Made to Last Series: K'era of k-apostrophe

This interview is part of Made to Last – a series of interviews we’re doing with established makers who have grown and evolved their businesses over the long term. In each interview, we’ll look back at where the maker was a few years ago and then learn what they’re up to today. Our goal is to show you what “success” really looks like for makers. It means something different to each and every person and involves radically different paths – but always includes hard work, uncertainty, creativity, reflection, and failure.

About K’era

K’era Morgan is a Los Angeles-based mixed media painter whose work is based in an intuitive art practice. Her line, k-apostrophe is focused on the home, with pieces that spring from her artwork, ranging from journals, to woven blankets, to original art and prints. 

How it started

Academically trained at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, K’era went into PR after graduation. After a few years of working in PR, she felt the urge to get her hands dirty and be creative again. So she went back to her artistic roots and eventually felt that her artistic endeavors could support her. That led to her and an art school colleague starting a side business that used photography and digital tools to produce scarves and textiles. The work meant long hours at the computer using photoshop and it left K’era with a yearning for a more tactile art practice. Acting on that need, K’era decided to leave the joint venture to pursue a studio art practice, while continuing to work in PR part-time. 

K’era knew that she wanted to create art that was accessible to the masses. Her focus became home decor after not finding the things she wanted to decorate her own home with. The idea that a blanket could essentially be a large format painting struck K’era and after some exploration she founded k-apostrophe, producing blankets based off of her mixed-media art pieces. Later on, her husband suggested that the artwork her blankets designs were based on could be sold independently. k-apostrophe took off when K’era began documenting the process of translating her art from paper to fabric on Instagram. k-apostrophe has since evolved to include pillows and tapestries.

In this article, we’ll share a recap and takeaways from our 2020 conversation and then delve into our 2022 update interview.

K’era in 2020

When we spoke with K’era in late 2020 k-apostrophe was thriving. People were in their homes more than ever, investing in making their homes a comfortable expression of their style. K’era shared how being a small business allowed her to be more nimble than larger businesses and emphasized how staying the course at the beginning of the pandemic had worked well for k-apostrophe. Below are our major takeaways from that conversation. 

Takeaways from my 2020 conversation with K’era:

• Know your value.
  When K’era first began with k-apostrophe, her process was to create a mixed media piece of artwork that her blankets would then be based on. Initially, she did not recognize that the art pieces themselves were of value or “worthy” of being purchased. It was her husband who suggested that she sell her art in addition to the blankets.  She was able to see that if a blanket can be appreciated, then the art can be too. They both are valuable and both resonated with people. 
  
  Now she sells her artwork in many forms and by doing so she makes it more accessible. It allows her customers to approach at any level. For instance, they may start by purchasing a journal and later purchase a tapestry or piece of artwork.
  
  

• Carve out time to create.
  K’era knows that the foundation of her business is her artwork. No matter how much help she has, they cannot go to the studio and produce her creations. That knowledge is something that is always top of mind for her and art is the way she processes things. She poured it into her artwork.
  
  

• Lean into a consistent self-care routine.

  The more K’era runs her business, the less time she spends creating. She knows that when things are stressful or crazy that it is harder to focus on self care, so her routine is to journal and sketch at least 5-10 minutes a day, no matter what. That consistent safe space has helped keep her grounded. 

  
  

• Communication is key.
  At the time, k-apostrophe’s items were hand-made to order in Ghana. During the pandemic it took a lot longer to make them and she wanted to smooth that gap over with her customers. She not only posted messages on her website but would also reach out to every customer directly thanking them for their order and explaining that their order would take longer than normal. She worried about the impacts of these delays because we live in a society where things are delivered the next day, but her customers were understanding and willing to wait for items that are hand-made to order. 

  
  

• Stop being afraid.
  K’era vacillated on if she needed or could afford help. Eventually she was so busy that she just had to tell herself to ‘stop being afraid.’ She knew that if she hired someone to assist her then it would create room for more opportunities and it has. Her assistant can do everything but create the actual artwork.
  
  

• Prioritize relationships.
  K’era is passionate about brand collaborations, joint - projects and creating jobs for people in her community. Her strategy is to make items that she wants in her home but cannot find in the marketplace. She has an ever growing list of things she wants to create and a vision for how k-apostrophe impacts her community. She knows she cannot do everything all at once and that list helps keep her focused. She has learned to perfect the products that she currently produces, and once they work well she uses that confidence to branch out into other mediums. Right now her focus is on brand collaborations producing capsule collections. This focus keeps her in her studio where she knows the foundation of k-apostrophe lies.
   
