Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Olinger.
Alyssa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Lamp Vibes was manifested through my desire for more and my love for creating. I feel the most myself when I’m working with my hands. There’s something about painting that holds me to the earth. Since I was a little girl my mother would take me to art festivals, shows and markets on the weekends. I have carried that on into adulthood and always found it so inspiring. It would light a fire inside of me to see all of these talented people creating something beautiful out of nothing. Last year I went to the Sausalito Art Festival in NorCal and met an artist, Micah Sanger, who changed my life. He spoke to me about his process of painting auras and I could see the depth in which he was reaching people. He was able to connect so many different kinds of people through his relentless passion. I knew after that weekend I needed to change my life and start living differently.
After that weekend I was thrifting in Silverlake when I came across a Buddha Statue and of course I had to buy it. It was just the happiest thing I’d ever seen. I placed it on my shelf at home and whenever friends or family came over someone always mentioned how they just loved it. One day I had just decided out of nowhere…it needed to be a lamp. I went through the process of finding out where it came from, how to drill a hole into, how to wire a lamp, where to find lamp parts, and before you know it I was running a business. I expanded into vintage ceramic cat lamps, bookends, and now I’m working on rolling out a full line of home decor.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
This whole experience has been full of odd twists and turns. I’ve never started my own business before and honestly had no idea where to even begin. I think the biggest struggle for me creatively has been narrowing down a concise collection. When I had my first show the ones that sold out right away weren’t the ones I thought people would fall in love with so much. I’m still perfecting the look every day.
I think my biggest struggle is trying to balance the look of my website, my Instagram, and working on evolving my line of home decor all at the same time. It has made me very priority oriented and I am so grateful at how Lamp Vibes has continued to grow.
Please tell us about Lamp Vibes.
We specialize in eclectic home decor. I started out with lamps and expanded into bookends and will be expanding further! We are best known for our Buddha lamps but I have to say the cat lamps seem to be everyone’s crowd favorite.
I think what sets us apart are our unique pieces and bright colors. Everyone loves the bright colors and bright white. I am most proud of how much positivity Lamp Vibes has spread to its customers. It has brought so many wonderful and joyful people into my life who have been so loving and encouraging and I couldn’t be more grateful.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over I would have made sure I had my collection in order to a tee before releasing my products online. I wrote my business plan after the fact and jumped into it full throttle before properly planning everything out. In the end, it was a crash course on starting a business and in my future entrepreneurial adventures I will know step by step what I need to do first before launching a line of anything online.
Pricing:
- Buddha Lamps are $49
- Animal Lamps range from $89 – $200
- Buddha Bookends $17 each
- Salt Lamps $45 each
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lampvibes.com
- Phone: 661-219-1698
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @lampvibes
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/lampvibes
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