Tag: Jewelry

Shine Bright Like a Diamond (and Sell Them)

What It’s About

A jewelry store manager sees the diamond in the rough.

Words of Wisdom

Lauren shares some important words regarding whether or not to keep your main hustle, “Not every side hustle needs to become your main job. Full-time entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, so don’t get caught up in the idea that you have to quit your job.”

Fun Fact

In 1477, Archduke Maximillian of Austria gave the very first diamond engagement ring on record to Mary of Burgundy. This began a trend for diamond rings among European aristocracy and nobility.

Notes from Chris

Episode 2040
At age 28, Lauren Priori was working as a manager for an antique jewelry company in Philadelphia. While she loved her job, she also yearned for something more. Luckily, her bosses—she had four of them—were cool with her having an entrepreneurial spirit and making some extra cash on the side. But the quartet of bosses had no idea she’d be leaving her day job so soon.

You see, Lauren had a lot of good ideas. Her execution, however, wasn’t so great at first.

She started out buying antique jewelry and selling it on Etsy, the online craft marketplace…but her photography skills weren’t up to par, and the business never took off. She also started a line of silver jewelry but didn’t know how to price it properly and sell it to retailers.

But in 2015, Lauren’s friend Megan was ready to get engaged and asked Lauren if she’d help her with the engagement ring. Lauren had never sold an engagement ring before…even though she was a gemologist and knew plenty about diamonds and jewelry manufacturing from her day job. So Lauren asked her favorite diamond dealers to loan her some diamonds to show Megan.

Here’s where Lauren’s day job and her connections came in handy…those dealers would never have loaned out $50,000 worth of diamonds to a stranger. Lauren brought the diamonds home and walked Megan through the diamond selection process, and they settled on a ring design. After paying a deposit, Megan mentioned how much better this was than going to a jewelry store and picking an “off the rack” ring from a glass case. And she told Lauren that she should do this as a business.

Lauren was pretty sure it wasn’t a business—but she was happily wrong. After posting the ring on her personal Instagram, Lauren soon got another order from a friend, and then more friends of friends. A year later, she rented office space and quit her day job to pursue L. Priori Jewelry full-time.

Lauren now has twelve employees in three locations and did more than $1M in sales in 2019. She still trains her sales team to recreate that same personal one-on-one design experience she had with her friend Megan.

Going forward, Lauren plans to keep growing the company with a goal of hitting $50M in revenue. She is also an investor, providing capital and guidance to small businesses that can benefit from her knowledge and experience.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Learn more about Lauren and checkout her beautiful jewelry collection at her website, Lpriorijewelry.com.

SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

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
"Not every side hustle needs to become your main job. Full-time entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone, so don’t get caught up in the idea that you have to quit your job."
—Lauren Priori #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

‘Jack n Ginger’ Admin Designs Island-Life Jewelry

What It’s About

Inspiration strikes for a Hawaiian-style line of jewelry.

Words of Wisdom

Michelle shares an important lesson about networking, “One of the most valuable things for me was connecting with other small business owners. Learning their stories and business strategies have helped me exponentially. Even having them to talk to as someone to understands the stresses.”

Fun Fact

Michelle used to be a wedding and family photographer but felt burned out—so now she sticks to jewelry.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1816
In high school, Michelle Gulden was always the girl making beaded and hemp necklaces in study hall. In her twenties, she started making jewelry for gifts. Those gifts turned into friends buying for other friends. This self-taught jeweler then started throwing jewelry parties—and now she operates an Etsy shop called jack & ginger.

People have lots of theories about why Michelle picked that name. Some think it’s named for pets or family members. Some assume it’s for plants. The truth is, she picked the name after sitting in a bar drinking a jack & ginger—a nice simple drink! A friend suggested it and the name stuck.

At the time, Michelle lived on the island of Oahu (that would be Hawaii…) so her jewelry was heavily influenced by island style and uses natural materials. She found all the sea glass and shells herself, and loved the element of hand picking what she works with. She describes her customers as “those that love an endless summer.”

The business grew mostly through word of mouth. She worked in tourism back then, so guests would comment on her jewelry—and her coworkers wore it, too. Online, Instagram has been the most helpful tool. Her account (@hijacknginger) has grown slowly but now has over 8,000 loyal followers.

Sales fluctuate and are now averaging $4,000-5,000/month. She works part-time as an office admin three days a week but jack & ginger has grown into a nearly full-time job.

