We were lucky to catch up with Kathleen Groppe recently and have shared our conversation below.
Kathleen, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We believe kindness is contagious and so we’d love for you to share with us and our audience about the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?
I have been blessed with many acts of kindness in my life. There were two women though who were particularly kind with respect to my business. When I first started making jewelry I was a fanatic. I took my jewelry supplies everywhere that I went. I took a tray, gemstones, jewelry making tools and beads wire, all held in a cardboard pizza box to Girl Scout meetings, playdates, group meet ups and ballet lessons. My daughter was 9 years old at the time. I also took my daughter AND my pizza box to women’s meetings that I attended weekly. One of the women in the group, seeing my love of jewelry making, brought me a bag of gem quality bead strands to “play with”. The next week I handed her an intricate necklace that I had made with the beads. Soon she and I were making regular trips to an amazing bead shop called J. Forks Designs in Boerne, Texas to buy gemstones. She asked me to pick whatever stones I wanted to work with and she would pay for them. I would present her with gorgeous, artisan necklaces in exchange for the honor to work with such high quality stones, for a small fee and for the option to keep some of the excess beads for my personal use. She would keep many of the pieces for her personal collection, others she would sell at her hairdressers shop. After a time a second woman took an interest in my jewelry making abilities. She commissioned me to make a necklace for her dear friend Maya Angelou to wear to Oprah Winfery’s “Headliners and Legends Luncheon” held in Santa Barbara, California in 2006. The luncheon was meant to introduce young African American actors, authors and musicians to those who were considered legends. Although I never actually met Maya Angelou, I was overjoyed to have the chance to make her a necklace to wear to the event. She was to wear a solid green outfit to the event. I chose to create a multi-strand freshwater pearl necklace with soft pink rose quartz, green garnet and pink and green Venetian glass accents. Not only did Maya wear the necklace to the event, photos of her wearing the necklace were featured in “O” magazine and on Maya’s commemorative stamp.
Kathleen, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I started making jewelry following a relatively major surgery in 2004. I was holed up in bed with a stack of Sundance catalogs my mother had brought when she came to care for me. I wanted every last piece displayed in those magazines, which was not feasible on my husband’s income as a professor (I was homeschooling our daughter at the time). Meanwhile my sister-in-law won a beautiful, multi strand coral necklace in a drawing at Neiman Marcos. I coveted the necklace. As soon as I was able I headed to the local bead shop. There I encountered hundreds of beads strands, all of them begging to be strung. I bought as many strands of mostly earthy, natural stones, as I could afford. I then headed to the library to check out every available book on jewelry making (this was before the advent of YouTube and the like). I was soon making more jewelry than I could ever wear AND I needed a way to fund my bead purchases. I turned to Etsy in 2007, just two years after its inception. In those days I could look at every necklace posted and gain inspiration. Of course, much has changed on Etsy in the past 16 years. Still I find it the ideal place for me to sell my one of a kind pieces. Although there is much competition, I have a large following that return to my shop over and over. My jewelry is inspired by natural stones and tends to have a southwest vibe.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
Some years ago I got an email from a large online flash sale retailer. They asked me to be one of their vendors. Within a week I had hired a manager and 35 employees, had trained the employees, had come up with 25 original designs and had stock piled enough supplies for 100 replicates of each design to be made. Within two weeks we had 2500 necklaces made up and within three weeks we were ready to ship those items to the parent company. We participated in about 10 flash sales that year. It was flattering to be picked for such an opportunity and intoxicating to sell 1000’s of pieces in a week. I did not, however, fully understand the business end of the equation. The retailer wanted an affordable product, the employees deserved fair compensation, the components were not inexpensive and I was expected to absorb whether inventory did not sell during these sales. In the end I lost a considerable amount of money in a relatively short period of time. What was most meaningful to me about this experience was the ability to improve the lives of 35 people by employing them. My employees made good money doing fun work, with flexible hours. I chose in the end to return to selling one of a kind items on my Etsy site. I miss my employees but not the stress of creating jewelry on a time line and certainly not losing money in the process.
How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.
As I mentioned previously, I joined Etsy just two years after their inception. I have seen it change gradually over the years. I appreciate many things about how Etsy works. I appreciate them maintaining the website, facilitating the postage, handling the money and attracting the customers. Although at first glance I compete against many other jewelry designers on Etsy, I have developed a following who buy from me often. They are alerted when I list new items. It is a much more personal experience than one would think when first visiting Etsy. I take great pride in the speed in which I ship and the way I wrap my jewelry for shipping. I want my customers to feel as though they are receiving a gift. In fact I include a gift and a hand-signed card in each package. Packaging my jewelry is nearly as fun as creating it. And shipping is free.
Contact Info:
- Website: ofearth.etsy.com