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

Jessica, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I believe it takes a strong “why”, determination and drive to reach your goals, and the true belief that you and your business get to thrive and be successful. Owning and running a small business of any kind is difficult, and will have so many obstacles that without those things it would be easy to give up and throw in the towel when things get tough.

Jessica, 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?

I’m Jess! I’m the owner of Light & Links Permanent Jewelry, and I create custom fitted, permanent jewelry! Permanent jewelry is still a fairly new experience, but quickly growing in Kansas City! If you haven’t heard of it before, it’s a custom fit bracelet, anklet, necklace or ring. You get to choose your chain/style, add a connector or charm if you’d like, and then we find your perfect size and weld the chain so it’s on permanently! Don’t let the “permanent” side scare you though – I also offer clasps for removable, custom jewelry, and if you ever need to remove the jewelry for any reason you can always take scissors or fingernail clippers and clip it off. You can even save it and have it re-welded at a future date if you wish! You can shower, swim, bathe, sweat… do it ALL in your permanent jewelry without having to worry about removing it or ruining it. Our chains are gold filled and sterling silver, so you can be confident that the quality of your jewelry will last for years!

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

To me, building an audience on social media is one of the most important things you can do in your business – next to offering an amazing customer experience, especially when starting out. On the Light & Links social media page you’ll see different customer jewelry pictures from pop ups, chains we offer, event information – but also posts that connect me with my customer. I want my customers to know the faces and family behind Light & Links, because I believe that people love to support businesses of people who they know, like and trust. My audience knows the exciting things that happen in my life, like my nephew being born, or family vacation, or my kids sports wins – so often at events and when I meet them we can connect on similar experiences. My best advice if you’re starting to build your presence, or need a little “boost” is to be YOU on your page and share your business but also a little personal side so your ideal customer can connect with you and begin to get to know/like/trust YOU and your business.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Our customer relationships and amazing customer experience have been the biggest help in building our reputation within our market. At every event we interact with and create relationships with our customers – from talking out their day, or their kids, to what makes them the happiest, etc. With every customer we always want our interaction with them to be one of the best parts of their day, and we’d like to think this is what keeps them coming back. We love seeing familiar faces and catching up with them on if they loved the trip they took, or how their daughter did at her soccer game, and just celebrating life wins with them. We want every piece of jewelry to be an experience that they’ll remember as a positive one, where the person putting it on was intentional and truly cared about them as a person not just a customer!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @light.and.links
• Facebook: @light.and.links

Image Credits
Josh Ishmael, Kate Mundo