Heyyyyyy!!! I am Kala Wilburn and I am so excited about being a new contributor to Genesee County Mom’s Blog Community! I am a wife, mom and fashion designer. I take care of my kiddos and work from home when I can. I currently reside in Davison but I am a Flint Native. I LOVE tacos, dressing up and hanging out with cool people. I am an entrepreneur and a mom of two, so my life is a little crazy and very busy.
My husband, Randall, and I met while in college. He stalked me on Facebook (if you ask him, he will deny this but it is TRUTH, ha!). We dated for a couple years and we were engaged for one year before returning to Flint to get married and start our lives together. I was living la vida loca in New York City as a designer and he could not get jiggy with the busyness of the city. So we moved back to Michigan to be closer to family in June 2011.
The first year of our marriage was crazy and I lost my brother (Antonio Anthony) to gun violence on Halloween 2011. I was a mess due to grieving, depression and just adjusting to my new life. Five years later I can say that we made it through it all because of our Lord and Savior. Hallelujah! We have been blessed with two children, Jada and Randall III. Jada is 2 years old and Randall III is 8 months.
Jada is such diva! She loves to play in my high heels and she does not leave home without her purse and cell phone (don’t worry, it’s just one of our old phones). Randall III is more laid back and goes with the flow. He is crawling now and says “da-da” *insert rolling eyes emoji*. I try to keep them busy with classes of some sort or activities in the community just like my mom did with me.
Although being a mom takes up most of my time, I am also the designer and owner of Fannie Lucille which is a custom handbag and apparel company. I am the founder of Vehicle City Fashion Week which is a week of fashion events that take place annually every third week of November (this is year 6). I am the founder of Fashion Against Violence which is a free fashion program for youth where they’re exposed to fashion industry professionals. I am also a fashion writer for My City Magazine. Lastly, I became an author this year! Woot! Woot! I wrote a 21-Day devotional on life, marriage, and business called “First Ruth, Then Chanel… Now Me”.
Every day, when I have a stressed moment… I look at my children and they push me to go on. I encourage you to do the same. I look forward to connecting with all of you through this blog. I am so encouraged by the stories women tell in this space and I feel blessed to be apart of this awesome platform!
XOXO,
Kala Santrese
