Etsy Seller Interview with Catherine of KittyMeowBoutique

How KittyMeowBoutique got started

Introduce your Etsy shop and tell us your story. How did you begin and decide on what to sell on Etsy, and how do you create your products?

Hello! Cat is here from Kitty Meow Boutique, a collection of stylish, fierce, sometimes edgy and funny, sometimes sweet and charming paper, party, and gift goods.

I officially started my Etsy shop back in 2010 and, for a couple years, sat in there with one lonely little vintage owl baby shower invitation. Back then, I didn’t have the courage or confidence to list anything else! The owl baby shower invitation was a design I created for a friend with layered paper and multiple ribbons—literally nothing like anything I do now.

The Kitty Meow brand has nothing to do with cats; I’m more of a dog person, but it comes from a silly AOL Instant Messenger account back in college. My friends would call me Kitty Meow, and I always said if I had a business one day, I would call it Kitty Meow. It would be this juxtaposition of sophistication mixed with a silly name, which is my personality to a T.

Once someone finally bought that vintage owl baby shower invitation for themselves, I started to get a lot more confident and started listing more invitations. I did tonnes of custom invitations for a long time, and my entire business was built around that. To be honest, I worked a 9-5 design all through my early 20s and was building up my Etsy shop on the side. Because of Etsy, I finally got to the point where my Etsy shop was busy enough to confidently leave my 9-5 job and go off on my own. I’m so grateful for Etsy, because without the platform, I would not be where I am today.

Where I am today is not doing custom design work anymore, but now I have a collection of my own stationery products with a unique brand vibe and voice. These products are sold in over 1,500 stores all over the world (in addition to being sold on Etsy), and without Etsy, this wouldn’t have all been possible!

Favorite items

What are your favorite items? What makes these so special? Why do you think these items might be selling well?

My favourite products in my Etsy shop are always my greeting cards. It’s cool to see how one card really starts to take off, and then you get tonnes and tonnes of orders for a single card. It’s a true testament to the algorithm and your SEO working, along with social proof!

 The cards that are flying off the shelves at the Kitty Meow HQ right now are these Valentine’s Day cards: King of My Heart and Love Greater Than a Swiftie.

But my ride-or-die best-selling products are these Hostess with the Mostess Greeting Cards and Time for Cocktails Bachelorette Party Napkins. I like to think Kitty Meow products add that extra special touch of personality and always say what you might be thinking, but you don’t always have the ability to put it into words.

Getting sales on Etsy

How long did it take for you to earn your first sale and how do you currently attract customers to your Etsy shop?

It probably took over a year to get a sale on Etsy, but again, my shop only had that one vintage owl baby shower invitation in there for a long time! I also didn’t have my own website for a long time, so having the ease of an Etsy shop was a game changer. What I know now, that I didn’t know then, is that the power of getting more sales on Etsy is listing more products and driving people to your Etsy shop. Once I got more confident in my work and marketing my products, my Etsy shop really started to take off!

Managing KittyMeowBoutique

How do you manage your shop? Are you running solo or do you have any team members? What tools or services do you use to run your shop and how do you handle fulfillment?

I moved Kitty Meow out of my home and into a full-on space back in 2021, while being 9 months pregnant with my first child! It felt like a huge risk, but I knew my business was severely outgrowing my home space. Not to mention that I was over having part-time team members come in and out of my home. I needed a big separation between home and business.

3 years later, I’m still slanging Kitty Meow orders out of the fashionably pink Kitty Meow HQ located in Plainfield, IL. I have a team of two incredibly awesome women who fulfil orders on my behalf so I can pursue other revenue streams for my business, like coaching and my in-person event for product-based business owners, the Ultimate Product Party.

It didn’t happen overnight, but with the help of my team, I was able to really streamline my efforts, which has resulted in massive growth for the Kitty Meow empire. And to think it all started with posting one vintage owl baby shower invitation on Etsy back in the day!

The future of KittyMeowBoutique

What goals do you have for your shop in the future?

So many huge goals! I’m not sure I want a retail space, but I would like a space that acts as an event and community space, but where Kitty Meow orders (Etsy, wholesale, online, etc.) can be fulfilled. The goal is always to spread more joy and good vibes all over the world, even if it’s through a single greeting card. I know the more I can grow and scale my own business, the more I can share that journey with the people I coach and in my creative business community to teach them how to do it for themselves. We are all better when we band together to grow and learn, and I truly believe that with all my heart and soul.

Advice for new sellers

What’s your advice for a new seller starting an Etsy shop?

Just start! The best thing you can always do for your business is to take imperfect action. You’re never really going to know what to do, and strategies are constantly changing, but you need to get your hands dirty and start learning with trial and error. Your Etsy shop is not a set-it-and forget it type of situation. It’s a living, breathing thing that needs to be nurtured! One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say Etsy is too saturated to be successful. That couldn’t be further from the truth!! Go where the people are to sell your products. Millions of people are already shopping on Etsy. Get on board with your Etsy strategy or leave tonnes of money on the table. The choice is yours, but I know which choice I’m making!

Some sellers really get inspired by hearing numbers. Feel free to share these if you like.

Question: How much is your monthly revenue?
Answer: $20K/month - business over all 

Question: What is your average profit margin?
Answer: $4.75/greeting card 

Question: What is your shop’s conversion rate?
Answer: 2.5%