We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alessandra Thornton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alessandra, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

Right now we are donating 15% of our online sales and 10% of show sales to Maui Humane Society and Maui Strong because Tiki designers like me owe a significant part of our inspiration to Hawaii Islands. Our 2023 summer collection is called Paradise Islands and is inspired by my 2022 trip to Oahu and Maui and is a tribute with jewels to Hawaii’s nature, culture, ocean, and legends. We have to do our best to help these paradise islands recover from the disaster.

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

I started my business in 2009, on October we are going to have 14 years in the business of jewelry designing. In the beginning, I started selling the handicrafts found in the farmer’s markets in my country, Ecuador. But working directly with artisans led me to one discovery, they have the art in their hands, but they lack leadership and opportunities in my country. They do not have access to wholesale markets, export is full of rules almost impossible to navigate. And most importantly we did not have our own voice, most of the designs you found over there were copies from other brands or copies of plastic designs brought by tourists. This is how I started to design and create my jewelry, today, the bright colors I selected as my ID are a testimony of our happy culture and the designs are inspired by our Amazon rainforest flora and animals. Our jewelry is truly nature-sourced, made from nuts and seeds, and advocating for nature conservation, There is a story behind every design, we are creating fashion with storytelling. Our customer is an eco-conscious consumer looking for happy jewels making a statement while preserving the rainforest, one design at a time

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Turning or scaling what you started as a side hustle on eBay to a wholesale brand Organic Jewelry by Allie, sold in Faire and in markets like England, Scotland, and our own 2 coasts and middle of the country in the United States, has not been easy, Even today I heard comments from family or friends that tell me that I should find a real job and quit the business in slow seasons.

My advice to all those facing naysayers is this: Surround yourself with positive entrepreneurs like you, who have faced or are facing your own battles and who are there to support and cheer you instead of talking down your business. I was this weekend in a chapter meeting in Long Beach of the Global Society of Female Entrepreneurs, and a celebrity designer Chebra Dorsey, from Ochea Fashion, confessed there are ups and downs in her business and she has learned to navigate, not to drown in those down moments.

I agree with her, this is also my own experience, and we have to be positive and stand for our business, not abandon the ship with the first wave. Also, most entrepreneurs want to grow for free, with free social media, without expending a dime on ads, but we need to pay target ads in social media, and Google ads, not by ourselves but advised by an expert in our own chamber of commerce, hired there to help the members like us.

So, instead of waiting to have the money in excess to hire a model, a professional photographer for a collection, to participate in a fashion show, or hire Google ads, do it now. Do not procrastinate, because if you do not invest in brand recognition now, you will never have a name, and your business will be erased from the face of the earth with nobody knowing about your unique products and how they can change the world.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Resilience is any time we drive a road trip to introduce our brand to other towns, either in a trade show, a retail show, or in door-to-door knocking doors in-person sales in other cities. Resilient is setting up a booth in 2 hours to have that little storefront alive for only 4 hours and then tearing down your effort in one hour or so and driving to your original city in summer weekend traffic that takes a lot part of your energy just doing the driving.

Resilient is coming back from a trade show, with few sales, and many leads and follows those leads to make the show expenses worthy and not a loss. Is not only me, many new entrepreneurs are facing the same struggles and have to show resilience and pride and try to look fashionable, even after a sweaty workday outdoors in a desert town like Las Vegas or Palm Springs, especially working in a climate-changed world.

Resilient is also having a retail show and having lots of people loving your jewelry designs and others saying to you underestimating comments like is not my style, is too exaggerated, or asking to pay a fraction of the marked price. You can not please anybody, so send those people away the sooner the better with answers like “Well, the style you want is not my style either, you should look somewhere else, I do not design plain and minimal jewels, I design maximalist and statement jewelry”. Or to the price remark answer something very clever like: Oh, I am very sorry that you can not afford my jewelry, period.

Being resilient is trusting in your own voice as an entrepreneur. Today I have received awards as a jewelry designer from the Assembly, the Congress, and the Senate, this year, after a GSFE Fashion Show, I was recognized as an International Celebrity designer, empowering women by the city of Menifee, and even received the presidential award for volunteer work from the White House and signed by Joe Biden. So, to every new entrepreneur, I recommend you to be resilient in your vision and mission, continue doing what you love, and eventually the prize for all your efforts and resilience will come to you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.allietaguajewelry.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alessandrathornton
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OrganicJewelrybyAllie
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@alessandrathornton9937
• Other: https://www.faire.com/direct/organicjewelrybyallie

Image Credits
@fayd_art photos /David Fay, @alessandrathorntonjewelry/ Alessandra Thornton/Organic jewelry by Allie, Location: Catamaran Resort San Diego, CA. Michelle Quillen, Model @michellequillen