Today we’d like to introduce you to Adriana Edwards.
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?
I have always dreamed of owning a business. Growing up I watched my dad start many business ventures; not all of them were a “success” but in the end he found the right one that worked for him and it made a huge impact to my family’s life. Over the years I had small ventures; selling Mary Kay, starting my own small baking business (I licensed my home kitchen), getting my life insurance license, and then my loan officer license. I had success in every venture in one way or another; not always monetary but in the lessons I learned from each. My husband and I had been praying for a year on a business that we could start together that would be our own. We had contemplated carpet cleaning and locksmithing, but nothing ever felt right. We didn’t have peace about the timing so we just kept having conversations here and there about starting something until one day in August of 2025 when it just clicked. My husband brought up the topic of starting a business and mentioned “I don’t think I would enjoy carpet cleaning, but I really think I would like being a locksmith… And we could call it “Keys to the Kingdom”” And in that moment it just clicked. We both knew that this time the conversation felt different and so we prayed about it a little more and felt it was the right time to start something; so we did! In October of 2025 we flew to Kentucky to go to Lockmaster Security Institute to go to school. We brought our 3 year old and 1 year old with us and then flew my sister over from Utah to watch the kids while we went to school 8 hours a day for a week. It was an intense week of learning but we loved it!
When we got home we started working on our licensing, and there was the holidays, so it wasn’t until late February 2026 that we were officially in business. Since then we have been steadily growing our business. Life doesn’t always go as we plan; initially we thought Caleb would be doing the service calls but he had foot surgery and then an injury so I, Adriana, have been running the business and doing the service calls. I hear daily “I never met a girl locksmith before!” as I arrive in my dress with a branded apron and bow in my hair. It’s definitely not normal to be a girl in the industry but I have really loved nurturing our business relationships and taking care of our clients. I feel like I have been given insight to so many people’s stories in my work. Sometimes I am working on a lock and the homeowner is sharing about their loss of a child, sometimes its the sweet elderly lady that is lonely and follows me around chattering all the way because I am the only human interaction she had all day (we are scheduling to have tea together now), and sometimes it’s a realtor sharing with me about their day and the load they are carrying. I really love our clients and it has just impressed upon me that these aren’t just “paying customers” but real people with real lives and real stories. That is the best part of what I do, is that I hopefully can have an impact or even just leave someone slightly more encouraged than how I found them- and with safe and secure locks of course too!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Most trades are learned as you go, yes there are techniques and training you can do, but ultimately you never know what you might encounter in the field and you have to be willing to learn as you go and problem solve as needed. I am generally used to being good at the things I do, I don’t say that arrogantly; more so I just don’t take on tasks outside of my wheel house and I am good at learning things. So when I started working in the field and ran into things that I didn’t know how to fix I felt discouraged at first. I did problem solve and figure things out, but I realized I hadn’t flexed that muscle in a while of doing something that maybe I wasn’t as skilled at. Yes I had done training, but a skillset takes time to build. So I had to learn to not be so hard on myself when I had to watch a Youtube video to take a part a different model of a lock that I had never encountered before. Now I feel way more confident and have learned a lot in the months since starting our business that I find I don’t get discouraged when I run into something difficult. Which I am thankful for because it was a huge expenditure of emotional energy and stress on those days in the beginning.
Something else that I was talking to a friend about is that I still get nervous when I go to talk to a large group of people to present our business. She was surprised because from her perspective I cam across as a natural public speaker; she had seen me work on this skill in the last year and so she thought it just came easily now. But on the drive to a meeting I still do my box breathing and tell myself “You’re not nervous, you are excited”. So I am definitely human in this way and I sometimes wonder if I will always experience a little bit of nerves before a presentation or if that will go away in time.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a family owned locksmith business operating in Corvallis, OR and surrounding cities. We specialize in residential lock installation and re-keying, but we also offer emergency lockout services (getting people back in to their homes and cars when locked out), and we offer professional baby proofing installation. I have yet to hear of another locksmith that installs baby locks so that is pretty unique!
In our area we heard from our community that they were uneasy about the existing locksmiths because they didn’t know who they were and they didn’t have a storefront. We have some really lovely locksmiths in our area but they don’t have their photo on their website, they aren’t on social media, and they don’t even have a branded vehicle to let people know who they are. So we decided to set ourselves apart by making sure people knew that we are the Edwards family. We have a photo on our website, we post on social media videos of us working, and we even have a home office people can visit and bring their locks to for us to work on. No joke I had met people who had a broken lock for over a year because they were really nervous about hiring anyone local because they weren’t forward facing in the branding of their business. So we have been thankful to have a place in the market. We worked with a professional for our branding and we LOVE how it turned out. We get a lot of compliments on our van (we branded it ourselves) and I also have a gal that embroiders my aprons that I wear over my dresses when I am working and customers compliment on the professionalism of our brand.
Most locksmiths have a certain look, like the type of guys that work on cars or ride a motorcycle. Our brand is very vintage and timeless and we have strived to give people that old fashioned feel in our service. Our main brand value is being family focused and our faith is what motivates us to do everything in excellence- and I think people experience that in a positive way when working with us.
We also have a fun toy chest with toy locks and stickers for kids- that has been a big hit!
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I am a part of a BNI chapter in Corvallis and I can honestly say that I don’t think we would be where we are at in business if it wasn’t for my networking group. I had someone in the chapter reach out to 70 local referrals on my behalf- who does that?!
I have been to many other local networking events that are free to attend but they seem more like social hours; and the people who are really doing well in business usually aren’t there because they don’t see the value in it because there is not motivation to actually pass referrals to one another. It’s almost like everyone is there for the free food and referrals but not having the mindset to give and not just get. So my main advice would be to find a group that encourages giving.
I have LOVED passing referrals to my fellow chapter members, it is even more fun to give than to receive. And yet I am so thankful for all the referrals that others have given to me and I feel privileged to be a part of this group. Not only that, but so many of my business friends have given me advice and ideas for how to market. I love talking to them and hearing how they built their businesses because it inspires me in the building of mine.
I am also part of a realtor mastermind group once a month, and as a vendor that has been a great connection point. So I would encourage other business owners to think about who is in contact with your ideal client- that is your ideal referral partner. Next step is to figure out where that referral partner is, because you want to be in the room with them wherever they are at. Then start to build the relationship- and its not just what you can get but think about how you can support them so it feels of value to both parties.
And lastly, I just started working with a business coach which I am so excited for! I learned about her through another business friend that I admire. I know that I personally don’t have all the skills necessary to achieve what I want to in business. And I am okay with that. Yes I will continue to grow, but I have blind spots. So I know that I will need help in identifying those blind spots and then finding a strategy to overcome them. So between my coach and hiring help in different areas when needed, I feel like that is going to go a long ways in helping us get to where we want to go in business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kingdomkeysandlocks.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingdomkeyslocks/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KingdomKeysLocks/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kingdomkeyslocks
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@KingdomKeysLocks
