We recently connected with Whitney Ferrin and Leah Nielson and have shared our conversation below.
Whitney and Leah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
First, let us introduce ourselves: We are Whitney Ferrin and Leah Nielson (hence how the name Felson was born..) We are the dynamic duo behind Felson Jewelry. We’ve been best friends since elementary school, and we’ve been through it all together – from awkward high school dances, to the trenches of motherhood, and everything in between. We even traveled to China to teach English together when we were in college. What an adventure that was!
Our latest adventure has been starting this jewelry business together. It all came about after we had a negative experience at a piercing studio… The earrings they used to pierce us with were sharp and kept poking us while we slept… We weren’t fans of that!
After scouring the internet for what we were looking for, we came up empty handed. We were tired of not being able to find the kind of jewelry we wanted on the market – pieces that were stylish, unique, comfortable to sleep in, tarnish resistant, AND affordable! We also wanted pieces that could stand up to our adventurous lifestyles (we both like running, lifting weights, hiking, biking, etc.) That’s when we decided to start this shop! We were aware of other jewelry brands, but none had exactly what we wanted to create, or quite fit our niche. We saw a space for jewelry targeted towards athletic and adventurous women, and knew we wanted our motto to be; “Swim, Sleep, Sweat, Adventure!”
We poured our hearts and souls into creating unique designs that met our criteria, and set out to finding a manufacturer that could bring our ideas to reality. May 1st will be our first year-in-business anniversary! We have learned a lot this year as new business owners, and had a great time along the way! We are excited to be sponsors for a few upcoming women’s races and events this summer. We love supporting women and pride ourselves in making jewelry as incredible as the women who wear it!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you tell us more about your product?
Here at Felson, we use surgical grade stainless steel which is safe for extended wear and hypoallergenic for sensitive ears! Our gold pieces are coated with 18k PVD gold plating. PVD stands for Physical Vapor Deposition. This method of plating is widely recognized as one of the best methods for coating metal objects with a layer of gold. Unlike traditional gold plating, which involves an electrolytic process, PVD plating is a vacuum deposition process that creates a bond between the gold and the substrate at a molecular level. This results in a much thicker, more durable, and more uniform layer of gold that is less likely to wear off or tarnish over time. (Making it “Swim, Sleep, Sweat and Adventure Proof!!!) 🙌🏻 We design our “sleeper stud” earrings with comfortable screw on ball backs, making them perfect to sleep in and leave in 24/7. We also have a unique line of earrings called our “Back Drop Collection” These are designed to be interchangeable with our other studs and hoops so that our customers can mix and match and achieve multiple looks! Our brand is focused on making jewelry as incredible as the women who wear it!
Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.
When we were first starting out, we reached out to multiple companies overseas and in the U.S. After lots of emails, phone calls, and zoom meetings, we narrowed it down to 3 different companies based in China.
We ordered samples from all 3 manufacturers (a custom design we came up with) and decided to test the products and compare the quality, durability, etc. We knew we wanted something that we could confidently stand behind, so we both tested the earrings for over 6 months just to ensure they held up, didn’t tarnish, and were the quality we were searching for. After discussing pricing, designs, and MOQ (minimum order quantities) we decided to move forward with 2 of the 3 manufacturers, and still use them both for different designs we have in our shop today.
We have learned to be very clear and concise when communicating with our manufacturers because of the time difference and language barriers between us. Things can take longer than usual to resolve since Leah lives in Utah, Whitney lives in Alaska, and the manufacturer’s are in China. It can be a lot of work scheduling just a simple zoom call while balancing our stay at home mom duties and family time. We have had to be intentional about our time and conversations. We also utilize apps like “WhatsApp” and “Marco Polo” to communicate.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Local markets and pop up shops have been huge for our small business. We are proud to say we have had lots of repeat customers as well, which makes us so happy to hear people are loving our products! We are excited to have a booth at the Utah Valley Marathon, and at Pinner’s Conference in Utah this fall. We can’t wait to meet even more amazing people, which is one of our favorite parts of this job!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.felsonjewelry.com
- Instagram: @felsonjewelry
- Facebook: Felson Jewelry
Image Credits
Lindzee Merrill Photography @lindzeemerrill.commercial