We recently connected with Karina Arrezola-Reyes and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Karina, thanks for joining us today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made?

The best investment I’ve made towards my business is investing in a permanent jewelry welder . First off, permanent jewelry is jewelry that is clasp less which can’t be taken off daily. I already had my finished handmade & curated jewelry business but I noticed permanent jewelry was getting noticed . I had initially heard of permanent jewelry from a friend which she had gotten a bracelet in New York but during that time my business was barely growing. Now this time around I was more prepared to invest in this micro welder .

When I decided to invest , I looked at how much I need to price each permanent piece , how many I need to do in order to get my money back & then profit . I researched on YouTube on other sites & decided to go with my current machine . I was nervous because of course it’s a new service to my business but it all has paid off !!

I received my purchase , recorded an opening of my package to get the groove going & my customers loved it . Practiced as much as I could prior to offering my new service at pop ups. I’ve been offering permanent jewelry for a whole year now & I’ve lost count how many permanent jewelry pieces I’ve done . I have trained people to which now has business of their own ! I’ve worked with other businesses & done private events ! I can honestly say this is my best investment so far .

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.

So for those that don’t know me or have never heard of me , my name is Karina & I am owner of Forth Unit. Forth Unit is a small Latina owned jewelry business located in Boyle Heights. My business started in Covid 2020, I really didn’t have a plan or anything for that matter I just didn’t have anything to loose if it didn’t work . But here we are 3 years later , growing & thriving!

I wasn’t a jewelry fanatic but I liked it enough to start a business. My first items were already made so I just purchased wholesale & sold them . I however didn’t feel connected to my jewelry , to my business because I wasn’t making it . So I decided to learn about jewelry and how to make it . I taught myself on YouTube , read on material quality & so much more. I launched scared but excited to start this new venture. Zero clue to what I was really doing but I made it work .

We now offer goldfilled jewelry, gold plated jewelry, permanent jewelry & laser engraving. I managed to incorporate things little by little , I now custom make my own jewelry bags, jewelry tags & things that I would essentially spend money on I can make them myself .

One of the best things that I can say about my business is that we provide quality jewelry at affordable prices. I try to keep my jewelry affordable to my customers as I don’t want to be a brand that over prices. I want my customers to know that I always think about what they can potentially buy with those $30something dollars that they are spending with me , so I put that into consideration.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Well this question is important to me because when I started my business as I previously mentioned , I had 0 knowledge of business . So what I did is charge a credit card for my initial investment. I charged $240 dollars & I knew I had to pay it off in order to be “positive” . My launch made triple the amount I spend. I paid off my credit card balance & invested some more into jewelry but this time around it was my business money .

I had always thought that to start a business, you have to spend tons of money or use your own money but I have learned that’s incorrect.

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

Be yourself & connect to your following . The one thing I tried to do consistently was get on my socials , react to my followers, respond , start a conversation. This allows your audience to know that you are a real person, not just someone that wants to take their money . I go on my instagram stories often, talk about my day, how it starts & I get to connect with everyone who resonates with me .

Contact Info:

• Website: HTTPS://forthunit.com
• Instagram: HTTPS://instagram.com/forthunit/