Katie Martini of Martini Made Company!

Today’s highlight goes to Katie Martini of Martini Made Company!

Bio:

Martini Made Company launched August 2019. While trying to figure out how I wanted to organize my business, I decided to focus on creating customizable polymer clay earrings. I decided to do it this way because it gave me the opportunity to work with people and turn their vision into a pair of unique statement earrings. Something that I am looking to do in the future is creating a website to sell pre-made earrings through as well as create more collections to sell.

So explain the name, are martinis the drink of choice?

I chose Martini Made Company as the name of my business because I wanted to incorporate my last name, Martini, into it somehow. I thought Martini Made was fitting because everything that is created is made by a Martini!

Although I am learning how to make yummy Martini’s at home, they definitely aren’t my drink of choice, my family does gravitate towards picking up a Martini & Rossi Asti when we have something to celebrate. 

Your small business actually makes monthly donations to the North Texas Make-A-Wish foundation. Can you explain what lead to your special connection to this organization and why you think it’s a vital organization in the DFW community?

After joining my sorority, Chi Omega, in college, Make-A-Wish became an important part of my life. Chi Omega’s national philanthropy is Make-A-Wish, so we were always learning about the non-profit as well as fundraising for North Texas Make-A-Wish. During my last year in college, I actually became one of the Make-A-Wish Director’s and was more hands-on with the fundraising events we planned and how we engaged with the community and our chapter about the importance of the organization.

I knew it was something that I wanted to implement into my business because I learned so much about the impact it has on Wish Kids and their families and wanted to contribute in some way.

You’ve been having to juggle a business with an internship, college courses, jobs, leadership positions, and sorority memberships. How do you set priorities with so many deadlines and have you learned any key lessons when tackling so many projects?

I learned early on in college that the best way for me to get stuff done was to create and organize a to-do list that I could mark things off as I complete the task. This helped me to plan my weeks around the course load that I had, extracurricular events and meetings, jobs and working on Martini Made. I was able to find a routine that worked for me a few weeks into the semester, so that was also helpful. As I go into a new time in my life after graduating from college, I’m having to relearn a routine and what works for me, which has been difficult, but it’s doable!

One of the biggest projects that I’ve taken on with Martini Made was taking my finals and working on a Harry Styles inspired collection during November and December of 2020. I had to organize when I needed to study, take the finals and work on creating the earrings, taking pictures, and creating and uploading content. There were definitely some long nights, but I was determined. I had an amazing launch of the collection, had fun making the earrings and also ended the semester with a 4.0.

One of the key lessons I’ve learned over the years is to just keep going. A lack of motivation is something that I can struggle with but being able to mark something off a list or pack an order of custom earrings is absolutely worth it.

In your Voyage feature, you state that you were searching for a creative outlet and found inspiration on mediums like Etsy and Pinterest. Is there any advice you would give to young professionals who might struggle with finding their passion?

While I was looking into different mediums, I went out and actually got the materials for everything that I was researching. I sat down and did some mini projects and ultimately found that I enjoyed working with polymer clay more than anything. It was something that gave me endless opportunities to be creative.

My advice to young professionals would be to find something that you enjoy and makes you excited to sit down and work on. There will be times where you struggle and wonder if it’s worth it, but the joy of creating something new or implementing a customer or your vision is so fulfilling.

Links:

I run my business through Instagram currently, @MartiniMadeCo, but am going to look into creating a website in the future for pre-made earrings!