With Love, Kikay

Graphic by: Agnes Lee

One of the most mind-warping habits I picked up during Zoom classes was constantly staring at my own camera reflection. In between unmuting to ask a question or talking to others in breakout rooms, I found myself transfixed with my own image. Staring at myself was more of a habit than an expression of self-love, and the more I did it, the more I nitpicked the grainy little image on the corner of my screen. I often grew bored with my reflection, wondering what I could change during the online sessions without bringing too much attention to myself (I once made the mistake of doing an incredibly noticeable eyeshadow job during class, sorry prof). Although  I sometimes practiced new eyeliner concepts or one-minute Instagram hairstyles in the middle of lectures, I often just wanted something quick and easy to give my little screen a pop. Enter: earrings.

Many will remember the Friends Who Earring craze that took over campus every time the Northwestern student-run shop dropped a new design. They were the beginning of my earring journey, and their colorful, whimsical baubles set a standard for uniqueness and quality during the hunt to broaden my collection. Even after Northwestern reinstated in-person classes, I continued to style outfits around my earrings to add a bit of pizzazz. 

The Instagram algorithm knows me well (a little too well, if we’re being honest), but that’s how I found Kikay. Always in search of statement pieces or convo starters, Kikay hit all the marks for iconic earrings. Run by 21-year-olds Ysabella Delgado and Quinn Jones, Kikay believes that “being extra shouldn’t cost you extra,” a sentiment that resonates with most college students. The name Kikay is Tagalog for girly girl, and tends to be a nickname within families. Delgado is Filipina and had this nickname growing up, but she couldn’t fully pronounce it due to her speech impediment. Pronouncing it as “key-kay” was a way for her to bridge the gaps between her Filipino culture and growing up in Canada. Delgado sees the business’ name as “the accessible version of her culture that her family gifted to her and that she wanted to share with other people.”

Ysabella Delgado. Image credit of Kikay.

Quinn Jones. Image credit of Kikay.

Delgado and Jones met during a brunch event for the University of Southern California before getting admitted, where they now both study Arts, Technology and the Business of Innovation and are in their final year. They started dating their freshman year, and three months into their relationship, they went into business together. While they often hear about the difficulties of working with your partner, Delgado and Jones said they have thrived as both business and romantic partners. 

As co-owner of Kikay, Delgado focuses on integrating her needs and responsibilities in a sustainable way. “I like everything being this one big glob,” Delgao says. “I get to live and enjoy my life every day. Instead of work-life balance, I try to think of it more as like, ‘How can I take care of myself while I'm doing the things that I need to do, and how can I take care of Quinn while doing the things that I need to do?’” 

The couple recently moved into a house 40 minutes away from the USC campus, where they continue to attend virtual classes and grow their business. Delgado often finds herself making earrings during class lectures, which has helped her comprehend the material far better. Both Delgado and Jones have ADHD, and structuring their own schedules allows them to flourish where nine-to-five work environments did not. 

“The structure of [a traditional nine-to-five] itself just inherently didn't work with the way that we process, that we learn, that we heal, that we recover,” Delgado says.

Delgado often talks about her chronic illness on Kikay’s social media and has found that followers not only empathize with her but are genuinely curious about her experiences co-running the business while managing her wellbeing. While not officially diagnosed, Delgado believes she suffers from adenomyosis, which causes her to suffer from severe menstrual bleeding and cramping, in addition to mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), which usually results in a number of symptoms like joint pain, swelling and rashing.

At the time of publication, Kikay has almost 100,000 followers on Instagram,  but they still maintain a transparent relationship with their supporters. Between updating their followers about the design process, asking for customer feedback or discussing the reality of living with chronic illness and mental health conditions as students and small business owners, the pair behind Kikay approaches their business with open minds and hearts. 

 “When you have a chronic illness, you have to put a lot of time [and] thought into that potentially getting in the way,” Delgado said. The pair’s open communication with followers offers flexibility for when Delgado encounters flare-ups or Jones, who deals with anxiety and depression, needs time off. “We'll watch movies in bed together to take that level of self-care and take [mental health] as seriously as a physical injury, or physical struggle, as well,” Delgado adds.  

