We recently connected with PEGGY MURACO and have shared our conversation below.

PEGGY, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I have always been a lover of Israel. Ten years ago, I had an opportunity to attend a Jewish funeral. I previously researched that Jewish people place stones on graves. I couldn’t wait to see all the beautiful stones in the cemetery. I was expecting to see gemstones made of rubies and emeralds, and sapphire amongst others. I arrived at the cemetery and much to my surprise, I saw basic rocks and rocks that looked like gravel! Then it came to me that I should create Scripture on stones like in ancient times when text was written on clay tablets.
I took a course and learned how to read and write in Hebrew. After many long hours of practicing how I was going to achieve this, not to mention many mistakes in the process, I was finally able to achieve a stone with text that would remain on the rock and resemble the ancient artifacts from long ago.

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

I have a degree in Biblical Studies. I attended The Moody Bible Institute from 1993 and graduated in 2003. Throughout that time, I was involved in many Biblical oriented professions.
I was a Chaplain at The Cuyahoga County Jail in Cleveland Ohio for three years.
I had a puppet ministry and traveled to various denominational churches with my children. I decided to make this puppet ministry into a family project.

One day I attended a Messianic Synagogue and learned about the Bible from a Jewish perspective.
My position that I previously learned changed after attending this synagogue.
While there, I attended Yeshiva College and learned Hebrew. It was then, that I was able to create this rock art in the Holy Language.

As I created, more and more ideas came to me on what I should place on the rocks.

I listed these rocks on Etsy, eBay, and Amazon. Much to my surprise my online business became more and more successful, and I acquired an abundance of customers.
I created new products that might be used for traditional customs. My products are well liked, and I received positive feedback from my customers.

I learned that Jewish customs can be different than other customs. For instance, at many traditional funerals, it is customary to place a flower on the casket of the deceased. With the Jewish tradition there are no flowers at a funeral or cemetery. When a visitor comes to a Jewish grave, it is customary to place a stone on the grave. Now there are many different beliefs for placing a stone on a grave. One reason is the belief that in life, the living enjoy the beauty of a physical environment; however, when we die, material possessions are left behind. It is the wealth we acquire spiritually that become immortal like a rock and rocks remain forever.

The Talmud (a set of teachings and commentaries on the Torah that form the basis for Jewish law) mentions that after someone dies his or her soul continues to stay in the grave for a while where they are buried. By placing stones on the grave, it is believed that the stones keep the soul down in this world.
Another belief suggests that the stones keep demons and golems from getting into graves.
Stones will never die like flowers will.
A stone can represent and show a remembrance and a legacy.

One of the stones I create is called The Mourner’s Kaddish. So often when a loved one passes, many find it difficult to purchase an appropriate condolence gift. The Mourner’s Kaddish is a prayer directed at the living and is said by mourners who have lost a parent, child, sibling, spouse etc. This prayer is a major part of their mourning process. Many purchase this stone to give to the mourner during this most difficult time.

Another stone I create is with the Jewish Epitaph. One might find these letters placed at the bottom of a monument. The letters are an acronym and in English it means, “May his/her soul be bound up in the bond of life. This is from I Samuel 25:29 when Abigail told King David.
A Jewish ceremony takes place within the first year after a loved one passes away. This ceremony is called “the unveiling”. At this religious ceremony, a grave marker is installed. A formal dedication is performed at this time.
I have created stones with this epitaph, so that attendees could place a stone on the grave marker. It is a way to have others Bless your loved one. These stones come in groups of 5 and are wrapped in tissue paper with a Star of David Stamp. They are then placed inside a black drawstring bag with a Jewish charm and placed inside a plastic bag ready to hand out at the ceremony. Customers find these stones comforting when presented at the ceremony.

I am so honored to be of service and to be trusted to those who are grieving at this most difficult time. I make sure that my stones are out quickly, so that their ceremony may go smoothly.

I have many other stones that make perfect gifts for all occasions. One of my popular stones have the phrase from the Song of Solomon 6:3. “I am my beloved’s and my beloved in mine” or in Hebrew Ani l’Dodi v’Dodi Li
These stones are sold as gifts for weddings, engagements, or for any occasion between two people who love each other.
Customers are very pleased with this item since it is a neutral gift, meaning it can be given to both male and female.