Going forward, she hopes to add more retail accounts so her work can get into more boutiques for people to enjoy. She also hopes to do more pop-up events so she can get out and meet customers, too.

Finally, she’s in the process of building a Shopify storefront so she can have her own website separate from Etsy.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Check out Michelle’s beautiful collection at her online store, JacknGinger.com.

SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

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
"One of the most valuable things for me was connecting with other small business owners. Learning their stories and business strategies have helped me exponentially. Even having them to talk to as someone to understands the stresses."
—Michelle Gulden #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

Finance Worker Strikes Gold with Custom Jewelry

What It’s About

A custom jewelry hustle that polishes out the middleman.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Alexis shares an important reminder about finding the best people to work with: “I hired people that were cheaper and in the end couldn’t use their end product. I’ve now found some AMAZING people to work with. I don’t regret it because I wouldn’t know how amazing the people I found are if I didn’t have these obstacles first.”

Fun Fact

The first time a ring was given as a signal of a marriage engagement was in 1477. Maximilian of Austria gave his fiance, Mary of Burgundy, as a promise of marriage.

SOURCE: Interesting Facts about Jewelry [source]

Notes from Chris

Episode 1695
Lexi Taub had it all. A degree, a career in finance, and a boyfriend.

Yet, despite all of this, she also had a nagging feeling that something was missing. All that glitters is not gold, and Lexi had always wanted to do something for herself. All she needed was the right idea.

Lexi’s mom was in the jewelry business, so when her boyfriend wanted to buy her a pair of beautiful earrings as a present, he went to her for advice. He’d found a pair of earrings he loved for $1,600 online. Lexi’s mom made a replica and only charged $165, about 10% of the original price.

The boyfriend was amazed and incredibly grateful. However, after he gave them to Lexi (and told her the whole story), he confessed that he felt that Lexi’s mom had undercharged him. But the more they learned about pricing in the industry, the more things clicked into place.

See, when it comes to the jewelry business, every person involved in the supply chain marks the price up by at least 100%, often 200%. So, if it costs the manufacturer $165 to make, then they will sell it to a designer for $330. Then the designer will sell it to a store for $660, and the store will sell it to the customer for about $1,320.

Lexi thought this was a good business to go into—after all, her mom was already doing it! The idea began to crystallize in her mind. If she could learn from her mom, she too could make high-quality jewelry for a fraction of the retail cost, and cut out all the middlemen!

After starting on Squarespace, she soon moved it to Shopify. Although it was easier to build a website on Squarespace, Lexi felt that Shopify had much better built-in SEO capabilities. Not only that, but Shopify has more integration opportunities.

The switch to Shopify and Google Smart Campaigns helped Lexi to receive a few sales every week. This consistency showed Lexi that she had a rock solid idea. As they got more sales, Lexi began to reinvest the money she was making.

Revenue continued to increase, and just two-and-a-half years after starting, Lexi quit her full-time job to run the business.

What does this look like in terms of numbers? The business now makes about $20,000 in revenue every month. At this point, Lexi is still reinvesting some of the money into her business, but she’s also living comfortably doing her side hustle full-time.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Learn more about Alexis and checkout her beautiful jewelry at her website, AlexisJae.com.

SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

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

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

Quote of the Day
" I hired people that were cheaper and in the end couldn’t use their end product. I’ve now found some AMAZING people to work with. I don’t regret it because I wouldn’t know how amazing the people I found are if I didn’t have these obstacles first."
—Alexis Taub #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Learn More With Skillshare!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Skillshare. 📷

Skillshare is giving Side Hustle School listeners 2 months of unlimited access—for $0.99! Join the 2 million students learning everything from street photography to SEO on Skillshare today!
Get Started 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

French Engineer Makes Silver-Wear in Mexico

What It’s About

An international couple sees the bling with their on-demand jewelry store.

Words of Wisdom

Not taking action is worse than failure. Nobody is happy with is life for not taking action, while all of those who take action (and sometimes fail) are happy people, they live without regrets.

Fun Fact

The Great Silver Wine Cistern of Thomas Wentworth currently holds the title of most expensive English silver sold at an auction. The $3.8 million wine cooler was crafted by talented artisan Philip Rollo between 1706 and 1711.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1585
In 2009 Nicholas Tranchant was living in France with his Mexican girlfriend Reyna. Although they were young and in love, that isn’t always enough to eliminate all of life’s problems.

