Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Liz Aponte. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Liz, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

I started Full Circle Co. on accident. I’m a drummer who spent a lot of money on cymbals and when they cracked, I didn’t know what to do with them. I didn’t want to throw them away because they had so much meaning to me – I toured the country and taught other drummers on them – so I stored them in a closet, not sure what to do with them. Then I got the idea to try to make bottle openers for friends from a broken cymbals as holiday gifts. I researched and through trial and error, was able to make a small batch of bottle openers from my own broken cymbals. Seeing my friends responses to the gift – something that was not just sustainable, but meaningful and had a story, is what gave me the idea to start Full Circle Co.

Liz, 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’ve been a musician since I was 12 and always loved drums. I played in a bunch of bands, and thought that maybe playing in a band and touring was the only way to be able to do music full time. In high school, I started making custom drums since the drums I wanted didn’t exist. From there, I learned about business, including marketing, creating relationships, finances, inventory, etc – and loved it. My horizons expanded from thinking I could only do 1 thing, to now noticing the drum brands I really liked and wondering if I could work for them more on the business side, but with still a strong connection to music. I worked for several different companies in the music space, and with each job I learned as much as I could, which is how I got the guts to jump into my own business.

Full Circle Co. takes broken and cracked cymbals that were going to be thrown away or sold for scrap, and revives them into jewelry, bottle openers, drum keys and more. Whether you’re a music lover and want to show your love for music with a meaningful piece, or looking for a piece of jewelry that can go with any outfit, we have you covered.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I first started Full Circle Co. in 2018, and in January 2020 we invested in a booth at the biggest music convention called NAMM. The booth and the experience was amazing – we were able to get the word out about our company and start the process of securing orders from big brands. Fast forward two months later, and everything shut down. I had an order in hand that needed to be canceled because the ordering party was shifting to manufacturing face shields, so reclaimed cymbal items were no longer a priority (rightfully so). Sales slowed tremendously and I didn’t know if we would be able to continue on with the big hit of the investment in the trade show. I pivoted our focus to reaching out to influencers and in R&D. While the sales might slowed down, I knew there were still things I could do now that would have future impact, and would help me not question or self doubt the future of the company. It worked out because when things came back online later in the year/2021, we were ready with more designs and more relationships with influencers to further our brand.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

We love treating our customers like royalty, and mostly like friends. With every order placed, our thank you note is a postcard because I always love getting postcards from friends when they are traveling the word. We also go above and beyond to make sure everyone is happy with their purchase from us. Some of our products that we have now are because customers requested them. We also have a texting community who we connect with several times a month to give them first access to new products, awesome deals, and even just created a shared playlist with.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://fullcirclecompany.co
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/fullcirclecompany
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/fullcirclecompany
• Twitter: https://x.com/fullcirclecompa
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/fullcirclecompany