Ep#22-Handcrafted Success: Building a Jewelry Empire from Passion

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Adrienne Wiley shares the inspiring journey of how she transformed her creative side hustle into a thriving jewelry business with Covet Palm Springs. Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Adrienne built an empire that went from selling handmade jewelry to coworkers during lunch breaks to supplying nearly 900 wholesale accounts and opening multiple retail locations.

• Starting as a creative outlet from her corporate insurance job where she coded enrollments
• Selling jewelry to coworkers from her cubicle before expanding to 150 stores through door-to-door sales
• Quitting her corporate job after saving money for six months while keeping a resignation letter on her desktop
• Growing to supply major retailers like JCrew, Anthropologie, and Madewell
• Becoming an "accidental retailer" when a New York Times feature led to customers lining up outside her studio
• Moving from San Francisco to Palm Springs during the pandemic after dealing with multiple break-ins
• Opening in the Flannery Exchange and expanding her business three times
• Offering interactive experiences like permanent jewelry, charm bars, and custom hat decorating
• Diversifying revenue streams as her number one piece of advice for entrepreneurs

Find Adrienne and Covet Palm Springs at 750 North Palm Canyon Drive inside the Flannery Exchange, across from Cafe La Jefa, or online at covetps.com and on social media @covetps.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What is going on?
Everyone?
I'm Robert Mraz and I'm FinaMraz, and this is CV Hustle, the
podcast dedicated to inspiringand informing entrepreneurship
here in the Coachella Valley.
And today we got a real specialguest for all of you out there
that love design and lovejewelry, where this is the
episode for you, because todaywe have the owner operator, the

(00:21):
genius behind Covet Palm Springs, miss Adrienne Wiley.
Thank you for joining us today.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
You're welcome.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
I'm excited to have you here.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Absolutely so.
As we do with everybody, I wantto know how did it all become?
Well, maybe we shouldn't get tothat so quickly, right?
Where did where did?
Have you lived in Palm Springsyour whole life?
Are you native to our valley orwhat?
No?

Speaker 3 (00:50):
I'm not native to the valley.
I'm actually from Chattanooga,Tennessee.
A lot of people haven't evenheard of Chattanooga, but I
think it got ranked as one ofthe best places to live, like
during pandemic.
It kind of like moved up on thelist because of all the outdoor
things to do.
So anyway, yeah, so that'swhere I'm from and I met my
husband in Atlanta and then he'sfrom San Francisco.

(01:11):
So a job offer moved us to SanFrancisco and so we were in San
Francisco from 2006 until 2020.
And then, august of 2020, wemoved here to Palm Springs.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Did you move here because of the pandemic?

Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, well, sort of, because it gave us the freedom
to be able to move.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
And so, basically, we had a vacation home here and we
couldn't rent.
In the beginning of pandemic,you know, like they were like no
rentals unless it was likeessential workers or anything
like that and so our place wasjust sitting empty.
And then my husband was workingremote and all the shops were
forcibly closed that weren'tessential in San Francisco, and
so I was only operating online.

(01:50):
So we were like, might as wellgo use our place in Palm Springs
, why not go back again?
So we came back for anothermonth and we had always planned
on retiring in Palm Springs, butit sort of became a reality way
sooner.
It was somewhere we alwayswanted to be, but we were like,
wow, if we can pull this off,and like you're going to be

(02:13):
remote, and yeah.
So we went for it.
Yeah, and so we moved to PalmSprings August of 2020.
And then I ran my store in SFremotely for an additional year
and then, in May of 2021, Iopened the location in Palm
Springs.

Speaker 1 (02:31):
So was it online before?
Was it just an online storebefore?
Was this your first physicallocation, or did you have one in
the Bay Area as well?

