1375
8 min 59 sec

College Curriculum Developer Makes Minimalist Jewelry

When a professional development specialist can’t find “just the right” piece of jewelry, she makes it herself. Six years later, she’s mined a second income creating minimalist, Boho-chic jewelry.
Subscribe Download
Etsy Jewelry

Subscribe Now For A Free Five Step Tutorial

What It's About

A higher education professional bedazzles with her Simple Designs jewelry hustle.

Words of Wisdom

Cristi share's some important advice, “Make sure you are not spending all your mental energy and time on your side hustle. Maintain balance and ensure you still enjoy it most of the time. Also, know how much time you spend on your side hustle, how much effort you put in, the cost of materials and overhead, and the standard pricing of similar businesses, so you can set your prices accordingly. Do not undervalue yourself or your work.”

Fun Fact

When she made her first sale, Cristi was helping out at the checkout counter, and it was a thrill watching a customer examine her pieces on display. When they finally chose a necklace and checked out, Cristi was giddy. She didn’t want the customer to know she had created the necklace they just purchased, so she tried to play it cool.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1375

Cristi Moore is a full-time talent development and e-learning specialist for a local university—as well as a mother of two—who finds space for “me time” by unwinding in front of Netflix with a soldering iron and some jeweler’s glue. Specifically, Cristi makes Bohemian chic jewelry with a minimalist aesthetic. This “me time” ritual earns her a nice profit. Plus, she enjoys getting to know individual customers so she can create meaningful, custom, and personalized jewelry pieces just for them.

Cristi started creating her own jewelry because she couldn't find that one perfect piece that expressed who she was. She had an image in her mind of precisely what she wanted, but she couldn't find it.

A few months after Cristi started making her own jewelry, her best friend opened a boutique and was looking for creators who would sell their items in her shop. This friend wanted to focus on handmade items, not imports from overseas factories or anything else made in bulk. Cristi was intrigued, so she launched her brand, Simple Designs, and started producing jewelry in her unique, “less is more” design.

She opened an Etsy shop a couple years after she started selling at her friend’s boutique, and soon other local brick-and-mortar stores started stocking her creations.

Simple Designs by Cristi now nets around $10,000 annually, and her style has maintained its no-frills simplicity. She loves a classic pair of studs, for example. But creating custom pieces is her favorite, including bold, beautiful statement pieces, like clay-beaded chokers, multi-strand back necklaces, and crystal earrings with a vintage feel.

Her next goal is to teach herself how to create pavé diamond jewelry, a technique of drilling holes directly into the metal and laying diamonds into the holes like cobblestones.

That will require a lot of learning, practice, and, of course, more tools and time. She’s excited to see how that goes.

 
  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Resources

WEB HOSTING @ $2.49/MONTH

Want to build any kind of website for your hustle? If so, you'll need somewhere to host it! This is the reliable company I've used for many websites. It's cheap, flexible, and offers support 24-7.

Get your own hosting plan for just $2.49 a month!


Learn More

GET $625 IN FREE TRAVEL

Earn 50,000 travel rewards points (enough for 2 round-trip plane tickets or $625 in travel credit). You'll also earn 2x points on all travel and dining spend, with zero foreign transaction fees.

I use this card every day all over the world! ✈️


Learn More

Quote of the Day
"know how much time you spend on your side hustle, how much effort you put in, the cost of materials and overhead, and the standard pricing of similar businesses, so you can set your prices accordingly. Do not undervalue yourself or your work."
—Christi Moore #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Try ShipStation for 60 Days FREE!

Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by ShipStation, the #1 choice of online sellers. 📦

To get a 30-day trial AND an additional month free, click the microphone at the top of their page and enter the word HUSTLE.


Get it Here

Like the Show? Leave a Rating!

Side Hustle School is for you! If you’re enjoying it, please take a quick moment to leave a rating or write a quick review. It's really easy and it makes a difference! ✅

It also makes a huge difference when you tell your friends about the show. Remember, it's 100% free and listener-supported.


Here's How

Keep in Touch

There’s a new story every single day on Side Hustle School. Episodes are produced to be short and to the point—I know you’re busy. Be sure you subscribe to get instant notification of the day’s broadcast!





To infinity and beyond,

Chris Guillebeau