  

To listen to the entire 2020 Interview click play.

Our Full 2022 Conversation with K’era:

WE LAST SPOKE ABOUT 2 YEARS AGO. HOW HAS YOUR BUSINESS EVOLVED OR GROWN SINCE THEN?

I can’t believe it's been 2 years already since we spoke. Definitely, things have changed, evolved and grown. I think the biggest thing is having a new studio assistant. At that time I had one. Since then, that person left for a career growth opportunity. My new studio assistant, who started in November of last year, is great and is fully cemented into the k-apostrophe world. Although it seems new things pop up every day or every week where I have to educate her on something new or we’re both learning. In addition to her, I have brought on a business consultant. I was seeking out advice and help or manpower with running my business. There were things that I wanted to button up and tighten up but didn't quite know how to go about that myself. I felt that it was best to tap into someone that had a different area of expertise. Based on Vanessa’s background and my needs we determined that she would essentially help oversee all of my brand collaborations and licensing deals, along with other major outside projects. I am doing more public works projects and she helped me get on the roster of the L.A. Arts and Culture Department. That came through her, obviously I had to apply and do all of those things but I had expressed that I had wanted to do those things and I was interested in learning about how public works and artists work. Now, if I land a project she helps me to manage that budget. She is identifying a lot of different licensing deals and collaborations with different external brands for me to partner with and manages what those deals look like from a financial, creative, and production standpoint. I would say those are the 2 biggest things that have changed in my business.

I would also say that I am working and collaborating a lot more with other artists. I take interest in other types of mediums and understanding how different products are made because I'm interested in making other types of things. I’ve found that one of the most inspiring and invigorating ways to go about that is by collaborating with different artists and with people that work in different mediums on special projects. So, I am expanding and working in different areas. For instance, I did lighting for an interior design company and that sparked my interest in wanting to do more lighting in my brand. So, I'm collaborating with a glass blower and we’re working on a capsule collection of table lamps. I'm working with a wood worker because I want to take my work into a 3 dimensional realm. That project that looks like it's turning into a commission for an outside collector. I’m working a lot more with interior designers, interior architecture forms, a lot of those types of inquiries are coming my way which is really exciting. Some hospitality projects as well and I’ve also launched into a new category which is tabletop. I've just dipped my toe into that area and it's something that I’m hoping to expand.  Again, as far as growing my business and the types of products I’m interested in, it’s still very much in the home space. 

WHEN WE LAST SPOKE, YOU WERE SELLING WHOLESALE, BUT I BELIEVE THAT HAS GROWN A LOT FOR YOU. HOW HAVE YOU SEEN WHOLESALE SHIFT AND CHANGE IN RECENT MONTHS? WHAT DOES WHOLESALE LOOK LIKE FOR YOU NOW? HOW DID THOSE STORE RELATIONSHIPS COME ABOUT?

Wholesale continues to be a large part of my business. I did actually take on a sales rep showroom for a bit. I was really curious and interested in that model. Before that, my first studio assistant had worked in sales and she actually had taken that portion of my business over. After she left, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to pass that part of my business off to people that I felt were experts and that had those relationships. I stopped working with them because it was a big learning curve and it was a big financial commitment which is a big hurdle to overcome. I definitely see a value in working with sales reps and the one I was working with was very well established and very well respected but I think it's a challenge to overcome that financial hump. There are initial fees from samples, to paying the different showroom fees and the cost of trade shows. That all adds up before any potential sales come through.

