We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Xanath Guzman-Small. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Xanath below.

Hi Xanath, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

Ever since the idea of starting my own jewelry line popped in my head, I knew I wanted to use it as a way to give back to a cause I am so passionate about: animal welfare. While I wasn’t able to donate a portion of each sale right away when I started Bow+Hoop, I was still able to work in donation specials such a limited edition pieces that gave back.

After about a year and a half of growing my business, I was officially able announce that a portion of each and every sale will be donated to different animal rescues both in and outside of Arizona! Every quarter, Bow+Hoop chooses a new organization to donate to and has been able to impact multiple organizations doing amazing work to help animals.

With the support of Bow+Hoop’s amazing community and customers, I’ve been able to be a part of multiple fundraising events over the last year and our donation is able to grow every quarter! Very sales helps us bring hope to animals that need it most and I am so excited it see where our mission takes us.

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?

My name is Xanath and I am the creator of Bow+Hoop Jewelry! This jewelry collection has always been a dream of mine and combines my passions of making art and helping animals. Bow+Hoop was truly founded on the belief that jewelry can make you feel beautiful both inside and out. I am able to achieve that goal by crafting jewelry made from the high quality materials and donating a portion of each sale to animal rescues!

The idea for Bow+Hoop started about 5 years ago when I really wanted to find a way to tap into by creative side again. I had tried different art medium such as macrame, painting, embroidery, and so on. Nothing quite clicked, but I did keep coming back to making jewelry and working with metals. While I had this idea for a business, something kept holding me back and it wasn’t until the end of 2019 that I finally decided to take the leap and start posting about my jewelry.

Something that makes Bow+Hoop stand out is the quality of our pieces. Every piece is handmade using high quality metals and gemstones. Every piece is waterproof and is truly made to be worn every day since it will never fade or turn your skin green. As for our gemstones, I always use the most beautiful stones such as opals, citrine, moonstone, and more.

On our philanthropy side, I have had the amazing opportunity to donate to a variety of organizations both in and outside of Arizona! While the donations started small, with the support of our amazing customers our donations have grown each quarter and Bow+Hoop has been invited to participants in fundraising events across the valley. When I see the impact Bow+Hoop has had, it’s truly proven that my dreams are coming true and it would not be possible without my amazing customers!

It’s been an amazing journey over the last 3 years that has included a lot of learning, building a community, and making an impact on animal welfare. I am so excited to grow this business and continue to make beautiful, meaningful pieces for amazing people!

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

It is so incredibly important to be connected to your customers and truly create a community and loyalty. I mostly sell online to clients across the country, so social media has been the key to creating that community. Here are a few things I always do to connect with my clients.

Learn their name! If there is someone who comments on my post or if I’m sending someone a message, I feel like it is so important to include their name. I get so many messages that address me as Bow+Hoop or nothing at all, even though my name is right in my in my profile. It feel very impersonal. Knowing and using someone’s name when communicating adds such a personal touch and shows that you want to know the person and took the time to connect.

Reply to each comment and message! If someone takes the time to engage with you on social media, you have to engage right back! Not only does engage help grow you business, but you also get to connect with so manny amazing people (which is my favorite part of owning a business).

Include a hand written thank you note with orders! This has been and will always be a key aspect of Bow+Hoop. For each order, I take the time to write a personal note to the client. If it is someone who has ordered before or someone I have talked to on social media, I’ll include that in the note. I hope this make each client feel special and I’m proud to be able to do that for them!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

To build a great reputation, I think it is so important to be authentic and create products that you are proud of!

Being authentic in business and social media is something everyone should do because people want to connect with a real person. Social media allows people to see the behind the scenes of a business and get to know the business owner. If you aren’t being your authentic self, you won’t be able to create those meaningful connections and it will build distrust with potential clients.

Another key point that has helped me build my reputation is creating jewelry that I am proud of. Each and every piece in my collection is something I personally wear and can stand behind. It not only helps display the quality and passion I have for my jewelry, but it also shows that I only sell pieces that I would wear myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bow-hoop.com
• Instagram: @bow.and.hoop
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/bow.and.hoop
• Linkedin: www.LinkedIn.com/in/xanathguzman/