Meet Kelly Sinnk | Designer, Diabetic, Mom, and Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelly Sinnk and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelly, how do you think about risk?
I would imagine when most people think about risk, they think about high-risk and adrenaline seeking activities. That’s not what comes to mind when I think about risk. Although I did ride a Vespa from Brooklyn to Manhattan every day for about 10 years! I think risk is relative to what scares you. The 1st thing I thought of when posed this question was that I used to be terrified to fly. I almost didn’t study abroad in London because I was literally trying to walk off the jetway on the flight over. Luckily I forced myself onto that plane because that 1st trip abroad changed my life and ignited my drive for a career in fashion! It opened my eyes to the world and showed me what facing my fears can accomplish. It was good timing to get over my fear of flying because one of my first design jobs out of college, with a company now called Destination Maternity, I started traveling around the world. A few times a year, for several weeks at a time I would jet set off to HK, India, and Turkey to work on clothing for the upcoming seasons. Especially after I moved to NYC I continued to travel, even keeping an apartment in China for several years as I made frequent trips over there. My fear of flying became a distant memory, but what did not was the thought process behind what taking a risk can accomplish.

It was a dream of mine to move to New York City and see what I could amount to in the fashion industry, but I was scared to leave my beloved city of brotherly love, Philadelphia. I wanted to better understand that for me, taking risks results in accomplishment, and apply that to making the big leap to the big apple. I was fortunate enough to receive a private invitation to attend a free public training version of “The Breakthrough Intensive” at Gap International. In this course I learned I have a “success language”. It is what I say to myself when I want to push through the automatic fears and thinking in my head. For me, it goes something like this “I have to do this, I will get so much out of this, the regret of not taking this risk is not something I want to live with” and it works! This thought process is a powerful tool I can access when needed. I did move to NYC and start a successful career as a knitwear/sweater designer for major retail brands to this day. This success language came in handy one morning when I woke up not able to see and later that day in an NYC hospital was told I was Type 1 Diabetic.

It’s called mature or adult onset type 1 diabetes. It seems less common to get diagnosed later in life but it happens. According to the American Diabetes Association, in 2019, 37.3 million Americans had diabetes, but only 1.9 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, and more than half of all new cases of type 1 diabetes occur in adults. I was 28 years old and in DKA (Diabetic Ketoacidosis). After a week in the hospital to get my sugars under control, teach me Diabetic Care 101, I was sent home, and to the drug store. I will never forget the day I went to Duane Reade on the Upper West side to pick up my diabetic supplies for the first time. As if the cost was not enough to shock me, there went the new shoes I had on hold at Bloomingdales, and with health insurance I might add, the full size paper grocery bag of medical supplies was. I’m not talking about the little white prescription bags, but a brown, handled paper bag, filled with needles, test strips, alcohol wipes, a glucose monitor, and prefilled pens with insulin for one month. I cried the whole walk home. You can imagine I’m feeling pretty bummed at this point and then it was time to eat! Meaning I had to give myself a shot of insulin for the 1st time and figure out how much. Give myself too little insulin to cover my food and the sugar highs will kill me in the long run, but give myself too much insulin and I could be in a severe hypoglycemic state that it may lead to seizures, coma, and very rarely death. This accounts for up to 10% of deaths among young people with Type 1 diabetes. Talk about RISK! This became a part of my daily routine, but the will to survive is strong. Things got much easier when I got my Insulin Pump; basically a portable IV for insulin. I actually delayed getting this device for 2 years after my diagnosis because the thought of having a medical device attached to my body 24/7, except when swimming or taking a shower, was too much for this Diabetic Designer to bare. I was so frustrated as my insulin pump was too big to fit comfortably in tiny pockets of my skinny jeans. So I decided if I had to wear an insulin pump, to do what’s best for my health, I would rock it! I first started posting pictures of myself wearing the pump on Tumblr and then moved to Instagram; hence, @designerdiabetes. This is not a business or a marketing scheme; this is my life and my personal instagram! I am a designer in the fashion industry and a Type 1 Diabetic!

