Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Suzanne Jones. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Suzanne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, one thing many business owners consider is donating a percentage of sales or profits to an organization or cause. We’d love to hear your thoughts and the story behind how and why you chose the cause or organization you donate to.
We do fundraisers for adoptions, ministry’s, non-profits, act and most of the time they happen organically! We hand stamp our pieces with a word or phrase that supports the mission and create a link for the person or group to send out. 20% of the proceeds from that sale go towards the fundraiser. its a great, fun way to give back and promote others stories.
Suzanne, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m Suzanne Jones, owner and lead designer at Holland and Birch. Almost 15 years ago I decided to quit drinking, got sober and realized my passion was entrepreneurship. I started an all women’s community bootcamp with a friend that expanded beyond our community into a couple of others. Having come from being a realtor for 11 years I knew I wanted to keep working but needed a job that was less stressful as I balanced three young children. We would run the bootcamp for several years and then I made my daughter a necklace….
I came across a set of metal stamps at a hobby and craft store and they were very popular at the time. I made my daughter a necklace posted some on Facebook and got some good feedback and it went from there. I left Homewood FIT, our bootcamp and started focusing on jewelry. I had always been creative and found this new found creating so fun and inspiring I begin to try different things. First a consignment shop, then selling off my front porch, eventually to a studio for a couple years and then finally a brick and mortar storefront and now two.
As we sold more we took deeper dives into the world of design and started creating more and expanding our mediums… taking old jewelry apart and remaking it, stamping words of hope for others. We traveled to NYC and beyond and found some vintage pieces to design with and around. We loved giving pieces new life. In 2021 our brand was in NYFW and in 22 we had the honor of going to Paris and walking the runway with our brand there.
Words of hope, faith and more were birthed out of our own beauty from ashes story and we love giving hope to others and offering encouragement through our story of struggle and redemption. We feel stories of joy and sorrow connects us in profound ways to each other and God has given us jewelry as a venue to use in connecting with women all over. Women crave and need authenticity, vulnerability and words of encouragement. Our brand focuses on sharing our hope, gifts and joy with others as we design jewelry with a purpose.
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
I had opened our second location with pinching my pennies and a credit card. Christmas was great and then January came and a snow which n the south can shut you down indefinitely. We ended up being shut down at our new location for a week. I had money in the bank, but very little. I was denied a loan with a small credit union and got a call a few hours later, randomly, I had been approved for PayPal for $30,000 less than what I had asked the bank for, but also just enough to float me. I had a huge 50% off sale and made over $6.000. Money started coming back into the account. Our daily bread….so thankful we had exactly what we needed.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Word of mouth, IG and doing the right thing. Customer service and my vulnerability and also the amount of people I know from growing up in our small town.
Contact Info:
- Website: hollandandbirch.com
- Instagram: hollandandbirch
- Facebook: Holland and Birch