Broadway, Bartering & Baton Rouge—Oh My! Jewelry Designer Turned a Dressing Room Hobby Into a 6-Fig Biz

I’m so excited to share today’s story. It’s about Ana Maria Andricain, an inspiring woman who has been in our community for over 5 years.

I’m sharing her story because it’s absolutely amazing! Ana Maria started her jewelry-making business later in life, turning a hobby she was passionate about into a 6-figure business that paid the bills, fueled her creative spirit, and gave her the freedom to live life as she wanted.

Ana Maria was born in Louisiana and moved to New York when she was 18 years old. For 25 years she acted on the big stage, starring in Broadway’s Beauty and The Beast. 

She had a love for performing that couldn’t be beat, but acting in the same show eight times a week left the creative in her looking for something beyond the stage.

So, she took pottery classes and one day met a woman creating a beautiful set of earrings. Intrigued, Ana Maria asked the woman to teach her. Before she knew it, she was hooked on the process and making her own pieces of jewelry as a side hobby. It reawakened the creative spirit inside of her.

It wasn’t long before her fellow performers caught wind of her talent and began asking Ana Maria to make them jewelry. Her reputation grew—people started ordering for the Tony Awards and opening nights on Broadway.

A store saw one of her pieces and began ordering as well. Everything quickly took off, and Ana Maria’s side hustle started growing on its own.

Shortly after, she moved back down South to Louisiana when her husband received a job offer. It was then that she decided to turn her jewelry making into a serious, full-time business.

Ana Maria spent every weekend hitting trade shows, markets, and trunk shows with her beautiful jewelry in tow. She traveled constantly, and it became her primary source of revenue.

Though she was building up an email list, she only used it to announce which shows she would be attending, and nothing else.

Ana Maria’s business was doing well, but her success was dependent on her ability to hustle to live shows every weekend. It was very taxing work.

Just when everything was going right, the worst-case-scenario struck – she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Now bedridden and undergoing treatments, Ana Maria had to cancel most of her upcoming shows. She tried to attend the local ones, but was hardly able to, given that she couldn’t lift anything.

Those shows were the foundation of her business. She felt lost and wasn’t sure what to do next.

Like we all do, Ana Maria turned to the web for help. Flourish & Thrive Academy popped up more than once. She explored our website and considered all the different programs available to help a business owner such as herself.

She had no doubts—Ana Maria knew that if she wanted to continue growing her business while she was sick, she would need a qualified program to back her up.

The choice was easy. With her goals listed and a vision in place, she signed up for our Laying The Foundation course and got started.

Laying the Foundation is our signature 8-week virtual program designed to teach independent jewelry designers how to create desire and demand for their unforgettable jewelry brand with the right clients and exposure.

In the program, Ana Maria learned to build a business online that works for her, supports her lifestyle, and allows her to unleash her creativity in a way that brings cash, clarity, and freedom.

She was forced to access her mailing list and use social media marketing, email marketing, and digital strategies to build up her online presence and keep her business afloat—all while working from her bed.

With newfound direction, Ana Maria set up an email nurturing sequence that automatically went out to her list when people signed up on her website. She started calling customers she had connected with at shows and telling them they can buy on her website. She committed herself to following up with people.

Ana Maria was ultimately able to discover her dream client. These customers became the people she would talk to first. She started creating exclusive, special experiences for these clients through her list.

She offered access to unique, limited-edition items that she had created—without discounts! These exclusive mailouts created a sense of urgency, increased her sales, and got people buying.

Unable to attend shows, Ana Maria dedicated her time to increasing her online presence. She created a newsletter and increased her social media usage. Selling online became her primary focus, versus attending shows in-person every weekend.

On top of building an online presence, Ana Maria made huge, much-needed changes to her pricing. When she first started out, she determined her prices by taking the cost of her materials and doubling it.

What she didn’t realize was that this came out to costing less than wholesale, and she wasn’t making enough money to pay herself!

Ana Maria can still recall the days when she was making jewelry in her dressing room, charging three grand for jewelry easily worth seven or more! When she sat down, did the math, and raised her prices, she could finally afford to give herself the salary she deserved.

Thanks to her dedication, Ana Maria was able to maintain her annual profits while undergoing cancer treatments and without attending a single show.

Today, she still loves to attend shows, but she can afford to be selective and only attends half the shows she used to. She has the freedom to take the entire month of January off to treat herself and go on vacation with her husband.

Better yet, her sales have increased! She went from making one websale about every three weeks to making $300 to $600 worth of online sales a day. With consistent online marketing, Ana Maria turns a great profit every month.

She texted me saying she sold $11,804 in the month of April, which is typically one of her slowest months of the year! She feels like she’s in control of her sales because, even during a slow month, she’s still staying on track to sell over 100k per year!

Keep in mind, Ana Maria doesn’t have a super high price point for her jewelry. She isn’t selling $11,000 in engagement rings.

Instead, she’s selling jewelry at a high volume and a great profit margin, every single month of the year! And best of all? She did it all while kicking cancer in the butt!

Ana Maria Andricain went from being a Broadway beauty making jewelry in her dressing room to owning her own 6-fig business, Jewel of Havana, all with the guidance of her coaches and the community here at Flourish & Thrive Academy.

Now, I’m proud to say Ana Maria is a valuable member of the Flourish & Thrive team.

It took Ana Maria years to get to where she is today. Drawing from her experience, she coaches students in our Momentum coaching program to do what she did, but quicker, using our proven Desired Brand Effect method.

A more personalized program than Laying the Foundation, Momentum features a 1:1 and group coaching program designed for ambitious independent designers and brands who are done wasting time and ready to get real results, like, yesterday.

Our Momentum coaches work with students like Alex Camacho of Acid Queen Jewelry, Jeanna + Jared Rushton of The Fox and Stone, and many other successful jewelry designers to build a profitable online business with any price-point.

If you want to work with coaches and successful designers like Ana Maria Andricain, consider applying for our Strategic Online Sales Accelerator. We would be delighted to help you build the business of your dreams!