We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Morgan Hall. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Morgan below.
Alright, Morgan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
I first started selling on Facebook Marketplace. It sounds odd but I had just moved into a new house. Before moving out my previous one, I used the platform to get rid of old furniture and other items that we no longer needed. After spending so much time on there, I realized that people were buying and selling all kinds of things. It wasn’t just unwanted junk – there were lots of valuable things in great condition, both used and new. It also felt like Facebook Marketplace was an untouched gold mine in that here’s this huge audience of people looking for things to buy. I was already interested in jewelry so my mind started to wonder…what if I sell jewelry here? To me it made sense: I wouldn’t have to worry about marketing or building a website because there’s a built-in audience on an existing platform.
So that’s what I did. I found a few manufacturers, got about 4-5 ring designs made, took pictures of them for my Marketplace listings and posted them for sale. The first ring sold almost immediately and the momentum continued. I got a lot of valuable insight too. I was able to glean things about my audience demographics, the most popular styles, the listings that performed best, and the kinds of questions customers had before placing orders.
Although Facebook Marketplace gave me a decent start, it’s not designed to scale a real business. There were too many limitations that prevented me from growing the way I wanted to so I knew it was time to move on. But it did validate that this was something worth pursuing.
After transitioning away from FB Marketplace, I bought a domain, built the storefront on Shopify, and focused all my efforts on growing it there.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Jiovanni provides handcrafted fine jewelry made with ethically sourced natural and lab grown diamonds, gemstones and solid gold. We mainly offer rings but will eventually expand to bracelets, necklaces, and earrings.
My background is in law and software sales but I realized early in my professional career that I’m happiest when I have a creative outlet. So I explored a few different entrepreneurial ventures over the years to keep me engaged but the decision to pursue jewelry was based on my own shopping habits.
I’m no fashionista but I’ve always appreciated the way jewelry completes an outfit. It adds such a thoughtful touch of individuality. When I was in college, I remember going to thrift stores and flea markets around DC searching for vintage and artsy pieces. Back then I would wear lots of chunky cuffs, beads, afrocentric pendants, stuff like that. Since then my style has evolved but I never stopped outgrowing my jewelry boxes.
As I thought about the kind of jewelry I wanted to provide to others, I leaned into real gold and stones because of the emotional connections I have to certain pieces. They include a chain and pendant that I inherited from my father; my wedding ring set; and a nameplate necklace that I got to honor my son following a later-stage pregnancy loss. These are heirlooms that quite literally feel like treasure, which I love. Whether inherited, gifted, or made to honor a special memory, jewelry and the stories they carry has a way of connecting us to the past that’s unlike anything else we wear. And sentimental or not, there’s just something to be said about real gems and metals. You know that what you’re investing in will remain beautiful and stand the test of time.
As for our signature style, it’s developing and evolving at the same time. There’s been a good deal of experimentation as I discover what actually speaks to me. But I gravitate toward reimagined designs that feel interesting and modern. They range from dainty to chunky, from geometric to curved shapes, using white stones and colored gems. I’m working on refining the collection by merging these elements into a cohesive signature style of jewelry. We’ll probably always be partial to (yellow) gold first. Other details that I want to incorporate are the use of textured finishes, asymmetry, and varying shapes in the same piece. I also appreciate minimal designs, especially when they’re layered with statement pieces so you’ll find a few classics like solitaires, tennis bracelets, and simple studs as well.
Our differentiation lies in our ethos. I want the spirit of Jiovanni to reflect inclusivity in a way that we haven’t seen very much in the fine jewelry industry. Some of the ways to achieve this are obvious – imagery featuring models of color, the use of culturally significant elements in designs, and amplifying stories at the intersection of jewelry and community. But I also think deeply about how I want to conduct business beneath the surface. Ethical sourcing and selecting an ecosystem of partners that reflect my core values is important.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’ve done so quite a few times but my biggest pivot so far was when I switched careers. I was a lawyer for four and half years until I quit to start a career in software sales.
My dream was to be a judge. It wasn’t until I was in law school that I started to question if I made the right choice. But law school is known to be a miserable experience that people rarely enjoy so I figured that things would change when I started working. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.
I worked for a couple of firms doing plaintiff’s employment law and business litigation. They both left me wanting more. So I decided to pursue trial work in hopes that a more fast-paced environment would be more fulfilling. During this time, I also revisited my original plan to become a judge. It was fine for a while but eventually I came back to the same conclusion. Law just wasn’t for me. I was finally at peace with it and ready to try something new.
The move to software sales made sense to me. It involved a lot of the same skills I used practicing law like persuasion, negotiation, and objection handling, but in a different way. It was also appealing because it helped me better understand how businesses operate which proved useful once I started to pursue my own ventures.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
I sell exclusively on my own site, jiovannijewels.com. It’s probably a little more challenging that way because 100% of your traffic has to be organic. But after leaving Facebook Marketplace I didn’t even consider other channels like Etsy where a lot of jewelry designers host their storefronts. On those platforms you can’t really create a brand and your customer base isn’t truly yours. The freedom and control of having your own site does come at price though. Things like website development and brand awareness is completely on the business owner. But in the long run I think it’ll be worth it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jiovannijewels.com
- Instagram: jiovannijewels
