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

Gabriela, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later

I have always been fascinated by jewelry. As a kid I often got teased by my family for wearing “too much jewelry” also as an adult… and I always knew that it would be something that maybe sometime in my lifetime I would pursue but honestly it took me forever to decide if it was something that I truly wanted. It wasn’t until the pandemic as most things were right.. that’s when I finally decided to take the risk and play with the idea. I remember sitting on my couch crying and needing to find myself and yearning to find something that I love and that was for me and mine only. You see I suffer from Mental health and I was at my lowest and creating became my therapy.

But looking back I started making earrings at a very young age. I was maybe 14 when I made my first earrings and necklaces. It was a set… gosh I wish I still had those. I remember being told by my friend’s mom if I really had made them. But career wise I decided to take a different direction, I went to school for nursing and graduated with my LPN and today I still work in the health field but also owning my own business. Right now I have the best of both worlds career wise and my side gig. I do something that I love either way both bring different but also the same rewarding feeling. Do I wish I had started my business earlier…. maybe. In a way, creating my business when I did became my safe haven. That’s why the name of my business is named BE…. because it was a reminder to myself to be what i could and wanted. But also because a-lot of my affirmations start with BE.

So to answer your question in a definitive answer i guess its a no lol. creating my business when I did, when it happened how it happened it was the perfect timing, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Gabriela, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Well, my name is Gabriela but I go by Gabby, I am a mother of 3 beautiful children. I am the creator, the maker and business owner of BE jewelry company. My business represents me to its full extent, I can be an introvert but also an extrovert with the people that know me best. So that’s why I carry styles for everyone. I have always had a creative mind. I may not be a drawing/picture artist but I do consider my work very artistic. I have a very creative mind and am eager to help create whether it is at work, being part of our team committee, volunteering with my kids’ school classes, organizing, throwing creative parties for friends or even my own kids. Being a creator has been a part of me for as long as I can remember.

I was slow to realize how I wanted to create my business, what I wanted my product to be, how I wanted to showcase who I was and of course I wanted to represent myself in each piece I made. The thought of creating my business cross my mind many times, but it wasn’t until the late 2020 that I thought to myself what I wanted for me that was mine, something that I was extremely passionate would help me feel good… but then I got covid that December of 2020 , and my third child was born late January and those thoughts slowly disappeared again.

It wasn’t until late September 2021 where I found myself back thinking I needed something of my own. As if I wasn’t already busy, being a mom, having a full time job and just trying to survive.

As I mentioned earlier I suffer from severe depression, anxiety and other mental health problems and I have always been very open about my diagnoses to my friends and family. I was at my lowest, I was lost and I didn’t understand the meaning of my existence, therapy helped, surrounding myself with people I needed to, also helped. But I was missing something. I felt drained and hopeless.
And all I wanted to do was to lose myself in creating something, and I remember sitting on my couch scrolling through instagram, and found Polymer clay. I remember the polymer clay artist I saw that made me want to try. I had purchased earrings in the past from other artists but never knew this was something I was gonna want to try.

But I did. I did my research, watched hundreds of videos, read many reviews and started purchasing the basic things and I started making. and OH MY GOD, the joy I felt even creating something that at that moment I didn’t know was something that I would eventually sell, or even if I was any good at it. But I started making, mixing the clay, creating shapes, creating something into existence, and man that felt so nice.
I started making it with just a roller on my dining table. A couple weeks later I purchased a pasta machine, and things quickly began to take over, and I kept loving the process from start to finish. When I felt a little confident I started to give them to friends and family. and eventually made a post on my personal Instagram. If I could sell, would people be interested in purchasing, and the overwhelming support I received from friends was so amazing.

That night I started brainstorming, I texted my best friend who lives in South Carolina and told him what I was thinking, and he said “about time” which boosted my confidence so much more. and I kept going back and forth with him on what I should call my business. Which we both agreed it had to be me 1000%, relatable, easy to understand, marketable, and overall represent me.

I explained my love for affirmations and how they have helped me over the years, and how this even became and so everything started tying together. It made perfect sense. it was meant to BE… created.
and that’s how Be Jewelry was born.
The support I received from my friends, family, my husband and even my children has been joyfully overwhelming even to this date.

After creating my name, I created a logo, 3 arches representing my kids, with the color olive, which is my favorite color. it’s simple but yet very me in a nutshell. I created my instagram and started to build my followers. Asking friends and family to share, like, follow, do all of the things. I did my first launch Nov 2021 and my god was a success. Did my first market that December. and I have been doing markets/popups since then almost every weekend. I AM the artist behind all my pieces.