Speaker 3 (02:37):
So actually I had three stores in the Bay Area
across eight years, yeah.
And then I previously had acouple of outposts here in Palm
Springs through.
It was called Raymond LawrenceI don't know if you guys
remember, but it was like sortof like Mojave Flea concept
before Mojave Flea came along.
So it was a lot of like storein store, like little shops, and

(03:00):
so I was in there for three orfour years so I kind of had
proof of concept that you knowmy products would do well in
Palm Springs.
So that sort of helped me whenI decided to open the store.
I was like.
Well, I kind of dabbled in thearea a little bit and when I was
with Raymond Lawrence they werein Uptown and then they also
had an outpost inside the RitzCarlton in Rancho Mirage.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Oh really, I didn't know that.
I only go like drive the Ritzevery so often and think, what
does it look like inside?
So, okay, I have a question foryou.
So how did you get started injewelry, like, were you always
very creative?
Does it run?
You know, I always think thecreativity comes from.
It's passed down from somebody.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, right.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
And so because I love jewelry and I'm you know.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
I'm looking at a couple of things you've got
going on.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
So how did that all come about?

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Yeah, so I guess it really no one in my family is
like an artist or anything likethat.
My dad was very, very handy andI used to always go with him,
you know, to the hardware storeand he would do our cabinets and
do the floors and, like, alwayswatched him.
So I always learned how to usemy hands and enjoyed working
with my hands.
But I'm not good with that kindof stuff, like I'm a little

(04:12):
clumsy, so I don't need to bearound like jigsaws or you know,
like.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
Like lose a thumb.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Yeah, right, like nail guns?
None of that, right?
So I'm like how can I use myhands in a safe way, right?
So I started being crafty at ayoung age and I always wanted to
be in art classes and thingslike that, and my parents
fostered that, which was reallycool.
So I hadn't really been intouch with my creative side in a
while when I took a corporatejob at a Fortune 500 insurance

(04:39):
company.
So I was sitting in the cubicleand I was coding this black and
white screen.
I still remember it was calledMerlin, it was like the
insurance screen, and so I waslike I was like yeah, I was like
coding enrollments, yeah, andit was so funny my coworkers
gave me like a red swinglinestapler for Christmas one year
because it was like do you knowthe movie?

(05:00):
Office Space.
Yeah, so it was literally likethat, my boss in his hawaiian
shirts and like lean on thecubicle top like girl, michael,
yeah it was definitely that, andso I was like I need some sort
of creative outlet from thisright.
So there was a bead store downthe street from my house and I
became friends with the ownerand I took all his classes and

(05:21):
started making a ton ofdifferent jewelry.
And then at a certain point Ihad so much jewelry I was like
I'd given it to my friends, tothe point that they were like,
okay, thanks, we're good.
And I still had all thisjewelry, so I started selling it
to my coworkers on my lunchbreak.
So the upper part of thecubicle, like where it flips up,
where you keep files, I hadnecklace busts in there.

(05:42):
And then I had a co-worker whohad a friend who was in graphic
design.
So she helped me with a websiteand, like, helped me do a
little logo.
So I had my little boxes andstuff in the bottom drawer and
so I would kind of open up forbusiness at lunch, at work,
right?
And so then one of my co-workerswas like, well, why don't you
sell this to stores?
And I'm like I don't know, doyou need a license for that?

(06:04):
Like I had no clue how to getstarted.
I started going out to stores onmy lunch break and so, because
there are a lot of shops inAtlanta like kind of near our
building, so I just would go inand show them the jewelry and
then they would purchase it, andI was like, okay, so this works
.
So I actually fast forward, gotto 150 shops that I was carried
in just going around on my ownDoor to door, like just walking

(06:27):
in.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
That's impressive, so I would go all the way to.

Speaker 3 (06:29):
Athens.
I had friends in North Carolina, I had friends in Nashville, so
I would go stay for the weekendwith them and then, like, while
they were at work, I would justlike go and, you know, sell to
stores.
Yeah, so I did that for as sortof like a part time thing, you
know on the side for my main job, for about a year or so.
And then someone finally waslike, you know, there are trade

(06:50):
shows, right, and I was like, oh, so that's how people do it.
I was like because this, youknow, going to sort of start
like takes a really long time,this kind of sucks Right.
I was like this is takingforever.
So I did my first trade show andit was not great because I
didn't know I was in the wrongarea, because if you know trade
shows, you know there's so manydifferent sections.