With a supportive audience, the duo is able to actually take a day off, rather than quantifying the day with how many earrings could’ve been made in that time. “You're going to maybe lose followers that aren't into what you're talking about and they're not empathetic to that, but you're going to gain followers that actually do understand that. The more real you are, the more your followers are going to align with who you actually are,” Jones says. “And they're not going to place expectations on you that force you to continue to act like something you’re not.”

Images credit of: Kikay.

The two describe their handmade earrings as “affordable, lightweight and badass;” they’re also accessible: each design is nickel-free and also comes as clip-ons. You’ll find earrings shaped like glow-in-the-dark mushrooms or Appa, the flying bison from Avatar, on their site, which features a constant rotation of new, original designs. These earring ideas sometimes strike Delgado at two in the morning, when Jones slides into bed, ready to fall asleep. As the main designer and artist, Delgado revels in these bursts of creativity, always ready to tinker with materials to make prototypes that not only look good but function well. Jones has five piercings (with another underway) himself, so he often models these earrings and handles the technical and financial sides of the business, including laser cutting.

In addition to regular launches, Kikay often announces giveaways that include multiple sets of earrings and their iconic clothing rack earring hanger. Kikay is the original creator of this earring rack: a miniature, plastic clothing rack fitted with tiny matching hangers. Without trying to sound too much like Billy Mays here, there’s an unparalleled satisfaction in pulling one hanger from your closet and another from your earring rack for the day’s outfit. Not to mention that it solved my tendency to misplace earrings after accumulating so many pairs over the years. I used to have tiny pouches tangled with mismatched earrings, and I was usually stumped over where my favorite pair of round, royal blue earrings went. Surprise, they were at the bottom of my summer tote bag. 

Kikay Earring Rack. Image courtesy of Kikay,

But as the popularity of the Kikay earring racks grew — hence why you can only buy a maximum of two earring racks with each purchase —  so did the trouble. In the past, Kikay has been vocal on their Instagram story about dupes of the earring rack, usually stolen by other companies who price it for much cheaper. The two outsource laser cutting for the hangers from a local artist, which raises the price of the product. This has also happened with a couple of Kikay’s earring designs, most notably by SHEIN, who is known for stealing ideas from small businesses –– usually without credit, compensation or even acknowledgment when they’re caught. 

While supporters of the student-run business often bring dupes to their attention, the confrontation tends to go a little sour. In the past, Delgado and Jones have seen companies sell duplicates of their earring racks with credit given to Kikay, which they say is okay. But other companies often address the pair with anger and denial. Delgado knows exactly when they’re lying. Every artist has their own style, and this earring rack is no different. 

“What's been hard is that people took my exact design language to create a competitor for my product,” Delgado says. The two will see dupes that are much cheaper but have design flaws, such as being too short or missing grooves and hangers. Both artists identify as queer and have even seen companies advertising dupes for those who don’t want to buy from LGBTQ+ artists. The list of excuses that Bella and Quinn have heard is nothing short of jaw-dropping, but it opens up a much larger problem. “Acrylic, as a medium, is really prone to getting stolen from because people don't treat it like an art form in the way that they treat, say, painting,” Jones says. 

Kikay tries not to acknowledge the dupes or negativity these days, instead, aspiring to be a safe space for both its co-owners and its followers. This is, in part, why there isn’t a distinct pride collection. “While our earrings haven't necessarily been in a pride rainbow collection, I feel like it’s because they're so tied to my sense of expressing my queerness,” Delgado says.  

This upcoming year, the two will be working on a capstone project at USC that will center Kikay. In an effort to make their line of business more sustainable environmentally and financially, Delgado and Jones are working on ways to make the company zero-waste. By reusing their scrapped acrylics and buying other artists’ scraps, they can mix them up and melt them down to become new, usable sheets for earrings. Delgado said that after cutting out the pieces to make earrings, you lose about 40-50%of the sheet. While explaining the concept, she held up an earring with a chessboard design, accented with chess pieces, created from recycled acrylic.  

You know how sometimes you shouldn’t meet your hero because they’re probably not who you imagined them to be? I think it’s safe to say that Delgado and Jones are not only earring icons, but just as authentic and genuinely kind as they come across online. While the couple is getting ready for their upcoming Valentine’s Day-themed launch, you can also find them on Spotify @Kikay, where they have curated playlists for generating warm and positive vibes.