We were lucky to catch up with Blair Minor recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Blair, thanks for joining us 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?

I find that the scariest part of doing anything is STARTING. Everything seems so large, intimidating, and intangible. The advice I always try to give myself is to break that large scary mountain into smaller hills that are easier to climb and start to build the muscles needed for the harder climbs down the road. Those first steps included building a website, registering my company, designing the product and packaging, product photography, etc.

Once the basic elements of the business were in place, I launched my business and the real journey began!

At this stage, I found it most helpful to be extremely flexible and listen to your customer. We realized our packaging wasn’t working well and we updated it. We found our customer was buying heavily in certain categories of jewelry and focused on producing more pieces specific to this demand. We cut styles we loved that never sold or weren’t cost-effective. Hearing the customer and not being attached to specific ideas we had for the brand allowed us to deliver the exact product that our customer wanted and strengthened the bond between us and our audience.

When the most basic processes of the business were functioning well, I then poured more time into larger projects like buidling a brand identity, social media, SEO strategies, etc.

If I had tried to tackle all of those things at once I would have been too overwhelmed and probably would have quit before I started. I still use that strategy today as the business expands and I tackle new problems or address long term growth.

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 have been designing jewelry for almost 15 years it all started from my love of flea markets.

I began by collecting pieces of vintage jewelry from garage sales and swapmeets and restructuring the gorgeous antiques into more modern silhouettes. I began to sell these designs on Etsy and quickly found that I had uncovered a huge passion.

When I moved down to LA, I took a job interview at a large company that designed jewelry for Free People, Saks 5th Avenue, Forever 21, etc. Having absolutely no “real” design skills, I lied and told the company that I was proficient in creating CAD drawings and renderings when, in actuality, I didn’t even know what a CAD was! That night, I went home and taught myself everything there was to know about jewelry spec sheets and design and ended up spending 3 years working as the head designer of the company while making record profits for the company and no one knows to this day that I had no idea what I was doing!

Over the next decade, I designed for several other jewelry brands over the years including Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and BeBe as well as being the in-house designer for smaller jewelry houses.

In 2018, I finally launched Minor Metal Jewelry using my vast knowledge of the industry to create the jewelry line of my dreams! Minor Metal specializes in creating unique, minimalist jewelry that is waterproof, hypoallergenic, and will NEVER turn your skin green. We use natural raw gemstones that are hand-cut EXCLUSIVELY for us so that we have jewelry designs you won’t see anywhere else. While extremely affordable, our jewelry is heirloom quality and are pieces that you will keep for years and years to come!

And now 5 years later, I am extremely proud to say that we have over 19,000 sales with a 5-star average review.on Etsy alone because our customers LOVE our quality and designs.

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

After several years of operating the business, sales began to increase steadily and the duties of the business started to become daunting and overwhelming. I found myself weighed down by the load of just keeping the business functioning and became less inspired, less productive and less happy.

It was at this point that I realized I was trying to do EVERYTHING for the business in an effort to save money. Looking down the line at this strategy, I knew it wouldn’t be successful and I had to pivot . At that point, I hired an accounting team to take on a huge aspect of the business that was taking up too much of my time and joy. And let’s be honest – I’m a creative, not a mathematician. It is ok, and even beneficial, to pay professionals to streamline your business so that I can focus on what I’m great at. It gave me so much more time and peace and I’m so glad I did it.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I actually started my business with a $600 loan from one of my best girlfriends. When my main excuse for not starting my business was lack of finances, my friend insisted I take the loan and make it happen. To this day, that simple act is one of the most beautiful examples of women empowering women that has ever been shown to me and was every motivation to pour my passion into my new business! My business now provides me with a six-figure annual income that supports my family and none of it would have been possible without the love and support of a friend.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.minormetaljewelry.com and https://www.etsy.com/shop/minormetal
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minormetaljewelry/
• Other: tik tok: minormetaljewelry

Image Credits
I am the photographer of all the images submitted.