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

Jenny, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Campbell + Charlotte is a reflection of my journey in becoming a mother as I started the line soon after my first daughter, Campbell, was born. I had been working in corporate America for 15 years and truly thought that would always be my path. Before Campbell’s birth, I was becoming increasingly unfulfilled and unhappy in my job but having a hard time accepting this fact as my career was such a large part of my identify.

Campbell’s birth was extremely transformational for me. She was so small but so mighty and her strength motivated me to think bigger about my future. I was juggling these feelings of wanting something that gave me a deeper fulfillment and wanting to make Campbell proud of her mama. I had dreamt of working as a jewelry designer quite literally since I was a toddler and Campbell’s birth helped me focus this passion into pursuing my dream. The name Campbell + Charlotte is a reflection of where it all started – Campbell for my daughter and Charlotte for the city where she was born and where I still live today.

Since starting Campbell + Charlotte, we have been lucky enough to welcome a second daughter, Ellison. I am completely and utterly motivated to make my children proud- to show them that hard isn’t impossible and that with hard work, passion and grit, you can do just about anything. The girls continues to inspire me today – children find joy, magic and fascination in the smallest things. Campbell is the spark that started it all and now both girls are the muses that keep the collection going.

Each collection within Campbell + Charlotte is a reflection of the phases, lessons or emotions I have experienced in becoming a mother. I work to translate a specific emotion into a design element that can be used throughout that collection, creating a time capsule of sorts that reflects a moment in time for both my girls and for me. Above all, I believe that jewelry tells a story and serves as a vehicle to allow these stories to be memorialized and shared through generations. It is understanding and capturing these stories that continues to inspire my work work today.

Jenny, 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?

Today, Campbell + Charlotte has grown into a business that allows me to make jewelry dreams come true through a number of different ways. First, we have the Campbell + Charlotte ready-to-wear collection – those pieces designed by me and inspired by my motherhood journey. Secondly, we have Campbell + Charlotte bridal – our bespoke bridal design services, creating custom and one of a kind engagement rings, wedding rings and bridal jewelry for our clients tying the knot. And, lastly, we have C+C Custom – maybe my favorite part of the business. Here, we work individually with clients to create a completely custom piece either from scratch or by reimagining heirloom pieces that are collecting dust in a client’s jewelry box. This allows us to take a meaningful piece that may not be our client’s taste but has sentimental value and transform it into something they will wear and love.

Our collection pieces are designed in 14K gold with an intentional focus on color and texture. We source vibrant colored gemstones mixed with diamonds to create unique and fun pieces.

For our custom pieces, anything is possible! We work in all types of metals and often source unusual gemstones or unique cuts/shapes to bring our client’s dreams to life.

My hope is that our line inspires our clients by focusing on what matters most – our stories. In the collection pieces, I pull meaningful aspects from my story that inspire a design. In our custom work, our goal is to really understand our client’s stories and infuse their custom piece with what matters most to them from this story.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Coming from the corporate world into a creative field where inspiration is key and your brand is a representation of you was a big transition for me. I had to ‘unlearn’ so many of the corporate formalities that were required to fuel your success in the corporate world that, in this new jewelry world, felt unauthentic and stiff. Simple things like how you write an email, how you greet people, how you run a meeting with a client, etc. all had to be unlearned.

I like to say that jewelry always has a story. If I am having a hard time connecting with someone at a party, I either ask them about their kids (everyone loves to talk about their kids) or about a piece of jewelry they are wearing – each piece always has a back story. Sometimes the back story is a sentimental story that spans generations but, other times, the story is simply about memorializing a special birthday or life milestone. Since starting Campbell + Charlotte, I have realized how important this story is when my clients are considering a piece of jewelry – in the corporate world, this story would have been ‘fluff’, an inefficient use of time and, maybe for my old corporate self, even a little uncomfortable to hear about.

So I have had to unlearn and say goodbye to my corporate self to make deeper connections with my clients – in the ways that matter to them and, in the end, to me too!

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

Brand loyalty is extremely important in jewelry. Like many businesses, a disproportionate amount of business comes from your top clients so these relationships are very important. In jewelry, you aren’t seeing a super high number of transactions each year, so you are building a long term relationship with your clients for those big purchases when they are ready. – a few times a year or every other year.

There are a few things I do to help build these relationships:
– I find reasons to connect with my top clients. Sometimes this is just asking how they like a piece. Other times this is taking something they have shared with me about their personal life and checking in on that, sending them an article, etc. I try to have their cell phone for things like this.
– I give them early access to sales. This is another good reason to get in touch with clients – I usually give my VIP clients a few days heads up on sales and them the opportunity to shop for a day or two before it goes live to everyone else. Depending on the sale, I may also give them an even bigger discount for a given period of time before the sale goes live.
– I plan events to get in front of my clients and I personally invite them. Getting in front of clients for them to see you and to view the collection is so important – even if they aren’t ready to purchase. I plan in person shopping events in key markets and then I personally reach out to VIP clients to invite them.
– I provide extensive jewelry services to my clients, even for those things that may not be hugely profitable or aren’t my favorite to do. I want to be the go to jeweler in their life so they come to me for big purchases too.
– When I am with my clients, I share personal things about myself to form a deeper connection and make the relationship feel authentic

Contact Info:

• Website: campbellandcharlotte.com
• Instagram: campbellandcharlotte
• Facebook: Campbell and Charlotte

Image Credits
Amanda Anderson Caroline Lawson