We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jen Wofford. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jennifer below.
Hi Jen, thanks for joining us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?
In education, we teach students to find their own voice on the one hand, but on the other hand to follow the rules of the discipline, whether it’s writing, psychology, math, or anthropology.
So which is the right way?
Outside of academia, now working for myself, I see in so many ways how finding a balance between your own truth, style, voice, whatever you want to call it and that of your client or customer base (your bosses, constituencies, audience), is crucial in a creative profession.In my new career – a blend of jewelry design and e-commerce entrepreneurialism, I have a lot of great ideas. I’m an insight junkie. But an excess of vision without research into the competitive market or understanding of what consumers actually want will rack up the credit card debt fast.
The creative process means listening to the market as well as to yourself.
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.
My dream was to become a romance novelist. I wrote my first romance novel when I was 16 and dreamed of the day when I could get someone to publish something I’d written.
But back in the late 80s, there were no schools for romance novel writing. There weren’t even any Writing Departments .
Then book publishing (like music production) had a revolution. I wrote my second romance novel when I was 40 and self-published it.
Music and book publishing led the way for the democratization of the job market.
When I was growing up that you had to ask for work, somehow convince someone to let you earn money. Only children from the richest families, or the smartest, most standout kids ever became entrepreneurs.
But Main Street has moved online, and with gumption, creativity, and an understanding of the market, people can launch their own business and make a real living. So that’s what I did, starting out on Etsy in 2008 as a side job to satisfy both my creativity and my love of earning money.
When I turned 50, the world went online. So I joined the great resignation and turned to jewelry design and e-commerce full-time.
My jewelry is vintage style, so I put my love of history, romance, research and writing all to work.
Growing up in the Thousand Island region of upstate NY, where wealthy industrialists in charge of companies like Pullman, Singer, and Tiffany bought islands and built castles, I’m drawn to the romance of Gilded Age but also to what came after it – colorful and geometric Art Deco design. (I love how the 1980s did Deco!)
And of course I love jewelry. I love how easily it represents my style. I have a few pieces I wear everyday. And I have a few special, “identity” pieces that I wear when I am at my most that I bring out once a year, or maybe only once.
I want my designs and the estate vintage pieces I find to offer people the chance to find their signature piece. ideally, more than one.
I love it when people in their reviews share the events they attended or the compliments they received. We all like to feel good, and sometimes even to stand out, to be elegant and fabulous. That’s my goal when picking pieces for my shop.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
As a romance novelist with a penchant for marketing, I recommend the Storybrand system. It helped me imagine my customers as the heroes of my marketing story. The course prompted me to listen more fully to what my customers were saying about themselves, their needs, and what they wanted from jewelry. It helped me write better copy, and even to refine my designs to meet their needs. I saw immediately in customer feedback that they appreciated the changes I’d made.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I don’t know what I would’ve done over the last 15 years of making jewelry without Audible. I know some people have trouble listening to books, but I just love it. Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters was one of my first listens and remains an all-time favorite series. Egyptology, mystery, romance, set in the 1890s and through the turn of the century, it rang all my bells. It also inspired my love of Egyptian Revival jewelry, which btw, doesn’t sell as well as you think it would.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.minusOnejewelry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/minusonejewelry/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/minusOneJewelry
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenwofford/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/minusOneETSY
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@minusonejewelry
- Other: minusOne.etsy.com
Image Credits
all images credit to Jen Wofford / minusOne jewelry