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

Hi Patrice, thanks for joining 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.

Patrice Monét Designz is a handcrafted jewelry company that specializes in made to order, unique and customized jewelry. All of my earrings are made from unfinished wood, resin, and clay. The idea came about because I began to get really frustrated going from store to store and not being able to find exactly what I was looking for. I love very unique, large, and exotic pieces of jewelry. So I decided to create pieces of jewelry that inspired me. It is very exciting creating different patterns and shapes; it has become one of my favorite things to do. Now I can’t stop creating!

Each piece of jewelry is created to help express the personality of those that choose to wear them.

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 have been a lover of all things fashion for as long as I can remember. However it wasn’t until my high school sophomore year when I took a clothing construction class where I tapped into my styling and creative side. I’m a lover of jewelry, shoes, purses, anything accessories really; anything fashion related you name it I’m in love with it. I have a degree in fashion merchandising from El Camino College, which I received in 2014.

I started Patrice Monet Designz when I got inspired by another business that I was following on Instagram, who sold handmade earrings. I was so inspired that I wanted to purchase a few from them, but I was very disappointed because I came to that they went out of business. That inspired me to go home and put my ideas together and come up with a concept for my own earring line that not so much look like theirs but would represent me.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building an audience and following on social media is a bit tough and takes a lot of patience. You will most definitely lose your audience if you are not consistent in posting every day and using hashtags that are relevant and that will gain you more followers. I was privileged enough to have the opportunity to get my earrings on Tabitha Brown, who is a huge influencer right now in the vegan community as well as an actress and entertainer. I took a chance and sent her my jewelry in summer of 2020, and she posted on her social media, turning her head from left to right showcasing my earrings. I was so excited, and I could not even take the amount of love and support and sales that I received in that moment. I was extremely overwhelmed and did not know what to do. I received so many followers and a quick rise in sales. Her post on IG is what gave my business the boost it needed to reach women all around the world. She helped make my business the successful it is today. I am forever grateful for Tabitha Brown for opening that door for me and for showcasing my earrings. Now I am shipping my jewelry off to cities in the U.S as well as overseas.

My advice to business owners is to stay consistent. Do not get discouraged when you do not see a lot of followers immediately, and you do not see sales right away. It takes time to be able to gain your audience. I suggest doing giveaways and sending your product off to influencers. Yes, it is a risk sometimes sending free product off but most of the time it is well worth it. Keep posting content of people wearing your product, create videos and reels showcasing your product. All your hard work will be well worth it, I promise. Lastly, surround yourself with creative individuals; go to networking events and meet more people. You can feed off others creative energy.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I keep in touch with my customers by email blast and via social media. Sometimes it is nice to reach out to the customers in their inbox on social media thanking them for their continued support. Sometimes I even email special discounts for my reoccurring customers who have consistently supported the business, that most definitely keeps them wanting to come back every time. They love incentives, so keep your customers interested by offering different types of discounts every now and then.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shoppatricemonet.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/shopofficialpatricemonet

Image Credits
Dino Mosley Photography