We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kristine Jenson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kristine below.
Alright, Kristine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business
When I began Jenson Natural Jewelry, I thought a lot about how I can make my business be MORE than just a money-making venture. I felt like there were a thousand other people out there making jewelry similar to mine. What makes me different and how can I go about a commercial venture in a way that does something GOOD in the world as well? I decided to meditate on this question and the first thing that hit me was a voice saying, “Make it all about me Auntie Kris.” That was my niece Devon telling me this. She passed away when she was 3 1/2 from a rare heart defect and she is like a daughter to me. When I heard her say that, everything came together perfectly in terms of how I wanted to present my brand – to have it centered around being a vehicle to share who Devon was with the world and convey a message of love and connection. If I keep her and her legacy at the forefront of my mind, things are very clear for me for how to proceed as a business.
About 6 months after starting my company, I was doing in-person markets around the Minneapolis-St. Paul area to help spread awareness about my brand. At one particular market, the place was jam-packed and I could barely get two words out to anyone passing by to tell them about my brand. I had a very quick ‘elevator speech’ that went something like, “Hi! I’m Kristine Jenson and I make all of my jewelry by hand using only natural, high-quality gemstones and I donate 10% of my profits to Children’s Hospital in memory of my niece Devon.” As I would say this, I’d point to a small sign I had with Devon’s photo on it.
One woman stopped and asked me to tell her more about Devon. I proceeded to tell her that Devon was born with a rare heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) and she spent countless days and weeks at Children’s Hospital, undergoing many surgeries and procedures. We grew to love the staff there and so it is an honor to be able to donate and support the non-profit hospital and the selfless nurses and doctors there. She then said, “My friend needs to hear this.” She pulled her friend over and asked me to tell the story again. I did and when I was done, the woman said, “I just created the heart that will fix that.”
I stood there with my mouth hanging open, stunned by what she had just said. I couldn’t really form a sentence and just kept sputtering, “What?” She explained that she had been researching heart defects for 30 years and had successfully created a heart that will eventually be used to save those born with HLHS. Again, I stood there like an idiot, not being able to speak, while dozens of potential customers walked by. Tears were welling up in my eyes and the hairs on my arms were standing on end. Eventually I said, “You’re a hero.” And she just shook her head, pointed to Devon’s picture, and said, “No. She is.” Then she walked off. The original woman leaned over to me and said, “She’s far too modest. Her name is Dr. Doris Taylor and she created Ghost Heart. Check it out.” I immediately did and it is real and has the potential to save thousands of lives in the future.
On that day, at that market, my business went from running in the red to being in the black. In other words, I had sold enough jewelry so that my business was now making profits rather than trying to just earn back the money I had invested into it thus far. It was like Devon was telling me, “See Auntie. I told you.” I knew then that everything I gave up to start this company was worth it and I was on the right track.
Kristine, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I came to be a jewelry designer almost by accident. My education and career was focused on natural resource management, specifically protecting and repairing lakes, rivers, streams, and wetlands. Growing up in Minnesota allowed for me to have access to nature all the time. My family would travel every year to Grand Marais, MN on the north shore of Lake Superior long before it was a popular tourist destination. I love that area and would spend hours playing with the rocks, gazing at the majestic pines, daydreaming while sitting alongside the big lake. So having a career that helps protect these natural resources has been very satisfying.
The jewelry side of things came about through my 30 year practice of yoga and meditation. These activities have been a constant part of my life since I was 19 and have helped me manage through the ups and downs of life. About 10 years ago, I took a workshop about mala necklaces. Malas are used as a meditation tool and they have 108 beads on them. The traditional Buddhist practice of making them includes making a knot between each stone. In the workshop, I got to choose the stones and crystals in my mala and then I slid them on the string and began making the knots. Where many people struggled and became frustrated, I became very “zen” and meditative in the process. I loved the act of making the knots, the feel of the stones in my hands, moving them along the thread, and seeing the piece come together. That was my very first piece of jewelry I ever made. And I was hooked.
I went home and began looking up other stones and took a deep dive learning about them. I started to buy beads and made more malas, getting better each time and discovered a creative side to myself I never knew was there. Choosing the stones and bringing together different ones based on colors or energetic properties was fun, as was creating different patterns. Even choosing which colored thread I wanted to use and the tassels was enjoyable to me. As people began to see my creations, they asked me to make them malas and then bracelets. That’s when it first occurred to me that this could be an actual business and in 2017, Jenson Natural Jewelry was born.
