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

Nicole Alvarado and Andrea Alvarado, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

Since we were young we have been passionate about fashion and business. We used to handcraft beaded bracelets and necklaces and sell it to our neighbours and friends. When we grew up that passion still remained, so Nicole took a handcrafing jewelry course and Andrea was studying Fashion design. Back in 2013 we created a handmade statement necklace made from thread, gold-plated chains and dangling beads. We started with five different color combinations and showed them to our family and friends, they loved them and they encouraged us to sell them. This is when Cara O Sello was born, we were living in Caracas, Venezuela at the moment, were we are originally from. We started by opening an Instagram account and selling the designs through social media and word of mouth. Our account wasn’t professional or had the best imagery but we still went ahead with it and improved as we grew and learned what worked and was most liked.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Cara O Sello is a handmade jewelry brand, family-owned business, founded in 2013 by two sisters, Andrea Alvarado and Nicole Alvarado. The brand was established in Caracas, Venezuela and within time expanded globally with headquarters in Miami and offices in London. The designs can now be reached all over the world through the online store and commercial partners across the globe. All products are thoughtfully designed by the founders, who currently operate the business from a creative and entrepreneurial aspect. Each piece is designed and manufactured by hand in our workshop in Miami, always using top quality suppliers and materials to bring customers unique and elevated designs

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Back in 2014 we had to leave our home country, Venezuela and move to the United States. This was very hard for our business as we were dealing with moving countries, leaving our families and starting a new university and we did not have time to focus on our business. As we established more into our new life we decided it was time to continue with Cara O Sello, but now in Miami. It was not easy in the beginning and we had to learn a lot on the way. We were used to selling by Instagram or word of mouth, getting paid in cash or bank transfers and this was not working anymore. We noticed how we were not getting enough sales, so we decided to invest some money and open up a website, get a designer and start promoting our brand at a larger scale. Back in 2015 small businesses were not as big as they are right now, and customers preferred to shop in larger retail stores. Opening our eCommerce store allowed us to grow and to learn more about the US and global market.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We started building our social media audience, mainly on Instagram, by constantly posting our products and lifestyle. Wearing our jewelry on our day to day helped us create content to show our followers all the ways they could style them for many different occasions, for example going to the beach or to the office.

For us it was very important to create a brand behind the imagery. We constantly used the same set up to cultivate a consistant aesthetic on our feed. For example, using same angles, backgrounds and presets.

Working with influencers and fashion/lifestyle bloggers helped us grow by giving us more exposure and to get new content to post on our account.

An advise we would give to a small business owner is to not overthink it and to not wait for the perfect moment. Start with what you have and always be consistent. Also, trying out new features and strategies will help you learn what best works for your brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://caraosellobrand.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caraosello/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/caraosellobrand/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cara-o-sello-brand/
• Other: TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@caraosello.jewels Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/caraosellobrand/_shop/