(07:11):
There's like handmade, there'skind of you know fast, you know
mass produced products.
So I was in the wrong area,surrounded by the wrong products
.
So I did it a second time andit went really well.
So then I started being justlike a wholesale company.
I didn't have the store untillike way down the road.
So I was just doing all thetrade shows and I got up to

(07:31):
doing 17 a year.
So I was doing five Atlanta,five New York, vegas and a
couple of Dallas and so, yeah,so I had about 900 accounts that
I was constantly like sellingto, in addition to like JCrew,
Anthropologie, madewell, somebigger accounts like that.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
So how does like, how do you?

Speaker 3 (07:52):
okay, so obviously you quit the insurance, yeah, so
I did so I quit my job aboutafter a year of kind of you know
, doing it on the side when Ifelt confident, and so I saved
all my money.
And I remember, like going tothe mall and I was like, do I
want that shirt, do I want towear it to my awful job?
Is it really put it back?

Speaker 2 (08:09):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
It's like, if you don't, I'm like I can't buy
anything, so I just like savedmoney for six months and then I
remember I hated that job somuch.
So I remember like I had myresignation letter on my desktop
and like update the date everyday to make myself feel better,
and like save it again and I hadan empty box under my cubicle
and people would be like, what'sthat box for?
I'd be like, don't worry aboutit, and then one day you're like

(08:32):
that's your, like, that's yourgo bag right, you're like turn
that letter and I was so excitedand I remember I was like
either you guys will see me onthe pages of in style or I'll be
folding khakis at the gap.
Either way, I'm out of here.
Here's my hotmail account.
And then I pulled out my littlebox and packed up my stuff and
that was it wow, that is awesome.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
That's like a skit in like a saturday night live.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
Yeah they should have done that skit in the office.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
That's pretty, that's pretty good, that's pretty good
.
Yeah, you took.
You're ready to go take youremergency kit.
You know you're supposed tohave.
You just had it for work youknow, exactly get out of there.
That's awesome.
I can have one of those okay,so what?

Speaker 2 (09:09):
okay, I'm like figuring out.
So you said you had 150 stores.
What does that mean?
Does that mean like you soldonce to a store?

Speaker 3 (09:18):
or like some were once, but most of them would
become customers.
You know repeat customers, so Iwould sell to them.
I'm pretty much like maybeevery couple months people place
reorders.

Speaker 2 (09:28):
So are you the only one producing it, though?

Speaker 1 (09:30):
So you're a wholesaler at this price right.
Yeah, you're just a wholesalergoing into the big box stores
and selling Exactly yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
So I did that for a number of years before opening
150 stores.
You got to start slanging somejewelry.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
For 150, it was just me that whole time.
And then I opened the store andthen got help.
I actually didn't have helpuntil gosh.
Now I look back and that's likereally insane, right.
But I didn't have likefull-time help until I opened
the store and then opened anoffice and then had people in

(10:07):
the office.
But for a little bit before Iopened the store, I actually was
finding people that enjoyedmaking jewelry as a hobby but
couldn't really make it into abusiness.
So they would make the jewelryfor me.

Speaker 2 (10:18):
So I would sort of have the components ready for
them, they would pick up for me,they would bring it back, I
would quality check everythingand then it would go out wow
yeah, so I kind of operated likethat for a while, see, and I
think, like jewelry making, youhave to have patience, which I
don't have, and then you have to, you know, because it's so
tedious, right?

(10:38):
It's just like, oh, my god,it's like I have so many ideas.
Can I give you my ideas?
and you make them for me andI've got some really great ideas
about jewelry and what I'd loveto see and stuff.
But man, to sit there, I'd belike forget it, I can't do it.
My ADHD doesn't let me sitthere for, like you know, hours
or just to do it.

Speaker 3 (10:57):
Yeah, I'm like, okay, I'm bored.
I find it really relaxing, butbut it's like I mean, of course
I'm sure you know the biggeryour business gets like, the
less time you actually have tospend.
So it's kind of a treat now ifI get to spend a day, just like
you know experimenting with allnew stuff you know and like yeah
.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
Yeah home, sweet home , yeah right.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
Takes you back right to the good old days Exactly
Just you and 150 accounts, doingthem by hand right.