I mix my own clay with mostly primary colors, learned very late in the game to write my own recipes, I mold and design my pieces, all hand made. which are extremely versatile, styles for the bold and simple, and colors for the neutrals and the vibrant person. I take pride in being able to carry earrings that are safe for everyone, if you have sensitive ears and have been hesitant to try polymer clay earrings because of your sensitive ears. Let me assure you I have done my research and made sure I was using high quality posts. Which are nickel- free and surgical steel hooks and posts. And I can offer a pleasant wear because polymer clay earrings are not heavy, I always compare them to weighing less than a quarter. Silly right… Obviously you haven’t worn a quarter (maybe who knows) but if you are familiar with the weight of a quarter well it’s so much lighter than that. I often feel like I don’t have earrings on. I have also branched out of making pressed flower earrings with resin and even those are extremely light weight.

I am the creator behind my brand, I am my brand and I am very proud of that. Everything you see from my instagram interaction, showing you my process, fun posts, fun reels from being happy being sad to completely vulnerable. It’s me. and I am very proud of everything that has happened this year so far, and what I offer my customers . Yes, there are many polymer clay artists out there. But we all have our story, and different styles. And the customer will vibe with you if you remain honest and truthful to who you are. And I’m glad to be as honest as I can with my customers from the very start.. starting with my business name BE.

From the very beginning up until now it has been a growing and learning experience. I started this business very late at night and I sit here talking to you also very late at night. Talking about something I truly love and I’m passionate about. I hope that this journey continues to grow, and continues to have the loving support I have received from everyone in my life. Family friends and even vendor friends.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Boy social media can be so tricky. This time, this is the exposure of our business, how people can find you and really see your product. Although I am still old school and highly believe in passing the word from person to person.

I STRUGGLE with social media. I am not going to lie to you, before I had a business I went almost 3 years without having Facebook, instagram or Snapchat. Right before my business I opened my instagram and I only had that social platform. It was only because of my business that I opened my facebook. Literally my first post back was to follow my business page lol. I don’t even have tiktok.

Building an audience comes down to truly being who you are 100%, people like originality, fun, informative posts and reels. When I first started my business I often did live shows before each launch, showing each earring. My followers really enjoy that, being informed of what was going to be available.
The biggest advice I give anyone who is starting a business or even just wants to gain a bigger following, is stay authentic, believe in your product, know your work, and what your message is. Remember it is not always about selling, your product may not be for the person following you, but they are there for support and also engagement. Create yourself a routine, build yourself a schedule and stay consistent. give yourself that structure, staying organized so that you don’t lose it. Trust me this often happens. LOL. Practicing self care is the best in my books, if there are days where i need to step away I take it. As much as I love what I do. I am not going to compromise my mental health. Most importantly engage with your followers/audience. I sometimes send thanks for following message. Or even ask my friends what they would like to see on my profile.

My background before my career was an extensive amount of customer service so caring a good vibe, appreciating your customers and treating as if you had known them a lifetime ago brings a “friendship” between the consumer and yourself. Remember they are trusting you, and so should you.

I am no expert in this subject but I know whether I have a big following or a small following. Those folks are there for me, to support me, encourage me in any way. The community I have come across has been truly rewarding. From customers, fellow vendors, and even event coordinators. I can tell you I have built a friendship with these beautiful people.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

One of my favorite questions to answer for you. Like I mention, the community I have come across this past year has been phenomenal. I mean seriously, it’s amazing. I can maybe only tell you one story of a bad experience and everything else has been MAGICAL! As corny as that sounds, I am very proud to be able to say that I have worked with some amazing vendors and have met so many supporting people doing so many markets.

My fellow vendors are a huge support. Marketing each other’s work, giving each other shoutouts, and even giving each other advice as to where to apply for Markets, sharing reel sounds that would be great for their business. Or even if it decompresses from whatever. I really take pride in the amount of engagement I have with local business friends. I love to support them in any way I can.

When it comes to sales, really knowing your audience, I am really thankful that St. Louis has so many markets. and each market is targeted for specific customers. So when I apply to a market to make my sales, I really do my research on what type of audience they are bringing in. Like I said, my product may not be for everyone so I really focus on making sure I am applying to where I know I am going to make some people happy with my earrings. Knowing where to sell is key. To help market my upcoming events I make a post of my events for the coming events, pin it to my profile, and share that entire week on my stories, that I will be at a specific location along with the other vendors. Again creating exposure for everyone.

I have hosted a ladies night out (Small Business Edition) and we went bowling, talked about the business aspect, how to help each other grow, tips for each other’s business. I am hoping to continue this next year once the holiday market madness passes.

Currently as a marketing strategy for myself along with 26 local businesses I created a 12 days of Christmas giveaway. where each day we participate together or individually on a giveaway. That helps get exposure to all of us, but most importantly we come together as a community!

I’m proud to be able to have such a supportive group of ladies. I don’t believe in competition, everyone has their own experience, their own goal, and we are all just trying to support one another to reachthat. There’s room for absolutely everyone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bejewelryco.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bejewelryco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bejewelryco

Image Credits
Maddie Kamp Maddie K Photography | Instagram maddiekamp.com | [email protected]