Now k-apostrophe has gone back to what I was doing before, working with different wholesale platforms and Vanessa has been doing some outreach on the brands behalf. I'm lucky that I have brands coming to me and there are some retail partners that are repeat customers. That really does help sustain my business from a wholesale perspective. I am continuing to look to grow the wholesale business but I’m not trying to take over the world and be in every single store. I know it’s not possible and not realistic. My product doesn’t fit everywhere. So, I have some key stores that I would like to be in, that I’m not in yet. That’s more of my focus. Also, if and when I return to a sales rep I would be looking to them to bring different retail partners to light that I’m not aware of and that would be a good fit. I’m always interested in partnering with like minded organizations and I think that's more of my focus than trying to be everything and everywhere for everybody. I am grateful for the relationships more so with some of the bigger box retailers that I’ve started to work with. And a lot of them have come to me, which has been great. Throughout that time, I’ve been able to build solid relationships with them which has been great. It’s been a mutually beneficial relationship because they obviously value me and my brand and my work. The sales and figures mostly speak to that and at the same time, they’ve brought a lot of awareness to my brand. I was actually featured on the cover of Dwell magazine last year. They have an annual emerging designer issue where they feature the top forty global designers. I was selected to that list and low and behold, I was selected for the cover! That has had some nice exposure and growth for my brand.

As far as relationships with stores a lot of them have come to me, some I’ve gone to or they were relationships that I had with other retailers or editors that have made introductions. They’ve kind of developed in different ways. 

A KEY PART OF YOUR VISION HAS BEEN TO HIRE A TEAM AND CREATE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND STABILITY FOR MORE PEOPLE THAN JUST YOURSELF. WHEN WE LAST SPOKE, YOU HAD RECENTLY HIRED AN ASSISTANT. HOW HAS YOUR TEAM GROWN OR CHANGED SINCE THEN?

I spoke to this on the first question, and I’m still looking to grow my team internally. I think that if you had asked me 2 years ago what my vision was, I probably would have said that I envisioned having more of an internal team but with a pandemic that kind of changed the scope or the progress in that area. It slowed it down I would say. My business did quite well in the pandemic, which I’m grateful for. My husband is also creative and he found himself not working so thankfully because my business did so well I was able to continue to support the studio assistant I had and my consultant but also my family. Which was great and it was really challenging for a lot of people and I happen to live in a very expensive state and city. And to know that I was able to build and grow and maintain a client base that was able to sustain not only myself and my family but a couple of other people that helped me with my business was huge. The team hasn't grown quite as much as I would like.

I did hire a writer that has helped with copy writing from newsletters to social media and websites. So that’s also one person I forgot to mention that I have added. I realize it’s going to take the time it’s going to take and I’ll be grateful when that all happens. For now with how things are evolving, I definitely see forward progression.

Even though I have not hired more internally, I have expanded the providers I’m working with. So, now I’m working with weavers in Mexico. They are a family run business. (that seems to be a theme with me). I was able to work with them during the pandemic, which was not easy but they were also eternally grateful for our relationship in being able to continue to work together. They were able to keep their employees working and thus providing income and a roof over the heads of their employees' families. Even though internally k-apostrophe hasn’t reached its maximum yet, I do still feel like I’m meeting my mission as far as helping spur economic development and stability with my immediate and expanded community.

What does your art and morning practice look like these days?

It’s shifted a bit. I still have a very sacred period of time in the morning before I start my day. I have found that when I don’t adhere to those rituals it feels like I give the day permission to take me wherever the day wants to take me versus me controlling the day and doing what I want or feel like I need to do during the day. It’s a slight thing but it’s very very impactful and I’ve found that when I don’t get up and do my meditation and have time to drink my warm water with lemon and contemplate about the day which sometimes means journaling, sometimes sketching. Then, I feel like I dive into these emails and these to-dos and I just kind of get pulled in 1 million directions and I don’t feel as efficient or effective or that I’ve done much. I’ve just been pulled in a million directions and it’s not a good feeling to end the day like that. 

I will say that I haven’t been doodling as much in the morning. When I have that creative urge, because I have a studio assistant I am able to carve out more time. So that when I feel like I need to be in the studio painting I get up and do that. Which has been great. Before the journaling and sketching kind of took place of the lack of time I may have had in the studio to create. That's not to say that I'm not sketching. I am finding myself sketching a lot of ideas for different products and figuring out how I want to construct them. So that happens and one of the new things I’ve found though is flower arranging. I have taken that up more as a hobby than I have in the past. The impetus was taking a flower arranging class earlier this spring. One of the things that struck me that the instructor said was that after she does her initial arrangement, every day she changes the water and the vase and snips the bottom of the ends of the flowers to prolong the life and longevity of the arrangement. I thought Oh Wow. Why didn’t I ever think of that? Of course it makes sense to change the water and snip the ends to help the flowers stay alive longer. In doing that, I have made that part of my morning routine and there’s something so gratifying and calming about removing all the stems from the vase, dumping out the water, filling with fresh water, snipping the ends and rearranging the flowers in the vase. It’s so simple but I love it. It brings me so much joy and so much calm. I try to get flowers once a week or at least twice a month and I’ll spend a week of every morning waking up and rearranging my flowers. It's a beautiful thing. I highly recommend people give it a go. I guess it’s what garders feel when they are in the garden digging up soil and planting plants. When I’ve done that it is enjoyable but with gardening you have to set time aside to go out and do that. It’s not something you can necessarily do every morning, whereas with this you can.

