Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Good morning. It is April the something fifth or fourth. It's like the beginning of April.
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My very first guest is a dear friend and someone that I really want everyone to get to meet because
she's special in many ways and we have a really kind of a nice connection that goes way back but
I'll let her kind of talk about that and this is the podcast Jewelry as your side hustle
with Sugar Gay Isbur and I'm Sugar Gay Isbur and now we're going to introduce our first guest.
(00:52):
So take it away and your company name and give us a little bit of background information.
The world is your oyster. You can just have the floor.
Thank you Gay. Thank you so much for inviting me. This is super meaningful. I always enjoy hearing
what you're up to because you are always up to so many different things and it's amazing.
(01:16):
Maybe I'm a woman after your own heart.
If you're challenging about me, this is about you but thank you for that. I do try hard.
So yeah, absolutely. I've definitely had a lot of great overlap.
For sure. Yeah. So I think I met you through Nest which is an artist and guild that we're both a
part of and I think I won't speak for you but I can't say enough nice things about it.
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And I mean because I'm talking about a nest I think it's just the power of community and
I think it's one thing you're probably doing with this podcast is building some community and
putting it out there for other maybe jewelers or small business owners or starters
to for that to resonate with them. So anyway, I'm Katie Heiselberg and I own,
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I guess two businesses. I think of it as one but I started Katie Kismet in 2018 and really
fairly quickly on the heels of getting into glass. So I work in kiln-fired glass. Sometimes
it's called Fused Glass and I was just a creative explorer my whole life and would just get into
(02:30):
anything. My curiosity would take me everywhere and I worked, my career was in advertising
but more the media side and then I did about 10 years of that and stopped and went back to
school for graphic design and that was a good move. I needed to be doing something visually
creative. So I was freelancing and traveling and took a random workshop in glass because I'd never
(02:55):
done it before and I wanted to see what it was about and I walked out, sorry my voice today,
I walked out just energized and alive with excitement. I wanted to do more Fused Glass
and I wanted to make jewelry and I wanted it to be a business and it felt like it just kind of
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came to me fully formed which I'd never experienced before. So I came home from that trip and found
a 101 class in Austin and I was off to the races and I was making everything in open studio hours
for a long time at Helios which I consider my home studio even though I've worked and
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patronized a few glass places in Austin and they're all amazing. But yeah so then the pandemic hit
I didn't have my own kill so that was a unique predicament but it was also my pandemic silver
lining. One of them was I just had a lot of quiet and a lot of time and I ended up finding a kiln,
(04:07):
a gently used kiln and then had the space to learn how to use it and I brought all my production
in-house. So anyway a couple years ago I launched Austin Bolo because I specialized in Bolo ties
and statement rings and I was seeing who was buying the Bolo's and it felt like a more masculine
audience even though I think Bolo's are for everyone. That's right that's right I mean
(04:36):
Beyonce is doing for Bolo's. I don't know fill in the analogy there or the metaphor whatever.
Yeah so Austin Bolo also exists and I like to frame it like Katie Kismet carries Austin Bolo.
So Austin Bolo is only Bolo ties and slightly western leaning accessories and then Katie Kismet
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is anything that comes out of my brain so more modern art. My angle is sort of modern minimalist
maximalist so I like simple and bold and I'm just having a grand time but that's me. I live in Austin
Texas. What else? I saw that on your on your gram that which is Katie Kismet at Katie Kismet. Do you
(05:24):
also have a Bolo, Austin Bolo do? Yeah at Austin Bolo. So you're doing both of those on social media.
Go girl and that you're doing some gold. I saw the 22 karat gold so now you're infusing your
glass even and they were really interesting pieces so that was like really like that's great.
Like I know that's a big jump like good tell me more. Yeah it's um sorry pause for cough. Okay.
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It is so fun and I find that with other artists and entrepreneurs this is a common thread often
that we have lots of ideas and the the the the zing comes from the pursuit of a new idea.
Um so can't stop won't stop but yeah I have been using um because I started in glass and I did not
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have any formal metal working experience or formal jewelry training um I I have just sort of benefited
from the beginner's mindset and the curiosity piece because then this day and age there's
so much available to you through the internet through through YouTube and Google and all that
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there's a lot of learning at your fingertips and so I would run up a I would run up against say
wanting a Bolo back that did something that the prefabricated Bolo backs don't do and I couldn't
find it and so sort of out of necessity of pursuing an idea I'll sort of go into like well
I can make I mean let me see if I can figure it out and so if I found someone who you know
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I feel like the the theme of me is um learning just enough to uh to get where I want to go
and then there's always another thing right um so and I'm naturally curious so that's how
the that's how it works you're like you learn something move on move on move on get better
get better get better like every time you're doing something you're learning still right yeah yeah
sometimes to the detriment of uh sticking with a good idea or it's like oh I should be I have a
(07:32):
business I should be marketing these other things that are lovely and fine but um but you know that's
where the joy for me that's where the joy comes from and um and I just feel so grateful that I'm
able to do this right now and yeah so the trying to get old if you you've had so much success
(07:56):
Katie like I know I know it's hard to talk sometimes about our successes but you should this is a
safe place I mean you definitely have had like a really good really good role with your business
like things are really growing and that's why you're able to keep exploring and keep getting
better and better and better because you know you've got the wind underneath your wings you've
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got a good customer base so you know like tell us about some of that like some of the things
that you've done in the past that you're really proud of and I know where you want to go next
because yeah well fire to something yeah so thank thank you for um seeing it that way I think
I think it always feels different on the creator's end the the business owner's end I
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I can now five years in five plus years in um when I take a moment and reflect I think oh wow yeah
I've come a long way like almost none of the products or designs that I had on the website
in the beginning are still there um and I was proud enough of them then to go which I think
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is important you just need to go um and I also I also think I remember a lot and still have a
lot of impatience where I my Instagram following which I don't think I'm the best at the consistency
with Instagram but it stalled out at 249 followers for a very long time and I was just like what
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does a girl need to do um so we're we're beyond that but you know it's sometimes I have to stop
and look back and think and appreciate the growth and the progress and the successes because it's
too easy to look around and say well that person started three years after me and look at their
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following and blah blah blah and it's just poisonous it's so poisonous so I I think um a couple of
things have been key um well one just keep going um and it sounds trite and simplistic but it's true
so many businesses don't make it to five years right and um just one foot in front of the other
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and um the other one of the other things is um oh hold up I lost my spot your successes things
that you've done that have been successful that's what we're talking about like the 80d rate oh um
yes so fortunately I have the graphic design background so that has been an asset and um
um it's easy it's been an asset for me and also there are lots of tools out there to make that
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an asset for anyone else like canva right now AI can be helpful in fact tools like canva are
integrating AI so that can be really helpful for folks who don't have a training in graphic design
um and I mean it's also been the bane of my existence but like good photography has made
a big deal um I I found I usually try to um work with women and support women businesses but
(11:10):
way back in the very beginning I went on Austin freelance gigs on Facebook and was looking for
someone sort of last minute and I found my photographer who I love and he's awesome and I just
were a kindred spirit and I feel kind of loyal so um you didn't give him a shout out that's Dave
Dave Creny Dave Creny is a super guy he does a lot of music uh music industry sort of angled stuff
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and um and I just I love the results we get and he's a how does that process work does he like
come and pick him up or shoot him at your house or take him or y'all so how's that work for you excuse
me yeah that's a really good question um in jewelry two things are important the product shot and the
on-body shot right so yeah so just to make it um you know sort of double the photography needs
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but it's it's crucial um I think you need a really good close-up of what the thing is um and then
um how it looks on a person for scale and to exhibit how it can be worn and I actually think
that's one thing with the bolos that I just I could probably never do enough of showing it on people
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because I feel like particularly styling it with women who women don't normally think of wearing
a bolo tie and and I'm always just kind of like it's just another necklace you can wear it like a
joker you can wear it further down so it behaves like a pendant so like that's a unique sort of I
mean I think people get rings we get rings we get earrings but like for the bolo tie that's a unique
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need for me is that the photography is really powerful and um I like his style so he does my
on-body shots and um the brief in the past has been let's get the full body and if they're high
enough resolution that then I can really get in if I need a tighter shot on body of the product
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um and I think that's served me up until you know I think it serves me I think I could also
do with some more really tight just on product specific shots and then I had a little photography
experience from graphic design days and um so I have a you know honestly you can do it with an
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iPhone nowadays I happen to have I've got a used uh camera with a good macro lens I really only use
the macro lens for you know and I've tried a million different lighting setups but you cannot
beat sitting next to a window with natural light you just can't so that's that's kind of it.
