Oh, now, it’s getting #REAL…
I’m starting this diary to recapture something I had lost. When I started designing jewelry 14 years ago as a hobby, it was entirely personal. I did it for myself. Pretty soon, I was making jewelry for friends and family. I sold face-to-face. There was always a conversation that brought some meaning to it all – for me and for them.
After people began stopping me on the street to ask to buy the piece I was wearing right off my neck, I decided to try selling to a few local stores. Pretty soon, our jewelry was in local chains, regional chains, and then stores nationwide. As the hobby became a business, personal interactions became impossible, and that conversation faded. I hired sales and operations teams. We increased manufacturing capacity. Scale up, right?
For a while, it worked. But, a funny thing happened. The Internet came, and brick-and-mortar shopping has never been the same. But, there’s a silver lining: while it became harder to sell to stores, it became much easier to sell directly to you.
To me, that's not just exciting as a business plan. It means I can make it personal again – we can connect directly with the people who love to wear our designs. We've always aimed to create designs that empower women to express themselves. Now, we can really take that to the next level.
