We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Xenia Mateiu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Xenia , appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

As an entrepreneur, I believe it takes a lot of courage to build success. It requires planning and at the same time staying flexible, see what works through trial and error, problem solving, staying consistent in your work and always learning new things that help your business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

My name is Xenia Mateiu and I own the crystal/gift shop Village Rock Shop in Carlsbad, CA. I had almost a decade experience before opening my store and I wanted to source crystals ethically and have a welcoming environment where people could come and learn about the crystals if they were beginners or just curious, have also collectors pieces if they were really knowledgeable about crystals and provide other locally made gifts. I felt very strong about building personal relationships with my crystal suppliers and ordering directly from the source and not from large companies. One of my favorite parts of my business is talking to my suppliers from all over the world while ordering the crystals, I love hearing their stories about how they collected them, they’re process of polishing or cutting them, the mineral composition, how they work with their contacts or sometimes just about the area a person lives in and their culture. Bringing locally made products into my store has also been a very important part of my business. I work with artisans and crafters that have unique, high quality products like handmade candles, jewelry and dreamcatchers. Working with locals not only helps my store and the artisans, but also the local economy and keeps the local culture alive. It provides our community and visitors with something special, that they cannot find anywhere else.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I think as your business is growing, you have to learn how to delegate and that you can’t do everything yourself. I have learned that there simply wan’t enough time to do everything myself and it also wasn’t necessary stressing so much over it. It was really difficult asking for help or relying on others for jobs that needed completed in both the background and the front of my business. While it does take some managing and learning peoples strengths when you are working with someone, it has proven so lovely to have the extra support. Creating jobs and hiring people has definitely helped me grow my business or take it to the next stage, keep expanding. I have also learned to give clear task and talk upfront about everyones expectations, boundaries and allow room to stay flexible and listen to others if there are more efficient ways of doing a job.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I only opened an Instagram account when I opened my business 3 years ago. And even though we are doing ok on social media I wish I had built it much sooner. It would have helped to have an audience and clients when I opened the store. It felt quite overwhelming at first to learn my way around Instagram but I ended up just doing it my own way and not paying attention to how others were doing it or trying to grow it fast. It has grown organically with people that are actually our customers and not just a high number of followers that doesn’t necessarily translate to purchases.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.villagerockshop.com
• Instagram: Village Rock Shop Official
• Facebook: Village Rock Shop
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsjrtyQ7UF7lagYt6gaq1yg
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/village-rock-shop-carlsbad