Marjorie Kalama

Marjorie Kalama grew up beading and began selling her beadwork at local markets in 2010. She was one of the first IDA clients at WSCAT in 2009, but her business really started to grow when she opened another IDA account in 2018. Her goal was to learn more about online marketing and how to expand her business. She took Indianpreneurship and financial education courses, learning about budgeting and marketing her business.

She was able to expand and evolve her knowledge in marketing, growing her business until it made a consistent profit. Her hobby was becoming a self-sustaining career. She learned more about contests that would allow her to win prizes, while keeping the rights to her work. She began printing her beadwork on items, such as magnets, so that she could sell those without giving up her original pieces.

Marjorie wants to continue to expand her work, as a way to secure her retirement and have a steady income. With her next IDA, Marjorie plans to fix up a workspace at home, so that it can be used specifically for her ‘kitchen table’ business.