Meet Robin Wilson | Founder and Owner of Vesey Lane Goods

In 2022, I started selling my organic produce, handmade pillows, and handcrafted greeting card at local market days. As a poet and writer, for several years, I desired to have my own greeting card line. I’ve always enjoyed giving and receiving special greeting cards. Still, I wanted to test the market for what I had to offer.

Soon, I realized that people were drawn to my handmade greeting cards and they were willing to pay higher prices for them because of how they were crafted. This led me to share my designs on social media. When I started to get messages for orders, I knew that I was on to something.

In the fall of that same year, I was invited to attend a Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club gathering. That was where my greeting cards began to sell at auction. It was also where I met Richard Reeves, an art gallerist, who offered to sell my handcrafted greeting cards in the Ellen Kayrod Gallery gift shop in Detroit. This opened door would give way to other retail opportunities in the Metro Detroit area.

Vesey Lane Goods is stationery company that specializes in greeting cards, gifts, and home decor. Our handcrafted greeting cards and gifts are keepsakes.

Our greeting cards are carried in the Ellen Kayrod Gallery gift shop, MOCAD gift shop, and The Amber Collective in Detroit, Michigan.

Additionally, Vesey Lane Goods offers two services. We design custom branded greeting cards for small businesses. In 2023, The Inn on Ferry Street in Detroit hired me to design two branded greeting cards for their hotel. They also purchased several of my handcrafted anniversary cards to give to their guests during their stay.

Vesey Lane Goods also offers art workshops to children and adults in the community. Recently, I was hired to lead a collage making workshop for the University of Michigan Dearborn’s Art and Agency program, where participates had an opportunity to reflect on the concept of community, place, and belonging. The feedback from the workshop was positive and the experience was transformative.

As Vesey Lane Goods approaches two years of being in business, my brand has grown because of the support that we have received and strategic planning. I have had to pivot in my business. However, it has been beneficial.

In 2023, Vesey Lane Goods received our first seed funding from ACCESS in Dearborn, Michigan. Shortly thereafter, I was accepted into the Michigan Black Business Alliance’s Capital Connect Program, a 12-week program that helps entrepreneurs prepare to successfully secure funding to grow and expand their businesses. Before I completed the program, I was connected to a funder, ProsperUs Detroit. They support business owners with resources and capital needs to build their businesses and to create generational wealth.

Fast forward, I was approved for funding and I was able to secure a retail space in the City of Detroit. Vesey Lane Goods will open its first brick and mortar location in September. We are rolling out new products and goods, and we will host art workshops in our retail space, too.

Bi-monthly we will feature new works by local artists on our store wall. We will invite the community to view the work and to shop.

Vesey Lane Goods has always been connected to the community and we plan to continue to engage people in our community.

Beyond having a solid business plan and structure, it takes a community of support to build a successful and sustainable business. It takes fortitude, grit, and resilience to build a business. I am thankful for the support that I have received. It makes a difference.

There are so many awesome hangout spots in Detroit! It is a global city filled with rich culture.

When I have friends in town, I take them to places like Source Booksellers on 4240 Cass Ave. Janet and her daughter Alyson are amazing! They host authors in their store year around–they’ve hosted me. They sometimes have live jazz performances and other special programs in their store, and they carry a wide range of books.

Next on my list of places to see is the Detroit Riverwalk! You can see Canada from across the water. You can ride bikes along the walkway or simple take a stroll. There are live performances near the Riverwalk in Hart Plaza throughout the summer, too. I especially love the Detroit Jazz Festival.

My friends, like me, love good food! So, I have gone with friends to Mad Nice on 4120 2nd Ave. in Detroit. Recently, I’ve gone back to a vegan lifestyle. Still, I would take my friends to this spot because all of us could find something delicious to eat! They have a few vegan options.

To extend the fun, I would take my friends to the Detroit Institute of Art on 5200 Woodward Ave. Right now, they have the Tiff Massey: 7 Mile + Livernois exhibit, which is a must see! I would also take them to Capitol Park near 1405 Griswold Street to see “The Stories of Us,” a traveling public art exhibit that features the work of 10 Detroit artists.

Again, there are so many gems in Detroit. I haven’t mentioned them all, but these are some of my favorites to share with friends.

My family and community are important to my success. First, I would like to thank my husband Khari for providing a solid foundation for our home that gave me space to transition from a full-time teaching career to start and run my business. Secondly, I want to thank my mom for encouraging me to rest and for supporting me at more community events than I can count. Lastly, I want to thank my business coach Ayesha Maxwell of ACCESS for her guidance and support; Laura Chavez-Wazeerud-Din and the entire team at Southwest Detroit Business Association for their unwavering support; Bre McKamie and the team at the Michigan Black Business Alliance for connecting me to resourccs, giving me opportunities to promote my business, and for ongoing learning opportunities to grow as a business owner; and ProsperUs Detroit for coming alongside me in my entrepreneurial journey by investing in my business. You all are a part of my village and I am truly grateful.