College Friends Design Millennial-Focused Jewelry

This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.

In a business like the jewelry business, knowing your audience is a must. The diamond industry in particular has been extremely good at marketing the idea that only the purchase of a diamond is worthy of expressing a lifelong commitment between two people. Which of course is ridiculous, but they've done a great job at it. When I was younger, I remember hearing this guideline of how you should spend two months salary on an engagement ring. I don't know if that's still a common belief these days, but that's what I heard long ago.

If you think about it, two months salary, like it's kind of a genius idea marketing wise because no matter what your income is, you know, it's going to be a stretch. No matter what your income is, it's a substantial amount for you. So who decides that? You know, where does it come from? And that idea essentially comes from the power brokers that run the consortium controlling the supply of diamonds.

And these companies slash brokers slash super villains, they're basically a mafia like organization that artificially restricts the supply to ensure that prices remain high. And just think about it. Do you love somebody half as much if you spend one month salary? What if you have some other way of expressing your commitment to someone altogether? Well, as I said, very impressive marketing wise, especially if you leave the question of ethics aside and getting back to knowing your audience, younger people in general are more skeptical of how jewelry has traditionally been marketed, which I think is a good thing.

But that doesn't mean they don't want to wear it at all. So how do you reach people who have different values? Well, you have to communicate and brand yourself differently. Welcome to Sadosle School. My name is Chris Guillebeau.

In this story, two friends transitioned from a family business to their own brand, putting a unique shine on multi-generational jewelry. That story is coming up after this shout out to our sponsor. When Isabelle Tan and Sarah Besneki first met, they had no idea they would eventually become business partners. They first connected in college through a mutual friend, and in the years after graduation, didn't speak much aside from the occasional check-in. But then the fates aligned and brought them back together.

You see, Sarah was looking for a new job, and the company Isabelle was working at was looking to hire someone. Soon, the old friends became co-workers. That company was pretty small, so the women ended up working closely together for the next three years. They learned how to collaborate well and got to know what each other's work style was like. Then it all came to an end.

Sarah's family owned a jewelry company, and they wanted her to come work for them in order to gain their pearls of wisdom. So she and Isabelle went their separate ways once more. About a year later, Sarah's dad announced that he was retiring from the jewelry business, and it just so happened that Isabelle was now searching for a job. The solution seemed crystal clear. The two would become co-workers once again, and this time they'd worked toward building something together.

They learned everything they could about the jewelry industry. At first, this meant doing daily housekeeping tasks, running errands and chatting with customers. But over time, they began to study strategy, both the old-school marketing approaches as well as some new ideas that they thought would be more relevant to their generation. As some of the youngest people in the business, Sarah and Isabelle wanted to ramp up the online presence of the brand by creating a website and social media accounts for it. Sometimes the older people in the company had different ideas about how to approach these technological changes.

Although it was difficult to broach the subject, with patience and understanding, both generations were able to collaborate. All the while, Sarah and Isabelle were planning to strike out on their own. The business that Sarah's dad owned was called King's Mark Jewelry, and they wanted to call their brand a gilded leaf. His favorite season is fall, and she thought it would be fun to incorporate leaves in the name, especially because leaves are gold in the fall. From there, they continued to design and move forward.

One of the big changes they made was introducing a more simple and dainty line, which was unlike the big ornate kind the business had been selling before. This was inspired partly by their motherhood. Isabelle and Sarah had both become pregnant around the same time. They wanted to make simple, affordable jewelry that women could wear every day to give a bit of glamour to their outfits without overdoing it. Now, in introducing a new line, they quickly ran into some issues because the customer base that they'd known in King's Mark Jewelry was much more focused on those bigger statement pieces, while a gilded leaf was beginning to attract a younger consumer.

Accordingly, the audience was confused, and Sarah and Isabelle knew that they had to figure out who their target customer really was. Ultimately, they decided to stop selling the more flashy pieces in favor of those delicate designs they really loved. There was a bit of an adjustment period with this change, but the two persisted and never became jaded. They can now create designs that they truly love, and they're building their own family business in a way that fits with their values. Although it was difficult to break out of the mold that was already set in front of them, taking that risk ultimately allowed their new brand to grow.

A gilded leaf currently brings in $250,000 a year, and in early 2020 will be fully separated from King's Mark Jewelry. Sarah and Isabelle are reinvesting some of that money back into the business in order to create new designs for the upcoming season. Right now, their main focus is on introducing more bridal jewelry, including engagement rings and wedding bands. So I took a peek at the website for a gilded leaf, which is really nice. Very product focused, yet also kind of communicating these values throughout.

I'm going to read part of their mission statement to you here. But the other thing that jumps out at me is the prices on their site, which are also clearly displayed. I think traditionally in the jewelry industry, you know, pricing is very opaque and everything is a negotiation, etc., which is something that is attractive to some people. But a lot of other people are like, you know, just tell me what the price is, be upfront about it. You know, if I can pay it, I will.

If not, that's fine. I won't waste my time or waste yours. So a lot of their pieces are in the $100 to $300 range. So it's meant to be affordable, essentially, while also looking good. And according to their mission, they say their mission is to provide quality fine jewelry at affordable prices.

Our designs are inspired by the working woman, the everyday boss, the ladies who handle business by day and home by night. We're committed to craftsmanship and ethical practices. We free ourselves from middlemen and sell directly to you so that we can provide fine jewelry at a fraction of the price. And also on their about page, they have an emphasis on social responsibility, which is definitely something people are thinking about in terms of the diamond industry. So they actually have a statement here.

Our diamonds are imported under strict regulations, et cetera. I do wonder, as someone who lived in West Africa for several years, the historical region of conflict diamonds, you know, who actually enforces these regulations, like where the regulations come from and who is actually checking up on compliance, et cetera. But at least there is some attention to that subject and that sensitivity in general. So got to know your target market, got to know your ideal customer. A baby boomer customer is going to be very different from a millennial customer.

And of course, those are also quite broad ranges themselves. There's going to be lots of different subcategories and divisions within them. But the more you can know who that person is, that your product is a perfect fit for it. The more successful you're going to be in reaching them and connecting with them and of course, making sales. So congratulations to Sarah and Isabelle.

Check out a gilded leaf. We're going to link that up in the show notes. That notes page will be sidehustleschool.com/1077 episode 1077 I'll be back again tomorrow as we continue toward the end of the year and a new format in 2020. Thanks so much. It's all about for side hustle school.

From the Onward Project.