We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Radmila Husnetdinova . We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Radmila below.

Radmila, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?

Social media is the best way to express yourself and your product/ brand to as many people as possible. The first time I started selling online, I did not succeed. It was the experience of selling on Facebook a platform that I more understood and had more friends, but as it turned out, not everything was so easy, and I needed to know the secrets of setting up for the right audience. I went on to learn this. I hired a coach to help me with social media, then I moved off dead center.
At the end of the year, it is usually a hectic time. I work craft shows, run holiday classes, and most of my orders come around this time. Sometimes I hire a freelancer to help me. Promotions and stories really help not to lose interest in yourself, and it is important not to neglect communication with your clients, I share my world with them and, the detailed processes behind the scenes in my everyday life. Instagram is my favorite platform for this. Most of my sales are through Instagram.

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

It’s so great to be back on the pages of the Denver Voyager. My name is Radmila. I’m the owner and jewelry designer of MH Studio Designs, who is working with the soutache embroidering technique. Soutache (soo-tash) is a wonderful material to create jewelry, fashion accessories to decorate clothes and to make a beautiful accents. Soutache is a trim\cord made out of viscose or rayon. When you stitch layers of soutache together and combine different colors or when you add the beads and stones, you can get a variety of different designs and shapes.
I started working with soutache in 2009 and absolutely was not thinking about a business. At that time I was a stay home mom in a new country and I wanted to fill the void doing something fun. When I found soutache there were no tutorials and classes like now. I only found one book in the library about soutache embroidering and that book was “Soutache” by Anetta. After teaching myself how to use her technique, I reached out to her via email, and found we had many similar interests. Since then she become a valued mentor, teacher and friend.
As I was thinking about how to turn my art into a business, I came up with a connected idea; teach others how to make jewelry using the soutache technique. I also start selling my pieces to a few friends and at local craft shows. January 15th 2015 I opened MH Studio Designs and started promoting my classes and jewelry. But it was not a blast! No success! People said: your jewelry is too fancy, to expensive and classes take so much time and attention and nobody wanted to sit 5-6 hours making one earring or pendant! It was sad, but I needed money for good quality materials, which I buy from Europe, and my motto is never give up! I started thinking of new ways to make money for my new passion. So I incorporated craft classes for kids to expand my opportunities, and business began to take off. I have been enjoying the process and profit since that time. I love to sew and can utilize my teaching background instructing kids. In 2020, when Covid shocked all of us and many businesses went down, my group classes were closed and I worked with kids only individually or in very small groups. At that time I decided to add additional classes. The younger students are learning more craft and home decorating projects, while the older ones are learning basic sewing skills and advance to using sewing machine. So business came alive and started growing again.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My reputation and communication with my clients it’s a very important part of my job.
The manner in which I evaluate my success with clients is when they are satisfied with their purchase, recommend me to their friends and offer feedback on my work. My students on the other hand demonstrate their success with new found skills, excitement and their final products.
It’s important I ask a lot of questions and listen to the clients wishes as each piece is individually crafted for that person. Together we develop exactly what they want. Working one-on-one is an essential aspect of my business. A satisfied customer is my reward.
This is what has built my reputation as a jewelry designer and teacher.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

I don’t sell on Amazon or eBay, because I think that for my business it’s enough for me to promote a website and a gallery on Instagram/Facebook. Since I do not produce a mass product and my soutache work is unique, I don’t believe these platforms are the right fit for my creations. With Etsy it is a different story. In my opinion, this platform works good for artists and jewelers but there more sellers then buyers and I have decided for myself to promote website and Instagram gallery to help my sales to grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mhsoutache.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/mh_soutache?utm_medium=copy_link
• Facebook: MH Studio Designs
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/mwlite/in/radmila-husnetdinova-b794aab6

Image Credits
Jane Guerreso (picture with Egg ) Elena Kim