Speaker 2 (11:26):
So like did you start with earrings?

Speaker 3 (11:27):
or anything in particular that was like your
staple.
I started out with earrings andnecklaces and I used to be
super vintage inspired in thebeginning, like using dead stock
, vintage stampings and stufflike that.
Um, and then over time I kindof evolved into daintier stuff
and now I feel like we're daintybut it still has like a nod to
vintage, a little bit like someof the shapes and stuff, but

(11:49):
it's more contemporary.

Speaker 2 (11:51):
So when you work with vintage because every time I
think of vintage I have agirlfriend who she buys vintage
and it's pricey, yeah Right.
So I'm assuming that if you'redoing like vintage jewelry, it's
probably is it pricey, Likewhat's it?

Speaker 3 (12:05):
Yeah, Well, I was using vintage either just the
components and to create vintageinspired pieces, so I wasn't
actually using vintagecomponents that much If we did.
It was like vintage glass beadsor different things like that.
They were kind of moreaffordable.
Individual pieces, Sure yeah.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
And then are you the one coming up with all the
designs, or yeah?

Speaker 3 (12:26):
I come up with all the designs.
So I'm basically inspired likemostly by my travels, yeah, and
so I see like cool designs, likeyou know, maybe in like a
mosque in dubai, or like youknow when some fun r&d or
something.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yeah, you have to travel and that's like your r&d
just going.
Do you go to like local marketsand just see what?

Speaker 3 (12:44):
yeah, the locals are wearing and be inspired that way
yeah, a lot of times, like it's, architecture inspires me a lot
because I love all the shapesyou know, um, but also, yeah,
the fashion as well.
And then I also bring in brandsinto the store from when I'm
traveling, so I'll find coolbrands like in japan or london
or mexico city and like bringthose independent makers like

(13:04):
into the store.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
Nice.
That's a good excuse to travel.
That's a nice like yeah little.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
That's a great little write-off for the business.
Let's talk about write-offs.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
R&D.

Speaker 1 (13:16):
So you said you were a wholesaler for 150, like
basically around where you wereright, Big box stores.
When did the store kind ofbecome on your radar or
something that?
You kind of figured hey, we canexpand this a little bit yeah
it's funny.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
Like for years I didn't want a store because I
knew so many store owners andthey all felt like trapped in
their stores.
Do you know what I mean?
So they would be so excitedwhen I came to drop off stuff,
especially if it's been like aquiet day or something.
They'd be like oh God, likeI've been here all day, like hey
, it's so good to see anotherperson you know.
And I remember leaving thosestores and being like gosh, that

(13:49):
seems like crappy, like I getto walk out of there and like
have my day, and like they'rejust stuck in the store, and so
I'm like it's really funny thatI'm like ended up doing that.
So I jokingly say I was anaccidental retailer.
So because I honestly just thatwasn't what I wanted, so I
opened a studio in San Francisco.
So we left Atlanta in 2006 andthen moved to San Francisco and

(14:14):
so I just worked from home for acouple of years, but then I
wanted a studio space, right.
So I ended up finding a studioin the Mission District of San
Francisco.

Speaker 1 (14:23):
We know that yeah.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
It's kind of like an artsy area, right.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
And so I found a studio there and it was a new
converted studio space and theykind of sold me on like oh, we
have open studios, you know,once a week and people can come
shop and look around your spaceand I'm like great, that's
perfect, because at least if Ican sell enough jewelry to kind
of break even for the rentpayment, then I'm not paying for
having a studio, right, it'sjust so.

(14:46):
That was a big sort of sellingpoint for me for renting that
space.
And then I moved in and theopen studios like never happened
, or if they did, they weren'twell promoted or whatever.
So I started looking for adifferent space with sort of
street visibility, right yeah,because this one was like inside
of a building.
So I found a space and it waslike a little space.
Probably.

(15:06):
I think it was like 400 squarefeet or something.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
That's all you really need, right, yeah so it was.

Speaker 3 (15:10):
Half of that was downstairs.
You walked up six stairs andthen the rest of it was up top,
and so my thing was I could havemy desk and everything up top
and then sell stuff down at thebottom so it's perfect yeah,
exactly.
And then you know you couldlook right over the little rail
and see who comes in and be likehi and help people and I could
work upstairs and have a messand not have to worry about
keeping that tidy.

