What It's About
A publicist launches a line of nostalgia-inspiring jewelry.
Business Model
Skills Required
Complexity
Profit Potential
Words of Wisdom
If you have a clear understanding and perspective on who you are designing for—who your customer is, what they like, what they dislike, what they are capable of buying, etc.—there’s always opportunity to grow the business beyond a single category. But start with one kind of product in order to figure that out—do it really well, and only expand once you have a solid understanding of who your ideal customer is. Once you understand their aesthetic, you can start using that to create new lines and products that are adjacent to what you started with.
Fun Fact
To be mindful, Christina places particular value on upcycling, giving discarded items a second life. "I'm really dedicated to staying as close to minimal waste as possible," she says. And so the earrings come wrapped in scraps of denim, tossed during alterations; Christina also incorporates found objects in her work—the glass shards from a broken cuff might be repurposed into a one-of-a-kind piece.
"Now that I’ve put the word out, everyone from my mom and aunties to my intern have been donating beads and fabric scraps." Sustainability shapes her entire philosophy: To create keepsakes, rather than disposable baubles for a season.
Notes from Chris
Episode 931
Memorial Day weekend of 2018 in NYC was unseasonably wet. Instead of hitting up the traditional BBQ and rooftop parties, many New Yorkers opted to stay tucked away indoors warm and dry. But in one brownstone in Brooklyn, Christina Tung was finding the comfort of the indoors anything but comfortable. With most of her friends out of town or otherwise occupied, Christina found herself woefully without plans. So, she took stock of her options. And then her gaze fell on a pile of jewelry. One of the necklaces was broken and the other was something that she simply didn’t wear much anymore—but instead of sending them off to the trash bin, she opted to refresh them into new pieces. Jewelry making had always served as a bit of a creative release for her. She took Zen-like comfort in the methodical approach required to take pieces apart and put them back together in new and interesting ways. With each new piece that she carefully pieced together, there was a theme, and since travel played an important role in her life at this time, she often found herself creating pieces that reminded her of recent adventures she’d undertaken. Vibrant and contrasting hues of beads and stones piled one on top of the other along a chain to represent the snapshots that she carried with her. Her jewelry making outlet also served as a keepsake from her time exploring the world. A few days later, a friend of hers stopped over at her showroom for a meeting about the PR work that Christina did. When she saw how Christina had spent her weekend, she convinced her to let her take pictures of her work and show them off on her social media channels. A lot of jewelry and retail buyers followed her, and she knew that Christina’s work would really shine and stand out. Shortly after posting Christina’s work, her account was flooded with DMs and comments—among others, she heard from a purchaser at Saks, and from two creative directors in the industry. The fact that they were interested was exciting. Being a publicist for her day job, she knew an opportunity when she saw one. Christina decided to actually build a brand around her love of jewelry design. Since her jewelry centered around her experiences traveling, “souvenir” felt like a fitting name. It’s the French verb for “remember,” derived from a Latin word meaning “to come to mind.” Over time, in English, the word came to represent a tangible piece of the traveled experience that was small enough to bring home. That was the feeling she wanted to evoke with her work—she removed the vowels and called it SVNR. Since launching her brand a year ago, Christina has sold over 2,400 pieces. Most of her sales are from wholesale accounts that she’s secured over time, although she did create a website using Squarespace to sell directly to consumers. This summer she’s looking to expand that aesthetic into other categories outside of jewelry, such as handbags and slip dresses. Her goal is to build herself something sustainable and long-lasting—one bead at a time.MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- SVNR: Learn more about this successful albeit accidental side hustle over on Christina's website!
- Squarespace: The website building platform that Christina used to create her website
- Detroit Women Make Jewelry for Profit and Social Good: An attorney starts a jewelry company with purpose, employing disadvantaged women in Detroit to help them transition from a life of dependence into one of self-reliance
- Social Worker Turns De-stressing Hobby Into $2k/Month Hustle: A lifelong crafter who makes jewelry to cope with the stress of working in the mental health field launches an Etsy store and gets her items featured on several major TV shows
- Atlanta Couple Sells Affordable, High Quality Accessories: After a year’s worth of shopping and research, a criminal defense attorney and digital operations manager launch a line of accessories at local shops
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