Nicholas had a well paying job as an aerospace engineer. Reyna, on the other hand, was unable to work. She was a highly qualified doctor, but unfortunately her credentials were not recognized in France.

Nicholas brooched the subject of side hustling as a way to make some extra money. It didn’t take long to find something that sparkled.

You know where I’m going with this, right? They clasped onto the concept of an online store selling silver jewelry. Not out of passion, but rather opportunity. Reyna had contacts in Mexico who could act as suppliers, and they decided to go for it.

The couple placed an order for two thousand euros worth of different silver pieces. It was a risk as they didn’t see high resolution photos of the items in advance and had no real idea of what designs would be popular with customers. On top of that, they didn’t know how to create an online store.

Then, he stumbled across a better option called Shopify. It made setting up the store dead simple. Viva Latina Jewelry was forged! He quickly moved their products over and waited for the gold rush … or is there such a thing as a silver rush? Regardless, there wasn’t even a bronze medal waiting for them.

He and Reyna decided to move to Mexico so that she could practice medicine again. Nicholas was now determined to make their jewelry store work. He’d dedicate one hundred percent of his time to forging ahead and making it a success.

It came about when a customer asked for a customized piece of jewelry to be made—something they couldn’t find anywhere else. Since Nicholas knew local designers, he was happy to oblige. But he also wondered: How many other people out there were looking for specific types of jewelry they couldn’t find? He looked for answers to that question and developed a solid SEO strategy.

The strategy worked well and turned the business around. Sales went from a trickle to a flood and finally it was going so well Nicholas opened a small workshop and hired his first employee. That meant he would no longer have to rely on suppliers and could manufacture all of his own items for a higher profit margin.

On demand jewelry making, alongside custom orders, is really what helped this side hustle grow into a full time business that now employs three people and earned one hundred and sixty thousand dollars in 2020, a figure Nicholas hopes to double in the next two years.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Learn more about Nicolas and his on demand jewelry business at his website, VivaLatina-Shop.com.

SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

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
"Venture out, learn what makes you uncomfortable and repeat. What I learned about myself in 15 years I could never have learned just from reading books or hearing others tell their stories."
—Eva Rosales #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

Model Turns Designer With Travel-Inspired Jewelry

What It’s About

Travel inspired jewelry puts a new twist on treasured memories.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Nico shares some important sentiments, “put something into the world that you feel genuinely passionate about and proud of. If you are not passionate about what you are contributing to the world, you can’t reasonably expect that others will buy into it either.”

Fun Fact

The US jewelry market is valued at over $78 billion, and the United States is the fourth largest importer of gold, silverware, and jewelry in the world, behind the United Arab Emirates, China, and Switzerland.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1499
Nico Millado is a Chicago-based fashion model who is used to a packed travel schedule as part of his job. Unfortunately, most of that ground to a halt last spring as the COVID-19 pandemic rapidly spread around the globe. Like many of us, he was left to figure out some next steps. Luckily for him he had something waiting in his back pocket—an idea for a side gig that was perfect for a situation like this.

Nico happens to be a graduate of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. After graduating in 2016, he chose to pursue his passion for fashion but never lost his interest in business.

In the summer of 2019 he was looking to expand his wardrobe with more accessories—jewelry in particular. Much of what he found was too generic for his tastes or too expensive for his budget. There seemed to be a serious lack of product in the middle, a category that Nico later came to define as “semi-fine jewelry.” Nico chose to hone in on the marriage of two: jewelry inspired by global experiences.

He reached out to a friend and former business school classmate named Pat, who as luck would have it was also in the market for a side gig. In late 2019, Nico pitched the idea of this new jewelry company to Pat, thinking that Pat’s experience in corporate America would nicely compliment his own background in the fashion industry. Pat agreed, and they decided to start Atlas Jewelry Company.

The initial investment was $900, with the bulk of that money going towards supplies and samples. Nico assembled each piece of jewelry by hand, and he and Pat set up social accounts for the business. Nico did all the photography, and they began with a soft-launch for friends and family instead of a full roll-out.

The jewelry is designed to be unisex and Nico found that the majority of Atlas’s early customers were men, so as the holidays approached a decision was made to focus some of the advertising on women in order to continue to grow the company. November was their biggest month of sales, generating more than $8,000.

With that jump in numbers, however, came some growing pains. Nico and Pat scaled back their ad buys in December in order to address concerns about production lead times, operational efficiency, and product availability. Even with decreased advertising they still saw healthy sales, grossing over $6,000 for the month.