It's that shine for glass which is really important right? Yeah and not getting reflections when you
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don't want to you know so if it's a broad- It's a sunny day shots. Absolutely yeah so um there's a
lot of figuring out but um I use tools that are like I use Photoshop but like honestly and I know
you use like Pixar gay and I actually also use Pixar so there's there's all the tools out there
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for whatever level you're at it just has you gotta want to figure it out so yeah have you tried
using an AI image and putting your jewelry on top because that's what I do in Pixar that way
models yeah I am sort of in process with that I used a tool called Firefly recently which I think
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is a web-based thing um to create a scene so I wanted like a modern product photography scene
but without I tried it with I said you know put a ring on an organic shaped prop with a blah blah
blah I told it what kind of background what color the prop should be da da and it did a great job
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obviously it wasn't my ring so then I was like well the next step is just like remove the ring
and now I'm gonna go and remove the background from one of my product shots and see if I can
integrate it um that's how I do it I just take the jewelry without the background have my image
and I just put it on top it's like takes yeah yeah and I think um you know sometimes it looks
(15:27):
like that's what you did I'm not talking about you gay I'm serious sometimes the end result looks
like oh that's what that person did and sometimes it looks almost indistinguishable and I think it's
just a matter of um what you're going for because there's all different styles of photography so
don't think that a person has to only do what Kendra Scott is doing or whatever you know
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I think that if you if you lower the if you lower the transparency so it's just not like so and then
it kind of blends in more it looks more real something like that but that's a good point that's
a good point definitely retaining shadows if it's possible yeah yeah that's that's always a tricky
part because you gotta go in and like in after you move the background kind of like erase them back
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in you know restore them something like that yeah yeah for sure now it's almost time to be signing
it for the armadillo again or it is time or it's past time I'm not sure because I'm not on that
list but are you gonna do the armadillo again in December because I know you this year tell me
about that journey because a lot of people don't know about the armadillo but it's big here in Austin
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yeah absolutely armadillo is uh well I think we're we it's not my market but I participate
I think they're going into their 49th year this year so it's a true Austin institution which I
I love about that um and I um the story of getting into armadillo was um interesting I kind of wanted
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backing up a little bit my I grew up with my mom had her own jewelry business and she didn't make
most of it she would buy wholesale retail but she did markets and so we were in Houston and she
did I mean everything's from teeny church bazaars to nutcracker market and um one called like really
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big 20,000 30,000 visitor markets um so I I kind of grew up doing my homework behind behind her
tables and you know helping with move in and move out and um honestly never thought I would I would
be doing it myself it's hard work yeah and it is hard work and I started this business and then with
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like I you know created or made got the website up to crickets because if nobody knows about it
other than your family and friends um you're you're not gonna sell much so it became clear that the
most immediate um way to get the ball rolling was to be out in front of the people in the town I live
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in and um and build awareness and um get out in the community and there are so many benefits to
doing the markets I also knew I had some peers that were out there every weekend and I also knew
that wasn't for me so kind of early on and having had the background um with my mom I thought you
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know I'm I started with a couple like medium-sized markets and some of the smaller ones that like
breweries and stuff like that and then just went for it and applied for some of the two two of the
largest in Austin and um which this the other one all the uh McComstreet was that okay well
McComstreet is big I haven't done that one I also have an allergy to outdoor shows outdoors what was
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glass jewelry oh yeah glass and it's all done and it happened I'm a little high maintenance so the
the elements are not my jam but um but uh the junior league has a Christmas bazaar so that
that's a big one and McComstreet's also big but I haven't done it um yeah so Armadillo I submitted
an application and I thought oh I'm sure it's too late I don't know I forget what year it was it might
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have been 22 or 23 I can't remember it's all a blur not 23 21 or 22 and they were doing their first
event normally it was I think it had become like a 14 day show right in the Palmer event center
which is Austin one of Austin's big event centers downtown and um then forced COVID so
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they were coming back and doing their first market after sort of post COVID ish and they
were doing it outside of the event center so it was all outside and I think so the Armadillo is
right like not for two weeks right no no no it was a three day weekend so they just they made it short
they put it outside and invited all that they're very loyal to the folks that do it multiple years
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and each year they try to bring in a little bit of new blood and all that but I think my suspicion
I don't know this for a fact is that a lot of the the artists particularly ones with fine art and
expensive art and fragile art were thinking they know three days outside in December in Texas
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not for me or for health reasons or whatever so there were some openings and I was doing another
and I was doing another market Renegade which is a popular one that travels and they came by to see
my booth and chat with me and then asked me if I'd like to participate and so I got my tent set up
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and and I really again I don't like outdoor markets but I figured this is my foot in the door I
would like to get to know the Armadillo folks and that is exactly how it played out thankfully so
so now the market is back inside and they went from seven days to nine days last year and I think
it'll be 10 days this year um is it bulldozed what are they gonna do is it being torn down
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the convention center will be remodeled but not the event center not Palmer so the right
right on like second street or something or first and then Palmer is over by the long
there on the other side of the lake yeah yeah so um and it's a it's an artist market so you have to
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make what you sell which I find my stuff is a um I always say I say this it's a little left to center
so it's it's not classic gold and silver dainty jewelry and I think that um they were excited
about my bull ties and um and I do well at artist centric in artist centric context where it's people
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looking for something new and different so yeah for sure not resellers you know like actually meet
the artist talk to the artist you know maybe design something for themselves have something designed
specifically for themselves did you find any of those people there that wanted like any custom
work afterwards absolutely in a good following from those shows absolutely um true to Austin roots
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the armadillo has music every day um that's the right music live music it's absolutely yeah yeah
it's a real scene um yeah it's I feel like it's almost equal parts concert and market and there's
food and beverages and all that so it's it's a really great scene and so there's four bands or acts
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every day and the market goes into the night because they want it to be sort of like a night scene and
um one of the fellows in one of the bands and I forgot the name of it um he circled back
months later and said hey I'm about to get married and I really liked your bull ties but I was like
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in another zone when we were at the armadillo but could you make one for me and so he was tall so we
made a longer cord and he came over to my house which I do by appointment if you want to like
shop the pieces and sort of put them together yourself and that was a real honor so that was a
good time to be part of their wedding did you get a wedding picture is it afterwards all over
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you know what he said he was going to and I haven't I feel like I saved a reel or something
where I like pause it I was like there's the bow you gotta circle back and get that I know
you've got a picture take that down yeah for sure I mean that's that's a great story and maybe you
know uh if he ever has another reason he'll reach out to you because album covers are really great
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to have jewelry on that's right yeah I've put bolo's on are you applying for the shows coming
up because it's that time like spring it's like six months or nine months out right yeah yeah I um
