Women Business Owners | Jewelry Designer Blog

October 25, 2011

Top 100 Women Owned Businesses in Bay Area, We’re #87!

The San Francisco Business Times recently rated the Top 100 Largest Women Owned Bay Area Businesses and Nina Designs earned 87th place. They held a fancy dinner on the top floor of the Westin St. Francis Hotel. It was a great opportunity to connect with other fascinating business women. I loved the Biochemical Engineer who ran in late because she was trying to buy another company! The women owned diverse companies from IT, to staffing, to fashion. While acknowledging the challenges of the current economy, most of the women were optimistic that 2012 would be a great year. They stressed resilience, determination and value as key elements for success.

Nina with Publisher Mary Huss

Tasty Treats!

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October 18, 2011

Silver Pendants and Silicon Valley

Filed under: Business,Nina's Bookshelf — Tags: business tips, women business owners, working moms — nina @ 11:25 am

Silver Pendants and Silicon Valley might not appear to have much in common but as I sat listening to Sheryl Sandberg at the annual Professional Business Women’s Conference it was easy to relate to her story. Sandberg is Chief Operating Officer at Facebook, formerly of Google and a one time protege of Larry Summers at the World Bank. Sandberg is a powerful speaker with strong opinions. I particularly resonated with belief that it is important to bring your authentic self to work. Tony Hsieh of Zappos voices the same opinion in his book, Delivering Happiness. The desire to be authentic at work was one of the main reasons I built my own company so hearing Sandberg advocate this position from within a large corporation caught my attention.

Sheryl Sandberg of Facebook

Sandberg feels that women need to “lean in” to career opportunities. She notes that women often underestimate themselves or even feel like frauds. She thinks it is wiser for women to grab opportunities to advance as high as they can before they have children, rather than holding back and settling for less demanding positions. Whether or not you agree with her, she makes a powerful argument. While she does acknowledge that there is often a tradeoff between likeability and success for women her overall message is clear: Have Confidence!

You can read more about Sheryl Sandberg in The New Yorker
or watch her talk on TED.

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August 2, 2011

Jewelry Designer Success Story: Peggy Li Creations

Filed under: Success Stories — Tags: business tips, jewelry design, start a business, women business owners — juanita @ 10:20 am

Peggy Li is a jewelry designer who graduated from UC Berkeley with a science degree. When you see her jewelry it’s pretty clear she was destined for a creative career. She is a Bay Area local and can be found selling her creations at the Burlingame Farmer’s Market most Sundays. Although she never imagined one day owning a jewelry business, she’s been running Peggy Li Creations for ten years now. Peggy started designing jewelry for herself and her friends. When people started asking where they bought their jewelry, she figured she was on to something. Her jewelry is light and whimsical, feminine and timeless, and, above all, easy to wear. Peggy Li’s jewelry has been featured in magazines like Lucky and Oprah, as well as on TV shows like “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” and “Private Practice.”

She also blogs at Peggy Li: Musings of a Handmade Jewelry Designer, where she offers valuable posts on starting a jewelry business and lessons she has learned along the way. You can also find Peggy Li Creations on Facebook and Twitter as well. We tracked her down for a short interview. Here’s what she had to say:

What’s your favorite Nina Designs jewelry component?
My favorite is the simple hoop earring finding with a hammer finish. It is simple, elegant, but obviously handcrafted. It is the perfect beginning to beautiful designs. I believe this was the first Nina Designs item I purchased and I’ve been hooked ever since.

What are the biggest challenges you have faced as a jewelry designer?
I think the greatest challenge I’ve faced as a jewelry designer is to embrace the side of me that is entrepreneurial and creative and express it. When you run your own business, you have to live it 24/7 and I believe in trying to continue to grow, learn and understand my business. For a long time, I didn’t like talking about my jewelry design and my jewelry business — it wasn’t a “real” career to me, and yet my creative side kept me trying, pushing, and exploring where it could take me. My business has constantly rewarded me in return! It’s been a great ride and experience.

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June 23, 2011

How Core Values Support the Making of Silver Charms

Filed under: Business,Customer Service — Tags: jewelry business, silver charms, women business owners — juanita @ 10:37 am

Here at Nina Designs it is a priority not only to offer you inspiring silver charms and excellent customer service, but also to support each other as a team and challenge ourselves personally. While we’ve been doing this for 25+ years, we’ve recently decided to draft a set of meaningful core values that will guide each of us through our everyday decisions. Nina’s been reading many books on this process, and we started a book club so we could all help. Here are some of our initial thoughts.

