We were lucky to catch up with Kate Norris recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kate, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?
Ohh, well I believe the best thing that’s happened are my customers have become more that just supporters of my business, so many of them have become friends over the years too.
It’s a strange thing to have most of them find me through instagram. I know many business owners will be in the same boat but to have a personal brand means you share little snippets of your life, not all the time but those customers who have been around for a while start to put these pieces together to create the narrative of your life through there eyes.
Many businesses might just leave it like this, however I love to understand who my customers are and share more of myself and my life than whats on the surface.
I like diving a little deeper and finding out whats going on in their lives, their personal wins, if there’s been any life updates since we last spoke, or if I can help them with anything. Of course I can’t do this with everyone and honestly, many people probably wouldn’t want me to. But over the years these conversations have blossomed into friendships and I am always overwhelmed by the kindness and support I receive from these people who I have never met and yet proudly wear my art around the world.
So the best thing I have done is give my time and energy to the people that make this all possible. They know I truly appreciate them and in return I try to be of any help I can. My favourite thing is to help them believe anything is possible in life, it’s pure magic, out for the taking. They just need to dream it and believe it’s possible
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?
Yes of course. Hello all, my name is Kate and I am the founder of Soul & Sapphire.
I say founder but like most small businesses I’m also the photographer, head of marketing, accounts, general dogsbody but best of all, the silversmith.
I lovingly create my handmade treasures under the Mexican sunshine on the pacific coast in a little surf town called Sayulita. Originally from London, the spark for my craft started when I had the opportunity to backpack my way through Asia. First trying silversmithing in Thailand then again in Bali but never thinking I could do this as my career. Unfortunately, as self doubt crept in, it took almost 5 years before I decided to book a course in London and try my hand at making jewellery once more. Safe to say I’ve been addicted ever since.
Soul & Sapphire turned from a hobby to side hustle to my full time life in a matter of a few years. It’s the life I have always dreamed of. I get to create magic every day and share it with the world. Focusing my art on recycled sterling silver and recycled gold which I hand forge myself here in Mexico, I also locally source fire opals straight from the mining town a few hours from my new home. A world away from living and working in my bedroom in London!
One of the things I enjoy the most is creating bespoke pieces with my customers. Some of them even choose opals when I’m at my favourite opal cutters. I share videos and photos whilst I’m standing there on his Tequila farm and they get to pick any opal they like. We then design the piece together and I create the jewellery of their dreams. I am forever grateful this is now my life, sharing my passion and gifting joy to anyone wearing my creations.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Oh it’s been a rollercoaster… I first found my love of silversmithing nearly 10 years ago but it lay dormant for 5 years until I had a quarter life crisis and wondered what on earth I was doing with my life.
I still remember the pep talk I had with my best friend who heard my whining “Kate, do something about it then! Pinky promise me you will at least try and give this a go” With that in mind, I booked my 4 day silversmithing course (the cheapest and shortest one I could find) and I’ve been hooked ever since.
Having a side hustle is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, I was working a 9 hour day at a job I loathed plus the 2 hour commute to then come home, make jewellery and try to squeeze in all the “other” parts of the business too. However, it showed me I’d finally found something I wanted to fight for! Something to work towards. It was so hard but it was also the most I’d ever worked in my life and that was inspiring for me. I will happily admit I’m not normally one for hard work, I can do it when it’s really needed but my heart won’t be in it. This was different, my heart was never in anything more in my life!
So if you’re reading this and you’re working a full time job with your passion as your side hustle, please please please keep going!!! I know how you feel, I had so many tearful nights, exhaustion, countless times I wondered if it was worth it. IT IS! So please don’t give up.
I spent years slowly building my business and when I lost my stable 9-5 I decided to focus all my energy into my passion and all my hard work paid off. I walked away from the job I loathed and into 2 full months of bespoke orders and I’ve been full time, living my dream, ever since.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Hmm, well, I first started my instagram before I even started making jewellery, I’m not sure what name I started with but I started anyway. I just shared things that inspired me and tried to lift it off the ground from zero until I was ready to create and share my art. I’ve then had a little love / hate relationship over the years but now I don’t let it get the better of me. I’m happy it’s there but I don’t fully rely on it which definitely helps me mentally and emotionally.
It’s also good to see things from a different perspective, like I know there are many brands with a lot more followers than me however I’ve come to realise this number doesn’t neccessarily mean they have more customers.
It’s so easy to get fixated on followers, I certainly have been and even still look at that first if finding a new brand I like. It’s a hard habit to kick! But the difference with my own brand is realising having 100 people that adore my work, show up to every shop update, the ones that set the alarms and jump for joy when they snag the piece they wanted, those 100 people are worth so much more than 10,000 phantom followers that say nothing.
So concentrate on the followers you already have, nurture them, make sure they fall in love with your product or service, they will become your brand embassadors. They’ll shout your name for you.
Also, I’m sure you’ve heard this before but always be yourself, be authentic. Show up for what you believe in and that will come through much more than you doing the new trend on a reel or tiktok. Just think who do you want to attract? The number or an actual customer?
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.soulandsapphire.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulandsapphire/