Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Summers.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When my girls were younger, I started thinking about what Christmas traditions I wanted to start. At the very top of my list was an advent calendar to keep Christmas focused on Christ. I had a vision of what I wanted and couldn’t find it anywhere. My girls were young, so I wanted images of Christ to capture their attention. I also wanted to use scriptures to go through the story of Christ’s birth. It also was important to include Christ’s miracles and teaching moments, so my girls could really get to know Him, by reading these passages year after year. I decided to make my own advent calendar and it was perfect! A year later, we decided we wanted to start sharing this amazing tradition with other families too! This is our 6th year, selling Christmas Advents, and it is definitely a family-run business. Everyone pitches in one way or another! My husband helps a lot with the tax stuff, accounting stuff, website stuff, and so many other technical things. My daughters are my extra hands and help with packaging boxes and sending out orders and are the perfect models for all of my pictures. I don’t know what I would do without all of their help. Now, we are finally starting to get them into retail stores in the area. There has definitely been a lot of work done by all, behind the scenes.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Our biggest challenge over the past six years has been with the artwork of the images of Christ. We knew there would be copyright issues, so we hired someone to create original artwork for us, from the very beginning. We thought it was original artwork and found out a few years later that it was not. The artist we hired was from another country and we learned that copyright laws are not the same in every country. He had altered some other artists’ works and claimed that making edits made them original pieces. As soon as we found out, we shut things down. We were able to buy print licenses for another artist’s work and used that for a couple of years, but there were too many restrictions on where we could sell them, so it limited the growth of our business. In 2021, I commissioned a watercolor artist, Amanda Lindsey, and finally got new original images of Christ that honestly fit my product design so much better than what I had used in the past. I still absolutely love how all of the watercolor images turned out and how they tie in so well with the rest of my product design.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Christ Was Love?
I get so many questions about the name of my business, Christ Was Love. I have thought about changing it, but I haven’t come up with anything that I like better.
I have always loved a Christmas story called, “The W in Christmas” and decided to use the name Christ Was Love for my business name, based on this story! I changed my logo and added “and he still is” to the end of it, because I do believe that Christ was and is the greatest example of love.
Last year, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful experience.
I cut back on nonessential obligations–extensive card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending. Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.
My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten. It was an exciting season for a six-year-old. For weeks, he’d been memorizing songs for his school’s “Winter Pageant.” I didn’t have the heart to tell him I’d be working the night of the production.
Unwilling to miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher. She assured me there’d be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation. All parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then.
Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.
So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in ten minutes early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down. Around the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their seats.
As I waited, the students were led into the room. Each class, accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor. Then, each group, one by one, rose to perform their song. Because the public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as “Christmas”, I didn’t expect anything other than fun, commercial entertainment—songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good cheer.
So, when my son’s class rose to sing, “Christmas Love,” I was slightly taken aback by its bold title.
Nicholas was aglow, as were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, and bright snowcaps upon their heads.
Those in the front row–center stage–held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the title of the song. As the class would sing “C is for Christmas,” a child would hold up the letter C. Then, “H is for Happy,” and on and on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete message, “Christmas Love.”
The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we all noticed her; a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter “M” upside down–totally unaware her letter “M” appeared as a “W”.
The audience of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one’s mistake. But she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly holding her “W”.
Although many teachers tried to shush the children, the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw it together.
A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.
In that instant, we understood the reason we were there; why we celebrated the holiday in the first place; why, even in the chaos, there was a purpose for our festivities.
For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud and clear: “CHRISTWAS LOVE”
And He still is.
–author unknown
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Over the past six years, I have learned sooo much about running a business. It’s hard putting yourself out there and worrying about how people are going to react. Even though I have received so many wonderful comments over the years about how much my customers love their advents, I still get a little nervous when it comes time to pitch it to someone new. The biggest lesson I have learned is that God is in the details. Looking back, there are so many times where I was guided to make certain business decisions that helped my business grow. Whether a certain pitch works out or not, He will help guide me in the right direction. I have no doubt that God has blessed me and helped my business get to where it is today.
Pricing:
- Twine Kits are $36.98 (include 25 cards with images of Christ, twine, and 25 clothespins)
- Card Packs are $26.98 (include 25 cards)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.christwaslove.org
- Instagram: @ChristWasLove
- Facebook: @ChristWasLove
Image Credits
Personal Photo by Jeffrey Taylor Photography
All other Advent Photos by Annie Jean Photography
