Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Whitney Woodard. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Whitney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I have always been crafty. When I was a kid, I was into things like sewing, knitting, drawing, photography, creative writing, etc. way more than sports. My parents encouraged this and signed me up for classes/ camps. I was also diagnosed with ADHD, and something that helped with me focus/ calm down was by doing something with my hands. I’ve always used my creative outlets as a way to escape and really get in touch with myself.
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?
Back in 2014 when I was a Senior in high school in Austin, Texas. I noticed that I was on my phone a lot and was feeling really uninspired. I decided to look for a fun, new hobby to keep me occupied. I went to a craft store to get a poster board for a school project when I stumbled upon the bead aisle. When I was a kid, my grandma had taught me how to make jewelry, so I decided to buy some beads and make myself some a necklace. I started making jewelry for myself, specifically tassel necklaces—a new trend I had seen. Then my friends and family started asking me to make them pieces as well. After that, I created an Instagram account called “Beaded by W” where I would post photos of the jewelry I had made and people could message me to order pieces. Soon after that, a local boutique called and was interested in carrying some of my jewelry in her store. It was then time for me to go to college, and I started that Fall at The University of Oklahoma. I joined a sorority, and that is when Beaded by W really took off. By meeting so many new girls from all over the country, they were buying my jewelry and then telling their friends from home about it too. By December, I had a really good problem going. I was on the brink of failing all of my classes and wasn’t sleeping because I had so many orders to fulfill. I would sit in the common area of my dorm and stay up all night making jewelry while also trying to study. I came home for winter break and knew something had to give. A family friend called me to order a necklace and I explained to her that I was most likely quitting Beaded by W because I had to go back to school. That’s when she said “you know, you can always go back to school”– a thought I had never considered. So I thought about it a lot and made the decision to drop out of school to pursue the business. In my mind, I had something going here that might not last for forever, but I was going to take advantage of the opportunity at hand. Everyone thought I was crazy. My parents said that they would give me 6 months to figure it out and then I would have to go back to school. I drove to Oklahoma and moved myself out of my dorm, calling all of my friends on the drive to tell them I wasn’t returning for Spring semester. Everyone was doubting me, but I was determined. Once I was back in Austin, things truly started falling into place. I was making jewelry on my dads living room floor when one of my best friends from high school dad called me and offered his small conference room in his office as a studio space for me. Then, one of my other friends had just moved back to Austin too and started helping me make the jewelry/ market it. We were going into stores all over Austin with product samples to try to get the stores to carry the jewelry. As stores started ordering wholesale, I knew I needed more help making the jewelry. I started hiring high school girls to come in and help make the jewelry after school. I then realized Instagram was not sustainable and I needed a website. So I watched a few YouTube videos and started making a website on Wix. By August of 2015 that, we had outgrown our small office and moved into a 5 room office. Beaded by W was being sold in over 60 stores and I had 10 girls working for me to help make the jewelry. By December, Beaded by W was in over 100 stores. We were a full blown operation, and it was everything I could have dreamed of and more. Taking that year off of school made me realize that I DID want to go back to school and decided to study fashion/ business. So I started at Austin Community College, only taking 2 classes that spring as I literally had no extra time. Beaded by W continued for 4 more years and was so much fun. I had hit the tassel necklace trend right on time. We expanded beyond tassels, had a mens jewelry line, a car accessories line, a DIY jewelry kit, so many things. Beaded by W was in magazines, we were going to fun parties, having full blown photoshoots in studios, speaking on panels at South by Southwest, you name it. By 2018 though, I hit a major wall. I was feeling so uninspired and burnt out. I wasn’t sleeping and was constantly stressed. What had been my creative outlet had turned into a job, and I was doing more of the business side than the creative side. I was 21 years old and constantly worried about things that other 21 year olds weren’t. It was a lot to handle. So I decided to slow it down— I stopped carrying in stores and decided to only sell retail on the website. It helped, but didn’t solve my creative itch. That was when I realized I needed another creative outlet. I’ve always loved music, especially oldies from the 1970’s/1980’s that my parents would play in the car. I grew up going to Austin City Limits music festival and have always loved attending concerts. I started collecting records when I was in high school and finally got my own record player as a gift when I was 18. So later in 2018, I decided to combine two of my favorite things: glitter and vinyl. Once again… what started as something I created for myself quickly turned into something my friends wanted, and then their friends wanted as well– thus Gold Dust Vinyls (named after the song “Gold Dust Woman” by Fleetwood Mac) was born. I did the same thing that I did with Beaded and created an Instagram account to sell the albums on. People could message me and order custom albums or buy one of the ones I already had made. The way the process works is I take vinyl record albums and outline the album cover art with glitter. This adds a fun dimension to the art that makes it really pop. After that, I frame the album so that you can hang it on your wall as an art piece. All orders come with the actual, playable record itself too. What I quickly realized was how much music means to people and how it really connects them to special memories and to this day, it is one of my favorite parts about Gold Dust. This was a great side hustle for me— I could be creative while still having Beaded by W and finishing up school. In the spring of 2019, I was so burnt out on Beaded by W. I mentally could not think of one new design, photo shoot, anything. I was so frustrated with myself, and decided to pause the business for a little bit to try to focus on finishing school and just being a 22 year old. Of course that then made me lean more into Gold Dust, and that is when it ultimately took off. It felt more time manageable to me because I could pick and choose how many custom orders I was taking on, thus I could prevent burn out. Over the next few months, Gold Dust continued to grow and I worked with a few different bands that sold glittered posters/ vinyl albums on their tours. I wasn’t missing Beaded by W, I was actually feeling relieved. In December 2019, I graduated college and decided to start applying for creative field type jobs. I had always wanted to move to New York City, but wasn’t sure if it was in the cards for me since I was really established in Austin. I was in NYC visiting a friend in January 2020 when I landed a job interview with a PR agency that I had always dreamed of working at. I got the job, and moved to NYC February 16th, 2020 (really great timing… I know). That was when I made the decision to cut ties completely with Beaded by W. While it was a hard decision and felt like I was losing a piece of my identity, I knew it was time to start the next chapter of my life and fully enjoy my 20’s living in NYC. Fast forward to now, I am working as a publicist in NYC and am still doing Gold Dust as my side hustle. I truly love it and have recently expanded into glittering vintage magazines such as Playboys. I’m excited to see how it continues to grow. I would not be where I am today though without the encouragement from my family, friends, mentors and customers who support my endeavors. I am so grateful for the community I have.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think that burnt out is something that is hard for people to understand. When I decided to stop Beaded by W, it wasn’t because it was “failing”, it was because I had lost all interest in it. I had completely burnt myself out. People really did not understand why I was deciding to stop something that I had been passionate about. In the beginning, I was so eager and full of ideas that I would stay at the office until super late designing jewelry, trying new things, etc. I would work on the weekends, skip dinner with friends, miss important life events for people I loved, and more things like that. While passion is a great thing and needed for success, you have to set boundaries with yourself. I never, ever thought that I would burn out the way that I did and it happened gradually over time. Creativity is a gift that you must nurture–rest is productive too!
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish that I would have hired someone to help manage the business so that I could stay on the creative side of things. By the end of Beaded by W, I was 90% handling business things and 10% doing the creative side– which was not fun for someone like me. I also wish I had invested more time into hiring a business coach.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @golddustvinyls
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/whitney-woodard/
Image Credits
Courtney Cope