Today we’d like to introduce you to Rosalyn Kawahira
Hi Rosalyn, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I had a long career in fundraising for charities and it was a very rewarding career. But the pandemic made me rethink everything. It was a challenging time. And going through it with my loved ones made it clear how fleeting everything is and how important it was to do what’s in your heart. It felt like the right moment to pursue opening my own shop.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Little Tokyo was an integral part of my childhood. Even now, my family is right here in the community – my father is a gardener at the Higashi Honganji temple on 3rd street and my mother volunteers at the Little Tokyo Service Center. Opening a store here made sense to me. We’re a neighborhood craft shop that sells beginner kits, sashiko supplies, and products by local artists like stickers and greeting cards. We also offer beginner classes of all kinds of crafts for folks to try new things, like embroidery, crochet, or watercolor, and host events where artisans can sell their handmade products. Another unique aspect is that we have a small makerspace where emerging crafters can rent equipment by the hour. We hope to be a community space where everyone can be inspired to make art. We want to awaken your latent creativity and offer opportunities for folks to practice what’s in their hearts.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We opened to a lot of positive feedback. But the road isn’t smooth by any means. Folks are still learning about us and we’re learning about what our customers want most. Our space is limited so what we do is curated based on what the community wants and needs. For example, we offer all sorts of workshops for beginners, including bookbinding and mending workshops which were suggested by our customers. We’re also partnering with local artists to develop mending and craft kits that customers requested.
Running the day-to-day operations and preparing new programs is tough for any small business, but I feel fortunate to be in a neighborhood of supportive small business owners. The Little Tokyo Service Center Small Business Program continues to be a source of education and guidance, and many of the veteran businesses nearby have been generous in sharing their wisdom with me.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
We aim to be a community space – a different kind of creative third space for the neighborhood. We hold workshops for beginners several times a month on weeknights and weekends. We also have something called “Work-in-progress Wednesdays” where every first and third Wednesday evenings crafters bring their projects in and work on it together as a group. It’s really fun and encouraging; some folks have called it study hall or a craft social.
We’re proud to be a member of the historic Little Tokyo community. We’re a stone’s throw away from the Japanese American National Museum and the Go For Broke Memorial, sites where we remember Japanese Americans during WWII. We’re across the street from East West Players, the nation’s premier Asian American theatre company and LA Art Core, a community-based contemporary art gallery. We take our presence here seriously and it’s important to us to add to the vibrancy of Little Tokyo and honor its history. There’s so much to do in this neighborhood. We encourage folks not only to come check out Nellita’s Craft but to see everything Little Tokyo has to offer!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nellitascraft.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nellitascraft
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/nellitas-craft-los-angeles
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@nellitascraft
