We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mackenzie Marino a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mackenzie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

When I first started my polymer clay jewelry, I began experimenting with shapes and colors that I personally enjoyed. As I began to sell earrings to customers, I realized that everyone has a different and unique taste that I would need to try and cater to. One way to quickly create new and exciting shapes for earrings was 3D printing my own clay cutters rather than outsourcing them. This gave me the creative freedom to design shapes however I wanted, which in turn allowed me to reach a broader audience. As I began to design and 3D print more clay cutters, I finally made the leap of purchasing my own desktop 3D printer. This purchase was monumental in the innovation of my earrings. I could now swiftly print as many clay cutters as I wanted, which allowed customers to request custom shapes that other brands weren’t offering. I now sell some of my 3D printed cutters as various pop up events to help other clay makers get started in their journey. The introduction of 3D printing changed my company for the better!

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?

My name is Mackenzie Marino and I am the owner and creator behind MG Jewelry! I started playing with polymer clay during the lockdown in 2020, as I needed a new hobby. I quickly began loving the process of clay making, and ventured down the avenue of creating clay jewelry.

I was an engineering student at NC State University at the time, so I began making earrings that I could wear to football games and other events. These earrings quickly became popular with other students on campus, and before I knew it, I was tabling at sorority events selling my earrings. As time went on, my skills began to improve as I tried out new techniques and shapes with my earrings. To put my engineering skills to further use, I began to design and 3D print clay cutters that allowed me to make unique and custom shapes for earrings. This set my business apart as I could quickly prototype new clay cutters in a variety of shapes. This allowed me to diversify my jewelry portfolio and reach a broader audience, even students from other colleges.

My senior year I joined an organization called Student Made, which helped student entrepreneurs and artists have a platform to sell their creations more effectively on campus. This allowed my products to be sold online, as well as tabling at large campus events. This organization definitely helped me expand my business further, and it allowed me more time to focus on perfecting my earrings by not having to worry about marketing and planning of events and an online store.

After graduating with my engineering degree last May, MG Jewelry has grown as I now have the time to participate in larger events and markets in the Raleigh/Durham area. This past year I have been a vendor at Packapalooza, a Taylor Swift event in Charlotte, and a regular vendor with The MAKRS Society and the Raleigh Flea market.

I have expanded my business further, as I have my own website to sell my products full time now. At pop up events, you can purchase handmade polymer clay and resin earrings, hair accessories, as well as some beginner clay cutters that I designed and 3D printed. Custom orders have been very successful for me as well, as I recently ventured into creating custom pet earrings, sports jerseys, and mascot replicas.

I am very proud of my progress so far as a small business owner, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has in store for me!

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

As I started my small business journey while being a full time college student, my initial clientele was other students at NC State. I started small by participating in sorority events on campus which allowed me to network with the other chapters and participate in their house pop up markets. I encouraged any new customers to follow me on social media to make sure they are up-to-date with events and any new styles that come out. This definitely helped me grow my business and my presence on social media as people would share stories of my earrings on their pages, and I was able to reach a larger audience. As I participated in more sorority events, I would tailor my earrings to the sorority chapter that I was selling at. If I knew their specific colors, I would come prepared with earrings in those colors and styles. This allowed me to have a more unique setup each time I participated in an event.

As I grew in popularity across campus, I had the opportunity to participate in a variety events from small business events, to art sales, to game day events. Being able to reach more students across campus allowed me to share my earrings in a larger format. This ultimately helped me gain traction and increased my clientele tenfold.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

When I first started my business, I had the option to start an Etsy page to sell my earrings on a larger format. I did a lot of research on Etsy and other online store fronts before I chose, which format I would go forward with. Since I started out so small and I was mainly selling on campus, I didn’t see a big draw to start selling my products on Etsy as they took a percentage of my profit out. I mainly stuck to social media sales and in-person sales for my first year. As the Student Made organization was created and launched on campus, I utilized their online store format, which ultimately helped me gain more sales.

I now use Shopify, which allows me to have a point of sale card reader, for all of my in person, events, as well as having my very own website that customers can order from at any time. This was a big draw for me as I could customize my website to the style that I wanted to portray, as well as give me the freedom to still do in- person events. I know a lot of other creators have seen major success on Etsy and other online platforms like that, but I have loved my experience with Shopify and would recommend it to any other small business owner.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shopmgjewelry.myshopify.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopmg.jewelry?igsh=YmR5NDYxdXl4dHdl&utm_source=qr