We were lucky to catch up with Angela Zancanaro recently and have shared our conversation below.

Angela, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Growing up I have always been drawn to art and creating. My mom was an entrepreneur and my dad was mostly retired. They were both very supportive of me in anything I wanted to do and be when I grew up. I think seeing my mom always having new ideas and small businesses would excite me to think outside the box of what kind of business I would create. Never seeing either of my parents in a 9-5 job it almost seemed more normal to own my own business than to go work for someone else.

I went through many ideas through highschool and college trying to figure out what my business would be. From architectural drawing classes to neon sign building, I was able to get my hands on a lot of different mediums. In college my focus was on drawing and painting. I wanted to be an artist, but getting to see how it would be working with galleries and selling paintings I started to doubt that I was good enough. Not waiting to drop out I took a semester to try other things. One of those things was an introductory jewelry and metal arts class. I was hooked! Metal really spoke to me and I just wanted to learn more ways to manipulate the material. I switched majors and graduated with a bachelors in jewelry and metal arts.

I had finally found my medium, but now what do I do? Not sure exactly what I wanted to make outside the parameters of the class projects to make a collection. I took a few months in Mexico to find myself and start designing. I found myself falling in love with the culture and history of the aztecs. I loved the geometry meanings behind the designs. I knew I had to do two things with my future collection: One was to add a sense of natural texture to my jewelry since my main source of inspiration has always been mother nature, the second was to make the designs non representational. So geometry really spoke to me with rich textures.

Once I had a few pieces put together I started attending the local farmers market. I knew that now all I needed to do was get my name out there. What better way to start than with the local community. The first few I went to I was really nervous, what were people going to think. Now that I’ve designed this collection of jewelry would people even like it? The first few markets I didn’t sell anything. The next few I sold some small pieces. By about 3 months of consistently going every week I was so excited I was able to cover my rent of $600 with the sales from the month. I was so excited! Finally I felt like some of my bills were being offset from what I love to do. I just kept going, I kept designing new pieces and showing them at the local farmers market. The next market season I had less and less days where I didn’t sell anything. People from the previous year came back for more and brought their friends. Then when I would go out I started to see the earrings I made on my customers. There was no greater feeling that this piece of art I made was being worn and loved by someone else.

I didn’t give up. I have just kept designing and try to stay as consistent as possible with how my customers can find me. Over time I have expanded my website and digital marketing but I have found that word of mouth and consistency has still been some of my best marketing and from that my most loyal customers. .

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
I grew up as an only child in the woods of southern Oregon. My parents divorced when I was very young and I did two weeks on and off with each. When I was with my mom we lived off the grid and we didn’t have running water or electricity. She would always do her best to entertain me – we would build fairy houses, make candles out of my crayons, go fishing, hike, pan for gold, or search for rocks and minerals. This translated throughout my life of wanting to pursue a career in art that I was passionate about. I just thought I would be a painter.

As soon as I took my first jewelry class I fell in love. I’ve never been more fascinated with science in my whole life. Metal is just so malleable in the ways you can manipulate it, my analytical brain also felt more stimulated with the greatest puzzle of all. How do you take the ideas out of your head and make them into a functional object someone can wear? I love the process of making jewelry, soldering and playing with fire, then when I’m finished, I have created something beautiful to wear and someone will cherish the piece in their personal collection. For me there’s no greater feeling.

I have always been inspired by nature and all the rustic textures you see in the bark of trees or the way the waves make patterns in the sand. This was the type of collection I want to convey in the jewelry I create. I strive to create pieces that are unique and that you haven’t seen before. With so many other people making jewelry out there it was important to stand apart from the rest. I wanted to do this through design and texture. I aim to create jewelry that leaves you always feeling your best, art that you can wear, timeless treasures created with rich textures inspired by nature. It’s not just a job for me, I can truly say that each piece is made with love and I stand by my work.

I aim to have trust in my customers by trying to fix any problems you might have with a piece I have made. I want to create jewelry that will last and if it doesn’t I will fix it. I am proud of each piece that I create because they represent a dream for me. A dream of making a living doing what I love and creating a life for myself filled with passion.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I have to be honest here in that I wish I had more of a background in marketing. I think there is huge amounts of growth here as the social media platforms keep changing and evolving over time. Starting a business I took a little social media workshop so let me share some of the advice I received in growing an audience. Be consistent, be consistent in what you post, when you post, and the photography you use. Whatever you are trying to market on instagram, facebook or other platforms, make sure the content you are posting is relevant.

My instagram profile say “⚒ Handcrafted jewelry made with love ❤ 🗺 World Adventurer • Dive • Hike • Explore” This sets people up when they come across my page what they will see in my feed. So mostly I post finished and in process jewelry photos with the occasional photo from my life in the adventures I take. I’ve found that the posts of me, or the captions i write that are more vulnerable have been more successful posts. The trends are changing a little and now I think people want to buy from real people over some of the big box stores so being personal for me has helped a lot. I won’t suddenly start posting a bunch of photos of my dogs or food from the restaurants I’m eating at. That goes outside what I just told everyone what they will see if they follow me.

I love photography and definitely feel it’s a second passion for me but you don’t have to be an expert. Most of the phones they are coming out with have great quality cameras that are more than sufficient for social media marketing. Whatever you are shooting on and the products you are marketing, be consistent. A product shot on the wood floor of your house in a room with good natural light will create a theme for your feed that people will look forward to seeing and make your overall feed look visually pleasing with consistent colors. You can also achieve some of the same effects of that in photo editing or using an app such as Plann to visually arrange the photos before you post them. I find that taking the effort to plan ahead really gives people an overall impact on your page and are more likely to follow.

With that just being consistent in how often you post. Post every day if you can if not more. Then engage with your customers, respond to every comment and every dm you receive to build up 1 on 1 trust with those most engaged with your brand. Try and convert your brink and mortar customers to online followers, make sure they know its out there. Then be patient as I feel these things take time but the less consistent you are the slower the growth of the account.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
I have tried a few second party platforms to sell my jewelry like Etsy. What I found is that each one seems like its own separate marketing to build up a following and build trust. So for me it was easiest to focus on only one thing to market. I chose to primarily focus on building up my own website rather than having a second party to sell through as the price for me seemed similar and I knew I didn’t want to get rid of my website altogether. So all my social media marketing is aimed at linking back to my website. If I share something on pinterest or post a photo on instagram with a product link you end up in the same place.

I think you can do the same with etsy if you don’t already have a place to sell your work. This might be a great way to start as well if you are just getting started as it’s easier to post products rather than creating a whole website. I created a website early and then felt like I didn’t know where to send people when I did both so ultimately I gave up on having the second outsource. I run my website through Shopify and really love the fluidity of my shop being linked to facebook and instagram for in app purchases. It also has a great point of sale system for a physical store or I use it for craft fairs and local farmers markets. It’s really nice because it adjusts your inventory across all systems accordingly.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.angelazancanaro.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/az_metalsmith/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Angelakayart
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/az_metalsmith/_shop/