Starting a handmade jewelry business is challenging and, what's more, growing it to 7 figures. But if you have proper guidance and work "on” the business instead of "in” it, you'll be able to fast-track your growth, even without hiring a massive team. Here's how Amanda and Tiffany Reis of Emery and Opal did it.
Amanda and Tiffany Reis have been making jewelry ever since they were little kids and selling friendship bracelets to all the other kids on the block.
In her 20’s, Amanda used her jewelry-making skill to raise money for breast cancer - a cause she was very passionate about. She sold her jewelry on Etsy, then the sisters slowly added pieces to their collection. Before they knew it, Amanda and Tiffany had started a jewelry company.
In May of 2017, they incorporated their jewelry business and named it Emery and Opal. Emery for Emerald, which is May’s birthstone, and Opal, their grandmother’s birthstone. The Reis sisters said their grandmother’s spirit is the driving force behind their success. She inspired them to be strong, independent, and have that can-do attitude.
They worked hard, despite all the challenges of launching and growing a jewelry business, and eventually grew Emery and Opal to a 6-figure business.
But instead of the freedom that they longed for, their business soon became the cause of stress, exhaustion, and aching hands every day from trying to meet all their orders.
Amanda and Tiffany wanted to hit the million-dollar mark. But with their current status, it seemed distant, and they just could not seem to find a breakthrough.
“We were stuck and we didn’t know what to do next.
We didn’t know how to get to the next level”
Then problems began to unravel:
- As their business expanded, so did their costs, but their profit was not keeping up. They needed to create a simple plan for financial growth.
- They were scrambling to fulfill orders, but still, they were missing out on a lot of sales. Inventory management strategies that will increase cash flow for independent jewelry biz owners like them would be very helpful.
- They tried to keep up with their orders by hiring unvetted people, which only added to their stress instead of helping. They were in dire need of key hires so they can scale to 7-figures.
- Because things were snowballing into chaos, they felt scattered and all over their business. They needed to attend to their P&L statement fast and access easy accounting tips specifically curated for jewelry designers and makers.
- And because their primary selling platform was Etsy, they were constantly worried about sudden changes they can’t control like fees and glitches. They’ve already experienced zero sales because Etsy unexpectedly went offline… Should they boycott the Etsy platform or use it as a tool for growth?
Amanda and Tiffany realized their dream of business expansion and hitting 7-figures brought nightmares, headaches, and more aching hands.
But they never thought of giving up. After all, their inspiration for building Emery and Opal came from their biggest cheerleader, who was a strong-willed woman. So they sought help to solve their expansion dilemma through Flourish & Thrive Academy.
“We chose the Momentum Program because we’ve been a longtime student of Flourish & Thrive. We did Laying the Foundation, we were part of the Diamond Insiders. It felt like the natural next step to a personalized learning system.”
Amanda and Tiffany received high-touch, customized coaching for their jewelry business through Momentum. They were guided every step of the way to become better leaders and business owners.
It was time for them to increase their impact and profitability and get their life back without sacrificing growth!
With the guidance of their Momentum coaches, they started to build a solid plan for their business broken down into yearly, monthly, and weekly steps. Planning their content, activities, and the nitty-gritty of their business became easy with the tools, personal coaching, and accountability. Amanda fondly recalls…
“There was one call with (coach) Ana Maria about content planning. It completely changed the way we planned our content. We were able to do the whole year in a week, like so many things.”
They also went granular on evaluating their P&L statement. Their coaches thoroughly guided them on what key factors to look for and how to proceed to hit their goals successfully. Tiffany said…
“We had this huge Excel that we sat down for weeks. And we would look at every product on our Etsy and on our site. How did we do last year? What was it up or down? Is it currently up or down? How many should we buy?”
They found clarity because of the program tools, coaching, and their willingness to apply what they learned. They focused on the right things that move the needle for their business.
They also found confidence in their new roles, with Amanda as the visionary and Tiffany as the integrator of their company. Then things slowly started to fall into place, and Amanda and Tiffany began to get into the right groove to grow their business.
They were now able to accurately track their inventory, allowing them to take advantage of bigger discounts when purchasing from suppliers and pocket more profit on their end.
They had an effective sounding board and their coaches’ expert feedback showed them their blind spots. Then they were finally able to tackle their biggest challenges - increasing their prices and hiring the right people to expand their business. Amanda says…
“The coaching has been amazing. They’ve really opened our eyes to see the business as a big picture. They’ve solved every little issue that we’ve had. They’ve just made everything more clear!”
With clarity, they also realized how having “affordable” pricing was actually hurting their handmade jewelry business, as was reflected in their P&L statements.
So they used the formula from our program and slowly matched their pricing with their cost. They increased their profitability even without increasing their production and output. Tiffany says…
“I think raising our prices was a hard thing for us to do. We were super nervous about it yet, but in the end, like it was the right thing to do. And it benefited us for sure.”
In effect, they were also able to manage their team better because they had the time to have them properly vetted and assign them the right roles.
In fact, their team is so streamlined that it’s only composed of two shipping people who work part-time, two full-time production hires, and a social media manager.
Slowly but surely, Amanda and Tiffany were making progress and finding a breakthrough to reach their goal.
They’ve also diversified and no longer have Etsy as their sole selling platform. They now understand that it’s best not to have all their eggs in one basket.
As Momentum students, Amanda and Tiffany are also currently getting expert mentorship on launching and growing their website and expanding to wholesale without needing to enroll in new courses because Momentum has the expert coaches and resources for their specific jewelry business needs.
Amanda says, “Yeah, we took your advice. The main thing is working ‘on’ the business instead of ‘in’ the business.”
Success in handmade jewelry and fast-tracking your growth to 7 figures is possible if you have the proper coaching and structure. In fact, Amanda and Tiffany just crossed the 7-figure mark for Emery and Opal within a year of joining our Momentum program.
Handmade jewelry business can be challenging at first. But, if you're passionate about it, you should start getting the proper tools and guidance to have financial security doing what you love. You'll see it'll be worth it!
If you’re ready and willing to do the work to show up for your business and hit your jewelry business goals… our Momentum coaches will be happy to help and support you. Just like they did for Amanda and Tiffany of Emery and Opal.
So, if you’re ready to be our next success story…
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