well it's a lot of work number one we should back up a minute were you exhausted at the end of all
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that because you know going until late at night over the Christmas holidays when all the family is
home going yeah she's not here but she'll be here at like midnight yeah yeah no kidding very hard
we close at 9 30 on the 23rd and in my family we do sort of a hybrid we do some of the traditions
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on the 24th and then some of them on the 25th so um you know at 1 a.m. I'm I'm pulling the
the cargo van into the front of my house on the 23rd and then we get up on the morning on the 24th
and we take all the stuff to storage and return the van and then then we get to start family
Christmas so um I'm sorry um was it I mean like that's hard on the family I do know that I understand
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yeah and I've had to hire help I mean so I hire people to come you know I have some great trusted
well the employees sounds weird I do pay them you pay I have some great teammates that I recruit
for the long markets particularly so I can like you know go home at six one day and wrap presents
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and see my daughter you know stuff like that so it's um it's a big booth fee and it's a it's a
lot to think about it's a big setup it was it was a big investment and I feel like um compensates
accordingly so um yeah but yeah I'm I'm actually I'm doing there's another market in Austin called
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Blue Genie which is another sort of long running um artist focused market and they do a May market
so I'll be doing their May market and then hopefully I'll get to do the holiday market and I think
that might be it for me this year I've I'm in a season of pulling back a little from markets and
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there's so much work like seriously I get it it's a lot of work and I I'm curious about the other
ways I can build my business so um dipping my toes into wholesale and pursuing some accounts that I
think are good fits um and spending a little more time on building direct to consumer um which is
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just like people finding my website or hearing about Austin below and coming and buying from my
website which I think is um I mean that's the that's the pie in the sky when I um when I can
make it ship it from my house and you know so I'm actually doing a class next week with LinkedIn
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about doing the LinkedIn ads because that's kind of where I kind of see my jewelry kind of going
but have you run any ads like Google ads or Facebook ads meta paying Mark Zuckerberg money to
let us be seen no it's a short answer I tried one October or like into September I had a
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Halloween specific style and I thought you know what we're gonna do it we're gonna try if they say
it's easy to so I cannot tell you how many hours I try and I'm I think I'm pretty good at this stuff
and I have the patience to try to figure it out there is something with meta where I mean sometimes
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there's just a thing that is not working and I I can't I'll spend hours and I can't figure it out
and then I just have to stop and say this is not a good use of my time and so then it got to a
certain date in October where I was like well if somebody is it I can't ship it and yeah um so
I had the same problem with the clip story I'm like uh yeah I'm kind of late on this yeah yeah
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yeah always that like I feel like I'm always racing the clock because there's always something but
no the short answer is no and I think that's something that I should be doing if I want to
build direct and consumer um the other thing with Austin Bolo is the um and Bolo ties in general
is they're so specific that they can rise an SEO so I had a lady who was visiting from Minnesota
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and they were riding their bikes from the east side over anyway she googled Bolo tie because she's
always wanted a Bolo tie I asked her how she found me and she said Google and I could come up I think
if you Google well clearly she googled Bolo tie Austin and Katie Kismet which has been around for
five and a half years didn't come up in the results so SEO is so important and I'm also I just feel
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like I'm late to all the games but I've been putting up some blog posts and um it matters on Etsy
like on Etsy almost all my sales are Bolo ties because out of the millions of listings
that pool is small enough that if somebody searches Bolo tie I have a couple listings that will
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come to the first page so it's something to think about um when you're naming things when you're
choosing your um your maybe angle or niche or what makes you unique because there's enough people on
this planet that you know they'll find you and your rings are great too I love your rings I think
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they're so they're pop you know they're they're really a great look for I would even say millennials
Gen Z like even like earlier like you know they have a great age span anybody could wear them and
they're a very noticeable jewelry they really have a you have a great signature look on those
thank you yeah I um I have come to uh realize as a woman in her 40s that I have a playful
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side to me that I hope you guys like yeah so I I mean it goes to my it's not a you know manifesto
or mission statement or anything but I think fashion should be fun and I think you think that too gay
if I could guess um and so I just want to be playful with it so I don't have a necklace on is that a
(30:24):
Bolo you're wearing this is a Bolo and this is a it's a Bolo a Bolo a Bolo if that's perfect for a
bride I could see a bride wearing that yeah it's perfect for a bachelorette party you know and
bows are kind of having a thing and I mean the other thing with fashion is like things move at a
(30:46):
million miles an hour now that it kind of feels like anything's in if you will it just you got to
style it and there's nothing there's no better style than you being you so okay and tell me about
what colors those are available in because they are really cute if somebody's interested they're
adorable so the bows are available in black and white and then I have um I this is in my pop
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collection so okay fired by like pop art and they're just bold shapes there's star squiggle heart
flower and um you know like the flower will be about not two inches wide but over one inch so
like they're they are statement and I always like to say with the Bolo or the or the large statement
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rings like you throw on a white t-shirt and jeans and a boot and that ring and you're done you're
like ready for selfies it's selfie time right yeah you don't right yeah super instagramable great for
stylists you can see they pop on camera so yeah by the way your videos are really good I saw the
one of course the one about where you're applying the gold and your studio is beautiful you did a
(31:58):
great job on your videos like I'm always so happy I'm like cheering you on behind yay good job because
I do think that you really like you really have a great aesthetic I mean it comes across all the
way across um your your IG so are you also posting on Facebook too people people could find you on
(32:18):
Facebook or just well I was having my Instagram post feed directly to Facebook um and I don't think
this is another meta thing I don't think they're doing that right now and I couldn't figure it out
I spent a lot of hours trying you know going into business center and da da da da and linking and
unlinking da da da and um I couldn't figure it out and so it's interesting though because I have
(32:43):
recently had a couple people that were like well I messaged you on Facebook and I don't think about
Facebook a lot I think about Instagram first and then I think about Pinterest because I'm like well I
should be more active on Pinterest because of how visual and graphic my photography and product and
everything is um I haven't and I have a a little bit of friction with social media it's been a weird
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relationship and um it feels like so yeah right it's time consuming because I'm me and I care about
not saying other people I I white knuckle the visuals to the detriment of um quantity and
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consistency so I I get a little caught up in having it look amazing and I think I I meet my
expectation a lot but it also means I'm not posting every day and and I you know so there's
it's a trade-off like and I think also um you know there's a movement back to authenticity so I need
(33:52):
to just like I have a you know I think we all I won't speak for everybody else I don't love being
on camera I think I do it okay but thinking about posting um uh even just a story of me chatting about
what I'm doing that day that just doesn't really like really cross my mind and I my mind's on other
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things so I it's um it's sort of been a weird ride but I think I'm letting go a little bit
lately and just it should be enjoyable I think you know this isn't a therapy class but I am on
top of that with you like I think it's I think we overthink it we overrun ourselves with more
(34:33):
extra work and who cares if there's one more real who cares if there's one more picture if they can't
see all the other content you know I I'm kind of like right now where it seems like I I miss a lot
on Instagram because everybody uses it instead of any other way to communicate now so if you're not
(34:53):
checking your Instagram chats or communications then you can miss something I was like just looked
