We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joanna Georges. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joanna below.

Joanna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

I think the biggest challenge with my business is balancing my entrepreneurial goals with my professional goals. I am the first person in my family to go to college, so I have always felt pressure to make sure that my future was secured and would be successful. I became an entrepreneur the summer before my second year of college. I was at home during that time and could completely focus on developing my business and testing out any ideas I had. I had no distractions to shift my focus on my business. When I went back to college, I began focusing on building up my resume. I always knew that I wanted to work a traditional job in the fashion industry and have my own business. Even though one of my majors was entrepreneurship, I was involved in organizations, volunteering, and networking programs at my school. It used to feel like my business and my education were never aligned – if I was flourishing in college, then my business wasn’t and if my business was flourishing, my education suffered. The misalignment has definitely influenced how less passionate I am about my business. I’m definitely still working through these issues, but it is different now that I have graduated. I have a clearer understanding of what I want my business to be and how I want it to fit within my life. Now, I just have to take action – even if it means temporarily closing to relaunch.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

In May, I graduated from Kent State University with a Bachelor of Science in Fashion Merchandising and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship. I have worked retail, interned at corporate companies, and I create content for brands as a side hustle. I am a first generation Haitian American. I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur because of my parents and how they manufactured a better life for themselves and their children by immigrating to a new country. If they could do that, then I can do anything. I own a small accessories brand, Ciety Boutique. With Ciety Boutique, I am dropping the S and O in society to disregard all of the world’s expectations. I am choosing to redefine my life and style. I cannot control what people think of me, but I can control how I present myself to the world. I want all of my customers to feel as empowered as I do when accessorizing and wearing our jewelry. I currently sell 14k gold plated stainless jewelry and every order comes with a dust bag, handwritten thank you note, and a business card. I really want to ensure that my customers have an experience when opening their package. My business is better alternative to buying jewelry at the mall or a department store because it’s hypoallergenic, water resistant, and last up to 2-3 year with proper care. I’m most proud of my brand values, which consist of breaking societal standards, empowering voices, and looking good to feel good. I have also completely developed my brand aesthetic from my business cards to photo shoots to the website. I’m constantly thinking about ways I can improve and allow my brand to become something that I can be proud of.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I wanted to ensure that my business appeared legit in the eyes of customers and I thought having my own website was the best way to do that. When I started, I did use Squarespace and then I transitioned to Shopify after a year. I always wanted the freedom to be able to cultivate the experience I want my customers to have when shopping with me. I also really like having my own domain. Shopify makes it really easy to have an e-commerce store and understand all the nuances that come with it. I don’t think that if I sold on a platform, I would have learned what I did about running an e-commerce store and customer habits. I think the biggest con is that there is no search engine that guides potential customers to my site. I really have to market my business through social media and word to mouth. If I were on Etsy or Amazon, my products would show up if someone searched for jewelry.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Originally, my business did not sell jewelry or have the branding that it currently does. I sold sunglasses and random pieces. I was younger and while I planned out my business, I was just looking for products that would sell. Everything about my business was not authentic to who I am. I just was not happy at all about where my business was. In 2021, I had temporarily closed my business because I would be studying abroad for four months and I wouldn’t have been able to run my business. I took this time to also intentionally decide what I wanted my business to sell. I pivoted from finding things that would sell and make a profit to having meaningful branding and products that cultivated my brand messaging.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cietyboutique.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cietyboutique
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cietyboutiquellc
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/thejoannageorges/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@cietyboutique