We recently connected with Rosie Dirzanowski and have shared our conversation below.

Rosie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

As you can see, the word “Moxie” is included in both of my business names. I love this word and everything it stands for. It means grit, determination, courage and I think the word itself just stands out. About a year after I started making earrings I decided to do a rebrand and for some reason the word “Moxie” immediately came to mind. And with my earrings being solely made of leather at the time, “Leather+Moxie” sort of just rolled off the tongue! I also think “moxie” is the perfect word to incorporate in the type of business I was in……I’m a girl’s girl and have always been about women supporting women. I believe in encouraging confidence. It seems that my earrings have always given a little boost of confidence to any outfit, which in turn, has given confidence to anyone wearing them. It’s always been a great feeling to see my customers show off their L+M proudly.

That being said, years later when I decided to start up a baking business I thought it would be nice to incorporate “Moxie” into that name as well.I kinda wanted to transition and still carry that word into my next business venture. I wanted it to all be connected in a way.

I think that anyone who decides to go for it and start their own business, no matter how big or small, possesses a bit of moxie. It takes courage and believing in yourself to put yourself and your ideas out there. The name of my businesses will always have a special place in my heart for this very reason!

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

I’m a mom to two amazing kids, Hunter and Dax. When my daughter Hunter was around 4 years old I started making leather hair bows as a means to extra income, being a stay at home mom during that time. In addition to extra income, I’ve always considered myself a pretty creative person and have found that being creative and making things was also a therapeutic outlet for me. So it all worked out. I started making earrings at the end of 2016. I started out by just hand cutting faux leather earrings with scissors. Definitely very tedious but I loved it. I cut my first pair of earrings for myself in December of 2016 and shared on Facebook because I loved them so much. I immediately had interest from friends, which I wasn’t expecting! It was definitely a pleasant surprise. Soon after, I started taking orders. I had a steady amount of orders over the next few weeks. Cut to the end of February when I decided to take a “little break” because my son Dax was due on March 1st. That little break turned out to last for about 6 months, at which point I had the idea to rebrand and get serious about this little business that I’d sort of started by accident months before. Once the rebrand happened and I started getting serious about marketing my earrings and social media, Leather+Moxie pretty much hit the ground running. Within the next few weeks my brand was featured and sold in several store fronts. I also had my Etsy shop up and running. I must say, Facebook was such a big help in making L+M so successful. The social media presence and support was so amazing. I started a Facebook group that quickly shot up to around 3,000 members. The support that I had from everyone local and even others from out of state was unreal. From 2017-2022 l+M had an amazing run. That being said, I decided to take a break from the jewelry scene at the beginning of 2022.

Being the creative person that I am, I can’t sit still for long. Soon after making the decision to take a break from earrings, I decided to put another one of my passions to work. In May of 2022 “Moxie Cookie Co.” was born. MCC is all about delicious treats! From drop cookies to brownies, to brownie slabs, to homemade candies. I absolutely LOVE to bake. Baking has always been a passion of mine and being able to share that with others has always brought me so much happiness. One thing I’ve always prided myself in when it comes to my sweets is that everything is freshly baked upon pickup. All cookies are also placed on a bed of marshmallows in each box for extra sweetness…this seems to be a customer favorite. MCC was up and running for a full year before I decided to take a break from this business as well, due to starting a full-time job outside of my home. I still take small orders here and there for special occasions. Baking will always be a passion of mine, so the baker in me will never give that up completely.

My determination and attention to detail with both businesses is what I pride myself in! Quality work, great customer service and a great relationship with all of my supporters/customers I think definitely makes all the difference as well. I love what I do and I just always hope that shows through in my work.

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

Once I rebranded, around 1 week in, I decided to start a VIP group on Facebook. The group started out with about 20 members. I soon decided to hold giveaways to gain more members, which quickly got my group numbers up. Before I knew it, the group shot up to over 2,000 members. I think one of the reasons the group worked so well is because of the interaction. I felt like I had personal relationships with my customers. From sharing things about my personal life to all things earring related, to behind the scenes looks. This all definitely helped grow support because customers could connect the product to an actual person. Once I decided to take a break from earrings and transition into the baking business, social media presents from Leather+Moxie easily followed over to Moxie Cookie Co. and I’ve always been so grateful for that! The customer support and word of mouth throughout social media was a big factor in helping get MCC up and going. And once I started gaining customers, word of mouth definitely helped grow Moxie Cookie Co.

I will always be thankful for how much social media helped grow both businesses!

Have you ever had to pivot?

As I’ve mentioned, at the beginning of 2022 I decided to take a hiatus from the jewelry business. Soon after, I decided to turn another one of my passions into a business opportunity. This decision was a pretty easy one, seeing as baking has always been an act of love for me and the idea of sharing this passion with others was something I was excited about! This proved to be one of the biggest blessings. Transitioning from jewelry to desserts may seem like a world apart but so much love and hard work goes into both. The effort, the time that goes into my desserts from the baking itself, to the presentation of everything that I serve, it all matters. And there’s so much thought that goes into it all. There’s nothing quite like seeing people enjoy things that you make. It’s all just a special feeling for me and I’m so happy that I decided to just “Go for it” when it came to turning this hobby into something a little more serious!

The appreciation for the support from so many, in both businesses, is something I can’t quite put into words. I’ve been truly blessed with the best and have had so many opportunities come my way over the past few years because of these small businesses of mine. Can’t wait to see what else the future holds. My wheels are always turning when it comes to my creative energy!

Contact Info:

• Website: etsy.com/shop/leatherandmoxie
• Instagram: @leatherandmoxie
• Facebook: Moxie Cookie Co.
• Other: Facebook: Leather+Moxie