We recently connected with Emily Rucker and have shared our conversation below.

Emily, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

Waist Bead Envy was created less than 1 year after COVID-19 hit the US. As a result, I was faced with the challenge of accommodating clients and new customers with more intimate shopping opportunities. People were nervous around large crowds, so pop-up shops were not the most attractive place for many to come to for their beloved waist beads. I decided to offer the ultimate convenience by implementing Shop At Home appointments! For Shop at Home appointments, I go to my clients with my available stock of waist beads so they can shop from the comfort of their own home! They save time and gas and never have to bother with a crowd or risk any airborne illnesses.

I also offer a 30 day guarantee on my work. Every strand of beads is handmade by me personally and they typically last anywhere from 4 months to 2 years or more! Thus, if they don’t make it through a month, I replace them at no cost to my clients.

In that same regard, I also offer repair service! For just $10, I’ll repair any of my own work (older than 30 days), and most waist beads made by someone else.

Most local waist bead companies don’t come to your home, don’t offer any guarantees, and don’t repair unless it’s their own work, if at all. Customer service is very important to me. I am my business, so how people feel when they leave me is a direct reflection of my character and energy. I always want that to be positive.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Waist Bead Envy is a Detroit based Black & Woman owned body jewelry company specializing in handmade waist beads! Our mission is to promote body confidence for every shape and size!

Waist beads are fashionable and also have a hidden health component that my clients love and appreciate. They naturally tighten and roll higher on the waist if one gains inches, bloats or over eats. With inches lost, their waist beads loosen and fall lower towards the hips. Weight carried in the abdomen is linked to adverse health disorders like diabetes and heart disease, which plague our Black communities, so our love for waist beads empowers women in our community to be health conscious while looking and feeling beautiful in their Waist Bead Envy original designs!

In my own journey to a healthier body, I fell in love with waist beads. I initially purchased my original 2 strands (that I have never taken off) in June of 2020 to show my progress in a body transformation competition. Anyone who saw them would ask where I got them from and I referred them to the website I used to purchase my own. When I was ready for more, I was disappointed to see the website had shut down and at a loss as to where I could find more quality waist beads.

Fun fact about me, in middle school I made and sold personalized beaded bracelets. Since they are essentially just beads and string, I decided to try my hand at making my own waist beads! I headed to Amazon to search for beading kits, but before I could check out, an epiphany hit me… ‘What if I can be “the plug” for all the people who ask me where I got my beads from?’. So I added a second kit to my cart and got to work designing cute waist beads.

While I had the wrong string to start out, I was determined to offer a quality product, and through trial and error, I did just that! Within a few weeks, I launched my business on Etsy.com, the marketplace for creatives just like me. Within a few months, I was selling in over a dozen states, and within just 3 months, I began vending at local pop-up shops, which was a game changer!

6 months to the day that I launched my Etsy shop, I submitted my 2 weeks notice at my 9-5. I haven’t looked back! My business allows me to be present with my family and has introduced me to so many amazing women as clients and small business family in and around Detroit and mid-Michigan!

Clients rave about the confidence they have wearing their waist beads! They make you feel good! Our partners love to see us in them. They help us maintain our weight, track our weight loss and nip bad habits in the bud. They can change our mood and energy as well, with the incorporation of genuine crystals, and they offer a unique way to express ourselves and the things we love most.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

While I do have a business page on Facebook and Instagram, I prefer to interact with my audience on my personal profile. I have more followers there, hence more eyes to see my information and more people to engage with. After contracting COVID-19 at a pop-up shop over the holiday season in 2021, I had to create a way to sell without having to frequent large crowds. I decided to connect more with my social media audience and created #WaistedWednesdays and #ThirstyThursdays!

On Wenesdays, I would go live and make a strand of beads on camera, while talking about waist beads, their history and uses and also sharing my beading process. I would give away waist beads and discounts to encourage people to shop with me by appointment. On Thursdays, I created a bead show in my stories to show off the new “drip” I created that week, also encouraging appointment bookings.

Those personal marketing initiatives worked like a charm! Shop at Home appointment bookings increased substantially and for several months, replaced my pop-up shop income. Mentions of my business pages also increased my followers, and subsequently increased custom order inquiries! You never know something will work until you try!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I have a background in sale and customer service. That being the case, I already knew the importance of catering to your customers in a way that benefits them. I was fortunate to learn that before starting my business, and it shows. I know to smile when I’m working and keep my head up, not in my phone. I know to greet people as they walk by or say hello back when they message me, rather than just answering the questions asked and not acknowledging them first. I know that the energy I give off will be reciprocated in most cases, and I know how to mirror energy. Essentially, I know how to present myself and interact with people in a way that makes them comfortable and open so that I can better serve them while they work or shop with me.

I listen. I take notes. I give updates and pertinent information to make the process of working with me smooth, from design to delivery. I do what I wish others would do when I shop with them. That’s the secret! The golden rule, as they say: “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. My clients greatly appreciate that and I’m happy to offer a dynamic experience!

Contact Info:

• Website: WaistBeadEnvy.etsy.com
• Instagram: Www.instagram.com/waistbeadenvy
• Facebook: Www.facebook.com/waistbeadenvy

Image Credits
Emily Rucker