After reading our first book, “Delivering Happiness,” by Tony Hsieh, we were most impressed by Zappos’ deceptively simple yet very meaningful list of core values that express their unique work culture and traits they would hire and fire by. Anyone who knows Zappos would recognize them by reading this list. During our book club meeting we immediately recognized that Nina Designs is similar to Zappos in one very fundamental way – we are both mail order companies. But while Zappos delivers happiness through speedy shipping and incredible customer service, we deliver inspiration through unique designs and support for women artisans and entrepreneurs.

It’s been 8 weeks since that initial meeting, and after much deliberation, we’ve drafted our core values. Here they are:

Brainstorming Session

Creativity
Creativity drives our designs, our problem solving and our approach to life.

Excellence
We design and sell excellent products. We deliver outstanding customer service.

Respect
We respect each other, our customers, our suppliers, our community and our environment. We treat others as we wish to be treated ourselves.

Teamwork
We are an upbeat team with a family spirit. We build authentic, supportive relationships through honest communication.

Initiative
We are self-motivated and responsible. We take the initiative to improve our personal performance, our products, our company and our community.

Inspiration
We deliver inspiration through our unique designs, our support for women artisans and entrepreneurs, and our progressive business model.

What do you think? Would you recognize us by this list?

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May 31, 2011

Jewelry Design Success Story: S.IN. Jewelry

Filed under: Success Stories — Tags: business tips, Inspiration, jewelry design, start a business, women business owners — juanita @ 11:53 am

Meet Dawn of S.IN. Industries

I consider myself lucky to work in a creative environment where women sketch silver charms, talented silversmiths bring them to life, and jewelry designers use them to make beautiful jewelry. Sometimes I even get an insider’s glimpse into the lives of jewelry designers when I meet them at tradeshows and talk to them over the phone. These little glimpses often fill me with inspiration and get me all pumped up to start a little side business of my own. Today I thought I’d share this inspiration with you by introducing Dawn Floen of S.IN. Jewelry.

Dawn is a successful jewelry designer living in Alberta, Canada. She is also a retired visual art teacher and a hobby photographer who enjoys finding and repurposing antiques from flea markets & yard sales. Her favorite holiday is scuba diving in Australia. And, her favorite bead buddy is her pomeranian, JJ, who loves to lounge on his pillow right next to her workbench. What’s really neat is how Dawn has integrated all her favorite activities into her daily life. Way to go Dawn! Thanks for sharing your story.

If you can remember, describe the first piece of jewelry you made. Do you still have it?
I started creating jewelry in 2006. It’s my friend’s fault. She was wearing a new beaded watch that I adored. I asked where she’d gotten it, and promptly went to the website. After seeing the prices, I decided I could make my own. After all, I was an art teacher. I can do this! So, I started where so many of us do. I went to Michael’s. I bought a few beads and supplies and made my first watch. It had teal ocean-coloured lampwork beads and pewter accent beads. And, yes, I still have it.

Before I knew it, I had a desk covered with hundreds of dollars of supplies. Then I started finding beads on ebay. Soon my husband pointed out that I had more than enough jewelry for one person and since I wasn’t going to stop creating any time soon, he suggested I start selling my creations. Soon after, Sunshine INdustries was born. I discovered Nina Designs a bit later when I graduated to precious metals and I’ve never looked back. I now have a large studio, an etsy shop, a website, a blog and enough supplies and tools to keep me going for years!

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November 30, 2010

Jewelry Design Success Stories

Filed under: Success Stories — Tags: business tips, Inspiration, jewelry design, women business owners — juanita @ 10:20 am

Meet Brandy Thomason of Bella Vita

The “who, where, and how” behind fabulous jewelry designs is just as interesting and inspiring as the jewelry itself. This month we’d like you to meet Brandy Thomason of Bella Vita Handmade Jewelry. Brandy is a successful and free-spirited jewelry designer living near Little Rock, AR, with her partner, Matt, and their adventurous puppy, Arlo. Her online store encompasses three very distinct lines of jewelry that feature semi-precious gemstones, vintage glass, and found objects. Brandy’s jewelry is breathtaking and quite an inspiration.

Check out her designs at www.bellavitajewelry.net. Become a fan of Bella Vita Handmade Jewelry on Facebook. And, peruse her blog, where you’ll get lost in her rich, colorful photos and meet her darling puppy, Arlo.