at it the other day and I was like oh my god like look at all this I'm I just don't think to always
check that because I don't know I don't know how same it's not like they can text me because
people don't really do that that are just like in the ether but definitely it's hard to keep up with
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it all it's a real it's ragged yeah it I feel like I'm fighting for focus time all the time
so I turn off notifications I turn you know and then there's a price to that which is somebody
messages me on Facebook and I don't know about it until they then go to my website and contact me
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there and then it comes into my email and then I know you know so it's um but also I'm or and also
so as a one-person business doing all the things I cannot be available at all times so
and I also think there's a it's a mental health aspect to it like not to get to in the weeds but
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like I had wondered for many many years but then recently was diagnosed with ADD so it's real and
I and I know you know we're all a little ADD whatever I hate saying that but with this day and age
with like everything swirling around us and you just I have to set up the boundaries that I need
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and then cut myself some slack and just do my best so it's my balance like seriously it is it's
really important part because it gives us space to be creative again when you think back of when
we had nobody during COVID and we could just concentrate on our work what we wanted to create
what we wanted to create you know we weren't thinking about that customer out there that client
(36:46):
out there we were just thinking about what would make me happy today that's a nice space to be in
it's hard to get back there when there's hustle and bustle and so I totally understand and you
know you got a family you got things going on like it's a beautiful day today like we should all be
outside and yet you know we're doing a part yeah but it is hard so I totally understand that like
(37:12):
yeah well if you were a new if you were going to tell somebody that was maybe new to the jewelry
industry if you were to give them like two tips and I know that's a little tiny bit but you can
go more if you wanted to but like if you were to look back at your beginner self and you were
looking at somebody else that's a beginner what would you tell them um well one of it's a rerun
(37:40):
but um just keep going you know and don't fuss it yourself so much because um bit by bit it adds up
over time and and the other piece would be um find some community I I forget I think I found Nest
(38:01):
and the women's jewelry association both during the pandemic um and joined up and you know so once
we started coming out of our pandemic holes or whatever um I was like the first time I met any
of these folks in person but it it meant a lot even before the in-person things um to just be in
(38:25):
community with people doing what you're doing and very close to what you're doing and um yeah I think
that's really important and this is coming from an introvert who is a pig in mud when she's just in
her studio alone all day and like I need that also so I think it's really key yeah I I just saw
(38:47):
something it was mostly in a real but it was talking about like I like being at home and it
was showing all the you know we do we we build these little bubbles around ourselves and I don't
want to go into another job like I want to be able to be here and working like definitely tell me
about the woman's jewelry association I have not joined that but I know great things about it tell
(39:08):
me have they have they helped you in any ways is that something you would tell other people to
to join I I do recommend it um it's it's a national organization and there's chapters
in different cities and so I think like anything that's set up that way it kind of depends on
your chapter so you you should sniff it out for yourself but um I don't even remember how I got
(39:32):
linked up probably post on Instagram or something and the Austin crowd is just really great at just
just really down to earth folks there we have people that specialize in pearls that broker
find gyms that um have major find jewelry jewelry store and then we have people like me who are
(39:54):
sitting in a room in her house you know um working with our hands and um so it's all over the board
it we have men in the group like it's it's come one come all and um most of our events are well
I have a lot of our events are free and you can come and then there's always usually if it if there's
a price to come it's and there's a non-member price and stuff like that so just to build community
(40:17):
and I think the the resources have been great there have been some grants um I won one of our
local grants which was you know not do that multi multi figures but it enabled me to buy some
um equipment that I had been pining for you know so um I didn't know that so congratulations
and thank you I'm glad that you shared that because that was yeah it's a brags on you girl
(40:44):
and I'm on I'm on the board so I mean I should like that's how much I appreciate that organization
as I'm oddly enough I'm communications chair well invite me because I'll come because I'm
looking for my local tribe because you know that's why I loved meeting you and the other people that
we got to know in this because that was definitely a really big part of it because you sit here by
(41:09):
yourself and it's nice to have you never have to cry alone if you have a community behind you that
has liked interest so please invite me I would love to be right we would love to have you and and
the Austin group which is what I can speak to um it's a lot of lifting each other up um I don't
feel that there's any sort of weird competition it's just very supportive and um I think when you
(41:36):
get enough folks that feel that way then that becomes the culture of the group and so um we share
sources as far as we're comfortable like it's just I've learned and I've learned so much I can just
send a question out you know and uh and see what people think even just stuff like I don't know
what to do with you know this is what they asked for the wholesale terms and what does that mean
(42:00):
and so it's just uh these these groups are great for that and um and it's good when it's so specific
and I think we should have broader networks of course but um yeah there's a lot of benefit to
resource rich I think that there's some other nest people are I think in that group I can I think so
(42:20):
yeah um people that we know now I'm gonna be on the spot but uh it's okay don't you'll have to name
them because I'll hope I'll have them on their show and also that's another thing if you have a newsletter
please tell them you've got the link and just say sign up um and be on sugar's new podcast because
it's specific to anybody that makes jewelry like I really want this to grow because if you well it's
(42:45):
started because I looked for other podcasts that I could be a guest on just to get my SEO and my brand
out there and there really isn't anything and they were all like five years old they only had like three
seasons or three things it was like okay really I got this I can do this so yeah I'd love to have
some of your people on there all of them all of them this is going to go on you know for years
(43:08):
hopefully because it's easy to do I just have to put makeup on it's the worst part I know I love it
thank you for doing it sugar it's this is a really super thank you I feel like and and this is a great
place to kind of if you want to say anything last because we should definitely say your website one
more time so that people and know that and your Instagram one more time we'll put it up on as a
(43:31):
banner but um and anything else that you would like to share opening the floor to you to end the
show um well my website katiekismet.com at katiekismet on Instagram and then austinbolo.com at austinbolo
I would say this this would have this meant something to me every time I heard it is that
(43:57):
maybe it took me a minute to believe it but there's a place for you um jewelry can be feel
very saturated um but if you have a vision and it's your joy and you know follow that um so I
think a there's a place for you and be authenticity or there's no order but they work together um so
(44:25):
that's it okay it's a three hundred and thirty three billion dollar a year industry absolutely
I glory all the time people like to adore themselves they have from alinia in the beginning of time
the beginning of time the beginning of time we adorn ourselves to set ourselves apart
and I think that's what makes it just so much more fun like you know people aren't wearing crowns
(44:51):
but they were wearing jewelry back then like for sure well thank you very much katie I love you
and you know I do and I'm always there to support you and please know that I'm true to that and I
look forward to seeing you in person next time I come to one of your events or come see you and
we'll keep supporting each other and all the rest of our friends that we know to in common
(45:17):
and keep going you're making beautiful things and if there's anything I can ever do to help you
you know I'm just a what's that call away and thank you for being my very first guest on my podcast
this has been jewelry as your side hustle and I know we work hard it's not really a side hustle
it's like our full-time jobs but you know it it is part of what we do so thank you again katie and
(45:39):
I hope you have a great rest of your day
Good morning. It is April the something fifth or fourth. It's like the beginning of April.
(00:26):
My very first guest is a dear friend and someone that I really want everyone to get to meet because
she's special in many ways and we have a really kind of a nice connection that goes way back but
I'll let her kind of talk about that and this is the podcast Jewelry as your side hustle
with Sugar Gay Isbur and I'm Sugar Gay Isbur and now we're going to introduce our first guest.
(00:52):
So take it away and your company name and give us a little bit of background information.
