We were lucky to catch up with Sara Grayson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

To be successful as a business owner, it’s so important to have determination and consistency. There were many times, especially in the beginning days of my business, where I couldn’t figure out the right way to market my products or I couldn’t reach my target social media audience. However, it was times like these that taught me patience and encouraged me to work harder to accomplish my goals. Nothing this special is going to be easy to accomplish, and I had to learn that the hard way. I had to continue to be consistent with hopes of growing a customer base and following. There were many nights I went with no sleep but look at how far I have come today. It is also very important to have a vision and a strategy within your business. Set big achievable goals and work towards them everyday.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Sara! I’m a 22 year old entrepreneur and small business owner of Blue Bay Clay handmade jewelry and Blue Bay Boutique! I have been a clay earring designer and artist for over two years, having created thousands of styles of all different shapes and designs. Blue Bay Clay was started in 2020. Desperate for a new hobby, I began playing around with clay. Unexpectedly, my passion grew stronger for clay art and I fell in love with creating and designing clay earrings. I was in college at the time, so I was learning to juggle a busy class schedule along with creating and selling my jewelry. I began selling my jewelry online and gifting earrings to friends and family. I also had the privilege of selling my earrings in many small boutiques and gift shops across the state. At this point in time, I was cycling all profits being made back into the business in hopes of growing to a larger scale. In April of 2022, I added the boutique to the business, setting up at vendor events and doing pop-up events as much as possible. By this time I had created my own website and had over 800 earrings up for sale online. There were many times that I found it very challenging to run the boutique, make earrings, and also keep up with my classes. However, I was so determined and willing to make sacrifices in order to make my business a success.
In May of 2022, I graduated from college on a pre med track. I made the decision to pursue my dreams of working for myself, growing this small business into everything that it is today. Since being out of school, I have been able to put so much more time and effort into the business, expanding and exploring many new opportunities. I have started to wholesale my handmade earrings all across the US and I am scheduled to set up at multiple wholesale trade shows this year. I have also been able to network and partner with many other shops and businesses in the midwest, selling my earrings in many different locations.
In January of 2023, I was presented an opportunity to open a storefront location within the Painted Tree Boutiques shop set to open in Montgomery, Ohio in March of 2023. This space has allowed me to sell my handmade earrings (Blue Bay Clay) and also the Blue Bay Boutique clothing and accessories. Since then I have opened 5 other locations within the Painted Tree Boutiques stores in multiple different locations including Gastonia, North Carolina, Cary, North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Crestview Hills, Kentucky. Every bit of my growth and success wouldn’t be possible without my amazing supporters and customers. I currently have 6 shopping locations within the Painted Tree and can’t wait to see how many more locations we add to the map in 2024!

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

After graduating in May of 2022, I gave myself a one year deadline. I had decided that I was going to work tirelessly, over the course of the next 12 months, to try my hardest to make my small business a booming full time gig. The next 12 months were the hardest and most challenging times I have experienced in the business thus far. There were countless sleepless nights, followed by many risks and big decisions I had to make. By the grace of God, I was able to accomplish my goal and now have grown the business to the point of where I am starting to hire employees onto my team.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I believe that brand awareness and expansion of your business are key to the success and growth. With every new store I have added, a new clientele of people have come along with it. What I have learned is that right now, there are thousands of people who would love your brand if they only knew about it. So that right there, is my strategy. Expand into different states, expand into different clienteles of people, and expand your product options if necessary.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bluebayclay.com
• Instagram: @bluebayclay & @bluebayboutiques
• Facebook: @bluebayclay & @bluebayboutiques
• Other: bluebayclay@gmail.com bluebayboutiques@gmail.com