We were lucky to catch up with Jazmin Erving And Ivy Welburn recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Jazmin Erving and thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
Our origin story involves a hitch hiker, a minivan filled with nature seekers and an unfortunate incident with a deer. It gets no crazier than that! BECAUSE I ROCK was born after best friends, Jazmin and Ivy, helped a stranded driver in the woods of Mt. Shasta. We were getting away from the four walls of confinement during the pandemic and decided to take our kids to a place where they could spread their wings and breath fresh air (sans mask).
On the last mile of our trip to Burney Falls, we saw a man desperately waving his arms in the middle of the road. We decided to stop and asked if he needed help. He said – Yes please call for help. I hit a deer, totaled my car and I have no reception. I’ve been here for hours and no one would stop. We assured him that we would help him in any way. We also had no reception, so we had to take him with us. He was resistant to get in the car due to the pandemic, so we black mom’d him. Our directions were – Get in the car, put on a mask, seatbelt, and don’t worry – we got you.
Six hours later, with the help of a bottle of gas station wine and popsicles for the kids, we all became comfortable and got to know each other. What are you even doing here in the woods? He asked. We said -just camping, getting away and it’s a full moon tonight, so we will probably pull out our crystal collection. He shot up and said CRYSTALS!! You like crystals?? We love them! we’ve been collecting for years. He was so excited and said – I own crystal mines!! The rest of the day we spent sharing pictures and stories about crystal mining. A world we knew nothing about.
As a thank you, he invited us to his happy place. This was a mountain in Nevada that was filled with crystals. We got to go inside the earth. The view from the inside is amazing. We knew that day that we would do nothing else for the rest of our lives. And, we never have.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
BECAUSE I ROCK provides a crystal experience that allows people to do things a little differently when choosing their rocks. As crystal miners, we embrace the idea of knowing the origin story of the rocks that you buy. We also believe that the rock will choose you. Our customers find their rocks covered in the original mud it was mined in. The rocks are then cleaned with provided supplies and become sparkling gems. We always say that the best part of our mining day is when we clean them off. Now, this is the mining experience we offer.
Our crystal experience is provided at festivals, private parties, corporate events and everything in between. See us in our “Crystal Caboose” trailer serving up crystals (instead of drinks). We also sell our mining adventure in a box with our UnEarthed kits available at becauseirock.com. Our very favorite place to pull up the Crystal Caboose is at schools and camps. Your kids may come come home with their very own crystal collection after a mineralogy class with the Boys and Girls Club and schools across the Southern California area.
What do you do with your crystals? Make jewelry of course! We partnered with Robyn Rhodes who sets your stone in a. custom style with the crystal that you “birthed”. You gave it life and now you can wear it. The concept is our version of farm to table. We call it “Mine to Mantle.”
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?
We do a lot of “marketing gigs.” For us, that means we pay a fee, sometimes small and sometimes very large ($60-$1200) to be a vendor. There is not a guarantee that we will get a return on our investment. We decided to make these events a marketing opportunity. Our business is multi faceted and allows us to parlay a 5 hour day at a festival into a party for 300.
Our favorite lesson in marketing efficiency is when a $20 sale day turned into a multi thousand dollar school contract that is recurring. We will take every opportunity to sell our brand – even if we can’t sell our product at that moment. This has been our way to make BECAUSE I ROCK a thing. Building a brand on a shoestring budget is not easy. Paying small fees is our way of making an imprint around the So Cal event scene and popular for festival, fair and party goers of all ages.
Have you ever had to pivot?
At the time that we met “Deer Mark” (the kids named him that after his unfortunate incident with a deer), we were both in what most thought were our dream careers. Jazmin started a foundation that gave away sports balls to local organizations and encouraged kids to “Grab a Ball and Play.” That concept was crushed by the idea that we all had to stay indoors and not communicate with our neighbors. Ivy was a private florist and event planner for celebrity clients known for elaborate Christmas trees and haute couture florals. During 2020, weekly home installments were no longer allowed and flowers were the last thing on anyones mind.
The pandemic had a very transparent way of forcing us all to decide if we were truly happy. We were not. That trip to Mt. Shasta was our way to not just get away from those four walls, but to get away from a life that no longer satisfied our souls. The fork in the road that came in the form of a desperate stranded driver was the answer we never saw coming. We were simply in a place to receive.
Becoming a crystal miner and business owner at this point in our lives was a surprise to everyone – us included. But, as we say “THIS ROCK CHOSE US.” Now, we are founders of a business that is truly a testament to loving your fellow man and falling in love with our earth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://BECAUSEIROCK.com
- Instagram: @because_i_rock
- Facebook: @becauseirock
- Youtube: @becauseirock2860
