We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Julia Freifeld. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Julia below.
Alright, Julia thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Kindness Gems started when I was in college. I was working as a crisis counselor for survivors of sexual violence and I wanted to use my passion for entrepreneurship to create a company that could impact the cause. During this time I was also introduced to gemstones and fell in love with learning about how they could affect your energy. I started creating gemstone jewelry and selling it at local craft fairs and organized presentations to clubs and sororities to grow the brand. After college I took the brand on the road and got it into boutiques all over California before settling down in San Diego. I think what set my brand apart and allowed me to be successful with it early on was its approach to inspire kindness. Jewelry is naturally sentimental and using it as a way to inspire kindness resonated with my customers. With each purchase I ask my customer to commit to an act of kindness, it can be as simple as picking up a piece of trash to a bigger gesture such as taking a grandparent out to lunch. Of course I’m not following people around making sure the they follow through, but it serves as a reminder to remember the kindness we each possess. Combining the concept of Kindness, giving back and wearing a healing gemstone to show kindness and healing to yourself is what has allowed me to grow the brand these last five years.
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?
My name is Julia and I own a gemstone jewelry brand named Kindness Gems. Our mission is to inspire acts of kindness and give back to organizations that help survivors of sexual violence. We call our jewelry dainty but durable because despite its dainty appearance you can shower, swim and sleep in it. With purchase of a Kindness Gems piece you are being kind on three levels, first you are impacting survivors of sexual violence, next you are being a positive light in your community by committing an act of kindness. Lastly, you are being kind to yourself by wearing a healing gemstone that promotes gentleness and self compassion.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
On march 16th 2020 I received a call from my largest wholesale vendor who created a sizable amount of my business at the time that they needed to put a hold on their latest order. Later that day I received the same call from my next largest vendor. The next morning I got an email that my in person markets that I had a small team of people selling at are going to be closing down until further notice. Day by day I saw my business crumbing in front of my eyes and in a few short months I had to close my office and lay off all but one employees. I truly was unsure if I would ever come back from this. In retrospect this was a huge blessing. I have slowly been growing my brand ever since in a more sustainable way now. Theoretically starting over with the business sense I accumulated from the first couple years has lead me to create my brand more consciously and only take opportunities that align with the long term goals of my brand. I have never had a better work life balance and team, and it is all thanks to going through hardship and learning from it,
Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?
Creating an environment where there is joy and positivity every day has been the greatest joy for me as a business owner. Rather than focusing on mistakes or mishaps I always frame feedback in a way that inspires and lets my employees know I value their time and effort. When I hire someone, beyond looking just at qualifications I see if they are truly passionate about the brand. I have multiple times offered jobs to some of my biggest customers that already feel aligned with the cause and the mission. Having people on board that are rooting for the company leads to pure joy as things grow and change. We all feel like a family going for a communal dream and I could not be more grateful for my team.
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Image Credits
Nate Ross