As I mentioned before, I wanted my business to be about more than just selling things. I wanted it to make an impact in the world. I use my business as a vehicle to share the legacy of my beloved niece Devon who passed away in 2003 from a rare heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS). The doctors, nurses, and staff at Children’s Hospital of Minnesota did everything they could to keep our little girl with us and the people there became part of our family. I knew that I could build my company around the idea of creating a legacy for my niece and sharing her story with as many people as possible while also helping this wonderful, non-profit hospital. Once I honed in on the “why” for my business, it all started to move quickly in terms of the steps to start a business and get a legitimate online storefront established. I began networking with people in my community and doing in-person events and markets to build brand recognition.
I left my regular job the next year and now, almost 8 years later, I have made hundreds of malas, thousands of bracelets, as well as earrings, rings, and necklaces. I primarily sell via my website and I have multiple wholesale clients that carry my products in their stores. My products, and Devon’s story, has now reached all over North America and across the oceans as well – including Japan, Qatar, Australia, New Zealand, and many countries in Europe.
Through Jenson Natural Jewelry, we created a program called Devon’s Legacy and donate 10% of our profits to the Pediatric Cardiology Program at Children’s Hospital MN in her memory. My proudest moment each year is when I get to make that donation and I aim to increase the donation year after year.
Another part of my brand which I am proud of is called The JNJ Way. This has the three values that I uphold in my business:
<b>1) Donate</b> – not only to Children’s Hospital MN but to other non-profits we care about such as Catkins Animal Rescue, Minnesota Public Radio, Queer Space Collective, and Hope Chest for Breast Cancer, among others.
<b>2) Protect </b>- Here at JNJ, we are proud to say that we are doing our part to protect our climate. As a Carbon Neutral Business, we pay an additional fee to Shopify Planet, which offsets the carbon impact of all our shipping. We are also committed to using high-quality and ethically sources materials. You can trust that all items on our website are made from authentic crystals and gemstones.
<b>3) Support</b> – JNJ wholeheartedly supports the basic human rights of all people and the advancement and empowerment of minoritized groups and individuals. We acknowledge that everyone is worthy of love and acceptance in this world simply because they exist. You matter. You are important. We see you and we honor you.
To be able to create a business that can spread love and good will out into the world is something that I am immensely proud of. Even though there are tough times when it comes to running a business, I have a strong purpose behind Jenson Natural Jewelry. Keeping that “why”, along with Devon, in mind makes all the hard work and worries worth it.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media is a fickle friend for marketing. It is always shifting and often hard to keep up with how to be successful on it. I do not have a large Instagram following as compared to others but my followers are organic and are people who are genuinely interested in what I create. I have seen my sales from social media go up in the last 18 months because of a consistent effort on my part to show up on the platforms. I keep my eyes and ears open to what is or isn’t working on the platforms I use and I lean in to the friends and peers who know more than I do and use their guidance to help me with this aspect of doing business.
My advice to someone starting out in business is to first learn where your customers are going to be hanging out on social media. You may be very comfortable on Facebook but your customer may actually be spending their time on TikTok (or another social platform), or vice versa. Once you have an idea of where your customer is spending their time, get really good about showing up on that platform on a consistent basis. Often people try to tackle ALL the different social media channels at one time and end up doing a cruddy job on all of them. Rather than spreading yourself thin by being on all of them, focus your attention on ONE channel and master that channel. Learn the tricks for how to make it work in your favor and stay up to date on the changes that are occurring there.
If you find you have gotten one channel “mastered”, then you can spread out into another channel. For my business, I focus on Instagram/Facebook for our social media marketing but my assistant has branched out into TikTok to see if that can draw in some additional business. I am planning on diving into Pinterest in 2025 if I have time as I see that as having good potential for my brand as well.
Many people dread marketing and social media but it is necessary to be very familiar and spend time working on this in order to have a successful business.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
The key to growing a customer base is to know who your dream client is and then focusing your marketing and communications on that person.
I have spent considerable time on developing my dream client. I literally have given her a name and created a whole biography about who she is, what she does for a living, the relationships she has in her life, her likes and dislikes, and what matters to her in life. A key to marketing is to NOT market to everyone. If you speak with too general of a voice, you don’t actually reach anyone. By being very specific about my dream client, I may end up alienating some people. That’s ok. My brand isn’t meant for everyone. I want devoted clients who feel very connected to me and my brand. By honing in on my dream client, and speaking to her, I create an authentic connection. I have very loyal clients who buy from me over and over again and whom I treat like genuine friends. I would rather have 100 loyal customers like this than 10,000 people who like me on Instagram but never buy from me. So, to sum it all up, figure out who your dream client is, learn all you can about them, and then focus your marketing efforts on speaking to them. Finally, treat your customers very well and you’ll find an extremely loyal fan base who will buy from you again and again.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jensonnaturaljewelry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jensonnaturaljewelry
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jensonnaturaljewelry
Image Credits
Sam Monk