The world is your oyster. You can just have the floor.
Thank you Gay. Thank you so much for inviting me. This is super meaningful. I always enjoy hearing
what you're up to because you are always up to so many different things and it's amazing.
(01:16):
Maybe I'm a woman after your own heart.
If you're challenging about me, this is about you but thank you for that. I do try hard.
So yeah, absolutely. I've definitely had a lot of great overlap.
For sure. Yeah. So I think I met you through Nest which is an artist and guild that we're both a
part of and I think I won't speak for you but I can't say enough nice things about it.
(01:41):
And I mean because I'm talking about a nest I think it's just the power of community and
I think it's one thing you're probably doing with this podcast is building some community and
putting it out there for other maybe jewelers or small business owners or starters
to for that to resonate with them. So anyway, I'm Katie Heiselberg and I own,
(02:05):
I guess two businesses. I think of it as one but I started Katie Kismet in 2018 and really
fairly quickly on the heels of getting into glass. So I work in kiln-fired glass. Sometimes
it's called Fused Glass and I was just a creative explorer my whole life and would just get into
(02:30):
anything. My curiosity would take me everywhere and I worked, my career was in advertising
but more the media side and then I did about 10 years of that and stopped and went back to
school for graphic design and that was a good move. I needed to be doing something visually
creative. So I was freelancing and traveling and took a random workshop in glass because I'd never
(02:55):
done it before and I wanted to see what it was about and I walked out, sorry my voice today,
I walked out just energized and alive with excitement. I wanted to do more Fused Glass
and I wanted to make jewelry and I wanted it to be a business and it felt like it just kind of
(03:17):
came to me fully formed which I'd never experienced before. So I came home from that trip and found
a 101 class in Austin and I was off to the races and I was making everything in open studio hours
for a long time at Helios which I consider my home studio even though I've worked and
(03:42):
patronized a few glass places in Austin and they're all amazing. But yeah so then the pandemic hit
I didn't have my own kill so that was a unique predicament but it was also my pandemic silver
lining. One of them was I just had a lot of quiet and a lot of time and I ended up finding a kiln,
(04:07):
a gently used kiln and then had the space to learn how to use it and I brought all my production
in-house. So anyway a couple years ago I launched Austin Bolo because I specialized in Bolo ties
and statement rings and I was seeing who was buying the Bolo's and it felt like a more masculine
audience even though I think Bolo's are for everyone. That's right that's right I mean
(04:36):
Beyonce is doing for Bolo's. I don't know fill in the analogy there or the metaphor whatever.
Yeah so Austin Bolo also exists and I like to frame it like Katie Kismet carries Austin Bolo.
So Austin Bolo is only Bolo ties and slightly western leaning accessories and then Katie Kismet
(04:59):
is anything that comes out of my brain so more modern art. My angle is sort of modern minimalist
maximalist so I like simple and bold and I'm just having a grand time but that's me. I live in Austin
Texas. What else? I saw that on your on your gram that which is Katie Kismet at Katie Kismet. Do you
(05:24):
also have a Bolo, Austin Bolo do? Yeah at Austin Bolo. So you're doing both of those on social media.
Go girl and that you're doing some gold. I saw the 22 karat gold so now you're infusing your
glass even and they were really interesting pieces so that was like really like that's great.
Like I know that's a big jump like good tell me more. Yeah it's um sorry pause for cough. Okay.
(05:52):
It is so fun and I find that with other artists and entrepreneurs this is a common thread often
that we have lots of ideas and the the the the zing comes from the pursuit of a new idea.
Um so can't stop won't stop but yeah I have been using um because I started in glass and I did not
(06:15):
have any formal metal working experience or formal jewelry training um I I have just sort of benefited
from the beginner's mindset and the curiosity piece because then this day and age there's
so much available to you through the internet through through YouTube and Google and all that
(06:38):
there's a lot of learning at your fingertips and so I would run up a I would run up against say
wanting a Bolo back that did something that the prefabricated Bolo backs don't do and I couldn't
find it and so sort of out of necessity of pursuing an idea I'll sort of go into like well
I can make I mean let me see if I can figure it out and so if I found someone who you know
(07:05):
I feel like the the theme of me is um learning just enough to uh to get where I want to go
and then there's always another thing right um so and I'm naturally curious so that's how
the that's how it works you're like you learn something move on move on move on get better
get better get better like every time you're doing something you're learning still right yeah yeah
sometimes to the detriment of uh sticking with a good idea or it's like oh I should be I have a
(07:32):
business I should be marketing these other things that are lovely and fine but um but you know that's
where the joy for me that's where the joy comes from and um and I just feel so grateful that I'm
able to do this right now and yeah so the trying to get old if you you've had so much success
(07:56):
Katie like I know I know it's hard to talk sometimes about our successes but you should this is a
safe place I mean you definitely have had like a really good really good role with your business
like things are really growing and that's why you're able to keep exploring and keep getting
better and better and better because you know you've got the wind underneath your wings you've
(08:17):
got a good customer base so you know like tell us about some of that like some of the things
that you've done in the past that you're really proud of and I know where you want to go next
because yeah well fire to something yeah so thank thank you for um seeing it that way I think
I think it always feels different on the creator's end the the business owner's end I
(08:43):
I can now five years in five plus years in um when I take a moment and reflect I think oh wow yeah
I've come a long way like almost none of the products or designs that I had on the website
in the beginning are still there um and I was proud enough of them then to go which I think
(09:04):
is important you just need to go um and I also I also think I remember a lot and still have a
lot of impatience where I my Instagram following which I don't think I'm the best at the consistency
with Instagram but it stalled out at 249 followers for a very long time and I was just like what
(09:27):
does a girl need to do um so we're we're beyond that but you know it's sometimes I have to stop
and look back and think and appreciate the growth and the progress and the successes because it's
too easy to look around and say well that person started three years after me and look at their
(09:51):
following and blah blah blah and it's just poisonous it's so poisonous so I I think um a couple of
things have been key um well one just keep going um and it sounds trite and simplistic but it's true
so many businesses don't make it to five years right and um just one foot in front of the other
(10:12):
and um the other one of the other things is um oh hold up I lost my spot your successes things
that you've done that have been successful that's what we're talking about like the 80d rate oh um
yes so fortunately I have the graphic design background so that has been an asset and um
um it's easy it's been an asset for me and also there are lots of tools out there to make that
(10:40):
an asset for anyone else like canva right now AI can be helpful in fact tools like canva are
integrating AI so that can be really helpful for folks who don't have a training in graphic design
um and I mean it's also been the bane of my existence but like good photography has made
a big deal um I I found I usually try to um work with women and support women businesses but
(11:10):
way back in the very beginning I went on Austin freelance gigs on Facebook and was looking for
someone sort of last minute and I found my photographer who I love and he's awesome and I just
were a kindred spirit and I feel kind of loyal so um you didn't give him a shout out that's Dave
Dave Creny Dave Creny is a super guy he does a lot of music uh music industry sort of angled stuff
(11:34):
and um and I just I love the results we get and he's a how does that process work does he like
come and pick him up or shoot him at your house or take him or y'all so how's that work for you excuse
me yeah that's a really good question um in jewelry two things are important the product shot and the
on-body shot right so yeah so just to make it um you know sort of double the photography needs
(11:59):
but it's it's crucial um I think you need a really good close-up of what the thing is um and then
um how it looks on a person for scale and to exhibit how it can be worn and I actually think
that's one thing with the bolos that I just I could probably never do enough of showing it on people
(12:21):
because I feel like particularly styling it with women who women don't normally think of wearing
a bolo tie and and I'm always just kind of like it's just another necklace you can wear it like a
joker you can wear it further down so it behaves like a pendant so like that's a unique sort of I
mean I think people get rings we get rings we get earrings but like for the bolo tie that's a unique
(12:45):
need for me is that the photography is really powerful and um I like his style so he does my
on-body shots and um the brief in the past has been let's get the full body and if they're high
enough resolution that then I can really get in if I need a tighter shot on body of the product
(13:07):
um and I think that's served me up until you know I think it serves me I think I could also
do with some more really tight just on product specific shots and then I had a little photography
experience from graphic design days and um so I have a you know honestly you can do it with an
(13:29):
iPhone nowadays I happen to have I've got a used uh camera with a good macro lens I really only use
the macro lens for you know and I've tried a million different lighting setups but you cannot
beat sitting next to a window with natural light you just can't so that's that's kind of it.
