Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eleanor Thomas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Eleanor, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents are rockstars. That isn’t to say they didn’t have their moments, everyone does, but I really lucked out with them and you can ask any one of my friends and they will say the same. From day one, my parents supported anything I dreamt of doing. That means when I was too little to have the skills to do any project ideas I had come up with, my mom would help. She would cut felt for me when I was too young for scissors or use the power tools when I was too young to handle them safely. And this wasn’t just once in a while, every Christmas I handmade gifts for everyone on my moms side of the family, about 13 people in total who we spent every Christmas with in NC. Now for me it wasn’t just one item, I made multiple things per person (the colorful sand jars, bracelets, keychains, ornaments, and any other 90s/oriental trading style craft you could imagine). I was never told that it was too much or that because I couldn’t complete all the steps myself that I couldn’t follow through. This same support continued as I grew up, never being told it couldn’t be done, but instead brainstorming ways to make it happen. When I decided to finish college in 2.5 years, I was only met with support and rides to campus during summer session when my car was being worked on. Their constant support gave me the safety net I needed to reach as high as I could imagine and know I had them to fall back on when inevitably something didn’t work out, because life is never just full of the highs. That support I was shown has allowed me to flourish and in turn be that cheerleader for others as they grow their new businesses or just step into the next chapter of their lives. My favorite thing is to brainstorm with anyone I meet about what we can do together to help them achieve the goals they thought were just out of reach. This is a huge part of what makes me a great real estate agent as well as a leader in my community of small business owners.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am the owner of Celestial Daydreams and a Real Estate Agent in the state of North Carolina, while also being a mom to a toddler just under 2 and I run my husbands Real Estate social media accounts. I got into jewelry from an early age. I was always crafting/creating. I was the go to for my friends when you needed a gimp project started or wanted to learn a new macrame knot for friendship bracelets. I had a whole room dedicated to my craft supplies, perks of being an only child, and a mom who enjoyed creating with me as she not only has her law degree but also went to Pratt for design. She helped me problem solve and fix my creations which in turn led me to fix and recreate any of my cheap Claires jewelry that broke as a child. So in a sense it came naturally to delve into jewelry making as I got older. It’s always been a side hustle to whatever my current job at the time was, until the pandemic hit shortly after us moving out of state due to the military. I hadn’t lined up a job as I wanted a mental break and with the world shutting down, all I had was time to play with all of my craft supplies I hoarded over the years. I was able to discover my style, what brought me joy, and in turn found a growing group of amazing people who love my work as well. I love a statement piece, but not a flashy colorful in your face statement, a sleek understated, sophisticated, mysterious statement. Whether that’s a simple necklace to add a touch of flourish to your day to day or intricate, powerful earrings that bring out your inner badass, I want the wearer to feel more confident in their skin and own their power in whatever they put on that day. I want my creations to let the wearer speak to whatever interest or part of themselves they want to represent that day. Maybe it’ll spark conversation with a coworker or friend and allow you to open up about something meaningful or maybe it’s an homage to a loved one or a memory just for the wearer. Whatever the goal, whomever the wearer, I want them to be excited. I want them to know how eternally grateful I am for them for supporting this side hustle turned inspirational outlet and allowing me to continue creating and finding homes for the designs in my head. As a mom you tend to lose yourself in all the duties that come along with the job and creating has helped me reconnect to me while also allowing me to build such an amazing community. That community and sense of support and connection, plus the flexible working hours of course, led me to tack on Real Estate Agent to my list of jobs as another outlet to support and empower the community I am surrounded by.

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

My social media presence has been built mostly on word of mouth and in person interactions. Not every business will succeed or even have the opportunity for in person interactions but my biggest growth is from my markets. Connecting with customers and putting a face behind the business name. Humanizing my account with more than just introduction posts on instagram. When I was just getting into bigger markets in new areas in my community I also ran a 10% off if you are a new follower promotion for those events which in turn led to repeat customers who would see a new design posted and direct message me to purchase. It also helped with the issue many of us deal with when a customer or passerby says they’ll take your card and look you up later, but of course your card just gets mixed into the jumble of other cards they collected that day and doesn’t turn into a fruitful interaction. I’ve scaled down on doing follow me discounts as I have now created a solid core group of followers who interact, share my posts with friends and family, and lookout for my next in person event to shop what’s new!

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I’ve built my reputation within my market by continuously showing up. When I’m at events I make a point to connect with the small business owners around me. It helps relieve my social anxiety and nerves to go into a market knowing I’ll know someone and those someones have become friends. Whenever one of us in the community hears of an opportunity, rather than compete and keep the information to ourselves, we share the info with everyone we know to help the event grow and in turn have better foot traffic so we all can succeed. My community of small business owners know I will be the first to shout their name in rooms full of opportunity and I know in turn they’ll do the same. I also started a local women only small business group for our community to expand our reach and support of one another. It’s a space to be open, ask any questions business related no matter how basic, and share our wins and losses.      

Contact Info:

• Website: celestial-daydreams.square.site
• Instagram: @celestialdaydreams_etsy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/celestialdaydreams/

Image Credits
Chloe McKinney, Whimsy and Wild Photography April Martin, April Martin Photography