Speaker 2 (15:30):
Oh, that's so great.

Speaker 3 (15:31):
So it was perfect, right.
So I worked like that forprobably about I opened it in
2009.
And for the first three monthsit was just me and my stuff and
making stuff and and peoplewould come in and it was working
.
Right, it was good, it wasworking and I was like this is a
great idea.
So then I got contacted by theChronicle and I got ended up
being they wanted to highlightme and so I thought it would be

(15:53):
like a little blurb somewhere inthere.
I was like, okay, this is great.

Speaker 2 (15:59):
This is fine so.

Speaker 3 (16:00):
I ended up being, and so honored, but maybe like a
week later or something, I cameto the store and I remember I
parked and you know SanFrancisco parking is horrible,
so I was like walking fromreally far away.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
Three miles down the road.

Speaker 3 (16:13):
So it was like a block and a half around the
corner and I was like what areall these people waiting for?
Like huh, I was like, did thebakery like drop a new flavor?
Because I had a bakery nextdoor.
And then that was the time whenPokemon was really huge.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
Oh.
You were like are they tryingto find a Pokemon?
I was like are they trying to?

Speaker 3 (16:28):
find Pokemon, because that was the thing.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
You know, people would be clustered up.
We know, we've spent a lot ofmoney on that, and so I was like
what is going on?

Speaker 3 (16:38):
So I ran around the corner and they were waiting for
my store and we're like yeah,it was so exciting yeah To this
day.

Speaker 1 (16:45):
I was like wow that's exciting and terrifying at the
same time.

Speaker 3 (16:48):
Yeah, and so it was.
And so that kind of set me onthe retailer trajectory, because
after that people knew aboutthe location, so they were
coming every day and I was like,oh, so I need hours now because
I was just there when I wasthere.
Do you know what I mean?
Like it was just I had no hourson the door I was like if I'm

(17:08):
there, I'm going to open thisdoor, if I'm not, I'm going to
close it.
It was a studio, right, so itwasn't a retail store, so I
could be there when I wanted tobe.
So then people were like, oh,what are?
Guess I'll be here tomorrowopening this door up.

(17:29):
So yeah, so I ended up havingto hire an employee, right,
because I couldn't make all,make the jewelry and run the
other part of the wholesalebusiness and be in the store.
So for a while she would sitdownstairs and it was so funny
because it was a 200 square feetand she'd be like at a little
teeny desk down there and thenI'd be upstairs.
And so I was like this is justweird.
And then people kept coming upthe stairs trying to see what I
was doing, which I'm excitedthat they were excited.
But it's like I'm trying to getstuff done and people are

(17:50):
picking things up like can I buythis?
Can I put this on necklace?
I'm like, no, that's mywholesale order, leave it alone.

Speaker 2 (17:55):
You should be like this is limited edition up here.

Speaker 3 (17:58):
Exactly right.
So I ended up getting an officespace down the street and so I
moved my operations into there,and that's when I could hire a
production manager and like allthat stuff, and then I just made
that into a store.

Speaker 2 (18:12):
Perfect, so she was.
So she had 400 square feet.

Speaker 3 (18:14):
Exactly, she could go up and down.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
Wow, so, but that article really changed the
trajectory of your business,right?
I mean it speaks to the powerof media right.
I don't know if it was beforesocial media time, but probably
like on the cusp.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I'm not dating myself , but yeah, it was kind of on
the cusp.
It's not date, no, it's not.
Let's not talk about date.
But let me ask you this so doyou think it was somebody that
came in and bought a piece ofjewelry and was like, oh my God,
like how did that?
How?

Speaker 3 (18:46):
You never asked no, she said that.
Well, the woman who interviewedme said that someone else had
shopped and told her about it.

Speaker 1 (18:53):
But I don't know who that person was oh, okay.
That's freaking awesome.
Secret shopper, huh.
So it was really really cool.
So it was very organic.
Then it wasn't like you paidfor them to come feature your
business.
That's pretty awesome.
Yeah, that speaks to yourtalent, though, right?
Oh, speaks to your to yourtalent, though, right.
I mean, that's crazy.

