We recently connected with Becky Lile and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Becky, thanks for joining us today. Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.

Giving back is very important to me. I have two giving opportunities throughout the year. Every October I donate part of my profits to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. My grandmother past away from breast cancer and any chance I get to donate to breast cancer research I jump at it. I also have an earring named the “Becca” in remembrance of a family friend who took her own life. $10 from every pair sold goes to her memorial fund to provide scholarships to high school students.

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.

Oakwood Avenue began in 2017 with the dream that I could stay home with my new baby. Fast forward almost 6 years, add one more baby and I am living that dream. I am first and foremost a mom but this business is my outlet. I love creating pieces that will make women of any age feel beautiful. I aim to make jewelry for all occasions, from everyday to your wedding day.

I am a stickler for quality and will test components out before adding them to my jewelry to make sure they meet my standards. If for some reason they don’t after testing I stop using them all together. I want to be known for quality, long lasting pieces you can count on. I am an all handmade shop. I don’t buy pieces from wholesale places and just assemble them. I condition the clay, mix custom colors, hand-stitch all the beaded work and much more in my home during nap-time and bedtime. It’s just me on the other side of your purchase and each piece is made with a lot of detail and love.

I want Oakwood Avenue to feel like a space you can come to for community and support as well. I keep my social media real, I’ll show up in my stories with crazy hair and no makeup, because that is my real life most of the time. I have been through miscarriages and I have a child with special needs, so I don’t show just the highlight reel. I want to connect with my customers and make them friends. I wouldn’t trade my customers for anything.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I used to be 75% beaded jewelry and all made to order. Each pair took anywhere from 45 mins to 3 hours to weave together. I had a set of products that people could order at any time. Unlimited quantities basically. But in 2022, a year after my daughter was born I was worn out, exhausted and spent little to no time with my husband at night because I had a never ending queue of orders. This wasn’t a sustainable business model for me anymore.

I knew I needed a change. Around this time I began playing around with polymer clay earrings and I really started loving it. I moved my business from Etsy to my own website and implemented a monthly drop system. Now I have 95% ready to ship pieces that I work on all month long and once they sell out they are gone. Some times I will open a preorder for the best sellers. But I can’t do that with my handmade marbles as those are often one-of-a-kind and I don’t keep track of the custom colors I mix. Each marble cane will be 100% different than the last.

Switching to this model gives me so much more time with my family and has taken my business to the next level.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I love going to makers markets. I get to meet my customer face-to-face and make a connection with them. It’s so fun to see repeat customers come into my booth and I get to ask about how their families are or ask about events they went to where they wore my earrings. I get to see what people are gravitating towards so I can tailor my next drop around their needs. Building that connection means more than any purchase.

Seeing my customers share their love of Oakwood Avenue with their friends and family makes me so happy! Making such an impression on someone where they want to tell others about my business has been a great way to grow my customer base. I want them to get compliments on their earrings, which gives them a serotonin boost, and many come back and tell me they told all their friends where they got them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.oakwoodavenue.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/oakwood.avenue
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/shop.oakwood.avenue

Image Credits
I took all the photos.