BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — After finding a limited selection of animal collars online, a Brownsville native decided to add her own flare to the everyday used product.

Kayla Rea, 20, is a Brownsville native and the face behind pixieloveco, an online dog and cat collar shop.

Rea said she was inspired to start her small business after shopping for a collar online for her cat Pixie. She said she was disappointed by the lack of variety in collars and wanted something more colorful and fun for her cat. She also liked the idea of being able to match with her pet in a subtle way.

In December 2020, Rea decided to open up shop out of her home where she creates all of her collars, scrunchies and bandanas.

After taking courses in business at South Texas Community College, Rea was ready to start her own small business.

By day, Rea is a manager at Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. By night, she is the owner and creator of pixieloveco where she prides herself on making sets of collars, scrunchies and bandanas for pet owners and their furry friends.

A typical day of creating for Rea consists of gathering materials such as buckles and bells. Her designs feature fabrics with floral patterns, characters from TV shows and movies. She said it takes her about two hours to create every matching set.

Those interested in shopping pixieloveco can visit Rea’s website or follow her on Instagram to see where she will sell at local markets.

The most rewarding part about having a small business for the local owner has been getting to see how happy her products make customers and meeting new people at pop-up markets.

“At first I honestly thought that no one was going to come back for the collars,” Rea said. “There has been people that came back, and they were like ‘Oh hi, I bought from you last time and they’re really cool. I’m here to find another one.’ So, that makes me really happy to see that it brings them joy and that they get to have something for their fur baby.”

Rea’s goal is to one day open her own location in Brownsville to sell her products to the community.