Creatives Rule the World

Finally! The weather is warm and days are getting longer. A perfect time to look forward to GROWTH in your business. Springtime is all about new possibilities, right? Time to get your spring hustle on! As designers and business owners, it's super easy to get stuck in the day-to-day… Making more product… Responding to customer messages… Managing the books… Posting on social media… Just one big...

Does talking about making money in your biz make you squirm a little bit? It's super hard when you pour yourself into your biz but aren’t making any money. It feels like no matter how amazing your work is, you’re “not good enough.” I’ve been there, I know… I have this crazy idea: I want to dust off the old stigma around being a “starving artist” and reframe it to be the “thriving artist” – or...

There’s lots of confusion. What really matters to grow your business? Is it finances, sales, admin, social media, marketing, photography, pixeling your website, cleaning the dirt under your fingernails from that red rouge buffing compound…? The list is endless. The answer is simple…it’s the 75% rule. In fact, when I first presented the 75% rule – jaws were dropped. When I was asked about the 75% r...

What are you waiting for? I asked my good friend Aggie Burnett, co-founder of Nomaterra fragrances, what she was waiting for to get to the next step in her business. Since her early 20’s, she’s nourished relationships with beauty brands through good ol’ fashioned networking: asking questions, following up, and taking notes. In her 300 sq ft NYC apartment, she spent time mixing and matching oils un...

I might sound like a broken record but… Do you know what your BIGGEST sales tool is? So many people are still getting it wrong! Your website is your number one sales tool. It doesn't matter if you're selling e-commerce, if you're just selling to wholesale stores or if you want to do in person events. If you have a janky website it’ll be much harder getting press coverage or getting...

Do you have 1000 True Fans? Trust me, it’s A-OK if you don’t. But are you ready to have 1000 people eager, willing and ready to support your business this year? I learned this philosophy from Kevin Kelly and wholeheartedly believe that it’s the best sales strategy to attract those repeat buyers. If you can get X number of people buying from you every single year… Then you can get a rough estimate...

Traffic + Conversion = my 2 favorite words right now. Seriously! Can you name a better feeling than having your voice reach millions of fans? I know that there are people in the jewelry biz struggling to get their content consumed by the people actually BUYING their products. Which is why it’s becoming sooo important to diversify our revenue streams. Especially for those of you who are selling to...

Yes, you can sell your jewelry online! Or have you been doubting yourself? We all feel great doing what we know…but why is it so hard to pivot out of our routines? The real big struggle is when you get too caught up working “in” your business that you can't decipher the right activities you should be doing to build your online business. Sometimes people make it soooo complicated… I’ve been gu...

Meet Anna Shilina — she’ll help you make more money! At the end of the day we're all responsible for our own businesses, right? And if you're not showing up for your business then you could be making excuses about why things aren't happening. That’s when we have to take a look at ourselves, my friends! Anna Shilina is an abundance coach that is ready to help you make more money. She...

Big goals + Big responsibilities = Burnout? It doesn't have to! Are you tired? Like really tired? If you tell yourself “I’m busy but I’ve got this” then keep reading. I sat down with Nina Cooper, founder of Nina Designs, on our show after reflecting on the last time I felt completely and utterly burned out. I took a sabbatical last year for 6 weeks and went to Europe just for the mental break...

Is your studio healthy or hazardous? Here’s how to create the jewelry you love while keeping your health in check. Yep, I get it! You LOVE making jewelry. But did you know this creative career could potentially be one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet? Your subjecting yourself to chemicals on a daily basis…how do you know if your studio is safe!?! I know I didn’t. I remember having a Shingl...

Have you heard the saying: Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems? It’s the idea that your problems don’t go away when you have more money (or your business grows). In business terms: Mo’ Money, Different Problems. When my first company was growing, I used to throw money at problems. Uhh…bad idea. All that did was make me broke because the money I was spending was NOT an investment in the growth of the company. T...

Who are some of your favorite icons in the world? Maybe it’s Beyonce, or Marie Forleo, or Oprah, or a world leader. They’re people that we look up to and admire, and may even want to be like in some capacity. They are A Players. What if I told you that you could be an A Player in business too? You might not believe me. When I was first creating my businesses I probably wouldn’t have believed me ei...

