We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Amanda (Maddy) Haringx. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Amanda (Maddy) below.
Alright, Amanda (Maddy) thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
Passion, and tenacity. If you truly love what you do, you won’t ever allow yourself to give up on your dreams.
With such a volatile mineral and art market over the last few years, combined with inflation and all of the complications associated with Covid, there were many times that I thought, “maybe I should throw in the towel. Is it worth it to fight this hard just to stay afloat?”
The answer I always came back to was “Yes”. I reminded myself that I have not poured over 5 years of my life into my dream just for me to give it up when it gets tough. If I can still operate my business while paying my bills, even if it’s tight, then there is still hope – but I have to learn to adjust.
Instead of focusing on purely online sales through social media, where my reach to even my own followers was being throttled and sales were massively decreasing, or even website sales, where there was next to no traffic because no one would see your ads that were aimed at driving website traffic, I decided to start doing local trade and artisan shows.
As someone who had always dealt with almost crippling social anxiety, this was a scary change, but a change that was worth it if it meant I could keep Blue Moon Minerals going.
That scary change and leap of faith has opened so many more doors for myself and my business than I ever thought possible. I’ve had the amazing opportunity to vend with so many amazing local artists over the last year, while even landing contracts with our local gem shows (thanks to two of my very best friends, who hold so much significance and importance in my life – if you end up reading this, you know exactly who you are 😉)
2023 especially has been a surreal year for me. I’ve met so many wonderful people, and I’ve had the opportunity to be a vendor in shows, or even start submitting applications to shows, that I always thought were completely out of my reach.
I love what I do. I love looking through all of the new mineral specimens that I get to share with everyone, and appreciate all of them. I love handpicking my pieces for jewelry, and sharing a piece of myself with everyone, because it has lead to so many wonderful connections. I’m glad I never gave up, even when it looked to be an insurmountable obstacle, because I would not be where I am today, or on my way to where I want to be, if I had.
If you love what you do, keep going. Keep trying until you can’t anymore. You never know what day will be your best day and the day that will catapult you into the life you’ve only dreamed of.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I remember that from a young age, I was always enamored with the large bins of various tumbled rocks. I would see them each time I visited Letchworth State Park with my parents, and I ALWAYS had to pick some out. I used to love the glittery rocks found in my backyard, and occasionally would bring some inside and put them on my shelf.
Once I entered adulthood and started working full time, I found a local metaphysical shop in Rochester that had me feeling like a kid in a candy store. They had so many different types of crystals and minerals, polished, rough, different shapes – and I loved them all. I started purchasing pieces for my shelf and very quickly acquired a large collection, to a point where I needed more than one shelf (oops). I found the online crystal-buying scene, and fell in love even more. There was such a huge variety of different minerals and different quality that I couldn’t necessarily find in my area, and as I joined these communities as a shopper, I realized how much fun I was having. Even if I didn’t buy anything, I loved seeing all of the different specimens and learning about them. It struck me one day – “I want to do this. I want to surround myself with this because it makes me so happy”. And so I started on that journey in 2018, and rebranded to Blue Moon Minerals at the end of 2019 when I realized that I wanted this business to be bigger than myself.
In 2020, with Covid creating the chaos that it had, I felt that I needed to switch gears a little bit and perhaps offer something a little different to set myself apart from the massive influx of new crystal shops online. I knew I didn’t want to give up the mineral side of things, but pondered on what else I could offer – I was a very socially (and overall) anxious person with confidence issues, to say the least. I didn’t think there would be anything that I could make and make well that someone would want to buy.
I happened upon the process of Electroforming – the electrochemical process of depositing metal (in my case, copper) onto a desired piece. I found it fascinating – you paint your object with something conductive, like copper or graphite paint, you submerge it into a bath specifically made for copper Electroforming, hook up your electrical leads and your copper and just let it run for a day or so until you see a beautiful, thick layer of copper on your piece. It sounds simple at first glance, but it’s quite an in-depth process because you have to understand your amps and size of your piece, and watch the behavior of your baths – I know, this sounded so foreign to me at first too. If I’m interested in something enough, I’m down for a challenge, so naturally this is the route I went (did I mention that I didn’t do too well in chemistry in school?)
What I loved the most about the Electroforming process was the absolute creative freedom. There are many electroforming artists out there, but no one persons work is the same as all of others. Truly, Electroforming is an incredible way to express yourself in an intimate, artistic way. When you look at someone’s work, you see the thought process behind the design, the intricacy, and the many hours spent bringing that vision to life. When I landed on Electroforming, my main focus wasn’t just “creating jewelry and items to sell”. I looked at it as an opportunity to express myself, share more of myself with other people without using words, and most importantly to me, making pieces with the intention that they are meant for one specific person, trusting that they will find their way to the person that needs them the most at that point in their life. It has been amazing to see this literally play out over the last year since I’ve been doing trade shows – I can make a piece that sits around for 6 months, passed up by everyone that sees it, and then I’ll have that one show where someone comes up to the table, spots it and feels immediately connected to it. I find that quite humbling, because in that moment I am able to connect them with a piece that they need in their life, and at the same time, seeing the genuine appreciation of my art – and therefore myself – makes me so happy. No one piece is ever the same – even if there are necklaces, earrings or rings that are designed the same way, no matter what these pieces will always be truly one-of-a-kind because no two crystals are ever the same. I love connecting them with their “person”.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
Quite literally – “be yourself”. What you see is what you get with me. There is no “online or show persona”. Be yourself. Be authentic. You will never be EVERYONE’S “cup of tea”, and that is perfectly OK. The right people will find you, and you will find them.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I can honestly say that in the last 2 years, I have thought so many times about giving up. Online exposure dropped and so did sales, and the first few shows that I did try didn’t have much success. It was such a hard blow to my confidence that I started to wonder if I really had what it takes to do this. Every time I thought about throwing in the towel, I pictured everything – working a regular job, no longer working with minerals and making jewelry, and going back to life the way it was before I started Blue Moon Minerals. Each time it filled me with a sense of dread. I knew I wouldn’t be happy otherwise, but I often wondered how I would make it happen.
By staying strong, building my confidence, making plans and taking risks as someone who isn’t normally a risk-taker, and with the help and support of my husband, I kept pushing forward and focused on different avenues. I started applying for different artisan shows, and through that made my way to Bianca from RocOnly Events. Truly, these are some of the most amazing artisan shows that you can find organized in the Rochester and Finger Lakes areas here in New York. I immediately felt “at home”, and I feel like this opportunity allowed me to really grow as a person, and therefore as a business. Each show is carefully curated with many incredible artists, and I they draw in so many amazing people that you just instantly connect to.
It’s a daily reminder – had I given up, I would have never connected with Bianca, I would have never had these opportunities and I most certainly wouldn’t be where I am today, already planning my future shows out months in advance and having opportunities to fill the time in between to stay busy. I wouldn’t be able to stay at home with my cats, and work in my space. I never really realized how unhappy I was until I quit my job to focus on my business. I’m still here, almost 6 years after beginning my journey as a sole proprietor, ever changing and evolving, growing, and expanding. Adjusting and adapting to the economy and markets. I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m glad I didn’t give up.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bluemoonminerals.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/bluemoonminerals?igshid=MTlnMms2Y3IxNmI3bw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluemoonminerals?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: ****My website is currently under construction – I’m not sure if you’d like to include that link, but at the very least they’ll be able to sign up for notifications for when it reopens. It’s been a very busy and chaotic year 😅