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

Emmie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

Before starting TheEmmieBDesigns, I worked at a local boutique for over five years. Not only was this my first experience with retail, but at 16 years old, it was my first job. I was eager to learn from my boss and fellow coworkers, but something that is not easily taught is how to provide appropriate customer service. While each customer is different and therefore requires a different approach, I made it a priority to make every person who entered the store feel important. I made myself available and easily approachable so that I could aid customers in their shopping experiences.

It didn’t take me long to realize that the customers were what made my job. No customers meant no sales, which in turn meant no job. But the boutique’s customers were what made the job so special to me. I came to recognize and develop relationships with the store’s regulars, and to this day, I still remain in contact with many of them. In fact, many of them are consistent supporters of TheEmmieBDesigns!

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

Hi, my name is Emmie Barnett, and I am a full-time elementary school teacher. I started TheEmmieBDesigns when I was 19 years old as a college student working a part-time job at a local boutique. When I was younger, I created a business named Emmie’s Charmed Life; I made polymer clay charms and miniatures. It was a hobby that allowed me to express myself creatively, but as I got older, I found charms and miniatures no longer fit my interests. After some thought, I decided to create polymer clay earrings. Thus, TheEmmieBDesigns was born! As my business has matured, I combined my polymer clay pieces with resin, brass, cubic zirconium, and beads in a variety of designs. Though I also offer a small collection of hair barrettes and personalized teacher lanyards, my focus has always been different styles of earrings. One of my greatest joys as a small business owner is having the flexibility to customize orders for my customers based on their requests. I love being able to talk with customers about their ideas and help bring them to life!

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

What’s great about social media is that oftentimes the platforms help connect users with accounts that meet their interests. However, it has still been a learning process in finding ways to better expand my business through the use of social media. Many of my first customers were my friends and family. From there, they helped grow my business by sharing my products online with their followers. I made it a priority to be easily accessible and active on my business accounts in order to promote my business and provide information to potential customers. I also reached out to various influencers online and offered to send them free products in order to be featured on their accounts and to have the opportunity to grow my audience.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

As my sales broadened from my friends and family, I looked for a platform that would help me reach new customers and get my product to those who were not local. I had purchased from Etsy in the past, and since its focus is on handmade items, I chose to create an account. Creating an Etsy account made my business more available to customers interested in the type of products I make. Shoppers were able to find my business based on what they were looking for. Although there are fees consistently subtracted from my profit, I think they are worth it for the audience I am able to reach with my online business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheEmmieBDesigns
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theemmiebdesigns/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/theemmiebdesigns/