It's that shine for glass which is really important right? Yeah and not getting reflections when you
(13:54):
don't want to you know so if it's a broad- It's a sunny day shots. Absolutely yeah so um there's a
lot of figuring out but um I use tools that are like I use Photoshop but like honestly and I know
you use like Pixar gay and I actually also use Pixar so there's there's all the tools out there
(14:16):
for whatever level you're at it just has you gotta want to figure it out so yeah have you tried
using an AI image and putting your jewelry on top because that's what I do in Pixar that way
models yeah I am sort of in process with that I used a tool called Firefly recently which I think
(14:37):
is a web-based thing um to create a scene so I wanted like a modern product photography scene
but without I tried it with I said you know put a ring on an organic shaped prop with a blah blah
blah I told it what kind of background what color the prop should be da da and it did a great job
(15:00):
obviously it wasn't my ring so then I was like well the next step is just like remove the ring
and now I'm gonna go and remove the background from one of my product shots and see if I can
integrate it um that's how I do it I just take the jewelry without the background have my image
and I just put it on top it's like takes yeah yeah and I think um you know sometimes it looks
(15:27):
like that's what you did I'm not talking about you gay I'm serious sometimes the end result looks
like oh that's what that person did and sometimes it looks almost indistinguishable and I think it's
just a matter of um what you're going for because there's all different styles of photography so
don't think that a person has to only do what Kendra Scott is doing or whatever you know
(15:51):
I think that if you if you lower the if you lower the transparency so it's just not like so and then
it kind of blends in more it looks more real something like that but that's a good point that's
a good point definitely retaining shadows if it's possible yeah yeah that's that's always a tricky
part because you gotta go in and like in after you move the background kind of like erase them back
(16:11):
in you know restore them something like that yeah yeah for sure now it's almost time to be signing
it for the armadillo again or it is time or it's past time I'm not sure because I'm not on that
list but are you gonna do the armadillo again in December because I know you this year tell me
about that journey because a lot of people don't know about the armadillo but it's big here in Austin
(16:32):
yeah absolutely armadillo is uh well I think we're we it's not my market but I participate
I think they're going into their 49th year this year so it's a true Austin institution which I
I love about that um and I um the story of getting into armadillo was um interesting I kind of wanted
(16:58):
backing up a little bit my I grew up with my mom had her own jewelry business and she didn't make
most of it she would buy wholesale retail but she did markets and so we were in Houston and she
did I mean everything's from teeny church bazaars to nutcracker market and um one called like really
(17:19):
big 20,000 30,000 visitor markets um so I I kind of grew up doing my homework behind behind her
tables and you know helping with move in and move out and um honestly never thought I would I would
be doing it myself it's hard work yeah and it is hard work and I started this business and then with
(17:43):
like I you know created or made got the website up to crickets because if nobody knows about it
other than your family and friends um you're you're not gonna sell much so it became clear that the
most immediate um way to get the ball rolling was to be out in front of the people in the town I live
(18:05):
in and um and build awareness and um get out in the community and there are so many benefits to
doing the markets I also knew I had some peers that were out there every weekend and I also knew
that wasn't for me so kind of early on and having had the background um with my mom I thought you
(18:27):
know I'm I started with a couple like medium-sized markets and some of the smaller ones that like
breweries and stuff like that and then just went for it and applied for some of the two two of the
largest in Austin and um which this the other one all the uh McComstreet was that okay well
McComstreet is big I haven't done that one I also have an allergy to outdoor shows outdoors what was
(18:52):
glass jewelry oh yeah glass and it's all done and it happened I'm a little high maintenance so the
the elements are not my jam but um but uh the junior league has a Christmas bazaar so that
that's a big one and McComstreet's also big but I haven't done it um yeah so Armadillo I submitted
an application and I thought oh I'm sure it's too late I don't know I forget what year it was it might
(19:16):
have been 22 or 23 I can't remember it's all a blur not 23 21 or 22 and they were doing their first
event normally it was I think it had become like a 14 day show right in the Palmer event center
which is Austin one of Austin's big event centers downtown and um then forced COVID so
(19:41):
they were coming back and doing their first market after sort of post COVID ish and they
were doing it outside of the event center so it was all outside and I think so the Armadillo is
right like not for two weeks right no no no it was a three day weekend so they just they made it short
they put it outside and invited all that they're very loyal to the folks that do it multiple years
(20:07):
and each year they try to bring in a little bit of new blood and all that but I think my suspicion
I don't know this for a fact is that a lot of the the artists particularly ones with fine art and
expensive art and fragile art were thinking they know three days outside in December in Texas
(20:28):
not for me or for health reasons or whatever so there were some openings and I was doing another
and I was doing another market Renegade which is a popular one that travels and they came by to see
my booth and chat with me and then asked me if I'd like to participate and so I got my tent set up
(20:49):
and and I really again I don't like outdoor markets but I figured this is my foot in the door I
would like to get to know the Armadillo folks and that is exactly how it played out thankfully so
so now the market is back inside and they went from seven days to nine days last year and I think
it'll be 10 days this year um is it bulldozed what are they gonna do is it being torn down
(21:14):
the convention center will be remodeled but not the event center not Palmer so the right
right on like second street or something or first and then Palmer is over by the long
there on the other side of the lake yeah yeah so um and it's a it's an artist market so you have to
(21:35):
make what you sell which I find my stuff is a um I always say I say this it's a little left to center
so it's it's not classic gold and silver dainty jewelry and I think that um they were excited
about my bull ties and um and I do well at artist centric in artist centric context where it's people
(21:58):
looking for something new and different so yeah for sure not resellers you know like actually meet
the artist talk to the artist you know maybe design something for themselves have something designed
specifically for themselves did you find any of those people there that wanted like any custom
work afterwards absolutely in a good following from those shows absolutely um true to Austin roots
(22:22):
the armadillo has music every day um that's the right music live music it's absolutely yeah yeah
it's a real scene um yeah it's I feel like it's almost equal parts concert and market and there's
food and beverages and all that so it's it's a really great scene and so there's four bands or acts
(22:43):
every day and the market goes into the night because they want it to be sort of like a night scene and
um one of the fellows in one of the bands and I forgot the name of it um he circled back
months later and said hey I'm about to get married and I really liked your bull ties but I was like
(23:04):
in another zone when we were at the armadillo but could you make one for me and so he was tall so we
made a longer cord and he came over to my house which I do by appointment if you want to like
shop the pieces and sort of put them together yourself and that was a real honor so that was a
good time to be part of their wedding did you get a wedding picture is it afterwards all over
(23:27):
you know what he said he was going to and I haven't I feel like I saved a reel or something
where I like pause it I was like there's the bow you gotta circle back and get that I know
you've got a picture take that down yeah for sure I mean that's that's a great story and maybe you
know uh if he ever has another reason he'll reach out to you because album covers are really great
(23:50):
to have jewelry on that's right yeah I've put bolo's on are you applying for the shows coming
up because it's that time like spring it's like six months or nine months out right yeah yeah I um
well it's a lot of work number one we should back up a minute were you exhausted at the end of all
(24:10):
that because you know going until late at night over the Christmas holidays when all the family is