My next big risk was having a baby. Luckily for me, the getting pregnant part was not difficult. “Let’s try then see what happens” and next, “life happens when you are busy making other plans”! I was pregnant and the term “high risk” was an everyday occurrence. You are type 1 diabetic, you have high blood pressure, you have Hashimoto’s Disease, and this is a geriatric pregnancy, because I was over 35 years old. I had the typical pregnancy symptoms, but working with a high risk specialist OB, required a lots of extra doctor visits. First it was every other week, then every week, and then every day! The nice part was I got to see ultrasounds of my baby girl often. While pregnant I did experience one of those hypoglycemic incidences where I had a seizure. To this day I don’t know how my baby and I survived but it had something to do with my heroic husband pouring orange juice down my throat. After this I started wearing what is called a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor). That’s right, I wear 2 medical devices! One tracks my sugar levels and the other gives me insulin based on those levels. It is definitely a risk or leap of faith to trust these 2 devices working in tandem, but I have faith in them and this is the biggest relief as a diabetic I have experienced in years.

So now I am a designer, a diabetic, and a mom. My next risk is including all three of those roles in my life and adding a new one. After over 12 years in the fashion industry and thriving as a Design Director I was looking for more balance in my life. I took a risk and left my beloved full time job in fashion to have more time with my daughter and challenge myself to explore other avenues for creativity. I kept one foot in the fashion industry and with the other I started working in interior design, thinking I had found my new creative outlook. Then Covid happened and slowed everything down. So now I am living in a suburb of NYC, designing whenever the fashion industry needs me, and loving the time I have with my daughter, but my lack of creativity was driving me crazy! Luckily a family tradition of making holiday gifts introduced me to Macrame! From one YouTube Video to the next I taught myself this is art. It came easy to me as I could envision the macrame knot textures as I have always done with sweater textures as a designer. I had always thought I would someday start my own clothing brand, but I am proud to share my 1st brand is about your home, and your pets: called Knot Needle and Thread. I started making macrame trivets, plant hangers, holiday decorations, small wall hangings, dog collars, and leashes. I was slowly growing my brand on instagram and loving learning this new skill, but I wanted to push my creativity further. So I set my mind to making my first piece of art for the sake of making art and I’m hooked! I am proud and happy to share what I created, but I am fearful of adding Artist to my list of daily titles. I am using my success language, but this doesn’t happen overnight, and especially when my new struggle is more ideas than time. I will keep pursuing this new venture of creativity as the universe seems to be recognizing me as a Macrame Artist. With upcoming workshops at a fabulous boutique in NYC’s Soho district, called At the Venue, and having my work at DUNES gallery in Brigantine Beach, NJ this summer.
Eventually my success language will catch up with my risk taking thinking and I can say with the utmost confidence I am a Designer, Diabetic, Mom, and Artist. Up next, @kellyreneearte

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Macrame meets modern art is my goal! I am excited to start teaching macrame workshops At the Venue New York shop in the SOHO district and have my art at DUNES gallery at Brigantine Beach, NJ this summer. I hope to get into more galleries in the future and maybe make some huge commission pieces of art for an office building or hotel lobby! Although at the moment I love making pieces for peoples homes.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite places to eat in Westfield, NJ, where I live are Sweet Waters Steakhouse and Chutzpah Kitchen https://sweetwatersnj.com/
https://www.chutzpahkitchen.com/

My favorite restaurant is NYC at the moment is Le Parisien, Midtown East
https://www.leparisiennyc.com/

My favorite places to shop in the whole world are in London. Spitalfields Market and The Mercantile London.

Home

https://www.themercantilelondon.com/

My favorite place to camp is Wolfe’s Neck Oceanfront Camping in Freeport, ME

Home

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to thank my husband, Jeremy Brown. We were engaged when I became diabetic and he was not phased one bit about still committing to a life together. Not to mention he has been very supportive of my risk behaviors from the Vespa to leaving a full time successful career in fashion to pursue other creative passions. My husband is a gem!

I need to thank my daughter, Tallulah, for giving me the best reason to take a risk and seek balance in my life; HER!

Then of course my encouraging parents, my inspirational brother, my BFF Brittney who held my hand on that first plane ride to study abroad, my BFF Charity who introduced me to my success language, and my BFF Beth Ann who leads me by example in creating a balanced life with her career and with her family being an exceptional mom.

My co-workers of over 15 years, Devka and Kirsten, who still support all my creative ideas.

Website: https://knotneedleandthread.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knotneedleandthread/ and https://www.instagram.com/designerdiabetes/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyreneesinnk/

Image Credits
photography- Joseph W Stampfi https://www.instagram.com/audisnapr/ make up-Nina Davis https://www.instagram.com/nino.davis/