Meet Kristyn Edwards of Cede Supply in Downtown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristyn Edwards.

Kristyn, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up between Birmingham and Mobile, AL and as a little girl, I always had a knack for the fashion retail industry. Ever since I could remember, being in fashion was something that I’ve always wanted to make a career out of. I honestly have always just knew exactly what I wanted to do. When I was little, I would look forward to watching runway shows on The Style Network and looking at the latest fashion ads from my mother’s monthly Vibe and Essence magazine subscriptions as well as my grandparent’s Ebony and Jet subscriptions. I would even walk around with catalogs as a child everywhere with every item circled on my wish list. My obsession with fashion publications and magazines also evolved into my love for reading. When I was in the third grade, I had a poem published in a book called Meanderings and also I had a book signing at Barnes and Noble that year. The Poem is called “Life.”
What is life? Life is the air you breathe, Life is the light you see, Life is the gift from above, Life is the family you love, Life is unity, Life is everything, Life is you: life is me.

Reading fashion magazines monthly when I was in elementary school helped me realize that I wanted to be on the business side of the fashion industry. I would draw up sketches daily for my clothing line called “Sha Day” that I created at the time. When I was in fourth and fifth grade I became obsessed with watching Laguna Beach and The Hills on MTV and I wanted to be just like Lauren Conrad and work for Teen Vogue. I remember begging my mom to let me get a Teen Vogue subscription and I wasn’t even a teen yet! Seeing Lauren Conrad go to school for fashion inspired me to study Fashion once I got to college so I knew pretty early on exactly what I’d major in once that time came. Growing up my parents would give me weekly allowances and I would shop in all of the local boutiques in Mobile, AL as tween and teen. By the time I turned sixteen I was so ready to get a job so that way I could by new clothes and shoes whenever I wanted without asking.

The summer before my senior year of high school in 2013, I did a Summer Studio program with the Art Institute of Atlanta, where I got my first dose of the fashion world from an educational perspective. Little did I know back then how that summer program was laying the groundwork for how Atlanta has been so instrumental in getting me to where I am now. My senior year of high school I worked two retail jobs in the mall at 17. I worked for Footlocker Inc. and Smash clothing which were two different retail settings and It wasn’t that I even needed to work, I just wanted to have my own money. I really enjoyed it and it kept me very busy during my senior year but I just loved working with people and working in retail so it never was dreadful for me. I learned a lot about how to run a retail business working in various settings.

I am very blessed to have parents that have always invested in me and my dreams. When It was time to go off to college they fully supported me studying fashion. My freshman year of college I interned with this brand called The Style Bar as a social media and stylist intern. I was able to style the Fall 2014 look book that season which helped to build my portfolio early. Me working for Footlocker Inc back in high school, I was able to transfer my job to Tuscaloosa, AL while I was in undergrad at The University of Alabama. I also went on to work for Victoria’s Secret and Azwell in Tuscaloosa which helped me build up a lot of work experience in even more retail settings. During my undergraduate years at The University of Alabama, I also did internships with College Fashionista, Target, Campus Collection, and Americasmart here in Atlanta. Having a pretty stacked resume came to my benefit my last semester of undergrad and I already had received two job offers before graduation.

When I graduated from undergrad in 2018, I went through a transitional period like most people do post-undergrad. I worked for Saks Fifth Avenue as a stylist, Hibbett Sports as an allocation analyst, Michael Kors as a sales manager, and Jos a Bank as an assistant manager all within a year after I had graduated undergrad. During that time I figured out that my true passions were in the wholesale and product development side of the retail business. I was blessed enough to continue to work the apparel tradeshows at Americasmart in the Reeves and Company Showroom in between the jobs I had. In May 2019 I decided to take big leap of faith and leave my job at Jos. A Bank because I just wasn’t happy and I knew that being in the retail side was no longer what I wanted for myself professionally long term.