home going yeah she's not here but she'll be here at like midnight yeah yeah no kidding very hard
we close at 9 30 on the 23rd and in my family we do sort of a hybrid we do some of the traditions
(24:33):
on the 24th and then some of them on the 25th so um you know at 1 a.m. I'm I'm pulling the
the cargo van into the front of my house on the 23rd and then we get up on the morning on the 24th
and we take all the stuff to storage and return the van and then then we get to start family
Christmas so um I'm sorry um was it I mean like that's hard on the family I do know that I understand
(25:00):
yeah and I've had to hire help I mean so I hire people to come you know I have some great trusted
well the employees sounds weird I do pay them you pay I have some great teammates that I recruit
for the long markets particularly so I can like you know go home at six one day and wrap presents
(25:22):
and see my daughter you know stuff like that so it's um it's a big booth fee and it's a it's a
lot to think about it's a big setup it was it was a big investment and I feel like um compensates
accordingly so um yeah but yeah I'm I'm actually I'm doing there's another market in Austin called
(25:46):
Blue Genie which is another sort of long running um artist focused market and they do a May market
so I'll be doing their May market and then hopefully I'll get to do the holiday market and I think
that might be it for me this year I've I'm in a season of pulling back a little from markets and
(26:07):
there's so much work like seriously I get it it's a lot of work and I I'm curious about the other
ways I can build my business so um dipping my toes into wholesale and pursuing some accounts that I
think are good fits um and spending a little more time on building direct to consumer um which is
(26:29):
just like people finding my website or hearing about Austin below and coming and buying from my
website which I think is um I mean that's the that's the pie in the sky when I um when I can
make it ship it from my house and you know so I'm actually doing a class next week with LinkedIn
(26:49):
about doing the LinkedIn ads because that's kind of where I kind of see my jewelry kind of going
but have you run any ads like Google ads or Facebook ads meta paying Mark Zuckerberg money to
let us be seen no it's a short answer I tried one October or like into September I had a
(27:09):
Halloween specific style and I thought you know what we're gonna do it we're gonna try if they say
it's easy to so I cannot tell you how many hours I try and I'm I think I'm pretty good at this stuff
and I have the patience to try to figure it out there is something with meta where I mean sometimes
(27:30):
there's just a thing that is not working and I I can't I'll spend hours and I can't figure it out
and then I just have to stop and say this is not a good use of my time and so then it got to a
certain date in October where I was like well if somebody is it I can't ship it and yeah um so
I had the same problem with the clip story I'm like uh yeah I'm kind of late on this yeah yeah
(27:54):
yeah always that like I feel like I'm always racing the clock because there's always something but
no the short answer is no and I think that's something that I should be doing if I want to
build direct and consumer um the other thing with Austin Bolo is the um and Bolo ties in general
is they're so specific that they can rise an SEO so I had a lady who was visiting from Minnesota
(28:22):
and they were riding their bikes from the east side over anyway she googled Bolo tie because she's
always wanted a Bolo tie I asked her how she found me and she said Google and I could come up I think
if you Google well clearly she googled Bolo tie Austin and Katie Kismet which has been around for
five and a half years didn't come up in the results so SEO is so important and I'm also I just feel
(28:48):
like I'm late to all the games but I've been putting up some blog posts and um it matters on Etsy
like on Etsy almost all my sales are Bolo ties because out of the millions of listings
that pool is small enough that if somebody searches Bolo tie I have a couple listings that will
(29:09):
come to the first page so it's something to think about um when you're naming things when you're
choosing your um your maybe angle or niche or what makes you unique because there's enough people on
this planet that you know they'll find you and your rings are great too I love your rings I think
(29:29):
they're so they're pop you know they're they're really a great look for I would even say millennials
Gen Z like even like earlier like you know they have a great age span anybody could wear them and
they're a very noticeable jewelry they really have a you have a great signature look on those
thank you yeah I um I have come to uh realize as a woman in her 40s that I have a playful
(29:58):
side to me that I hope you guys like yeah so I I mean it goes to my it's not a you know manifesto
or mission statement or anything but I think fashion should be fun and I think you think that too gay
if I could guess um and so I just want to be playful with it so I don't have a necklace on is that a
(30:24):
Bolo you're wearing this is a Bolo and this is a it's a Bolo a Bolo a Bolo if that's perfect for a
bride I could see a bride wearing that yeah it's perfect for a bachelorette party you know and
bows are kind of having a thing and I mean the other thing with fashion is like things move at a
(30:46):
million miles an hour now that it kind of feels like anything's in if you will it just you got to
style it and there's nothing there's no better style than you being you so okay and tell me about
what colors those are available in because they are really cute if somebody's interested they're
adorable so the bows are available in black and white and then I have um I this is in my pop
(31:09):
collection so okay fired by like pop art and they're just bold shapes there's star squiggle heart
flower and um you know like the flower will be about not two inches wide but over one inch so
like they're they are statement and I always like to say with the Bolo or the or the large statement
(31:33):
rings like you throw on a white t-shirt and jeans and a boot and that ring and you're done you're
like ready for selfies it's selfie time right yeah you don't right yeah super instagramable great for
stylists you can see they pop on camera so yeah by the way your videos are really good I saw the
one of course the one about where you're applying the gold and your studio is beautiful you did a
(31:58):
great job on your videos like I'm always so happy I'm like cheering you on behind yay good job because
I do think that you really like you really have a great aesthetic I mean it comes across all the
way across um your your IG so are you also posting on Facebook too people people could find you on
(32:18):
Facebook or just well I was having my Instagram post feed directly to Facebook um and I don't think
this is another meta thing I don't think they're doing that right now and I couldn't figure it out
I spent a lot of hours trying you know going into business center and da da da da and linking and
unlinking da da da and um I couldn't figure it out and so it's interesting though because I have
(32:43):
recently had a couple people that were like well I messaged you on Facebook and I don't think about
Facebook a lot I think about Instagram first and then I think about Pinterest because I'm like well I
should be more active on Pinterest because of how visual and graphic my photography and product and
everything is um I haven't and I have a a little bit of friction with social media it's been a weird
(33:08):
relationship and um it feels like so yeah right it's time consuming because I'm me and I care about
not saying other people I I white knuckle the visuals to the detriment of um quantity and
(33:30):
consistency so I I get a little caught up in having it look amazing and I think I I meet my
expectation a lot but it also means I'm not posting every day and and I you know so there's
it's a trade-off like and I think also um you know there's a movement back to authenticity so I need
(33:52):
to just like I have a you know I think we all I won't speak for everybody else I don't love being
on camera I think I do it okay but thinking about posting um uh even just a story of me chatting about
what I'm doing that day that just doesn't really like really cross my mind and I my mind's on other
(34:13):
things so I it's um it's sort of been a weird ride but I think I'm letting go a little bit
lately and just it should be enjoyable I think you know this isn't a therapy class but I am on
top of that with you like I think it's I think we overthink it we overrun ourselves with more
(34:33):
extra work and who cares if there's one more real who cares if there's one more picture if they can't
see all the other content you know I I'm kind of like right now where it seems like I I miss a lot
on Instagram because everybody uses it instead of any other way to communicate now so if you're not
(34:53):
checking your Instagram chats or communications then you can miss something I was like just looked
at it the other day and I was like oh my god like look at all this I'm I just don't think to always
check that because I don't know I don't know how same it's not like they can text me because
