The heat of the press, the color of the sweatshirts, the blueprint of the design, the sound of the machine. This is what small-town business owner, Senior Makena Wiefering, experiences every day, in order to keep her expanding business up to date. She’s currently selling hoodies and keepsake boxes but hopes to grow.

     “I really enjoy specifically doing arts and creativity. I’ve been into the creative arts my whole life, so, I wanted to do something I could share with others while using my creativity,” said Wiefering.

     Wiefering started her small business on Christmas of this year when she received a Cricut. The Cricut is what Makena uses to monogram and decal objects, she initially made items for her family, but later started a small business when she gained attention.

     Although, being a brand new small business owner has its ups and downs. Wiefering is currently the only person in her business but is confident that “CustomsByMak”, will continue to grow.

     “Right now it’s all me so it’s actually been really stressful and difficult. I’ve gotten a lot more orders than I thought so I’ve had to pause commissions right now, but I’m hoping to get more help in the future.”

     Makena plans to continue and carry her small business through college. 

     “Well, I just started so I don’t have many, but I hope to keep it up through college because I feel it’ll be really popular for gameday items.”

     With her business, Makena showed her decision for college to her mother. 

     “She has made me a Western Kentucky University sweatshirt, which is how she told me where she decided to go to school,” said Wiefering’s mother Heidi Wiefering.

     Wiefering has plans to stand out from other customizing businesses like hers, however, this can be hard because they’re similar in many ways. 

     “I think it’s because I can do whatever and I can really do anything the customer wants. I don’t have a lot of specific things on my page right now just because I didn’t know I was starting this business, I’m really open to doing anything the customer wants.”

     You can check out Makena’s small business on Instagram through the account named @customsbymak.