging and even put notes in our online orders about our shipping supplies. Every bit of it is reused and as eco-friendly as possible: recycled plastic mailers, paper stickers, recycled paper tissue, reused bubble wrap, and boxes. Our ribbon is carpet tacking I found at Savannah’s Habitat Restore. We use contractor paper found from there as well. All of our window displays are made using recycled materials and objects found in nature.
Because of all of this, our items and selections of certain items may be limited sometimes, in excess at others. It is more exhausting, and not… monetarily progressive… (for lack of a better term), to run a shop this way. It’s downright dumb, or so I’ve been told… but, we wouldn’t have sustained the past two years without our creative passion to reduce, reuse and recycle.
Come on… where else can you get a Megalodon tooth, vintage sea chart, handmade candle in a recycled glass jar, a vintage sterling aquamarine necklace and Navajo turquoise ring, a bouquet of preserved flowers, an antique leather suitcase, a natural perfume, organic skincare that actually works.
A craft chocolate bar, an antique bowl dug in downtown Savannah, a handmade large wood table, a repurposed leather backpack, a remade lace dress, a pair of Frye boots and tooled leather belt, a great conversation, and an inspirational story or two all in one place…
Come find yourself amidst the alders.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
We certainly did! We took a risk when we opened, but the greatest risk is when we decided not to give up during the height of the pandemic. We made the decision to fight for what we had worked for.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amidstthealders.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amidstthealders/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amidstthealders