(19:13):
I'd be terrified if somebody'slined up down my office.
I'd be like I'd be turningaround going home.
I'm like I ain't going in therethat looks like trouble right
there, you know exactly, butthat's awesome, so it was a
hundred percent.

Speaker 3 (19:23):
I was an accidental retailer, so yeah.
So then I had a store and to me, honey, sometimes.
Sometimes you just get pushedin that certain direction and
you're like all right fine, andso then a couple years pass, and
then I opened another store inum the union street area oh,
union square not union square,like union street, like the
marina district oh, yeah, yeah,okay, okay and then I opened one

(19:46):
in the inner, inner sunset area, like on seventh and irving.

Speaker 1 (19:51):
It's sort of like are you running three stores at the
same time at this point?

Speaker 3 (19:54):
yeah, oh my gosh, a logistical nightmare, huh yeah,
and then I opened the twooutposts here like.
So I didn't have to run theday-to-day operations of those
but, like you know, still had tomake sure the inventory was up
to date and linking all thatstuff.
So yeah, I was kind of runningfive things at once and then
three stores, two outposts andstill doing 17 trade shows.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
Wow, wow.

Speaker 3 (20:17):
So that's a lot, yeah , and then no one in SF has cars
.
Like a lot of people don'tdrive, so none of my employees
drove.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
So if something, happened.

Speaker 3 (20:26):
Right, it's like, oh, we're out of toilet paper.
I would be like, okay, I hadthree vans in the back of my car
and so everything there waslike a u for union, s for sensei
, I for um, for a for arguello,and so I had like everything
binned out.
For what need to go to whatstore?
like they're out of tags they'reout of toilet paper, we need

(20:46):
shopping bags, they needprinting paper.
You know what I mean.
So it was, I was just ridingaround like dropping stuff off
and I was like, okay, so I'm acourier.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
Yeah, you became a delivery driver during that time
, huh.

Speaker 2 (20:58):
Okay.
So then this comes Okay.
First of all, I have a question.
I want to jump back to Do youdream about your designs?
Because, like, I can be, like,okay, somebody wants to do
something, and I'm like, andbefore you know it, I wake up
and I'm like, oh, that's whatI'm going to do.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
sometimes, so anyway, I just thought, maybe that
happens to you, how you come upwith designs.
No, not really.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
I would say, honestly , I don't dream that much.
I'm like.
I don't know if I'm like,you're like, I'm dead asleep.

Speaker 3 (21:31):
Yeah, I was like I don't know if I'm like I'm dead
asleep.
Yeah, I was like I don't knowif I'm too tired to dream.
Good ideas don't come to me inmy dreams, I'm too tired to
dream.
Yeah, some people say they keeptheir notebook and it's like,
oh, I had this great idea For me.
That happens when I'm traveling, because I think it's like I'm
on a break and I have enoughmental space to sort sort of,
let the new ideas come in.
Yeah, it's true.

Speaker 2 (21:50):
No, and it is travel.
You go somewhere and you'rejust like you know.
Yeah, everything to me I canmake into a tile.
You know what I mean.
It's like so prints, you nameit, yeah Right.

Speaker 3 (21:59):
Like I'm looking at things like and taking more time
and discovering new stuff.
So that's when I have my bestideas and also also problem
solve a lot on vacation.
Because it's like you're so inthe trenches, like trying to do
your day-to-day stuff, and thenyou like right, and then when
you don't have all that stuff onyou for a minute, it's like, oh
wait, that's a perfect solutionfor that, you know.

Speaker 1 (22:19):
So yeah, so you take your travel time very seriously
yeah, right, you get a lot done.
I mean you do.
It sounds like you're creatingnew lines and all that and then
problem solving.
But so back to san francisco.
When did so?
You were kind of alreadyexplained how you kind of ended
up down here.
Um, how, how, what was theinflection point where you're
like, okay, maybe, maybe allthese stores are not really what

(22:41):
I want to do, and with with thebusiness, and because you,
those businesses, those otherstores still around the three no
.

