In the heart of Indiana, a small business is making a big impact by bringing families together through their fashion-forward matching designs. Ashley Green launched KaAn’s Designs in 2014, inspired by the loss of her mother when Green was just 21 years old.
“Although my mother and I spent tons of time together creating memories, they were never documented because ‘her hair wasn’t done’ or ‘she needed to lose more weight’ or ‘there was no makeup,’” Green said. Her passing “underscored the importance of capturing moments.”
While on maternity leave as a high school English teacher, Green said she was motivated by a desire to document special moments with her toddlers and break the cycle of missed opportunities. KaAn’s Designs was created to make the everyday moments special enough to capture.
“A big pillar of our business is getting the picture,” said Green. Since launching eight years ago, the Black- and woman-owned enterprise has captured the essence of unity and style with its distinctive line of matching family wear, including pajamas, sweatshirts, T-shirts and bags. For years, her products were warehoused in the garage of her family home.
But as orders grew, KaAn’s Designs, already selling in the Amazon store, turned to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to outsource shipping and handling, a decision that would help meet soaring demand after their product line landed on Oprah’s Favorite Things List in 2020. Oprah partners with Amazon to provide readers easy access to shop her favorite things in one place.
“Once we were on the front page of Amazon [as part of Oprah’s Favorite Things], we experienced six figures in sales overnight,” Green said excitedly. “We never would’ve been able to push the volume that we did in that moment without having FBA as an option.”
“Even in the midst of the craziness, we were able to send products directly from our manufacturers straight to Amazon,” she added. “They really made it a seamless process where we were able to take on such a change in our volume of sales.”
Since turning to Amazon in 2017, KaAn’s Designs has grown by more than 300% with sales expected to grow again in 2024.
Green credits Amazon’s reputation with helping to increase her own company’s sales. “There’s a different level of credibility that you get as a seller when people receive their items in an Amazon box,” she said. “The brand trust that comes with Amazon is automatically transferred over to you [as a business] and people are willing to try that.”
One of Amazon capabilities that has been invaluable to Green is Buy with Prime, which allows U.S.-based Prime members to shop directly from participating online retailers using the Prime shopping benefits they trust and love, such as fast, free delivery. Sellers like KaAn’s Designs can offer Prime shopping benefits directly on their ecommerce websites, helping to attract more customers as well as ensure reliable order fulfillment and easy returns.
In 2023, six billion units were delivered by Amazon on the same or next day to U.S. Prime members.
“I love Buy with Prime because we’re able to direct traffic to our website. We have that brand trust [from Amazon] and our customers receive their product in two days with FBA,” Green added. “It’s awesome.”
Green said the programs and tools Amazon provides have also helped her make smarter business decisions as her company has grown and matured through the years. “After spending time studying Amazon and learning the tools offered like Amazon Advertising, we learned that people can’t buy what they can’t see,” she said.
As the business has grown, so too have Green’s children. Her sons Aiden and Noah are now 13 and 10, and her daughter Kensley is 4. They–and Green’s husband, Kenny–are the heart and soul of KaAn’s Designs.
“Witnessing families capture and celebrate moments in our designs is immensely fulfilling,” said Green, adding that she wants the brand to remain synonymous with the timeless significance of family moments. “Being able to contribute to a space where every family feels seen and celebrated…makes each day as a small business owner meaningful.”