What set’s my business apart from others is that not only do I add a personal touch by wrapping most orders with purple tissue paper and a Star of David sticker, but I also include a free thank you gift. I try to make this gift appropriate to the item purchased; thus, a request for gift wrap is not necessary.

In addition, I offer rocks with healing prayers. One of the most admired stones I offer is from Number 12:13. This stone has in Hebrew the phrase; ” Please Lord, Heal Her Now.” This phrase comes from when Moses cried out to the Lord to heal his sister Miriam who was struck with leprosy. I have had doctors who request this stone quickly so they can place this in the operating room while they operate!

Another rock with the saying in Hebrew; ” Emunah” which means faith.

Not only do I offer sayings in Hebrew, but I also have stones in English as well! I can produce just about any Bible verse you would like
.
I produce Christian and Messianic stones that are all perfect for gift giving.

I even have stones suitable for law enforcement gifts with Scripture. Psalm 140:4 Keep me safe LORD from the hands of the wicked. I am also able to reach out to those in danger who are looking for God’s protection. This and many other stones with Scripture sayings.

I am pleased and honored that I can offer items that will promote faith and comfort to others at the same time.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I feel that honesty and giving more to my customers than what they expect helped me with my excellent reputation. I love what I do, and I demonstrate that love for my items through packaging and also giving free gifts to each customer related to their purchase.
When I mail an order, I do not throw my items in an envelope and toss them in the mail. Each stone is carefully wrapped in tissue paper, then placed in a muslin drawstring bag. Each bag has a charm on it based upon which rock is ordered. I either place a Jewish, Christian, Messianic, US Flag (if it is for law enforcement), or a heart shaped charm if it is a love rock. It is then placed inside a cellophane bag and then wrapped in purple tissue paper (blue for law enforcement) and sealed with an appropriate sticker… Star of David, Cross, or Flag. This then is placed inside of a plastic bag along with the free gift and a Thank you sticker (unless it is marked as gift). I never have had my customers say that when the package arrived, it was soaking wet, because the plastic bag prohibits any damage from happening.
When you take care in packaging an order, customers appreciate that and want to shop with you again.
I listen to my customers and try to accommodate them with their needs. Some of my customers have no knowledge of Jewish customs and request my help in gift giving.
Giving good customer service is most important when owning a business.

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

I sell on Amazon, eBay, Etsy and other platforms like Bonanza and Facebook Marketplace. I currently don’t have a personal website, because I feel that I could never get the traffic in a personal website than I could with popular platforms like the above mentioned.
The pros on selling with popular platforms like the above is that:
1) Establish sites – These sites already are established. If you have good feedback and are constantly active with that site, your items will be seen. These sites are well known and usually show up on the top of the Google pages. I would have to spend a lot of money advertising in order to keep up with the popular platforms. I might as well just pay the fees and be seen. I’m already established with the above sites.
2) Transferring products – I’ve been in business for the past 11 years and if I had to switch to my own website, I would have to manually list my items all over again and this would be extremely time consuming.
3) Taxes, the above platforms collect the taxes for sellers and submit them to the proper authorities which saves me time.

The cons on selling with the above platforms are that:
1) First, the high fees. Depending upon which site you use you may be charged different fees on not only selling, but listing, and on shipping and other fees.
2) Wait time before you are paid – if you sell on Amazon, you may have to wait 2 weeks before you get paid! You can pay Amazon extra money to get paid quicker but the fees are pretty high the way they are now.
3) Unfair reviews – some sites allow a customer to leave a review in spite of them never purchasing anything from you; thus, a person can come along and leave a bad review simply because they are a competitor, or they don’t like the product you are selling. This hurts the listing and if you sent items to Amazon so Amazon could fulfill them, then your listing may not get the exposure because of the bad review and then you will have to do something with your unsold inventory like maybe pay Amazon to ship it back to you. With your own website you can control which reviews are shown and which are not.

Contact Info:

• Other: https://www.amazon.com/s?me=AL806BLA9KZMG&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER

  https://hebrewartwork.etsy.com