Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Stef Salcedo. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Stef, thanks for joining us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
I am a mother to 2 kids and 2 bonus kids. Out of those children 3 of them are girls, when I started to think of a business name I knew from the very start that I wanted something to do with my daughters names. Nothing came to mind at first, no names that went together, even abbreviations that would spell out their initials or names. I stayed up one morning until 4am and it came to me, it all of a sudden flowed in the manner I hoped. Ojos de Gitana, ODG, Ocean, Diamond, Gianna. My girls, what why and who this brand was built for so that later down the line the legacy I leave is for my girls to carry over. It’s very special to me and it’s very meaningful, most of my collections are inspired from their names as well.
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
My name is Stef and I hold many titles but one of them that I am most proud of achieving this past year is the title of being a small business owner. A jewelry designer and creator. An outlet for me to create conscious healing and protective jewelry. My brand entails making jewelry that is associated with the evil eye, Azabache, and crystal gems, all of those combined belong to the metaphysical world. But anything you give thought and power to can come alive and work for you in the way you intentionally believe it to work and protect you. I specialize in a lot of custom work, so many people love the idea of creating jewelry that is personalized and custom to them one of one.
On top of making these one of a kind pieces I really excel at providing the best customer service for my customers and they know it. I love meeting and coming across so many people, interacting with them, learning more together, teaching them something they didn’t know about a crystal or a story behind the evil eye. I always show my customers samples of their visions that are asked to come to light. My motto for my business is “Everything is better when you attain exactly what you are seeking.” When you come to me with an idea I try my very best to make it exactly the way you want it. One of the best feelings you can give someone.
I have sacrificed a lot to be where I am and I will keep working hard to keep pushing and bringing my brand to bigger opportunities. I created everything from the logo, to the motto, the packaging, the details, the business cards, the marketing, the form of payment everything has been me, and all k keep telling myself is if you want it bad enough you’ll get it. Believing is achieving and I believe I will crush my business goals because this is bigger than me.
When I receive pictures and messages regarding my pieces that I’ve created it really is so surreal. Knowing my bracelets are out there being worn, my necklaces, my rings, my brand. Ojos de Gitana is pure, refreshing, delicate, clean, and most of all filled with such magic love energy.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
The way I have been building new clientele is picking out another small business and sending them a pack from my business customized to their business color or their liking from observing certain things off their Instagram. For example if someone’s business is clothes I will do a keychain or a bracelet with the name of their business.
If they post a lot of the same colors on their content or their story I choose designs and bracelets that match those colors. It’s at random and every month I try to at least pick one and when they receive their package tagging my Instagram or posting my jewelry pieces usually intrigues a lot of people to check my page out and send me a message to place an order.
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
Those who have ordered from me I love to keep in touch by asking how their bracelets are holding up, or if they bought for someone, share if they liked it or their thoughts. I like to interact with everyone’s stories that I follow back, like their posts, and overall keep in touch.
With the type of work I do sometimes people ask me things about how to use crystals, or how to use sage to clean, or the other types of metaphysical items I sell. We almost create a style of bond and it’s worked out great to be able to maintain some type of connection or contact with people I’ve met through placing an order for my business.
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