Senior Morgan student Amber Robayo has taken her knack for making crafts and crocheting and gone professional, creating her own online shop on Etsy called AmbersCrochetCubby, selling crochet Plushies and Handbags.
Robayo started out her love for creating when she was a kid, all the way back in fifth grade, where she began to crochet. Robayo’s first exposure to crocheting was through a club she went to in the former Pierson school. However, it wasn’t easy at first. “I tried it out, and I was really bad at first,” Robayo recalled. “So I quit for a couple years.”
However, when COVID hit and everyone stayed home, no one really had much of anything to spend their time on. So when schools opened back up,and Robayo saw a club at the Eliot Middle School for crocheting, she decided to give it another try. This time around, Robayo’s skills in crocheting improved greatly, due to the combined efforts of her aunt, who was crafty like her, giving her tips on how to crochet and create more effectively. “In 8th grade during COVID, I picked it back up,” Robayo said. “And I had a family member, my aunt, who was very crafty like I am. And she gave me a couple tips, and then I just kinda picked it up, right then and there.”
After a while, her friends and family began telling her to make an online store for her creations. Robyao was against it at first; however, when she began thinking of how it could be a good way to show off her crafts while also making money, she was sold, and started up her store.
“I was a little reluctant at first, but then I thought it would be a good way to share with other people,” said Robayo. Her online shop, also known as AmbersCrochetCubby, was created during the start of her junior year.
Robayo sells a variety of stuff on her store, from handbags and beanies, to plushies and keychains. She mainly enjoys making more products that can be used in day-to-day life, though also enjoys making little plushes and trinkets just as much. The stores mainly ran by herself, with occasional help from family for photos of her products. She also gets help from her friends who spread and support her store locally, getting more attention on her creations.
“I do advertise a lot on Instagram, and people that I know around town and stuff. I have my friends show people that they know,” Robayo explained. “I kinda keep it very local, but eventually I want to expand.”
Even with this help, though, running a business on your own can be a struggle, which is something Robayo has to deal with from time to time. When she started out her store, she did lots of research on how to properly promote and create an appealing place for customers, while also having to stay on top of keeping her store stocked with products. This, combined with the fact she also has a large cut of money taken from her sales by Etsy, and that her store has trouble getting promoted through the site, can make managing the store quite difficult at times. “Etsy fees are probably my biggest weakness,” Robayo said. “Because it costs a couple cents to list something, and then once I make a sale, they do take a percentage off. Also with shipping, if I sell something for fifteen dollars, I’m only making about eight dollars.”
Despite these problems, Robayo’s been able to look past that and see the positives in running her business. One thing she enjoys about her work is being able to finish it, since it gives her a sense of accomplishment when a product gets completed. She also has fun creating new products while running her store, since she likes spending time finding design ideas and working them into her creations.
What she likes to do the most, though, is designing her site and having the chance to promote it through Instagram. For her, it makes the process of running her store much more enjoyable. As Robayo explained, “I enjoy being able to take nice pictures and put them together, and create little descriptions about the product. It’s pretty fun because you get to talk about it, and I also get to make little flyers on my Instagram page and share them while adding music, and I like getting creative with it.”
For Robayo, this is just the beginning, as she has plans on how to expand for the future. A point of interest for her is getting her shop promoted through art fairs, where she can show off her creations. She also hopes to be more productive with her store as time goes on. Currently, when she works, the process can be a bit slow. But as the store goes on, she believes her skills will get more consistent, and she’ll be able to work much more efficiently on her creations.
“I want to attend more craft fairs and art festivals, and just more public opportunities to show off small businesses,” Robayo explained. “Although I work on my shop very slowly, I think eventually it will be more consistent.” She closed with a bit of advice for others interested in starting their own business. “And for other people who want to start an online business for something they like to create, I think they should just go for it.”