Meet Kayla Straub | AKA Luulu, of Luulu Soul Designs

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kayla Straub and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kayla, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
Two big things lead the inspiration for what I create:

One is I always loved looking at all the different tables at craft fairs and artist alleys. To create something with your own hands, something that others look at and want to take home, looked like a super power to me. I remember thinking “I want to DO that.” I believe seeing all the different types of small businesses is one of the driving forces behind my now decade long love for crafting.

The second big inspiration would be connected to my own ADHD. While I didn’t discover I had ADHD until much later in life, I’ve always had a need to have “busy hands’. Because of these busy hands of mine, I’m always curious about finding or making new fidget/stem related products. The majority, if not all, of my items are meant to be squished, hugged, or fidgety to help others who also struggle with needing to do something, anything, with their hands.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
In my heart, I’m a crafter. I joke that if a craft exists, I’ve either tried it or will one day. While my focus is creating fidget/stem items, the material in which I use changes as I learn new things. Currently most of my products are crochet creatures or an item called “picky pads” that are filled with beads.

I got where I am today by having support from my family, and a great deal of trial and error. Since my fidgets shift between different mediums, my house is usually an explosion of trial and error while I’m testing out something new or revisiting something old.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that when you are starting a business, you’re going to spend money in ways you never imagined. A lot of that money ends up going into those trials and errors while you figure out how you want things to go. Take deep breaths, be strong, and make sure to budget carefully.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
What a wonderful question! To hang out, I would take them to a place called “Off the Shelf Games”, which is a board gaming store that has a wonderful gaming area with a fully stocked library of board games, as well as just as many games available for purchase.
Then, if they are visiting on the right weekend, I would take my friends to the BizBaz mini convention at Alesmith brewery for shopping, the atmosphere, and singing karaoke!
For food I would take them out to Korean BBQ, followed by Mongolian BBQ. Both are an entire eating experience well worth enjoying with friends.
Outside of that, I’d have to say we would either go to one of the disc golf courses in our area, or to balboa park for sight seeing. I love the Japanese Friendship Garden in particular.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My grandmother, who I call Nana and who is a crafting genius in her own right, has been my mentor most of my life. If ever I wanted to learn something new, and she knew anything about it, she’d teach me right away. To this day I call her with questions.

And, of course, my husband Shawn and daughter Eevee. Shawn always encourages me, and helps with feed back whenever I am stuck on an idea, and Eevee is my excellent little helper. If she thinks something I’ve made is cute, and she usually does, I know that item will likely be popular.