We were lucky to catch up with Katie Sloan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Katie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

In the clay earring world, there’s a heavy expectation for you to find your particular style and color palette. For example, many stuck to bright Fluor colors, others stick to neutrals. I have tried for a long time to nail this and couldn’t, so I haven’t. I can’t separate my love for earthy tones and neutrals, but I also love some color in my life. Style wise, I guess I tend to lean into a modern boho look, but I also love chic slick looks too. All that to say, I have a very eclectic range of styles and colors. I will say though that each design for me also carry’s meaning.
I’m a Jesus lover and live a prophetic lifestyle, so a lot of the designs I make tend to represent the season I feel we are in. So that probably makes me a little different in this space too.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m from Australia and have been in the USA for 4 years. Back in Australia I used to do State Management for a couple of non profit organizations and while I truly loved my job, I knew I needed a break. When I moved here I thought I would take a season out of leading organizations and teams do something completely different and get creative for a while. Little did I know that would soon be decided for me via Covid and lockdown. My husband is a brilliant graphic designer and buisness strategist, so I began helping him with his business when I moved over by adding a social media arm. It was creative and fun but I knew I needed something else more on the creative side and then it happened.
During lockdown we actually lost all our clients. It was a really hard season for us, so I tried some other creative outlets as a form of therapy. Pour painting, candle making, but I fell in love with the freedom of creating clay earrings. Soon enough people started to ask if they could buy some, I was shocked but excited and shortly after, Clayamor was birthed. Clayamor means ‘Clay-Love.’

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Coming from being in marketing with my husband and both training and leading teams in Australia, I learned that people need to feel seen, known and heard. So it was easy to transfer that understanding over to Clayamor. I noticed that many other artisans only posted photos or videos of their craft or them selves on social media or their website. But I wanted to hone in on the people and build community. So if people came to pick up earrings or they purchased some from me in person somewhere I made a huge effort to get to know THEM. Genuinely interested in who they are, I asked lots of questions and even took photos of them and with then with their purchase. I would use these photos on my social media pages. So even now, when you go to my Instagram page, a majority of what you’ll see is community, instead of stock.
I believe this has really helped me grow my clientele, because everyone wants to feel like they’re a part of something. More than a customer but a friend, part of ‘the family.’
It’s also because of this approach, I began running clay earring workshops at my home. Which gives me a greater ability to help people from all walks of life connect in a fun, creative space.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

I keep in touch with my clients through social media, emails and running workshops at home. I strongly encourage any buisness owner to build an email list if you haven’t already. Social media is always unpredictable, knowing you can still have contact with your community outside of that is important.

Running workshops at home has really given me a greater ability to build continued relationships and community. Which naturally flows into brand loyalty. Customers also use Clayamor for gifts for friends and family so it’s such an honor to know your creation is going to be the source of joy for someone.

I also like to name my earrings after my most loyal customers :) I think they love that too!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.clayamor.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/clayamorboutique?igshid=MDE2OWE1N2Q=
• Facebook: Clayamor Boutique