Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheyenne Franks (Gonzalez).
Hi Cheyenne, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I founded Kids and Kreatures Clothing Company in 2021 after discovering that alternative clothes for children were hard to come by. I was a new mom with an alternative fashion sense, and every “alternative” brand available at the time, just wasn’t able to fit my needs. All companies either offered clothing for babies and toddlers only (nothing for when the kids got bigger, and certainly no mommy and me styles), they were not age appropriate or they were extremely overpriced. I decided to fix this problem for all alternative parents experiencing these same issues. Now, five years into my business journey, I am still the proud owner of an ever-growing alternative family e-commerce brand, currently aiming to become the largest alternative family brand in the country.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Business is never “smooth,” and if you find that it is, you simply aren’t pushing yourself enough. The largest obstacle I’ve faced so far (and still remains an obstacle today), is balancing the juggling act of being a fully involved, homeschooling, stay at home mom to two small children, AND trying to be the best business owner I can be. The entrepreneur in me wants to grind morning day and night, selling as many t shirts as possible and beating out any competition now, and in the future. The mother in me, however, doesn’t want my kids to remember their mom as always working. I don’t want to dump them at a daycare all day to free up more work time, and as a mom that prioritizes homeschooling, I recognize that it is not only my duty to teach, but to ensure my children still get to have a normal and social childhood. Many days this means attending meet ups and field trips with homeschool groups when I’d rather be working and play dates instead of cranking out content. Many successful entrepreneurs often state that they regret not being present when their kids were small. I prefer to learn from mistakes that others have made, and I don’t want to make the same one. With that being said, growing my business as fast as I know I could has taken a back burner to motherhood, because being their mom will always be the most important job that I have. I struggle with this daily, as business has become my passion, and the competitor and creator in me wants to thrive, but my priorities will forever remain with my children.
As you know, we’re big fans of Kids and Kreatures Clothing Company. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Kids and Kreatures Clothing Company is an alternative family brand. We carry alternative styles in all sizes, from newborn through adult. That means that moms and dads can match their kiddos, regardless of age. We started as just a kid’s brand, but after listing to our customers, we decided to transition to a family brand, further solving the problems that alternative parents were facing, which was our main goal from the start. We want to fix every single problem you have with it comes to alternative family fashion. That goal is actually what makes us so different from other brands. If you do a quick internet search of “alternative clothes for kids” you’ll quickly discover that almost every brand available offers only infant and toddler. Additionally, they all tend to cater to a specific niche. Some brands are strictly music focused, some are strictly tattoo focused, some are based more around punk culture, etc. Kids and Kreatures combines ALL alternative niches, making it easy to find what you’re looking for weather that is something leaning more towards emo culture, goth, tattoo inspired, silly, or just artistic. We realize that not everything needs a title, and we fully agree, but we strive to ensure that everyone in the alternative community will find something they get excited about.
The thing we remain the most excited about as a brand is our message. “Dare to be Different.” We want to encourage all kids to be themselves, even if that makes them different. We’ve all heard the cliche story of the weird goth kid who gets picked on in school. Well, I’ve been that kid my whole life, and I found an entire community of people just like me. My favourite thing about those people is that they chose to remain themselves, regardless of what society judged them as, and if there’s one message that I could spread to the youth as a brand owner catering to young kids, it’s to just be yourself; even if you’re weird; even if you’re different. Don’t change for anyone ever.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up I was always a shy, quiet kid. I’ve always had an artistic bone in my body, but I never knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. In high school I thought I wanted to be a nurse. That’s what my family pushed me towards, and as a young kid with no life experience, it made sense at the time. I also worked for my dad’s farm every day after school and on the weekends. Learning about hard work in the scorching heat with a pound of dirt in my nose was great and all, it bought me my first car, but I didn’t love it. I wanted to do something a little more girly, so I made the transition to retail. That’s when I suddenly discovered my passion for sales; a talent I had no idea I had. I continued my retail career far beyond my original expectation. I climbed the corporate ladder and eventually became the store manager for one of my favourite brands. I had my sights set on becoming their district, and eventually regional manager, until I discovered the untapped market that I had mentioned earlier. Something about the idea of building a brand on my own just got my gears turning, and if there’s one personality trait about myself that I can definitely agree to, it’s that once I get an idea, my mind doesn’t let it go. I am and always have been a very goal-oriented person. My brain works in bullet points. I always have to check off each bullet point until I reach the main target, and when I start approaching the target, I move it because there always needs to be a goal I am working towards. These traits have been with me my entire life. It’s just how my brain is wired. I said I wanted to quit my corporate career and start a kids clothing brand. I did that. I said I wanted to grow the brand and transition to a family brand. I did that. I now want to grow it to be the largest alternative family brand in the country. I will absolutely do that. It’s all I think about.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kidsandkreatures.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidsandkreatures/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/639448040644150/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kidsandkreatures
