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

Rosie , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My mom never ceases her support. She is the biggest cheerleader for my sister and I. Being a single parent to two girls was not easy for her. She had to figure out things as they came along, (FLAWLESSLY I might add) and worked so hard to make sure my sister and I had the best.

It’s so easy for me to get in my head, to overthink and underestimate everything. My mom helps me A LOT with stopping those intrusive thoughts to help me move forward and most of all; Believe that good things can happen.

I remember when I told her I wanted to start an online store, her reply was a simple and supportive “Ok” and STILL gets excited when my phone rings with a new order. She opens up amazing possibilities that I don’t usually see for myself, and centers me when my mind goes a million places at once. I am very very lucky.

Rosie , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Rosie, I am the shop owner of “Magic Bloom Studio”

I started my shop on instagram in 2018, and moved on to ETSY in 2020 at the peak of the pandemic. After over 1,400 sales and counting; I have opened a shopify store, begun creating laser printed acrylic jewelry, and have grown my insta following tremendously!

My items are all handmade and assembled by me. Most of my items are made of Resin, Acrylic, Wood, Shrink plastic and I even 3d print as well.

The “brand” of my shop is Nostalgia/History/Nature. I love using pressed flowers, and also leaning on my nostalgic side creating “Roger Rabbit” earrings and also my beloved “Polly Pocket” earrings. My art style goes everywhere, I really instill in myself that if it sounds like a good idea: Try it.

I also do custom work too, which has made me really happy. Customers can create one of a kind items that no one else will ever have. It’s been my favorite kind of orders to send out.

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

POST. SHARE. CREATE.

Instagram has been a struggle and also a saving grace for my business. The algorithm can be very frustrating for some (including me) to get content seen by the right audience.

POST: even if it’s old content, older products that need to get seen more by your followers, or just posts that introduce you and your shop, and your life outside of your business. It’s great for your followers to know you’re active on your social media, that way in case they need to reach out to you OR they wear your jewelry and tag you. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, I post items sometimes with no real context except “Link in my bio” so your followers or new followers know where to look!

SHARE: Get to know the community of creators you’re a part of. Through insta i’ve made so many friends and gotten so many pointers on creating and even sharing content. Share their posts, encourage and uplift other artists! Someone sharing my post can get me 3-4 orders for that day alone, it’s a great way to build community and to fight the algorithm!

CREATE: I film a lot of really simple videos of me holding items, or just taking pictures of older items getting sold, or me packaging an order, just so I can have it on my phone and post later. This has helped me to create content for insta when I don’t have any collections going out or really anything being released that day. Its a reminder to my followers that those specific items are for sale! REELS are also great too! Work smarter, not harder!

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

I sell on Etsy and recently i’ve discovered a LOT of unnecessary fees for my shop:

Listing fees, transaction fees, advertising fees, etc can take a toll on small businesses. These fees PLUS reviews can really hurt our businesses more than help. During the etsy strike, my shop was not the busiest, and reviews under a 5 star rating can hide your shop and penalize you too.

NOW FOR THE PROS… Etsy is the number one selling platform for handmade items, it has brought me so many sales and returning customers. My shop has gone really well in that sense. I’ve gathered a very large audience.

Shopify has been amazing too, a lower transaction rate than ETSY for sure. The only challenge comes with advertising, which comes with being on my own!

My advice, is to build an audience first and then move on when the time is right. I am still on Etsy and shopify as well, but i’m hoping with my growing audience i’m able to merge to my own shop.

Contact Info:

• Website: Magicbloomstudio.com
• Instagram: Magic_Bloom_Studio
• Other: Etsy: Magicbloomstudio Linktree: https://linktr.ee/magic_bloom_studio