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

Virginia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

I Am. Bracelets was born from a problem that I had as a mom and busy professional. I was always admiring beautiful jewelry but never invested in it. I wondered why that was. I made myself put on a few pieces that I loved throughout the week and paid attention. I felt beautiful and glamorous so why not wear it all the time?!? I realized the experience of putting it on and taking it off by myself was an annoying one!!! It’s early in the morning, I’m rushing to get the kids ready, get my make up on and clothes picked out. I would struggle put bracelets on with one had so id say forget it and walk out of the house without it. When I shared this with Sara she whole heartedly agreed. Right then, I AM. Bracelets was born, our magnet clasp and goal of easy jewelry was achieved.

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.

Virginia: In my younger years, I worked for a company that sold tools and supplies to make jewelry. Of course, knowing how to use the tools was handy during these events so I picked up all the tips and tricks. Our goal was to not just know how to use the tools but to help trouble shoot jewelry problems as an added bonus for working with us. I quickly moved to making gong jewelry projects to post online. I used our products to make these pieces and created instructions for our customers. I still have several pieces online and have been featured in a magazine. Fast forward 18 years… When trying to decide what kind of business we should open with my bestie, we landed on drawing from my past experience.

Sara: My second job ever, was at a small jewelry store near the house I grew up in. I learned basic sales, all about gold, the different karats, the silver and wow, I didn’t ever think the knowledge would be so useful. When V (Virginia) and I began tossing the idea around about opening a business it was clear that jewelry was the way to go. We both love it, we both wanted to wear it more but the problem remained, it was a total pain in the a%$ to get it on – most of the time! So V had experience making it and I had some knowledge. We put that knowledge together and the idea blew up SO fast from there. At first, it was a tough choice deciding if we simply resale pieces or make our own. There are so many jewelry companies though, we definitely wanted to be different and be set apart from your average jewelry company… so we pulled the trigger. The decision was clear, handmade easy jewelry. All our jewelry is handmade and designed to be ‘easy’ to get on, because we know if its easy and you love it, you’ll wear it more often.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

My best friend and I put together about $500 each to get this business started. I think one of the hardest parts of this was growing slow from starting from such a small seed. Like anything else, we learned that there is no replacement for hard work and diligence. There is no magic switch that you can flip that will get you noticed. You have to be consistent, flexible and notice when something is not working and pivot until you see results. Through this process, you will find your people. Not just your loyal clients but the businesses that came before you that will help show you the way.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

We could name a million points of resiliency through this short time that we’ve been in business. Oh, the amount of times that we’d show up to a market and walk out with no money. Or how about the times when we put so much time, effort and love into a collection that just didn’t sell?! To get up the next day and keep doing what we love… The best advice we can give is, take the information you have and use it to understand your demographic or market better. At the markets we made no money at, but there was plenty of foot traffic for, it was important to ask our selves, “did we do something different today?” or “should we set up in a different spot next time?”. This would help us to understand the why. We’d make a change and notice the difference, walking away with valuable information. Over time, this data helped us to understand and choose the better markets for our business, areas of the valley for our company, etc.. Same with a new collection that didn’t fly off the shelf. If a new collection didn’t sell, we’d examine it. Be honest with yourself and ask yourself, what was different about this one? We also ask our customers for feedback. The answers are there, you just have to open your eyes to see them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://iambraceletsaz.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iam.braceletsaz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IAM.bracelets23/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/iambracelets

Image Credits

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