#30: Creating a Values-Driven Jewelry Business with Melissa Joy Manning
I love bringing fantastic special guests onto the podcast, especially world renowned jewelry designers. And, on today’s podcast, I’m bringing you an extra special treat. Jewelry designer Melissa Joy Manning is here today to share her business brilliance with us.
I’ve known Melissa for a long time and it’s been such a pleasure to watch her business evolve and change over the years. But more than anything, one of the things that I have noticed is that Melissa has truly developed a brand that is deep seated in a strong company culture and defined core values.
Click ‘play’ below to listen to Melissa’s advice on Creating a Values Driven Jewelry Business. Scroll down to hear about my biggest takeaway from our conversation!
Click here to download the show notes
Building Relationships Through Authentic Values
In the episode above, Melissa recounts her first time she networked with the big dogs back when she joined the CFDA. Even though she was enjoying success, she felt shy and had self doubt when it came to building business relationships.
So, how did she get over this design slump? As it turns out, jewelry makers, by nature, are what Melissa jokes “a weird artistic group. “When you’re truly yourself,” she continued, “you can truly create strong relationships that can support you while you’re growing your business.”
Staying Positive by Surrounding Yourself with Great People
From your hiring process to your friends in your personal life, be sure you’re constantly surrounding yourself with talented, smart, positive people. If you’re around negative people who are telling you your goals “aren’t possible” or who aren’t supporting your company growth, you might want to reconsider who you are surrounding yourself with.
Building a business is challenging, and while you can surround yourself with as many positive and supporting people as possible, you can never avoid the naysayers in the world. You must learn to not take criticism or negative attitudes toward your business personally, and move on.
Getting Involved With Your Values
Want to really dive into your core values? Try getting involved with a fundraiser or charitable giveback model for your causes. Next time you host a sale, test the waters and donate a portion of the profits to something that’s meaningful to you.
When it comes to pinpointing those causes and values, Melissa recommends getting in touch with your creative side. When you get your creative juices flowing by participating in any creative activity (hello, jewelry design) you’re more likely to come up truly innovative, creative, and sometimes even genius ways of implementing your values in your business. Hear examples and more all in the episode above!
Links mentioned in today's podcast:
Melissa Joy Manning: Responsibly Made Designer Jewelry
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