Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Samantha Rollins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Samantha, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

In order to be successful, I believe it takes a deep understanding of who you are and where you’re going. Whenever there are moments of doubt or disarray, I always anchor myself in the knowing that I am creating my reality and have only gotten to where I am now by learning, failing, growing, and moving. Over the years I’ve gotten much clearer on who I am as a person by focusing on the things I love, the people I love, and the activities my body loves. By keeping myself healthy and my mind free of clutter, I’m able to funnel my energy into growing my business and deepening the relationships that add value into my life. On top of knowing oneself, I think its essential to have a brief understanding of all elements of a business: financial, project management, time management, communication, psychology, sales, creativity, social media, etc. If you have soft skills in each discipline, you’ll be able to put together the pieces and communicate your bigger picture ideas when delegating work to others.

Most importantly, I believe that a foundation rooted in love can help propel someone into success. My yoga practice and relationship to my yoga community has created a safe space for me to explore my creativity and encourages me to always keep elevating. I always fall back on one of my favorite quotes that I have posted on my fridge: “Elevate. Each day, live to elevate yourself, each day elevate one person. Make elevation your religion and you shall reach infinity.” — Harbhajan Singh Yogi

Samantha, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My small business name is: Bass Chains (pronounced “base” as it refers to the bass sound coming from speakers). I provide stylish, sexy, minimal chains that connect to your earplugs so you can boogie on the dancefloor hands-free and never lose your earplugs again! I am bridging the gap between hearing protection, functionality, and fashion.

I am a HUGE music lover- all different genres from house to blues to techno to hip-hop. I grew up going to live music shows with my dad almost everything other weekend. I am naturally drawn to the speaker and always try to go as close to the stage as possible to really ~feel~ the music. Since moving to San Diego in 2018, I have immersed myself in the dance music scene. San Diego has provided a safe space for me to explore the depths of each micro-genre of dance music. My mom is deaf in her right ear due to an acoustic neuroma at age 18, so she has always been very sensitive to sound. Because of this, I have always been hyper-aware of how fragile our sense of hearing is to our body awareness and relationship with the outside world. Since my mom knows how much I love music and how often I go to shows, she gifted me with my first pair of earplugs back in 2018. I denied wearing them at first but over time I learned to feel more comfortable with the habit of putting them in my ears.

Fast forward 5 years later, and Bass Chains was born on the dancefloor. I had taken my earplugs out of my ears, fumbled to put them back in their small case, and subsequently lost them into the abyss. At the time I was using the Loop Earplugs which are designed with a sort-of circular ring that sits in the concha of the ear. The design of the earplugs provided an opportunity for connection. I was inspired to attach a simple clip to the loop at the end of a chain that wrapped around my neck so I would never lose the earplugs again. I created my first Bass Chain, made a reel on Instagram to share with my dance music community, and the rest is history. Friends and strangers started ordering through Instagram and the Bass Chains Etsy page. I am now 1.5 years strong and have sold over 300 Bass Chains!

Over the past few months, I’ve been focusing more of my efforts on providing custom chain sessions at my house. Lots of customers have reached out to me over Instagram to book a 30 min time slot with me! Some customers come with pendants or charms that they would like to add to the chain or they pick out from the options that I already have available. I make sure the size fits with their neck and the charms are placed in the right place. I’ve had a lot of fun hosting as it allows me to connect with the customer on a personal level and understand what events or shows they’re looking forward to wearing their Bass Chain. It allows my creativity to flow in a more intimate setting. If you’d like a custom session, feel free to DM @basschains!

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I unexpectedly became a jewelry designer when I started Bass Chains. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I needed to research and hunt for all of the best materials and tools. My first step was going to a local bead shop in my town and the owner took me under her wing and taught me all of the basics- how to open a jump ring, how to turn a bead into a charm, what the different jewelry terms mean. I went through so many iterations of designs and tried many different chains. My first version used a very basic chain that ended up proving to be bad quality. I took the chains to Lightning in a Bottle, the first festival where I started selling Bass Chains on the dancefloor. I saw that a lot of the chains were tarnishing quickly when exposed to sunscreen, oil, and water. I knew in that moment that I needed to switch to stainless steel and 24k gold plated chain. I didn’t want to sell a product that was poor quality.

Since then, I’ve sourced most of my chain and materials from other Etsy shops or my local bead shop. I have been the only one consistently making the chains myself- it usually takes me 20 mins to complete a chain. When I’ve had some big orders or am prepping to sell at a festival, I’ve asked a few of my girlfriends to help me! I foresee in the near future hiring someone part-time in order to prepare for more bulk orders.

It was important for me to stay patient and move forward with grace. I’ve learned which chains, styles, and materials were not up to my standard and I’ve evolved the design to be more attractive. I’ve received feedback from friends and Etsy sales that has allowed me to continue changing the materials to meet the customer’s needs or desires. As I learned in my construction/architecture experience, hundreds of design iterations are necessary for success.

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

Currently I am only selling on Etsy since I receive a lot of orders from all over the country. Customers can find me by searching on Etsy for “earplug necklace chains”, “earplug connectors”, “earplug chains”, “earplug earrings”, “rave fashion”, etc. Using Etsy has proved to be very successful for me- I’ve received amazing reviews, I am able to track the quantity and cost of sales, and I’m able to interact with customers through Etsy’s user friendly platform. The only con is that Etsy takes a percentage of the sale for their own fees. I do appreciate that I can purchase a pre-paid shipping label through the Etsy dashboard.

Eventually I do want to put together my own Shopify website to help with brand recognition and have a landing page for my customers. I want to partner with local music collectives and festivals to provide custom chains for their followers!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/basschains/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samantharollins8/
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/BassChains

Image Credits
Samantha Rollins