For Nico, having his modeling career put on hold during the pandemic turned out to be a bit of a blessing in disguise. It allowed him to bring his dream of his own jewelry line to life and gave him a sense of purpose during an otherwise difficult year. Even with the setbacks, the reward of seeing others wear his designs while building a business with one of his best friends has been well worth it.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

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

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

Quote of the Day
"put something into the world that you feel genuinely passionate about and proud of. If you are not passionate about what you are contributing to the world, you can’t reasonably expect that others will buy into it either."
—Nico Millado #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Learn More With Skillshare!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Skillshare. 📷

Skillshare is giving Side Hustle School listeners 2 months of unlimited access—for $0.99! Join the 2 million students learning everything from street photography to SEO on Skillshare today!
Get Started 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

Bookstore Employee Crafts Paper Bead Jewelry

What It’s About

A book lover turns a page creating jewelry from paper.

Words of Wisdom

Cara has some great advice regarding being observant. “Always be open to learning and adapting. I have ALWAYS loved attending craft sales, but when I decided I wanted to take Book’d to craft sales I started attending them with a different eye. I looked at what other sellers were doing—what worked, and what didn’t. ”

Fun Fact

The art of paper bead jewelry began in mid 1800’s England during the Victorian Age. Women of the time would get together and spend time crafting beads from scraps of elaborate old wallpaper.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1417
While studying art in college, Cara Ginter worked part-time in a bookstore. After graduation, she found very few jobs for someone with her background. So, she continued at the bookstore and hoped to find another part-time job to boost her income.

One day, Cara was put in charge of a kids’ story and craft workshop at the store. She had to come up with some activities for the kids, and she’d recently read about paper beads. You make them by taking strips of paper, rolling them tight, and sealing them shut to resemble jewelry beads. It seemed like the perfect way to combine books and craft.

She loved creating things, and she loved books. Paper bead jewelry could be the ideal combination of two of her passions. For the next few weeks she honed the craft, eventually landing on a style she liked. She used the beads to make a few bracelets and posted them to her personal Facebook page.

With supplies and eagerness it was time for her side hustle to unfold. In mid-2016 Cara launched an Etsy store and called it Book’d Creations.

Sales increased, and Book’d was slowly becoming the side hustle of Cara’s reams.

During that time, she also branched out and attended local craft fairs. It was there, in person, that she really improved her skill of storytelling. When passers by were checking out her jewelry, Cara was sure to inform them of her path to creating Book’d. The story tied a unique narrative to her products, made them stand out from other items on sale and helped her sell more, sometimes up to two thousand dollars worth per fair. She took these selling lessons online as she began to build her online store.

Over the following year she encouraged her repeat customers to buy directly from the store. Etsy fees had gone up but, more notably, COVID-19 has put all craft fairs on hold. These were a large source of income so it’s more important than ever that Cara build her own, independent, online brand.

Book’d is still making hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars per month. To keep that momentum going, she’s creating more book-related products, like button badges, earrings, and keychains.

It’s just the beginning of Cara’s paper bead story. She’s already on a tear!

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

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
"Always be open to learning and adapting."
—Cara Ginter #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

College Curriculum Developer Makes Minimalist Jewelry

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:

SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

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.

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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.
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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.
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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

Petal to the Metal: Sisters Start Blooming Jewelry Store

What It’s About

Two creative sisters break the mold by setting real flowers in their jewelry.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Looking to start your own Etsy store? Here’s advice from Lindsay and Courtney, “Ensure you have enough stock in your inventory for when you open your shop, as creating pieces made-to-order can become stressful otherwise. We also recommend having very creative and beautiful photos of your products. Pictures are so important to really promote the item.”

Fun Fact

Etsy is a truly massive marketplace of handmade goods with nearly 50 million active users. With those types of numbers you’re bound to find a market to sell to or a product you like in no time at all.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1254
Lindsay Ann Gottschall and Courtney Joy Bleier are sisters from New York They grew up in an artistic household and both went on to creative careers. Courtney combined her love of design and teaching to become an art teacher, while Lindsay pursued her dream of acting.

While pursuing that dream, Lindsay also began making beaded jewelry on the side. It quickly became a passion as she began experimenting with different materials and techniques. Over time she learned to make resin, a hard epoxy substance that’s mixed into a range of different colors and patterns.

