We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Susie Macmillan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Susie , thanks for joining us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

This feels like it could be a slippery slope. I’m sure we all have had the friends who start selling goods/services for a product that rewards connections – so you get bombarded with messages about the product and joining an event and and and. When I started my business, I tried to be acutely aware of this scenario when reaching out to let people know I was starting a business. It’s due to the support and love of my friends and family that this business was born and still going today. My approach was to announce my plan of starting my business and announce the date I was going live. To my surprise and delight, that first live sale my friends and framily really showed up and supported me. I think their support gave me the confidence I needed to act on this wild idea I had about selling crystals and crystal jewelry. Once that initial live sale happened and I officially started my business and created a business page (via Instagram), I kept the business and personal accounts/posts separate. That felt like the right balance of asking for support and then if they really wanted to follow me and support my business, they could but I wasn’t going to flood my personal page with every business detail/sale (that felt like too much for me).

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.

I’m a crafty nerd who lives in Portland, Oregon. I own my own business and I’m lucky enough to have an awesome day job working for a sports ball team. My business, Starbrite Crystals, was started in fall of 2020 and I sell crystals and crystal jewelry. The jewelry is both resale and hand made by me. After my first year in business I taught myself how to wire wrap jewelry and enjoy wire wrapping pendants and selling my creations.

If you would have asked me if I would own a business, let alone it being a crystal business, I would have laughed but here we are. I’ve always been an empath and have always had spidey senses. When I was in my early 20’s and living in Eugene, I started getting into crystals and their properties. I discovered when I picked up certain stones, I can feel different things and my energy felt different. At some point crystals weren’t front of mind anymore until covid happened. I didn’t make bread during the covid lockdown – I crafted, gardened and reconnected with crystals and their magical powers. After that first live, I looked at my partner and asked how they felt about me starting a business and it’s been crystals all day, every day since then. My family helps with lives and in person sales.

I’m really proud of taking the leap and starting my own business. I only have a day job because it was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up and it has made me and my business better because of having it. At the time I started my business there were a lot of other crystal sellers on Insta – how I wanted to differentiate myself was by being inclusive (EVERYONE is welcome), by selling the same high quality crystals as others but for reasonable prices and by giving back. It probably didn’t hurt that I have bright pink hair and a distinctive giggle/laugh. Giving back has always been something I have been passionate about since I have been houseless and couch surfing as well as a home owner. We all could use a hand up at some point and if I have it, I want to give it so I donate a percentage of my profits to different organizations.

Regarding my brand, I am a nerd, authentic, giggly and empathic. I have pink hair and have folded that into my brand colors of “my” shade of pink and black. I’m all about being yourself and acceptance of all humans. There is also my Alice in Wonderland sleeve and my love of tattoos. That might have set me apart.

Having a business has been extremely eye opening to a lot of things. Waste and consumption being the biggest thing. Knowing that what I am selling is from the earth.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

Customer service has always been a big thing with me. My first job was in retail and I learned what not to do and what I expected from that job. I believe in treating my customers like I would want to be treated. Kindness and communication go a long way, so does being your authentic self and taking accountability when you mess up.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

This was a covid side hustle that turned full time until I took my current position. During the time I was building my business, my (then) day job was scaling down due to covid. This was fortunate since my business was scaling up and up and it was enough to keep me busy most days. And it was FUN. The day my day job ended and I was able to sell crystals and be my own boss full time was one of the happiest days ever (so much so it was immortalized with a tattoo). It’s been great celebrating all the milestones of having your own business; pajama days, being your own boss, working entails doing things you love all day and nothing was sweeter than that first year anniversary. I’m now on my fifth year and cannot believe how the time has flown by.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/starbrite.crystals/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susie-macmillan-86623813b