AS A PR PRO, WHAT WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO MAKERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO GET MORE PRESS FOR THEIR BUSINESS?

Oh that’s the million dollar question! I wish I had a succinct answer for that because getting publicity and getting press is not easy. It’s not an overnight thing. It's something that takes time, that requires you to build relationships with the media that you want to be publicized in. I would say that’s one of the key things too. First, identify where you want to be featured and find out who that person is that is writing a column or stories about where you feel like your product or you yourself would fit. By identifying those articles or those places then you're already educating yourself on the types of things that this writer or publication tends to write about. The tone, the voice, the products, the people and in doing that you can make sure that you’re crafting a pitch or sharing news with them that’s relevant. I think that is one of the biggest pet peeves journalists, writers and editors have is receiving news that has nothing to do with what they write about.

I also think that reaching out and letting folks know that you’re a fan of their writing or their publication and then asking them if they wouldn’t mind sharing what they’re interested in hearing about or how you can make their lives easier can be impactful. A lot of times they’re really grateful when people ask that question because they are constantly being talked to and thrown information at. So when they see that someone is actually interested in learning and understanding how they can help them, then that's huge. I think that will go far in the world of media.

I'd also consider “How do you think about press?” Press comes in so many shapes and forms these days. Are you looking for the cover of a magazine? Or are you looking to be interviewed on a podcast or on a blog? Some are more low hanging fruit than some of those bigger wish types of press hits that may take more time. So think about where you want to be and think about your dream coverage versus coverage that you might also like that may be a bit easier.

Think about someone you might know that may know somebody that has a personal connection with a writer or a journalist or an editor or somebody at the publication then make that introduction. Obviously, you can always tap into a publicist. I tend to say that working with a PR consultant versus an Agency is always great because those people tend to have more flexibility as far as budget. And they tend to have really great relationships. You’re usually one of a few clients as opposed to one of many, so you won’t get lost in the shuffle of them trying to juggle a bunch of different clients. I think they can give you a bit more personalized attention. Maybe there’s something that you’re launching that you really want to get press on and you can treat it as a one time project versus a monthly type of retainer which might make it a bit more affordable as well.

YOU HAVE HAD A FAIRLY CONSISTENT AESTHETIC AND ETHOS IN YOUR WORK BUT OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, I'VE SEEN THE WORK FEEL LIKE IT HAS BECOME EVEN MORE OF ITSELF, LIKE IT'S ALL JUST COME INTO FOCUS. DOES THAT RESONATE WITH YOU? IS THAT SOMETHING YOU'VE BEEN WORKING AT (IN TERMS OF REFINING THE ART AND THE LINE) OR SOMETHING THAT'S HAPPENED ON ITS OWN?

Well thank you so much for saying that. It's good to know that it's evident that things have I guess been crystalized. I think that product has been conscious as well as unconscious. As I’ve continued to put in the time and as I say, do the work. It’s hard to really define the areas I want to take my work and the areas I want to explore and even though it may seem a bit disparate having some sort of guideline as far as exploring has helped me refine, define and hone in. I think that when it comes to artists and designers and creatives, it goes back to the 10,000 hours. The more time you put into it and the more questions you ask, you’re able to hone in on things at a more granular level and things really just start to gel but that takes time. 