people don't really do that that are just like in the ether but definitely it's hard to keep up with
(35:15):
it all it's a real it's ragged yeah it I feel like I'm fighting for focus time all the time
so I turn off notifications I turn you know and then there's a price to that which is somebody
messages me on Facebook and I don't know about it until they then go to my website and contact me
(35:36):
there and then it comes into my email and then I know you know so it's um but also I'm or and also
so as a one-person business doing all the things I cannot be available at all times so
and I also think there's a it's a mental health aspect to it like not to get to in the weeds but
(36:00):
like I had wondered for many many years but then recently was diagnosed with ADD so it's real and
I and I know you know we're all a little ADD whatever I hate saying that but with this day and age
with like everything swirling around us and you just I have to set up the boundaries that I need
(36:22):
and then cut myself some slack and just do my best so it's my balance like seriously it is it's
really important part because it gives us space to be creative again when you think back of when
we had nobody during COVID and we could just concentrate on our work what we wanted to create
what we wanted to create you know we weren't thinking about that customer out there that client
(36:46):
out there we were just thinking about what would make me happy today that's a nice space to be in
it's hard to get back there when there's hustle and bustle and so I totally understand and you
know you got a family you got things going on like it's a beautiful day today like we should all be
outside and yet you know we're doing a part yeah but it is hard so I totally understand that like
(37:12):
yeah well if you were a new if you were going to tell somebody that was maybe new to the jewelry
industry if you were to give them like two tips and I know that's a little tiny bit but you can
go more if you wanted to but like if you were to look back at your beginner self and you were
looking at somebody else that's a beginner what would you tell them um well one of it's a rerun
(37:40):
but um just keep going you know and don't fuss it yourself so much because um bit by bit it adds up
over time and and the other piece would be um find some community I I forget I think I found Nest
(38:01):
and the women's jewelry association both during the pandemic um and joined up and you know so once
we started coming out of our pandemic holes or whatever um I was like the first time I met any
of these folks in person but it it meant a lot even before the in-person things um to just be in
(38:25):
community with people doing what you're doing and very close to what you're doing and um yeah I think
that's really important and this is coming from an introvert who is a pig in mud when she's just in
her studio alone all day and like I need that also so I think it's really key yeah I I just saw
(38:47):
something it was mostly in a real but it was talking about like I like being at home and it
was showing all the you know we do we we build these little bubbles around ourselves and I don't
want to go into another job like I want to be able to be here and working like definitely tell me
about the woman's jewelry association I have not joined that but I know great things about it tell
(39:08):
me have they have they helped you in any ways is that something you would tell other people to
to join I I do recommend it um it's it's a national organization and there's chapters
in different cities and so I think like anything that's set up that way it kind of depends on
your chapter so you you should sniff it out for yourself but um I don't even remember how I got
(39:32):
linked up probably post on Instagram or something and the Austin crowd is just really great at just
just really down to earth folks there we have people that specialize in pearls that broker
find gyms that um have major find jewelry jewelry store and then we have people like me who are
(39:54):
sitting in a room in her house you know um working with our hands and um so it's all over the board
it we have men in the group like it's it's come one come all and um most of our events are well
I have a lot of our events are free and you can come and then there's always usually if it if there's
a price to come it's and there's a non-member price and stuff like that so just to build community
(40:17):
and I think the the resources have been great there have been some grants um I won one of our
local grants which was you know not do that multi multi figures but it enabled me to buy some
um equipment that I had been pining for you know so um I didn't know that so congratulations
and thank you I'm glad that you shared that because that was yeah it's a brags on you girl
(40:44):
and I'm on I'm on the board so I mean I should like that's how much I appreciate that organization
as I'm oddly enough I'm communications chair well invite me because I'll come because I'm
looking for my local tribe because you know that's why I loved meeting you and the other people that
we got to know in this because that was definitely a really big part of it because you sit here by
(41:09):
yourself and it's nice to have you never have to cry alone if you have a community behind you that
has liked interest so please invite me I would love to be right we would love to have you and and
the Austin group which is what I can speak to um it's a lot of lifting each other up um I don't
feel that there's any sort of weird competition it's just very supportive and um I think when you
(41:36):
get enough folks that feel that way then that becomes the culture of the group and so um we share
sources as far as we're comfortable like it's just I've learned and I've learned so much I can just
send a question out you know and uh and see what people think even just stuff like I don't know
what to do with you know this is what they asked for the wholesale terms and what does that mean
(42:00):
and so it's just uh these these groups are great for that and um and it's good when it's so specific
and I think we should have broader networks of course but um yeah there's a lot of benefit to
resource rich I think that there's some other nest people are I think in that group I can I think so
(42:20):
yeah um people that we know now I'm gonna be on the spot but uh it's okay don't you'll have to name
them because I'll hope I'll have them on their show and also that's another thing if you have a newsletter
please tell them you've got the link and just say sign up um and be on sugar's new podcast because
it's specific to anybody that makes jewelry like I really want this to grow because if you well it's
(42:45):
started because I looked for other podcasts that I could be a guest on just to get my SEO and my brand
out there and there really isn't anything and they were all like five years old they only had like three
seasons or three things it was like okay really I got this I can do this so yeah I'd love to have
some of your people on there all of them all of them this is going to go on you know for years
(43:08):
hopefully because it's easy to do I just have to put makeup on it's the worst part I know I love it
thank you for doing it sugar it's this is a really super thank you I feel like and and this is a great
place to kind of if you want to say anything last because we should definitely say your website one
more time so that people and know that and your Instagram one more time we'll put it up on as a
(43:31):
banner but um and anything else that you would like to share opening the floor to you to end the
show um well my website katiekismet.com at katiekismet on Instagram and then austinbolo.com at austinbolo
I would say this this would have this meant something to me every time I heard it is that
(43:57):
maybe it took me a minute to believe it but there's a place for you um jewelry can be feel
very saturated um but if you have a vision and it's your joy and you know follow that um so I
think a there's a place for you and be authenticity or there's no order but they work together um so
(44:25):
that's it okay it's a three hundred and thirty three billion dollar a year industry absolutely
I glory all the time people like to adore themselves they have from alinia in the beginning of time
the beginning of time the beginning of time we adorn ourselves to set ourselves apart
and I think that's what makes it just so much more fun like you know people aren't wearing crowns
(44:51):
but they were wearing jewelry back then like for sure well thank you very much katie I love you
and you know I do and I'm always there to support you and please know that I'm true to that and I
look forward to seeing you in person next time I come to one of your events or come see you and
we'll keep supporting each other and all the rest of our friends that we know to in common
(45:17):
and keep going you're making beautiful things and if there's anything I can ever do to help you
you know I'm just a what's that call away and thank you for being my very first guest on my podcast
this has been jewelry as your side hustle and I know we work hard it's not really a side hustle
it's like our full-time jobs but you know it it is part of what we do so thank you again katie and
(45:39):
I hope you have a great rest of your day
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