In 2009 both sisters found themselves living in Miami, and they started spending time together making jewelry. They got to talking, brainstorming and throwing ideas around. They wanted to come up with some unique designs, something that used their own lives and environment as inspiration for a new type of product.

What they got from all that brainstorming was anything but garden variety. Their concept was to make flower resin jewelry. They’d take dried flowers and intricately place them inside a mold, petal by petal, before adding the resin. This gave the flowers a frozen look, as if they were trapped in time.

The sisters loved what they’d come up with so much that they decided then and there to launch an Etsy store selling the pieces. They’d sell under their own label called Ann + Joy: a name brought about by combining both their middle names.

In the first three months, Ann + Joy received over one hundred orders and more than three thousand dollars in revenue. All of that came from spending only two hundred dollars on materials—although to be fair, they did have a lot of the equipment already. By the end of their first year, they had sold over twenty-three hundred orders, resulting in more than sixty-five thousand dollars in revenue. The two sisters and Etsy had a budding romance.

The next part wasn’t as exciting. As the popularity of their store increased, copycat sellers noticed, and they began flooding the Etsy market with similar products.

But that just meant Lindsay and Courtney had to adapt—both with their product, and their marketing.

These adaptations helped get them through their second full year and to the point of Lindsay being able to go full time on the business.

In present times, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on Ann + Joy as well and sales in Spring 2020 were drastically down. They put this down to the uncertainty of the situation, and sales began to increase again just as I was recording this story.

Hopefully, that upward trend will continue, allowing Courtney to join her sister in going all-in as they continue to innovate.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • Check out Courtney and Lindsay’s beautiful jewelry at their Etsy store, Ann + Joy.
  • Start selling your own creations on Etsy.

SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

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

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

Quote of the Day
"We also recommend having very creative and beautiful photos of your products. Pictures are so important to really promote the item.”"
—Lindsay and Courtney #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Learn More With Skillshare!

Supporting the sponsors keeps the show free. Today’s episode of Side Hustle School is brought to you by Skillshare. 📷

Skillshare is giving Side Hustle School listeners 2 months of unlimited access—for $0.99! Join the 2 million students learning everything from street photography to SEO on Skillshare today!
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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

College Friends Design Millennial-Focused Jewelry

What It’s About

Friends turned coworkers bring a new sparkle to a timeless industry.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Isabelle says that when it comes to selling something, keep it simple and valuable to the customer. She says that, “No one cares about your product, but how your product can help them solve their problem. Learning how to phrase how your product can alleviate a pain point that your customer has is important.”

Fun Fact

Sara and Isabelle’s first sale came during Thanksgiving. Although they weren’t together to celebrate it, they loved being able to share their achievement with their families over the holiday.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1077

When Isabelle Tan and Sara Beznicki first met, they had no idea that they would eventually become business partners. They connected in college through a mutual friend and in the years after graduation, didn’t speak much except for the occasional check-in.

But then the fates aligned and brought them back together. You see, Sara was looking for a new job, and the company Isabelle was working at was looking to hire someone. Soon, the old friends became coworkers.

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. Sara’s family owned a jewelry company, and they wanted her to come work for them in order to gain their pearls of wisdom. She and Isabelle went their separate ways again.

About a year later, Sara’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-be coworkers once again … and this time, they’d build something together.

From there, they learned everything they could about the jewelry industry. At first, this meant doing daily housekeeping tasks, like running errands and chatting with customers. Then over time, they began to study strategy … both old-school approaches, as well as new ideas that they thought would be more relevant to their generation.

As some of the youngest people in the business, Sara 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 in order to continue to expand the company.

All the while, they were planning to strike out on their own. The business that Sara’s dad owned was called Kingsmark Jewelry. Sara and Isabelle decided to call their brand A Gilded Leaf. Sara’s favorite season is fall and she thought that it would be fun to incorporate leaves in the name – especially because leaves are gold in the fall.

Now, these two women have created their own family business in a way that fits with their values and interests. 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 in new ways that they could have never seen coming.

A Gilded Leaf currently brings in $250,000 a year, and in early 2020 will be fully separated from Kingsmark Jewelry. Sara 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 primary focus is on introducing more bridal jewelry, including engagement rings and wedding bands.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • A Gilded Leaf: Check out Sara and Isabelle’s incredible jewelry at their website.

 

SEE ALSO:

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Learning how to phrase how your product can alleviate a pain point that your customer has is important."
—Sara and Isabelle #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

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

When Fashion Flops, This Designer Follows a Shiny Object

What It’s About

A stylist chooses a new direction taking jewelry making into her own hands.

