Conversations with Katy Rand and Andrew Scavo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katy Rand and Andrew Scavo.

Hi Katy & Andrew, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story? 
Art has always been a part of my life, and even at a young age, I loved to create. My mother went to school for studio art and art history, so being creative definitely runs in the family. As I grew up, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for a living: I wanted to be creative. I took every art class my school’s had to offer, went to an art class on the weekends, and attended many art camps every year during the summer. Once I finished high school I went to college for graphic design and film then started my career. I have worked in both fields since with experience in broadcast, film, graphic design, photography, social media, marketing – the list goes on. I even went back to school last year to get an additional degree in marketing. In addition to art, my love for music has also been very prominent throughout my life. I love listening to music going to shows, and I even play guitar bass and sing. 

While I love what I do for a living, it isn’t fulfilling creating for someone else every single day. I would work on my own projects here and there, drawing, painting, and crafting in my free time. Then one day, I decided I wanted to do something different as a way to have a creative outlet for myself. I had drawn some designs and come up with ideas that friends and family said they would buy and got excited about. It reached a point where I thought to myself, wow I could really do this. And that is when Kat & Crew was born. I started doing a lot of research, and I mean A LOT. I wanted to create something I loved that felt unapologetically me but was unique and resonated with people. I also thought about the things that I always looked for but could never find, but wanted it to feel elevated and special within a space that was so saturated with makers. 

Andrew has always been creative, too. He grew up learning from his dad, who is an architect, and his mom, who is extremely creative and loves to craft. At an early age, he took a particular liking to music and pursued that from high school into present day. In addition to his impressive music talent, he also possesses a wide range of technical skills and abilities. His expertise ranges from fixing, assembling, and building anything to analyzing and troubleshooting problems. His mom has even joked that he is a modern-day Macgyver. 

When I met Andrew, I was still in the research and development stage of Kat & Crew, and he was extremely supportive of my ideas and the business. He wanted to be a part of it, and from then we became a team. I loved that it was something we could do together. And it was easy. People say it can be hard to own a business with your significant other but it’s not for us. We work so well together. He brought a lot of really great ideas and a side to it that I could have never done without him. It’s important for people to know that while the name is Kat & Crew, and I may run our social media, Andrew is just as involved behind the scenes and works extremely hard to bring our vision to life. 

We put our heads together, incorporating our love for both art and music along with other interests and specific tastes in decor, clothing, and accessories. We hand-make almost everything you see ourselves. I draw all of the artwork as well and then we work together to put it on all of the products ourselves. Andrew hand pours the concrete and even made the mold for our large skull planters. I built our website, and then we were ready to launch. We had a lot of really amazing support and feedback the day we announced Kat & Crew. A friend of ours even gave us the opportunity to vend our very first event and that was a turning point for us as it opened up a door to a world that has changed our lives since. From then we have not only grown our business but also the community we build every day. We have made so many connections and new friends that we are extremely thankful for. We have the best customers and support system. We have created products we had only dreamed about before and have so many amazing plans ahead. We can’t wait to see what Kat & Crew’s future holds; it’s going to be an incredible journey. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
For the most part, we have been very lucky throughout the creation and growth of the company, but of course, nothing is perfect. We have a lot of big dreams and aspirations that take a lot of time, hard work, and patience. Having a small business on top of your normal 9-5 job also brings its own challenges. Both of us work full-time in our main careers and then work on Kat & Crew in the evenings and on the weekends, and while we absolutely love it, it can be very exhausting. Being small business owners mean we are responsible for everything – product development and design, marketing, customer support, fulfillment/shipping, etc. We work extremely long hours. We also have so many ideas and it can be frustrating when something doesn’t work out how you want it to or you’re not quite able to accomplish something you want due to space or funds. We run Kat & Crew out of our home, in a small 8×10 space that always seems to fill up quickly. It’s a lot to juggle, but in the end, we love it. The long hours are always worth it when that one thing we’ve been working so hard to accomplish finally works out or when we go to a vendor event and someone comes up to tell us that they only came to the event because we were going to be there. We have something special, and we couldn’t be more proud of what we have created. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
At Kat & Crew, we specialize in handmade alternative home decor, clothing, and accessories. We consider our style to be a more elevated “Elder Emo” aesthetic, something that is not commonly seen within the local vendor market space. We take great pride in our craftsmanship and attention to detail. While there are unique quirks and natural imperfections throughout our products based on the creative nature, each item is created to exhibit a level of sophistication that surpasses the typical “handmade” look. We want our pieces to make a statement and feel special while also letting you make it all your own. We had someone take our stickers and make them into magnets. Someone else put crystals into our large skull planter to make it something completely different than the intended purpose. We love to see it. Crop our shirts, tie dye our bags, wear our bandana rings on your fingers, make it you. We had one couple use our Til’ Death banner in their wedding. Someone else was complimented on our gold tooth earrings, and they literally took the earrings out of their ear and gave it to the person then came back and bought another pair from us. We love our supporters so much and we consider them friends, part of the Kat & Crew family. It started out as making things we wanted that we couldn’t find, and as we grow, we try really hard to create things that you don’t see every day; we want to stand out and be different. “…but make it elevated” is a phrase we commonly use when working through our product ideas. 

It’s also really great to have the skill sets that we do within our team. I come from a creative background in graphic design, web design, photography, film, marketing, and social media and Andrew has a wide range of talents in building, making, project management on top of his creativity. I draw all of the artwork; he builds everything we need for our vendor booth. I run our social media and make all of the jewelry, he heat presses all of the vinyl and etches all of the mirrors. The list goes on. The things I struggle with he is so talented with, and vice versa. 

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
We take a lot of inspiration from life experiences that we think other people would relate to, funny things that have been said or happened within our friend group, music, trends, and interests of our own. I am also constantly looking at trends for my career and that has really helped with spotting things that are popular and up-and-coming then we figure out if it’s meaningful and how to make it something that feels “us”. We are constantly looking at Pinterest, TikTok and YouTube. We love learning new skills and try new things all of the time. If you can’t tell by now, we aren’t the sitting-around type and really enjoy creating. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.katandcrew.com
• Instagram: kat.andcrew
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/katandcrew