We managed to catch up with Brandy and ask her a few questions. Here are her answers:

When did you discover your talent for jewelry design?
I discovered my love for jewelry design early. When I was 12 years old I made friendship bracelets with seed beads on floral wire. By the time I was 14 I practically lived at the local bead store where I learned to macramé, properly crimp beads and much more. I received many compliments on my jewelry and began selling it in high school. I thought my interest in jewelry was just a phase and that I would soon get tired of it. I went away to college and earned my degree in Interior Design. I enjoyed it, but after my first job in an architecture firm I decided it wasn’t for me. Before long I found myself heading to the local bead store in Little Rock to fill out a job application! I started there the next week. Then I dug out my old bead boxes and made enough jewelry for a little Christmas show at a friend’s house. I got so much praise I decided maybe I should pursue jewelry design. I started Bella Vita Jewelry in December of 2008. Over the last two years I have come to realize that this is what I am supposed to be doing. It comes so naturally I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

(psst . . . click on the link below to read more).
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September 30, 2010

Jewelry Design Success Story

Filed under: Success Stories — Tags: business tips, Inspiration, jewelry design, women business owners — juanita @ 12:21 pm

Meet Lezli

There are as many avenues into jewelry design as there are jewelry designers. Each story is unique and inspiring. In our first Customer Success Story we’d like you to meet Lezli Goodwin. Lezli is a well known jewelry designer, accomplished modern painter and creative director for Bead World Inc, an Arizona chain of boutique bead stores. Her modern beaded jewelry features metaphysically active gemstones, gorgeous sterling silver findings and exquisite handcrafted techniques. Lezli Goodwin Jewelry and Design is celebrating its tenth year by launching a fabulous new web site this October!

We asked Lezli a series of questions. Here are her answers.

Who is your ideal customer? Who do you make jewelry for?
My client is fun, active and stylish. She probably does yoga, goes out dancing with friends and has an infectious laugh. She’s the kind of gal who would pull you aside at the bar to tell you she loves your dress. She’s reached the point in her life where she can afford really nice things, but wouldn’t wear stuffy, formal jewelry. She prefers sassy, bohemian pieces made with really gorgeous materials. Once I have a really clear image of that woman in my mind, I go to the beads and findings I have on hand. It’s really organic, the way the right combination of materials emerges. At the end of the day, no matter how beautiful it is, it has to be the perfect balance of gorgeous and wearable to make it into my collection.

(psst . . . click on the link below to read more).
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February 26, 2010

Silver Charms Breed Microloans

Filed under: philanthropy — Tags: microloans, philanthropy, silver charms, women business owners — nina @ 11:31 am

Silver Charms are often worn for luck, but we know that our customers work hard to create beautiful jewelry. It is a privilege to watch clients blossom from tentative beginners into successful business women. We try to support this process through education, designs ideas and inspirational jewelry making supplies.

Juliana Akandas, Ghana, Mask Carver

It may not always feel like it, especially in this economy, but American designers have opportunities that people in other parts of the world only dream about. In Gratitude for our own opportunities and success, Nina Designs has partnered with NOVICA to fund microloans to 5 women artisans in developing countries. This partnership was a natural match for us since our clients, employees and many of our suppliers are women artisans. The loans have a zero percent interest rate and will rotate to new women once they are repaid. We hope to add to the fund each year, creating a permanent pool of capital to help women fulfill their potential. Read more about the microloan program here.

Microloans were pioneered by Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank . They are particularly effective at relieving poverty when directed to women. In coming months, we will introduce you to the women who have received the loans and share their stories. We would love to hear your stories too!

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September 14, 2009

Jewelry Designing Moms

Filed under: Designing Moms — Tags: jewelry business, women business owners, working moms — nina @ 12:30 pm

One of the things I love most about my work is the opportunity to help women jewelry designers thrive. I say women because of the over 3,000 active customers at Nina Designs, at least 90% are women. I am also willing to bet that a majority of our clients are Moms. Designing jewelry is a wonderful way for women to work while maintaining the flexibility necessary to raise a family. When my oldest daughter was small, I had an office in my living room. As she grew up, I built an addition to the house and eventually moved into a commercial space. As my own boss, I had the flexibility to pace my business expansion to the needs of my family. And because beads are small, I could work at home for a long time before I needed a bigger space. All over the country, women are having similar experiences. So Moms, what do you love most about your jewelry business?

Nina's Home Office 1996

Nina Takes a Break 1996

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