We recently connected with Wendy Hively and have shared our conversation below.

Wendy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I’ve been a creative my entire life, but discovered jewelry about 15 years ago. Turning that hobby into a business was never my plan, as I’ve worked full-time as a scientist for over 30 years. But the siren call of entrepreneurship drew me in and I paired my love of jewelry-making with my legacy as a military spouse to start Charliemadison Originals. The business was named after my daughters – Charlotte and Madison, which was my husband’s idea and is a nod to family ties and our belief in community.

We are a military family with three generations and four service branches of veterans, which led us to create jewelry that helps fellow military families tell their unique stories through everyday jewelry that keeps them connected to family and friends near and far and reassures them that they’re not alone during the uncertainty of military life. We’ve also grown a community of military families around the world that inspires and supports one another – a unique approach to bringing military families together and giving them something tangible to wear each day.

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.

Though we make jewelry, Charliemadison Originals isn’t just decorating your wrist. We create jewelry that unites the military community, inspires connection through all seasons of military life, and gives back to nonprofit organizations. Our bracelets are your tangible “everyday reminders that every day matters®” – your anchor to faraway family and friends and to our community, filled with families like yours, who understand the sacrifices of military life. Collaboration and giving back are the heart of our mission. We are proud to honor the three generations of our family who served by collaborating with non-profit organizations to shine a light on their missions and by giving back 5% of your purchase to non-profits that support military service members and their families.

We are a mother-daughter military family duo inspiring a community of military families to stay connected to each other and loved ones through our meaningful jewelry and our mission. Each piece empowers you to stay focused on the moments that matter, keeps you connected to your family and friends near and far, and reassures you that you’re not alone during the uncertainty of military life.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One of my biggest lessons was giving up control of everything in my business as I grew. When I first started, as is the case with many new entrepreneurs, I was doing all the things – creating, photography, order processing, packing, marketing, bookkeeping, etc. It was great to know how to do all the things the way I thought they should be done, but as my business grew, I knew I needed help. One of my mentors told me to make a list of all the things I do in my business and then circle the ones I either didn’t like to do or wasn’t very good at. Those were the first things I outsourced or passed along to someone else.

I began by outsourcing to fellow military spouse-owned businesses – things like copywriting, bookkeeping, and graphic design. I was always very intentional with choosing to hire military spouses because I know firsthand how difficult it is to find and keep a job with the frequency of military relocations. A few years ago, I was incredibly fortunate to have my daughter come to work with me and she has been a blessing and an inspiration. Not only has she taken over a large number of business tasks, but she’s infused our marketing with some new vibes and is a wizard at videos.

Knowing that I had to outsource and let go of things I was holding onto so tightly was a difficult lesson, but once I realized that I couldn’t be good at everything, I handed off the things others could do much better than me and I narrowed my focus to my own zone of genius, which freed up more time and energy for me.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Our target clientele/customers are military spouses and families that love their active-duty servicembers or veterans. We have focused on community-building and listening to our customers. The most important part of the Charliemadison brand is our community and we work very hard to make sure our customers are happy, heard, and feel like they are part of our family – they’re not just another sale.

We’ve grown a large Facebook group that is free to join and is filled with military families and loyal customers – we call them our “Insiders.” We give them a behind-the-scenes look at the brand and our studio, host giveaways every month, hold special events just for them, and ask them to share what they would like us to improve on or develop in the future. Many of the products you see in our shop are there as a direct result of a suggestion from our community. They are the heart and soul of our brand and are the reason we’ve been able to give back over $25K to military-affiliated non-profit organizations!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://charliemadisonoriginals.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charliemadisonoriginals
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charliemadisonoriginals
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-hively-359109116/

Image Credits
Originations Photography and Taylor Dawn Photo