This episode is sponsored by MC Design Academy, designed to be a space where I get to share my expertise with you, where you'll get to learn all about visual merchandising, design, display, retail, and everything in between. Come along as I practice my craft and be sure to like, subscribe, and follow our socials to keep updated. See you in the merchandising land of MC Design Academy!
Kevlyn Walsh was a high-school art teacher, teaching graphic design and digital photography to high school students. As an art teacher, she was always fostering creativity in her students and encouraging them to act on their ideas. So, to stay creatively inspired herself, she started "Festive Gal" as her passion project. Festive Gal quickly took off, and Kevlyn decided to pursue Festive Gal full-time and quit education at the end of the school year in 2019.
Kevlyn does all her own graphic design, web-design, and photography for Festive gal. Being trained across multiple creative disciplines is one of her many superpowers. If she doesn’t know how to do something, she is a firm believer that there is always a YouTube video that can teach you how!
Kevlyn launched into wholesale in 2021 and began attending trade shows to build her customer base. In just two years, she has grown her stockiest list to over 800 stores in the USA. Kevlyn was a keynote speaker at the Ultimate Product Party in 2022, sharing her knowledge about leaning into "best-sellers" and how to be KNOWN for something. She’s the unofficial "queen of crowns" and continues to be KNOWN for her fun and festive products.
During the summer of 2022, Kevlyn did 3 back-to-back trade shows 7 months pregnant all by herself, ON HER FEET. She was determined to continue growing her business and knew that sending someone else to represent Festive Gal at the shows just wouldn’t have the same magical effect. Kevlyn is a new mom navigating what it means to run a successful business and take care of a new baby. She’s extremely proud of the fact that she was able to take a 9-week maternity leave in her business in order to heal from pregnancy and spend time with her husband and newborn baby. It took months of planning, delegation, systems, and processes so that she could step away and instead keep the business running with a team.
In this conversation, Kevlyn tells the story of how she started Festive Gal and how she’s grown her empire over the last several years. She shares the inspiration behind her party headbands and how she’s been creative since she was a child. Michelle and Kevlyn also discuss how she handled explosive sales during the pandemic, working with influencers and social media, how she launched her wholesale brand, and more.
What’s Inside:
How Kevlyn went from high-school art teacher to running Festive Gal full-time.
How Kevlyn handled massive sales during the pandemic.
Kevlyn’s experience with trade shows and launching her wholesale brand.
