We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amelia Ball- Moore a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Amelia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

My very first Fashion Show was a heck of an experience!! I was approached by a guy with a model agency with the opportunity to be apart of a Fashion Show that him & his friends were putting together. At the time my boutique was located 30mins from the area that show was in & would be taking place. I didn’t know anyone that was apart of the collaboration but him so I went to the first meeting by myself he was late getting there. When I walked in the meeting it was 5 other attendants & they were not welcoming at all. They were wondering why I was there. I explained that the guy had invited me to be apart of the Fashion Show. At that moment, one of the ladies said, “I’m not sure why, bc we are not working with him.” Now I was a little confused & he had not showed up yet so I gave him a call to explained what happened. He pulled up to the meeting with his “team” (2 other businesses that were apart of the collaboration) & him and the leader of the group got into a heated argument. I couldn’t really hear what was being said but I can tell from body language the woman was upset. Later the guy told me she didn’t want to work with me because I wasn’t from that area. I was okay with that, so I told him we didn’t have to do it with her & I was confident enough that we could pull it off ourselves. Meaning him, his 2 team members & myself. He agreed so we moved forward with planning. At the time we had 3 months to put together a successful show. After 1 month, 1 of his team members backed out of the show. When asked why? I was told because Iam to aggressive & straight forward the girl could not handle the pressure. I was cool with that because I known I am passionate about my craft & if I bring 100% I expect you to do the same in a collaboration and she could not. Now we are down to 4 Team members. Month 2 came, another member dropped off. There reason was due to the fact that I did not agree to pay for the fashion show tickets upfront so that he could give them out for free! I felt that we all knew a great amount of people that we could Sell the tickets verses putting our own money up. He couldn’t handle the pressure of the grind so he backed out. Again I was okay but I knew what I brought to the table and I was confident that we could have a successful show as long as I had the support. Well the final month of getting tickets sold, securing vendors is here & the only 2 team members are myself & the guy that initially invited me to do the Fashion Show. I was still okay because I knew we could pull it off “together”. I had the clothing(vendors) he had some models. Well sad to say he turned against me too. Because we did not have the initial support we started with I feel he folded under pressure also. He started telling people that I would not have a successful show because I did not have any tickets sold. He try to get The Models to back out of the show but they all believed in me so they stayed on board but continued to tell him how negative he was talking about me & the show he was suppose to be apart of. He didn’t sell any tickets bc he started not believing in the Fashion Show. So the week of the show I had a huge decision to make. I had clothing vendors drop out, 22 models, no other vendors on board to present clothing so that left me to put the show together by myself. At this moment we only had sold 10 tickets for a show that seats 100 people. My models had been Practicing for the last three months so there was no way I can let them down so I went forward with the show. I told the guy that if he didn’t sell 20 tickets within that 24hours that I didn’t need him at the show. Bc now this is MY SHOW & I am no longer just attending or apart of!
I was up no sleet for 24Hrs before the show putting together 52 outfits so that my models could at least walk twice on the runway. Pulling clothing from my boutique & my closet just so I can present a FASHION SHOW.
The show started at 5, the guy called me at 3pm telling me he sold his 20 tickets. I was happy bc now I knew we had at least 30 ppl in the audience but still salty that he had been dogging me out up until that point &’he didn’t think I knew. Preparing for show, all the models got their makeup done except me bc my MUA walked out due to not being prepared. Told me she was tired of doing makeup & couldn’t do mine. Now I’m mad. First show & Im not beat to the gwaddds !! Lol But after everything else I was just happy to be at this moment. Then the best part of the night happened. The manager of the venue came to tell me, the Fashion show was completely SOLD OUT & she had let a few more people in but they were all standing in the back along the wall!
I cried my eyes out! I knew that was nobody but “GOD”. But I’m also happy I didn’t have makeup on bc it would have been runined away! Lol He works in mysterious ways! I knew I was blessed! So when it was my time to come out on stage, I threw my shades on & closed out the show!! I couldn’t believe that all those people paid more money at the door than what I was selling tickets for before the show. But I was grateful & Thankful! I also was greeted by 1 of the team members that had dropped out after the show & he said “Congratulations Amelia Ball you really pulled this off!” It felt good to hear because although they didn’t believe in me. I never doubted myself !!

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

My brand is called MAXIMUS JEWELS! You can find me by that name on all social media platforms. Maximus meaning “The GREAT” named after my first born son. I sell Womens statement jewelry & bold unique clothing!!
My motto is “Dare to look differently by maximizing your look with bold pieces!”
I customize clothing & a personal stylist.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’m sure everyone has a story to tell once Covid had hit the states. Well for me I was hosting & attending pop up shops every weekend as a means to make money, meet new customers & network. Well once we were mandated to stay in, I had to find another way to connect & make money. One day I went live & was wearing a bracelet I made myself & a few people inquired. Not thinking much of it I offered to make them one for a small fee. Well that started out with 1 order per day for either a charm bracelet or stackable bangles! After a month it was multiple orders per day. Which I didn’t mind bc I was stuck in the house anyways. By the end of year I had added them to my boutiques inventory & is still a hot item 2 years later. Not only do I sell them, I wholesale them to 3 other boutiques in different areas as well!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Treating people as you want to be treated. So if you are looking for support, you have to give support. I would reach out to different businesses that complimented mine & would ask to collaborate. In collaboration you are pretty much trying to reach each other’s customers/cilente. Done right both businesses will gain! People don’t like to feel like they have to choose so make them feel comfortable supporting both or just 1 if that’s all they can do at that moment..

Contact Info:

• Website: www.MaximusJewels.com
• Instagram: Maximus_Jewels
• Facebook: Maximus Jewels
• Twitter: MaximusJewels2
• Other: Snapchat: Maximus Jewels

Image Credits
Greg MOORE Pat Williams Young