Think about all of the important lessons you’ve been taught in your life. Whether it was from a parent, or a college class, or an elderly person you met in line at the grocery store. Why are those the lessons that stick with you all of your life? Don’t think too hard on it, because I’m going to give you the answer. I can pretty much guarantee you that the reason they’ve stuck with you for a lifeti...

Do you ever feel stressed about money in your business? 💳 No matter how hard you try to make sales and keep the cash flow coming in, you can’t seem to keep the money in your account or even pay yourself? Trust me, I hear ya! There was a time when I had a measly -$2.02 in my bank account. (Yes negative). And payroll was due the next day. Talk about being stressed…my hair started falling out and I...

What’s your word of the year? My word of the year for 2019 is ELEVATE! Last year, my word of the year was SIMPLIFY here’s why… Have you ever felt that making money is hard because there are so many things you have to do to make your business work? …no shame in honesty here because I’m 🙋🏻‍♀raising my hand, too. Here’s an interesting idea… What if simplifying your business was actually the EXACT t...

Happy New Year #ThriveTribe… Last week, I wrote about 5 words to live by (and tools to set the precedent for your New Year) because, well, it’s the New Year! Time for some massive change! Which leads me to a kinda personal question…because it’s time to Sage that S#!zz and clear space for an awesome year ahead. Ready? Have you ever felt completely paralyzed about achieving your business or life goa...

Every year around this time, I reflect back on how I did… This year was no different… Always – ALWAYS – my reflection starts with my WINS! Girl, you crushed it! Then I have to check myself re: the goals that I didn’t achieve. AND GET BRUTALLY HONEST WITH MYSELF… Was I playing it too safe? Was I pulling all the stops? Did I really want “it” that bad? Was it aligned with my vision? Or were my belief...

Content is King (yes, even for a jewelry brand). And when your content is marketed the right way, you can easily connect with those perfect customers…you know the ones who keep coming back for more? The ones who buy everything you make! The ones who tell the world about how much they LOVE your jewelry! Yeah, those ones! Have you heard of the 1000 True Fans philosophy? It states that you don’t need...

A recent NY Times Article announced that Conde Nast is selling off 3 of its publications due to a shrinking pool of advertisers and changes in the way content is consumed… …which in recent times isn’t so much on the printed page. So what’s a jewelry brand to do to get exposure for their designs? It’s true, the landscape of the jewelry industry and PR is changing – rapidly. One of the big changes i...

I’m often asked: what does it really take for an emerging jewelry brand | designer | maker to successfully sell jewelry online? It requires 4 things: • Strategy • Resourcefulness • Creativity • A Can Do Attitude Here’s why: There’s a lot of strategy “conversion nuance” involved in getting customers to actually buy from your jewelry website or online channels. Because of that, you’ve gotta be creat...

Following trends with your new collection is a great way to get inspired for Spring 2019. No matter what kind of jewelry you create, you can show these trends in your designs. It’s always fun to see how other designers are applying trends to their work! I’m excited because Delia Folk is back on the show! She is the daughter in the mother-daughter duo of The Style That Binds Us. We’re excited becau...

Think you can’t keep a secret? The blogger behind A Thousand Facets has hidden her identity for almost 9 years on her blog! It’s so cool because she’s a big time blogger, but no one knows the woman behind the words. Or maybe I should say, the woman behind the website – because her posts are mostly visual. She’s still been able to build a following by showcasing the visual stories of other jewelry...

Blockchain isn’t just about BitCoin. In fact, cryptocurrencies were made possible because of Blockchain technology! So what does this have to do with the jewelry and fashion industry? Blockchain helps give a digital papertrail of each step in the manufacturing and sourcing process of a piece of jewelry. So this means customers know exactly where the materials are coming from starting from where th...

Want the inside scoop on how fashion editors discover new brands? I’ve got you! Sometimes editors feel impossible to reach because you put them on a pedestal. They’re people just like you and me – and they use the internet to research brands. I’m excited to introduce and welcome Angela Koh to the show today! She’s the Market Editor for T, The New York Times Style Magazine. Angela covers jewelry, f...