We were lucky to catch up with Nicole Marsh recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Nicole, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear how you think where to draw the line in terms of asking friends and family to support your business – what’s okay and what’s over the line?
I feel that family and friends should be supportive of the business of a close friend or relative, especially if they’re going to purchase something similar anyway, it might as well be made or created by someone they know. In this way, people can keep small businesses afloat and minimize the growth of large corporations. Likewise, it is usually uncomfortable for business owners to ask family and friends to purchase items that they’ve made since it seems like an given to support your family in the first place, but many times this doesn’t happen. It is definitely a personal choice. Rather than asking for support, I will usually gift friends and family with unique pieces for special occasions and that sometimes encourages them to purchase something else later on.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’ve always had a passion for creativity, art, and design. In college, I chose to pursue a degree in Textiles at NC State, hoping it would lead me to a career in fashion design, however, after some consideration I ended up graduating with a degree in French instead. It wasn’t until my mid-twenties that I developed in interest in crystals and gemstones and their unique healing capabilities. Since I have always been a lover of nature and natural healing, I wanted to incorporate these precious and semi-precious stones into jewelry I could wear at all times. So, I started making a few pieces for myself, and I would wear them out, and soon after, my friends and family began asking me to make custom pieces for them as well. This ultimately blossomed into a mini jewelry business. I started selling on Etsy and I created a website, and once I realized how popular my pieces were, I started designing collections around specific crystals and gemstones and their synergistic properties.
Amidst all the mass produced jewelry in the world today, I am most proud of the fact that people are actually interested in my handmade pieces. It gives me a sense of joy and satisfaction when I get a notification of an order from someone in London or Singapore for a necklace that I made. I am truly thankful for all of my customers and anyone that supports my small business.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
At the moment I am using Canva for all of my marketing. If this type of resource was available when I first started I could have saved a lot of time, money and effort in creating marketing campaigns. I also wish I knew about getting a small business loan or how to write grants for small businesses. I started my business with no money and paying out of pocket for all materials, marketing, website, packaging, shipping, etc. If I had applied for a small business grant or loan it would have been a lot easier for me to focus on designing instead of trying to make money with another job to pay for everything in my business.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I get to bring my unique art to the world. I feel that we each have a purpose to bring creativity to the world. The fact that I get to fulfill my purpose is incredibly rewarding and I encourage others to do the same.
Contact Info:
- Website: 12gemsjewelry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/12gemsjewelry
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtEmMe4_8qCxulSOFzpr-kw