Benjamin Paul Camp

 Over the past two weeks, I’ve been honored to take product photos for Willowed Armadillo, a small earring business still in the early stages but quickly growing. Harmonee Keitt, the founder, creative designer, human resources, and customer services, explains how Willowed Armadillo came into being by accident:

I graduated with an English writing degree. I started making earrings as a way to get out of doing schoolwork once classes moved online. Fast forward to this year when everything turned into a trash fire; I graduated not knowing what I wanted to do with my degree. I had many heartbreaking moments where I thought I would end up in a dead-end job, which would be the ‘death of my degree.’ I had made a pair of earrings for my grandmother and a friend of hers a few months prior and thought I'd give it a shot. To my surprise, it went well.

Willowed Armadillo is a strange name for an earring business, but it made perfect sense once Keitt described the meaning. The name is a marriage of two concepts: a weeping willow and an armadillo. Keitt breaks down the two separate words:

‘Willowed’ represents my favorite tree. Aside from their sweeping waterfall-like branches, their root system is quite invasive. They don't grow deep but grow far. This means they are often planted in areas where they won't destroy and uproot foundations, pipes, etc. ‘Armadillo’ is Spanish for ‘little armored one.’ They have terrible eyesight but have a great sense of smell and digging ability to dig deep. Their armor-like shell helps protect them from most predators. Plus, the brand mascot is an armadillo named Wilbur...so that's cute.

The business motto is “Dig deep. Grow far.” Keitt said her motto could also be a sort of rallying cry representing the call of Christians. As a Christian, she believes it is essential to have that foundation, though she knows not all of her customers share her beliefs.

Minimalism is one of the prominent styles of Willowed Armadillo. The colors range from soft natural tones that make you long for nature to the funky ’80s that make you want to put on some skates and hit the rink. Each earring has a name that either matches the style or operates as the inspiration for the earring. Each earring has an aspect of Keitt’s personality, whether she means to or not. She approaches life with a humble passion, always meeting you where you are but never missing an opportunity to challenge and encourage you to dig deeper and grow further.

It’s exciting to see this massive groundswell of local businesses. Like Keitt, people are beginning to realize that money does not define success. Keitt defines her success by the lasting impact she can have on her community, whether online or physically. The style of her earrings displays a consciousness for representation and breaks the mold of the current corporate products that cost nothing to produce but have an unrealistic markup. Keitt hopes her business will start intentional conversations about beauty and how the smallest things can have the biggest impact.