[podcast_details]

Words of Wisdom

Noor advises people interested in this type of business to do a ton of research before starting and investing any money. She recommends “…having a specific idea of who your target customer is and a real way of reaching them”.

Fun Fact

When Noor was a kid, she would spend her time after school making jewelry. She loved trying different styles and gifting them to family and friends. She had no idea that her hobby as a child would lead to her business years later.

Notes from Chris

Episode 1021

From a young age, Noor Molvi was interested in fashion. Back in high school, she would spend her time making pendant necklaces and charm bracelets. She didn’t sell any of those pieces then; she just enjoyed the process of making. But after high school, she went on to pursue fashion design and apparel production. She always dreamed of being her own boss and running a fashion business.

Her career started out as a remote stylist for Stitch Fix, an online personal styling service. She also worked in customer support for a jewelry and accessories company. She learned valuable skills in both areas, and began building confidence to pursue other endeavors.

While Noor liked her job well enough, she still had the desire to be her own boss. With her background in fashion design, she used her skills to create high quality jersey basics. She wanted to design pieces that would allow people to have a variety of outfits simply by styling them with different accessories. So to showcase the versatility of the clothing, she dusted off her jewelry making skills and made some nice pieces to match.

She spent a few thousand dollars to buy fabric and other materials for making patterns, and to pay for production. After finding a pattern maker and factory in her hometown of Los Angeles, she had the lofty task of finding suppliers to sell her designs. One day a week, Noor would drive around to different boutiques and pitch her designs. At stop after stop, she had no luck. Finally, one store agreed to listen and take a chance on her brand, which she called NOORNOIR.

This experience was reassuring, but Noor learned quickly that clothing was not going to be a big money maker. The cost of her time combined with a small return on investment gave her pause. Her jewelry, on the other hand, was generating quite a bit of interest and a number of sales. So, she decided to respond to her customers and change her strategy to focus just on jewelry making. After the stressful experience of cold-pitching her clothing line to boutiques, she decided to stick to online sales and small craft fairs.

Upon making the switch, sales picked up. She was getting her brand out there and becoming connected to more boutiques by hosting pop-up events and exhibiting at trade shows.

For anyone wanting to launch a product, she recommends being strategic about where you invest your money. Earlier in the process, she took a risk and invested a few thousand dollars on an event that promised “great exposure” for her brand. However, the return on investment was a complete flop. She’s learned that if someone makes vague promises like “this will be great exposure for your brand,” it’s probably not a smart financial or business decision to make. (Side note: people die of exposure!)

Instead, she has found more value in sharing the behind the scenes wins and work that goes into creating her pieces. By being open and sharing her wins, customers are more engaged and return again and again. By doing that, last year she sold more than $10,000 worth of jewelry, and is on track to double that this year.

 

 

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

  • NOORNOIR: Check out Noor’s beautiful collection of jewerly at her online store.

 

SEE ALSO:

Hometown Bracelets Support Local Marine Life:

    A marketer for the financial industry regains touch with his upbringing and starts a jewelry business that benefits the marine wildlife of his home region.
  • Actor Lands Role Of Her Life In 24 Carat Side Hustle: A creative outlet leads to a profitable business earning at least $3,000 a month.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

cg-sig-newsletter

Resources

CREATE YOUR ONLINE STORE

Create your online store with Shopify using an exclusive discount for Side Hustle School listeners. For a limited time, get a free 21-day trial and a 10% discount for a whole year.

Many Side Hustle School listeners are building sites using Shopify's easy-to-learn platform. Try it free today! Learn More

GET YOUR FIRST 1,000 EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS

Social media is nice, but building an email list is still the single best way to get customers and clients for your hustle. It's not hard to get started—sign up for a 30-day trial and join the list-building challenge! You’ll be up and running in no time. Learn More

Quote of the Day
"Make sure you are clear on the outcome of an investment before you agree to it. Often brands or events will promise ‘great exposure’. If the opportunity seems vague, save your money."
—Noor Molvi #SideHustleSchool

Sponsors & Gratitude

Don't Do Business Without It

Side Hustle School is brought to you by American Express.

No matter what you do in business, from working nine-to-five to working five-to-nine, it’s easier when you don’t go it alone. Get the powerful backing of American Express—don't do business without it! 💳 Visit American Express

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