Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Carnes.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
The idea for Trove originally came from wanting to solve a personal problem. As an avid cosplayer for many years, I had amassed a collection of hundreds of high-quality costume pieces. After I wore them to a convention, the Renaissance Faire, a party, or for Halloween… these beautiful pieces would just sit in my closet, gathering dust.
Knowing the treasures in my collection, my friends constantly came to me to borrow costumes or pieces to level up their looks. I spent so much time curating costumes for others, I wondered if I could recoup that time and re-invest it into even more inventory. When I floated the idea to friends of renting out my costumes, they pounced on it. They wanted the same tool to monetize the costumes they had in storage but wore only infrequently.
That was the key that opened Trove up to being a resource for everyone. We launched in 2019 at DragonCon and have since seen almost 1,000 costumes and pieces added to the site in all types of sizes and styles. We have rented entire costume collections to theaters to support the local arts.
We have become a small creative business catalyst for makers. We have created more affordable access to high-quality costumes for the cosplay curious. We have reduced the strain on the environment caused by single-use unsustainable costumes. And we are just getting started.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
As a second-time entrepreneur, I knew that obstacles would be a part of the journey, but didn’t know which ones we would face. The first challenge came from hiring a web team we believed in because of their inclusive team.
However, they failed to launch the site on schedule not once, but twice, putting us well behind our marketing goals and months past our revenue deadlines. I am still personally recovering from the damage those delays caused. Meanwhile, when we did get Trove across the finish line in late 2019, we were suddenly facing an unexpected crisis of global proportions.
The pandemic hit in early 2020 and costumed events were canceled for the next 1-2 years. We used the downtime to make improvements based on early user feedback, but we are still trying to get the word out that Trove is live, after losing so much of our launch momentum due to COVID.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
My first business was built out of my years of professional experience in public relations. I spent 12 years working in communications at the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center, where I also ran the media for the illustrious red carpet events – like Kennedy Center Honors.
In 2017, I embarked on a new journey putting those robust skills to use as a freelance PR and Events professional. In the years since I’ve had the remarkable privilege of serving more than 30 brands, organizations, and companies, anywhere from silicon valley start-ups to environmental conservation non-profits to even something as creatively liberating as a national mermaid convention.
I specialize in strategy, messaging, and crisis communications, and I’m extremely proud of what that business has accomplished. Both terms of sharing valuable stories, as well as my capacity to create jobs for other vendors and gig workers – all of whom have been small, local, woman, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA owned.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Why… Halloween of course! I was a military brat and one of my favorite childhood experiences was getting to celebrate Halloween on the Quantico Marine Base.
Not only was it a safe and secure environment for kids to be unleashed and fully present in their joy, but there was a section of the base populated by larger apartment-style buildings with a unique tradition. Each building would gather as a community and organize a theme for the building.
I remember in particular one year Aladdin’s cave of wonders was featured with a giant tiger’s face built over the entrance of the building and a room full of gold-covered chocolate treasure available inside. Those Halloweens are probably responsible for the creative awakening in my imagination that led to Trove!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://trovecostumes.com/
- Instagram: @trovecostumes
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/trovecostumes/posts
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbQ2PZhi6_IQKY4lRJAYNxQ
