This is Megan of @thelittleavocadoshop! She’s an amazing fiber artist and also helps me part time at Dazey :) When she applied for the position I creeped her insta of course and fell in love with her work and aesthetic, you could tell the girl had great taste! I love having someone at Dazey who also has a small business because she knows the struggles and daily ins-and-outs. We’ve been working extra hard on launching our upcoming “Dazey Lady Shop” and of course had to include her gorgeous work in it along with a feature. We shot these photos in her adorable Echo Park apartment which doubles as her workspace. Check them out below.

You will be able to shop some of these styles next week on our Dazey Lady Shop but for now you can find her here!

Follow Megan on Instagram: @TheLittleAvocadoShop

How long have you been weaving?!

I've been weaving since 2014 and then started selling my pieces through my shop, The Little Avocado, in early 2015. Looking back at my early pieces when I first started out is a bit cringe-worthy, I think the hours put into weaving over the years have definitely paid off!

What inspired you to start and why? How did you come up with your shop's name?

I’ve always been super DIY and into crafting and taking on new projects. I first began weaving and practicing macrame when I was living alone for the first time, and had full reign to decorate however I wanted. I needed more for my apartment than art prints and photos, so I took up weaving and the passion grew from there. I had more pieces than space in my tiny Koreatown studio so The Little Avocado was born. I wanted a shop name that was quirky, cute and had a SoCal feel– The Little Avocado checked all those boxes. I still love the name, luckily! 

Whats an average amount of time you spend on a medium-large sized weave?

This is such a hard question! It really all depends on the difficulty level of the piece, but I’d say 3-6 hours on average. Most of my woven wall hangings are made to order, so once I’ve made the same piece a few times my brain and hands can move quicker since I’ve began to memorize the pattern and steps. Patience and practice is key!

So you recently quit a full time job to focus on your business (and help out at Dazey of course!). Was that a hard decision? Walk us through your transition process.

Of course once you have a side business, the dream is to be able to quit the full time job and it’s pretty much something you think about at least once a day- or at least I did. For me, it was important to have a good amount of savings before taking the leap, in case things didn’t work out as planned- shit happens! Having a good support system was also really encouraging for me, my boyfriend is so logical and precise with all of his decision making so to have him say, “Go for it!” was such an awesome feeling. Once I left my full time gig I made a point of organizing a weekly to do list in my planner to keep on top of things. Every night I go over my weekly goals to make sure I’m keeping up orders, ship dates, email responses, etc.

How important is social media when it comes to your business? Things like branding and curating your feed.

My business definitely wouldn’t be where it is without social media. Of course Instagram is the number one platform I use to promote my business. I love being able to interact with customers through the app, and the addition of Instagram Stories allows them to see their pieces being created in real time, it’s such a great tool!

You started on Etsy but recently got a domain name. What would you say are the differences between the two for other entrepreneurs to consider?

Etsy is a great place to start off with a new business, they have great forums and an awesome community aspect that help answer questions along the way. The downside with Etsy is that sometimes your shop can get lost in the shuffle, there are so many shops on the site that it can sometimes be chaotic to navigate if you don’t know what exactly you are looking for. Having a domain is definitely a better way to go when bringing in new shoppers that find my shop on Instagram, for example. They can click directly from the app and are brought to my website with a cleaner presentation than what they would see on my Etsy site. Although, I love both and definitely don’t plan to shut down my Etsy shop anytime soon. :)

What are your plans for the future and your business?

This year I started to focus more on wholesaling my work now that I’ve been able to dedicate more time to the business since quitting my full time job. I love the idea of having my pieces in physical brick and mortar locations where customers can see the work in person. And of course, I’m always planning new designs to create!

What does being a Dazey Lady mean to you?

To me, being a Dazey Lady means going after your dreams and bringing those dreams to life in a positive way. Building a business, especially one based purely on selling your creativity to others, is hard work and having the support of other women in the Dazey community has been so helpful and encouraging! Since working at Dazey I’ve been able to really feel the ‘Don’t Hate Collaborate’ vibe all around and have loved connecting with new, awesome ladies out there getting shit done! Shop small y'all!