I’ll admit, and I think a lot of other artists have this, I’m sure I’m not the only one that, when I’m working I go through an ugly phase. Usually with the painting I’m excited, I’m starting, I really don’t know where things are going but I’m hyped and there comes a point where I’m like OOOO I really don’t like where this has gone, I think I may have gone too far. I start to doubt myself maybe. But usually if I start to doubt myself it means that I’m getting tired and I need to walk away. But there is an “ugly phase” where I don’t like what I’m seeing and I don’t like where it’s gone and I kind of like “Uh! I give up!” But I don’t, I come back to it at a certain point in time and continue to work and then it comes through. I work it out. And it is usually something that I absolutely love. I think that’s what this whole process and evolution of my work is. I go through growing pains. A lot of what I share is what I like. There is a lot of stuff that I do that I don’t like and will never see the light of day and that’s okay. That’s part of experimenting and part of growing and part of honing in on what it is that you want to say or express.

Everything isn’t going to be a masterpiece. Funny enough some of the things I think “ Oh! This is amazing!” People, the outside world does not necessarily have the same reaction. It’s the things that I love but I’m thinking “Oh wow, this is cool. I like it” is the stuff that people go crazy for. It's really really interesting. What I’ve come to see is that there are pieces that artists create, or at least I create, that are more for myself and then there’s work that I still love and am passionate about but that for whatever reason the outside world is moved by. Which is also special and beautiful too because I do think artists should keep some of their work. All of it shouldn’t be out there in the world. A lot of what you are doing you are doing for yourself and you are sharing is a part of yourself but some of that you should keep for yourself. It’s a fine line there. I do think a part of it is conscious and part of it’s unconscious and I’m curious to see where my work will be in a year, in 2 years, in 5 years, will it be even more crystalized or will I be something completely doing something completely different? I don’t know but I do feel like it’ll be even more of myself or maybe it’s just an expression of who I am at that time. Which I do believe and I think there’s a certain level of confidence that I’ve gained from my work now and the consistency and feeling good about showing it and where it is. So that is also coming through I think and that’s resonating with individuals as well. 

HOW HAS THE OUTSIDE WORLD AND ITS UPS AND DOWNS AFFECTED YOUR BUSINESS? ARE YOU SEEING AN IMPACT ON YOUR BUSINESS WITH INFLATION AND FEARS OF RECESSION?

Oh my goodness! I will say when the pandemic hit, I literally thought “ This is it.” You know, I thought when it came to art, home decor, accessories, these things felt somewhat frivolous in the times we were living in but lo and behold they became necessities. I think a lot of people in the home decor area saw businesses take off because so many people were spending more time at home  and desired to take that space where it was cozy and comfortable for them to live but was also beautiful and functional and a place that they wanted to work. So that was an interesting wild ride and my business rode it very well and we benefited from it. 

There are definitely cycles when it comes to this business realm and I’m still learning how to manage them emotionally and financially. Like most things, there are cycles and there are times when things are really busy and everyone is beating down the door. They wanted something yesterday. Although, I’m truly grateful for those times when it feels like things are in abundance. It can also be extremely stressful because it does feel like everybody wants something from me at once and there is only so much of me to go around or so much of my work to go around. I feel this pressure to just move fast and do things and it's not possible. That is not a great feeling. 

On the flip side when things get slow there is this thought that “Oh no! This is the end.” Things are dying out. Am I going to be able to weather this?” There is this anxiety and fear of the unknown. In both of those times, I have to remember that neither is forever. And like seasons, the world, the planet, everything, there are cycles and everything comes to an end. Then there is a new beginning. 

With that said there have been some ups and downs. Some scary downs and really high highs. I really don’t know, I’m hoping that with the fears of recession, that my business will continue to thrive despite that. I think living through the pandemic showed that it can. It showed that there is a strong base of supporters and followers that believe in me. That enjoy the work that I do and somehow will be able to support me, as well as the other brands that they feel that they can. For those that can’t or have to back off. I totally understand that as well. Everybody is doing the best that they can. I can’t really fault anybody for that. I also don’t want to live in fear and worry about the recession or things slowing down. I think it’s just a part of the world that we live in, a part of our existence.

I think that k-apostrophe will be okay and will come out of it stronger. There are things that I will have learned and possibly things that I will do differently for the future. That might mean that my business might change in certain respects but that's not necessarily a bad thing. So we’ll see. 

A huge thank you to K’era! Her openness and willingness to share is one of the (many!) reasons that we love her and the work that she does.

You can find our other Made to Last interviews here: 

• Doing The Next Right Thing With Sarah Omura

• Finding Flow with Lori Roberts

• A Deep Dive with Jonnie Estes

• And more coming soon!