We recently connected with Sarah Kelsey and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Sarah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
In the summer of 2014, fresh from a divorce and living with my parents, I was fairly strapped for cash but still wanted to make a statement on the weekends at the horse shows I was competing at. I had a rather nice barrel racing mare named Josie (East Bound Jet) who provided some residual income for me on the weekends by pulling checks, and I decided to use some of that money to start embellishing my own shirts at my mothers kitchen table. In October we were going to be competing at the All American Quarter Horse Congress, the largest single breed horse show in the world. My mom had sewn me a custom shirt- red, complete with black fringe across the back and down the arms, and of course covered in crystals. While in my hotel room one night waiting for Roger to return from California, I decided I needed some accessories to match this awesome shirt- begin Rhinestone Lipgloss. I created a pair of earrings to match my outfit, and the next day I ran my pattern in them. Quite a few girls came up to me at the show and asked how I was running in earrings so big and heavy (never being a ‘Queen’ of any kind, I had no idea that heavy earrings were such an awful thing) I pulled them out and handed them over, commenting that they were not heavy at all- and they were shocked. A couple of them even asked to buy them right there! I said no, (I still have the very first pair I made lol) but that I would make them a pair. After returning home from Congress, I had done some thinking, and clearly there was a market for these- who doesn’t like bling, especially COMFORTABLE bling?! So, with $85 left over from a check that Josie had won for me, I began the paperwork needed to make RL official. I had started a Facebook page a while earlier, so I added an Instagram pages. We set up a booth at a small local rodeo, and the main item of intrigue was my earrings.
An important piece of information here is that I have a degree in Mandarin Chinese- I graduated from The Ohio State University in 2011, and in the fall of 2014 when this whole adventure started, I was working as a translator in the Tool and Die industry. My husband, after seeing how quickly this little hobby of mine had started to grow, watched me lose more and more of my sanity trying to keep up with Facebook orders and my 9-5. “You need to make a decision,” he encouraged.
WHAT KIND OF PERSON WALKS AWAY FROM A 9-5, WITH BENEFITS, RETIREMENT, all of the things you need to be “adulting” to attach rhinestones to things? A crazy kind. A brave kind. A kind that knows if she doesn’t take the leap, right this very moment, that she will never ever know what might have been.
So, after running some numbers, and seeing that we were just as busy after Christmas as we were before, I leapt. In February of 2015, just 6 months after making myself a pair of earrings to match the shirt my momma made me, I left my “big-girl job” that I had spent an entire college career preparing for, to do what I loved on a daily basis. Best. MOST TERRIFYING. Decision. Ever. Now its all ancient history. Was it scary? Absolutely. Were there times I thought “Holy Smokes- what did I just do?” Of course. Was it worth it? Times a MILLION.
It’s important to be clear that I didn’t just do this on a whim- there were months of running numbers, exploring other market potentials, and being as sure as I could (nothing in life is guaranteed, right?!) that it would work. If you would have told me in 2014 that I would own a building, complete with AirBnB’s for our clients, and design jewelry that would ship all over the world- I would have laughed in your face. However, I have learned to surround myself with people that I could learn from. Jewelry and accessories have become a second language to me- and I love it.
I truly believe that you can make a living off of whatever sets your soul on fire. For me, its making things shiny with the best, most high quality stones in the entire world. Here’s the secret- you can’t just like it. You have to LIVE it. Every single waking moment of every single day there is something in my head about one aspect or another of RL. I still ride, I’m a wife, a daughter, and a friend, but mostly, I’m an entrepreneur. RL is constantly changing. I don’t always know what the change is, but I’ve learned to listen to my clients – If I had made RL into what I wanted it to be, I would still be working the same 9-5, setting up a little booth at horse shows and rodeos, making a little bit of extra money. But, because our clients made clear what was wanted from us, I have been able to mold this into a VERY successful company.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
In addition to reminding our followers and clients that they can make a living doing ANYTHING that sets their soul on fire with jewelry from Rhinestone Lipgloss, we also create pieces in our Sarah Kelsey Design line that take crystal (bedazzled) art to the next level, creating stunning show-stopping pieces that are truly one of a kind. Every design is incredibly detailed and rich with hand set crystals placed with intention. Our clientele are seeking conversation pieces that will last a lifetime, which is why our stones are of the highest quality. Each crystallized creation is built to inspire individuality and give you what no one else has.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Since the beginning of our company in 2015 (officially), we were contracted and licensed with Swarovski Crystals. We LOVED the brand, the quality, and the history of the company. Fast forward to late 2020, we received a call in November that all house accounts would be closing and that after 30 days we would no long be able to purchase our crystals- talk about one last punch in the face from that awful year- and we were in the middle of our Christmas rush. We were fortunate enough to have enough inventory on hand to complete our custom orders, but this was still a HUGE blow. After researching nearly every crystal company in the world, we decided to piece together our own stone collection that could never be jerked out from under us. This ‘happy accident’ also allowed us to sell our stones to other designers as well as the DIY clients who could no longer find a quality stone in the retail market. Having to pivot like this truly ended up being a blessing, but we had to wether the storm in order to see it that way!
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
The best way to support artists is obviously to purchase their work- but that isn’t always an option! In our opinion, the very best next this is SPREAD THE WORD! Like, share, comment, tag… any opportunity to share someones life work with another individual who may enjoy it (or know someone else who would!) is truly SUCH an amazing way to help brands grow!!
Contact Info:
- Website: RhinestoneLipgloss.Com also SarahKelseyDesigns.com
- Instagram: @RhinestoneLipgloss @Sarah.kelsey.designs
- Facebook: Facebook.com/RhinestoneLipgloss
- Linkedin: Sarah Kelsey
Image Credits
Rick Martinez for headshot