Vendor Spotlight Series: Part 1

Eclectic Co. wouldn’t exist without our incredible vendors! We will be spotlighting several vendors in our new biweekly blog series. Get to know the creators creative process, their story, their “why” and how they are adapting to better serve you during our current times. Thank you for being a part of our community and for joining us in celebrating our amazing creators!

 

Interviews are curated by Courtney, artist + creative of Flow and Root.

 

Please meet Lloyd Washington, owner + maker of “Yes, I Wood”

“My mission is to create art and memories for people, to learn as much as I can and to keep it enjoyable.  I’ve never been bored in my life, there is always something to learn or do. Revealing projects to my customers are my favorite moments. [Seeing] their faces light up is why I do what I do. Having fun and taking care of each other are important [values] to me. ” – Lloyd, Yes, I Wood

What inspired you to start making?

I’ve always enjoyed making things with my hands, started with hand tools and wanted to make things with finer detail, so I looked at laser engravers and fell in love.

What are the biggest sources of creative inspiration for you?

Friends and family find ideas and have me recreate them, with that I’ve experimented to learn what the machine can do.

How have you stayed creatively inspired during quarantine, and what has been the biggest challenge for your business during quarantine?

[Quarantine] hasn’t slowed me down at all; many things have come out of this issue, many humorous and fun. I take advantage of things like toilet paper hoarding and the love of toilet paper, doing refrigerator magnets with humorous sayings.

I started laser engraving the first week of April, so learning the machine and finding a market were all new to me.  I had planned on giving myself 6 months with the machine, so I could learn and create.  Fortunately it only took about 2 weeks before I couldn’t help but show my friends and family what I could do.  This has been tons of fun, however I think the fun has just begun.

What do you love most about what you do and your creative process?

Making people happy when I create a gift for someone, being able to make something I’ve imagined, and just creating things people like. [In my creative process, I enjoy] learning something new. I normally tell the customer I can do something and then figure out how to do it, forcing me to learn something new, it’s a win – win.

What do you enjoy most about being a part of the Colorado maker/small business owner community?

Everyone I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and working with in the community have all been amazing, hardworking and creative people.

It’s Saturday night, all of your business to-do’s are done for the week, where would you most likely be? Who would you be with? What would you be doing? Set the scene!

I don’t consider what I do work, so hanging out in the living room with my amazing wife, daughter, cats and grand puppy; working on a project is fun and relaxing.  Many nights are spent this way.

Are there any new products you are really excited about releasing? If you can share! 🙂

I’m looking to add laser engraving on fabric, brick, glass, stone and many other organic materials.  I look forward to collaborating with other artists.

 

We’re pleased to introduce you to Madison Platt of Kairo’s Traders!

“After seeing many of the businesses we partner with in Nepal, I feel even more inspired to do what I do everyday with excellence, because I’ve seen the faces behind the people whose lives are changed and who are shown hope.” – Madison, Kairo’s Traders

What inspired you to launch your business?

Matt Peterson started Kairos Traders when he took a trip to Nepal where he visited social businesses that were making an impact on their employees, businesses, and families. He was so inspired by what they were doing to fight human trafficking, and he wanted to be a part of it. He saw importance in creating a sales team in America where we could bring in the beautifully made products from Asia, sell them, and help create more jobs for people.

What do you love most about what you do?

I (Madison) love the purpose behind what I do. After seeing many of the businesses we partner with in Nepal, I feel even more inspired to do what I do everyday with excellence, because I’ve seen the faces behind the people whose lives are changed and who are shown hope. They are invested into day after day, not just as employees but as individuals who were born with a purpose. I also love getting to do such a variety of things every day – from going to events, counting inventory, stocking our displays, using creativity, doing photography, to shifts at Eclectic Co, every day is so unique. The people I work with are amazing too. Their hearts are so into everything that we do.

What has been the biggest challenge for your business during quarantine?

So much of our sales depend on events. So many of our out of state events, such as concerts and conferences, have been cancelled. We’ve had to come up with new ways to do business and still take the risk with going to local events, even when sales are so uncertain.