I had been interviewing with different showrooms in Atlanta and finally was offered a position as Territory Sales Manager with Diverse Marketing which is a wholesale showroom agency that specializes in the gift, home, and the toy side of retail. I was offered this partnership after almost two months of not working. Ironically enough, the woman who is my boss now had actually reached out to me earlier in 2019 via email and I completely ignored it. I’ve been in a partnership with Diverse Marketing for a year and a half now splitting my time between Atlanta for gift and home trade shows, apparel trade shows with Reeves and Company which I do throughout the year here in Atlanta , and on the road meeting with buyers between AL and MS. Me having experience on the apparel showroom side is what really helped me transition into the gift and home side of things last year along with my other work experience. I truly love the business side of it all and working on the retail side for six years really gives you a better perspective of the bigger picture.

Working on the gift and specialty side of the business has helped me evolve my initial vision for Cede Supply from when I first had this idea back in March of 2019. I love specialty retail and every side of the business has some type of fashion influence. I am currently working on my masters degree in fashion marketing from LIM college which has been a huge help with evolving my business plan. I am a year into my masters program and I honestly don’t think Cede Supply would be what it is without me deciding to go back to school. I got the name Cede Supply from the word concede which means “to surrender or pass on”. When I first had the idea of this business, I wanted to be reselling some of my personal items that were of value and my peer’s personal items. However, being in my master’s program challenged me to do more. I have always wanted to do philanthropy work that ties into my passion for fashion and that’s how Cede Supply began to evolve

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?
Most certainly not. I have worked really hard to get to where I am today and my best advice to anyone on their entrepreneurial, professional, or just personal life journey would be to show up for yourself and remember that hustle beats talent. You can have all the ideas and talents in the world but its execution that is essential to ultimate success. It is normal to doubt yourself but you can’t overthink situations that don’t pan out how you hoped they would. If you are unhappy in something then leave. I realized my true power within myself when I left Jos. A Bank with no job lined up, I was making the most money I had ever made during that time but I was unhappy and drained. I took time off to focus on myself and renew myself and it was the best thing I could’ve done.

Summer 2019 I started doing Uber and Lyft in ATL after I left the job I hated. Of course there were days when I didn’t want to drive but when you’re in a season of stepping out on faith you just have to trust your process and now looking back on that time a year later, it was one of the best seasons of my life. I needed to appreciate and experience a time of reflection and stillness so I could make my next move. I was still doing TONS of job interviews during that time and when I would get told no, I didn’t dwell. I learned during that season to not get caught up in things for the sake of money, because it costs you your soul and your sanity. People that do things solely for the sake of money are usually never truly happy with themselves and I’ve never wanted to that person. What you can do is master your own adaption to your life journey so you can create the life you want. I have been told no plenty of times when it has came to jobs and certain things I wanted for myself but I always tell myself “what’s meant for me won’t miss me and what misses me wasn’t meant for me”

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Cede Supply is a marketplace where we bridge conscious, luxury, and cool. We specialize in curating collections that bring awareness to social and environmental issues that shape our world we live in today. With each collection we donate 3% of sales to a non profit organization that inspired our creative process. Right now we are known for our first two collections which are the Kyle collections. Our Designer Jeff Austin decided to start creating these bandana bags because he wanted a Christian Dior book tote but instead decided to make something that was closest to it. During the Covid-19 quarantine, Jeff decided to make these bags to combat his depression and anxiety during the lockdown.

Our goal with the first two collections was to inspire our audience to combat mental health issues in a creative way. We donated 3% of sales to the Black Mental Health Alliance which is a non profit organization in the DMV area that focuses on black mental health issues within our community. I think that’s what sets Cede Supply apart from other retailers is because our goal is to bring awareness to issues that aren’t the topic of mainstream media outlets. The spirit of collaboration is what fuels Cede Supply and we are gearing up to introduce our home, gift, and art category leading into this holiday season.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up I would say I was very driven and sure of myself even from a young age. I’ve always been inspired by popular culture and I would say I was most definitely a social butterfly which I think I got from both of my parents. My interests have honestly always been the same when it comes to art, fashion, and music. I’ve always enjoyed going to concerts and events growing up and fashion has always been a part of me. I remember when I was in the first grade I told my grandmother and my aunt that I wanted a Burberry bag – and they both bought me one. Looking back on it, the fact that I even knew about high fashion brands at that age was how I knew I was in this for life.

Contact Info:

• Website: cedesupply.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cedesupplyco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cedesupplyco/

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