My quarantine project was eating potato chips. Avery Lynn’s? She started a small business: Lavender Lynn Design.
“I like to say I have so many hobbies that I do not have any,” Avery Lynn said.
Well, one of her hobbies has turned into a flourishing business, while managing to still keep the love of it alive.
When the COVID-19 pandemic began and schools went online, Avery Lynn was extremely bored, the same as many other students. Instead of binging tv shows, she started working more with her hands in June of 2020. She created an array of resin designs, including floral art pallets, necklaces, key chains, earrings, coasters, and more.
“The main thing that inspires my art is nature. I love trying to find ways to incorporate nature into my pieces. I mainly use flowers, but I’ve been making some cicada wing necklaces lately from ethically foraged cicada wings, which has been really exciting,” Avery Lynn said.
She is constantly experimenting and that is something resin allows her to do since “resin is very versatile and can be used in a lot of ways.”
Avery Lynn is currently working on how she can include ceramics and polymer clay in her business. She has already welcomed aromatherapy and teas, which she is passionate about because it “incorporates art with health and tea conception.” She herself is a huge fan of drinking tea and sees the benefits to it every day.
Something she is currently working on is her marketing approach. She has great turnouts at her tabling events but wants to grow her website. She is a current WCU Marketing student and is obsessed with all of the new techniques she is learning, which also consists of TikTok where she creates “how-to” videos.
With these marketing strategies, she is excited to see where it can go as she explains, “I really would like my business to grow to the point that it would be a reasonable living after my time at WCU. Right now, it’s more than enough for me, but I want it to be to the extent that I can continue it as my professional career.”
Being self-employed for Avery Lynn is “pretty much the most important thing to me as far as life satisfaction goes. I love being able to choose when I want to work, what I want to do, and having control over everything I decide to incorporate into my business as a whole. Some days I feel like working with resin or pouring salves, while other days I just want to go pick and press flowers – but both of these activities fit my business to where it’s still ‘work’. A lot of times my work doesn’t actually feel like work because I love it,” Avery Lynn said.
She highlights that it is important to be aware of your customer base as she describes, “My marketing strategy is always adapting because that’s a lot of what marketing is. Something I’m consistent with though is listening to what customers want when they come to my table. I’m always creating new items based on feedback or requests I get from people.”
Avery Lynn also takes advantage of her Instagram following and has monthly giveaways where she partners with three other female creators.
A rewarding part of the experience is seeing where her pieces end up and the impact they have.
“Something I think about when people purchase my items is where they’re going to end up. I recently had a professor pull one of my keychains out of her bag to show the class that her daughter had given her as a gift, and it made me so happy! I also have run into students on campus who were either wearing something I made or who I had met at art markets before,” Avery Lynn said.
Being a full-time student and running a business is stressful, but her love for art makes it easy.
“Juggling everything can be a bit of a challenge. I run two businesses and have a couple of other side hustles, as well as full-time classes. I don’t think juggling my business with everything else would be wise, or possible, if I didn’t love it as much as I do,” Avery Lynn said.
Every Saturday you can catch Avery Lynn at the Jackson Arts Market in downtown Sylva, where she keeps her hobby and dream of being self-employed alive. She will also be tabling at Mountain Heritage Day on Sept. 25 and on Western Carolina University’s campus in the University Center on Sept. 29.
