Today we’d like to introduce you to Davina Kelly.
Davina, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
All of this began when I accepted that I was plus-sized and still beautiful. I’ve always remembered struggling with my weight. As a young pre-teen, I can recall being teased at school and at home, for the weight that I carried. At one point, I even went as far as stealing my mother’s diet pills and selling half of them to my cousin (who was also overweight) in efforts of us both getting skinny. I hated my body and refused to wear shorts or swimsuits in public. Going into high school, I slimmed out after a rigorous summer of Tae-Bo sessions in our living room but losing the weight didn’t help my self-image. In my head, I was still fat. It took years for me to accept me, and what really caused me to truly be okay with it was when I was asked to pose for a friend’s plus-size collection for her boutique.
Those pictures were amazing, my confidence boosted 110%, and I was completely taken aback by the love and support that I received. From then on, I knew that I was a plus-sized model. I then decided to take a chance on selling plus size fashion. After years of experiencing numerous problems with finding comfortable and fashionable clothing with great quality, I decided to see what I could do to help. I reached out to a few of my friends who work in fashion and moved forward with Kayx Apparel (pronounced k-ai-k-s)
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Kayx Apparel is my first official business. The easy part was getting my business license and sellers permit. That wasn’t bad at all! Afterwards, as to be expected, there has been a few bumps in the road. My main challenge has been to live up to my goal of being 100% inclusive. I’d love to provide beautiful quality clothing that fits women sizes XL(12-14) all the way up to 7X(38-40). I’m finding that there are very few wholesalers who provide extended sizes that are fashionable and of good quality.
Another challenge has been consistency. Social Media presence is a big deal for businesses nowadays and I am adjusting to being more present and engaging online. It is also teaching me a level of discipline with how I spend my time because I need to move with what the analytics tell me. So if my page gets a lot of action between the hours of 10am- 2pm, that’s when I need to be online promoting my business, and it needs to be a regular thing.
I am also learning that there will be times where no one will buy and other times where sales will be so high that I can’t supply the demand. This has been a test of my patience and faith, but I have been offered a few tips and tricks along the way and will be making some changes soon to help with these challenges.
I coin this season my “Just Do It!” Phase, so challenges or not, I’m sticking with it.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Kayx Apparel – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Kayx Apparel is a place where body positivity lives. We aim to serve the plus-size community with love and respect. Our products are carefully selected in efforts to maintain a certain level of quality and durability. We want every customer to feel like the beauty queen that they are! Kayx customers should always feel like they have made an excellent choice when shopping with us! This is what will set us apart from the others.
So far, I am most proud of stepping away from my fears and into faith to get this business started. I never dreamed that it would be me. By the end of 2020, I’d like for Kayx Apparel to be a household name, known for delivering amazing service and quality plus-sized clothing from sizes 12-40.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
In the near future, Kayx will be featuring a more diverse set of models. I also plan to expand my brand to carry Plus sized underwear, reinforcements (i.e., Body Shapers), and I’d like to partner with a company that provides extended sized bras.
I would also love for the opportunity to someday showcase Kayx Apparel at some of the top body positive events around, such as TheCurvyCon, TCF Style Expo, and DistrictOfCurves.
Pricing:
- Currently my prices range from $25-125
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kayxapparel.com
- Email: info@kayxapparel.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/kayxapparel?igshid=1omkl1g8pm1la
- Facebook: kayxapparel
Image Credit:
Alesia Hicks, Trina Meggison
Suggest a story: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
