Rumsey resident merges crafting skills, love of jewelry

Jun. 20—When Morgan Carroll was preparing to graduate with her bachelor's degree in psychology from Kentucky Wesleyan College, the timing wasn't exactly on her side.

"In March of 2020 — of course — the world kind of shut down with COVID, and I was actually about to graduate from college," Carroll, 21, said. "It was a terrible time to be looking for a job; I had just finished an internship, and I was like, 'What can I do from home?' "

Honing in on her crafting skills and her love of jewelry, Carroll formed her own business, Carroll Trading Co., focusing on what she describes as "fun, lightweight earrings" and more, based out of an office in her Rumsey home.

Carroll said that she's always had a creative side.

"I've always liked to paint, and I'm just a crafty person," she said. "Even when I was younger, I remember having scrapbooks when that was cool and things like that."

At first, Carroll wasn't into making jewelry, but it was an area she eventually evolved into.

"It was just another medium that I could work with, just something different I could continue to make pretty things, but in just a different way," Carroll said.

The business began originally as a private Facebook group for Carroll's friends and family, along with some locals in McLean County, with the assumption that it would have been a "small little thing" while she searched for a full-time job.

While she's recently found employment working as a pharmacy technician at Walgreens in Calhoun, Carroll's business saw some unexpected growth and moved from the private group to a public business page and setting up an Etsy page — with the latter moving Carroll Trading Co. in the right direction.

"That's when it really took off, because that opened up to a whole new audience for me," Carroll said. "And then I started an Instagram, and I really just kind of started going with the whole thing."

Carroll said that the business went from receiving attention from folks throughout Kentucky before crossing over state lines and even making a couple of splashes overseas.

"As of right now, I have sold to 29 states and three countries, all through Etsy," Carroll said. "There's people in Texas that are wearing earrings made in McLean County, Kentucky. Like, what? That's crazy. There are people in Sweden; I mean, it's unbelievable to me."

And just last month, the business celebrated its second anniversary, a milestone that Carroll couldn't have predicted.

"It's still very surreal to me," she said. "I don't think I ever dreamed it would get that big. I mean, of course there's still so much more room to grow and so much more to be done, but I just thought that it was going to be some kind of little hobby (or) a little side gig."

One of the trademark parts of Carroll's offerings is the variety of designs that she handcrafts that she sources from a number of places.

"I like to play around with different textures — that's my favorite thing. But there are so many shapes, so many different patterns," she said. "It's just things ... that I think that are pretty, so like any faux leather, any cork wood, lightweight materials. That's the whole thing about Carroll Trading Co. is that I wanted lightweight, and I want it affordable."

Carroll feels that being inexpensive has helped with the business' longevity, such as selling a pair of its earrings for $6.

"I think a lot of times other small businesses or boutiques expect you to pay more because you're shopping local, and it's handcrafted by one person," Carroll said. "But I didn't want that to be an issue. I never wanted price to be an issue. I always prided myself to be as affordable as I possibly can."

The process of getting products ready to sell to potential customers takes both time and patience.

"There's so much that goes into it than you would ever dream," she said.

Carroll also focuses on getting feedback from her customers through a personal approach.

"Something that I always do ... is that I send handwritten thank you notes with every order, and I ask them politely at the end, 'Hey, if you don't mind — leave me an Etsy review,' because that's what really helps my small business grow," she said. "I want an honest (and) open review; and I say honest because ... I do want to hear the honest truth."

She's also gone beyond the online sales and has been a participant at a number of vendor sales, allowing the business to continue to gain the attention of the local community and reach new audiences.

While Carroll said that going full-time with the business may not seem realistic, it has crossed her mind a few times. But she doesn't want to lose the purpose of why she started the business.

"I've had a lot of people tell me, 'Oh my gosh, you can charge so much more for a pair of earrings;' and I could, but I don't want that," Carroll said. "I don't want to be just all profit. I make them essentially as my creative outlet."

She also gets satisfaction from being able to see the expression on a customer's face.

"I love when people buy from me and then the next couple days they're tagging me in selfies and I'm like, 'I made a woman feel beautiful. She loves her new earrings and she's smiling for all of Facebook to see,' " Carroll said. "That's a great feeling."

Carroll has expanded her product line beyond earrings with bracelets, do-it-yourself bracelet kits and gifts and custom gift baskets.

The bracelet kits have been popular with mothers and daughters, where Carroll feels being able to do something together can create memories that will last.

"It's more than just earrings," Carroll laughed.

Even though running a business can be tough, Carroll focuses on the positives.

"It's genuinely just really fun," she said. "From being able to make it my creative outlet, to getting to bring joy to others, to being able to meet people at vendor fairs and getting to see pictures of people wearing their Carroll Trading Co. — just all of it. The whole experience is just so surreal (and) something I never thought would happen to me."

In the near future, Carroll has plans to start a dedicated website for the company in order to branch out more and have more control of her advertising and personalize the experience for potential clientele while also looking into venturing out to selling her items at small shops.

But for now, Carroll is embracing the ride she's been on and is enthusiastic for what's in store.

"(It's been a) success; it's like why stop now? If people are liking what I'm making, why would I stop that?" she said. "It's a whole experience and it brings me so much joy. It's really just a good part of my life that I really don't want to let go of."

For more information, visit facebook.com/carrolltradingco or etsy.com/shop/CarrollTradingCo.