We recently connected with Eileen Lofgren and have shared our conversation below.

Eileen , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

Corporate America’s view of succsess if based on how large your company is, how high your profits are and if you have an attractive resale value. This model sacrifices art, doesn’t allow for specialized niche trends to show through, forces fast fashion and often hurts lower wage workers from gaining benefits or reaching higher paying salaries. It removes the soul and manufactures a consumerism midset.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

how you got into your industry / business / discipline / craft etc: The genesis of Child of Wild is rooted in what I studied in college. I was a humanities major with a discipline of philosophy which spiraled me into all different liberal arts courses. I was entranced by different religions and schools of thought. When I graduated I was unimpressed with the lack of depth in the fashion industry. So much was just created to sell, to be on-trend and lacked an artist statement or voice. I jumped into the jewelry industry in 2013 when boho was in full swing. I went to flea markets, traveled to other countries and found incredible importers selling culturally laden jewelry with so much soul and meaning being every motif and design. I created long lasting relationships with these importers, launched a website with an emphasis on historic facts, cultural history and detailed information about each piece and it took off from there.

what type of products/services/creative works you provide:
We sell high quality jewelry, eclectic homegoods and spiritual objects. We also carry a beautiful assortment of jewelry from independent artists from around the world.

what problems you solve for your clients:
We serve a community that is looking for ethical fashion and art. Jewelry quality is all over the spectrum from fantastic quality to very cheap. Its hard to differentiate quality when some brands sell very expensive plated jewelry that tarnishes quickly. We have a very strong retention rate and loyal following because we have no interest in selling jewelry that wont last. Our clients shop with confidence because we are incredibly transparent about the metals and microns of gold we use.

what you think sets you apart from others:
Unfortunately with the abuse of fast fashion, what sets up apart is that we care. We have a small team and we love jewelry. We write novels back to our customer service emails educating people about metal types. We want to partner with our clients to help them express their style while investing in heirloom quality pieces. Passion and love for people, for humans, is our main motivation.

What are you most proud of:
My team. Youve never met a stronger group of women that just want to hang out, sling high quality jewelry and talk about aliens. Office culture IS lifestyle these days. My team kills it, is drama free, and has a passion to make the fashion world a better place.

what are the main things you want potential clients/followers/fans to know about you/your brand/your work/ etc.
Shopping with brands that stay intentionally small, have an artistic voice, and enforce sustainable practices is a direct way to feed your community and culture. Money is energy, give out that energy by being intentional about how it will be returned. What is the exchange? It’s like the saying “you get what you pay for” – what world do you want to live in, direct your energy toward that world. If it’s our jewelry brand or another one, fight for the companies that view you as people not dollar signs.

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

When we first launched 9 years ago we were in the first 7% of shopify stores to open. At the time online shopping was limited to larger corporations like Nordstoms or Nasty Gal. We were able to step in as an independent brand with a unique vision and unique jewelry that larger brands would not risk or take the time to sell (vintage). One of the biggest challenges was shipping and fulfillment. We have a rule that everything needs to ship within 24 hours of the order being placed (minus weekends). Sounds simple but it’s actually very challenging for a growing business to keep this rule. This helped create brand loyalty because we were (and still are) predictable and transparent about shipping.

Another part of our customer’s journey is customer service. I have never outsourced this and will always keep it in-house. We have too many variables and education points to not keep a tight grip on what is being said. We spend hours on our customer service program. You are talking to a real person who is highly educated and constantly collaborating with our fulfillment team and production team to get you high-quality, in-depth information. We sometimes get love notes back from customers who are shocked by how personalized our email responses are. This is how you build a friendship with clients and show them you are trustworthy because it’s clear you are passionate about your products.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Authenticity is the absolute KEY to success. Focus on your vision and never post something you are not obsessed with. Our feeds are so polluted with noise now it has ruined the experience on social media. I started when Instagram just launched and the algorithm was fundamentally different. Now to grow a large following it takes a marketing budget, lots of good luck with organic collaborations and gifting is instrumental in the fashion space. We have never paid an influencer to post, it has always been in exchange for jewelry or their authentic interest in promoting something they love. My advice is to focus on TikTok. Tiktok is today, what Instagram was for us back in the day. It’s a sweet spot to be an early adapter to a new social platform because you can scale overnight. Already it’s getting harder to do this on TikTok so don’t sleep on it if you are a new brand trying to gain traction.
At the end of the day focus on high-quality content. Art. Don’t be a salesperson because people are too savvy to fall for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.childofwild.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/child_of_wild
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ChildOfWild/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/eileen-lofgren-6a445629
• Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/child-of-wild-shoppe-encinitas-2
• Other: Our shoppe location Instagram www.instagram.com/child_of_wild_shoppe

Image Credits
Lexi Haslem, Logan Cole