Speaker 3 (22:47):
So basically the union street store I ended up
closing because it all sort oflike organically, they
organically opened, theyorganically closed, um, but
union street became sort of aworkout street, so soul cycle
opened over there and it with it.
It brought all of the otherworkout related things.
So the street just totallybecame like it took over all the

(23:10):
independent retailers.
It over all the independentretailers it was all the
different.
You know, like then lemon cameand then the other, you know,
atlita, like all the differentbrands showed up, yeah, and so
that sort of became the focus ofthe street.
So you're like yeah, and sopeople didn't find it as much of
like.
The tourists aren't comingbecause they can see those
things at home, you know.
And then the locals.
Unless you're working out, thenyou're working out and you're
getting all sweaty, and you athome, you know, and then the

(23:31):
locals unless you're working out, then you're working out and
you're getting all sweaty andthen you're going home.

Speaker 2 (23:33):
You know, what I mean .

Speaker 3 (23:34):
So it's just you're just kind of running an errand
over there.
So it became less of like ameandering, kind of like fun
shopping street, and that was avaluable lesson in learning when
it's time to go.
I was the last person, like forprobably about a year people
would walk into my store and belike, oh my God, this is so cute
, where are there more storeslike this?
And it got harder and harder,to the point where I was sending

(23:57):
them to another neighborhood,which was Fillmore, which was up
the way, and I didn't have anyother place to send them on
Union.
Really, like all my friends andneighbors that had independent
cool shops were gone.
And so definitely no one to go.
No one to fold them.
Yeah, no one to fold them.
So I was probably about I was ayear too late.

(24:18):
I could have.
I could have let that go a yearsooner in hindsight, yeah yeah,
you always want to be a yearearly than right exactly, yeah
yeah, and you know what?

Speaker 2 (24:26):
I don't think there's anything wrong with saying all
right, this one, you knowoutlive.
It lived its life and and nowit's time to move on.
I don't think there's anythingwrong with saying all right,
this one, you know, it lived itslife and now it's time to move
on.
I don't think there's anythingwrong with that at all.

Speaker 3 (24:36):
Yeah, I mean, sometimes it's like that's it's
being a smart business person,Right.
It's like you're taking time andenergy and revenue, like it was
taking revenue from the storesthat were working and I could
have been using it to grow thosestores and do better things for
them, and I was using it tokeep this one afloat.
You know what I mean.
So that was a valuable lesson,yeah.
And then the sunset store.

(24:58):
Um, the owner.
She was like I think she waslike 90 when I moved in and then
her son took over and ithappened a lot in San Francisco,
Like when kids it's always.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
they always ruin the business.

Speaker 3 (25:10):
Yeah, they're like no we're going to quadruple this
rent, you know what I mean Causelike they're, like I'm going to
live off this rent.
Yeah, yeah, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
So that was another sign.
That's what happened with thatone, yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:21):
When your.

Speaker 2 (25:21):
Your rent keeps going up.
It's time to go.
And I that's how they pushedhis dad out of his His dentist
office.

Speaker 1 (25:28):
His dad had a dentistry business for like
forever 30 years, 30 years, andthey came in and tripled the
rent one day.
That's what happens, yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
They actually started putting a tax on vacancies in
San Francisco because of that,Because people were jacking up
the rents to crazy amounts andthen just letting them sit
vacant.
Like across the street from meand up a little bit there was a
vacant space.
It was a woman had been inbusiness with a dress shop for
30 years.
They 6X'd her rent, kicked herout.
It sat vacant for three years,until a major fragrance brand

(26:02):
moved in like a chain and paidthat rent.
Oh my God.

Speaker 1 (26:06):
That's crazy, but it's like.

Speaker 3 (26:07):
Meanwhile, it's like you're sort of stifling small
business, because no one canafford anything.

Speaker 2 (26:11):
You know to move in.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
So that's why they put those taxes on it.

Speaker 1 (26:15):
If people let it sit too long now, yeah, yeah Well,
San Francisco is pretty knownfor their rent control
initiatives and stuff like thatyeah, exactly, yeah, that's
crazy.
That was your other sign, likeokay, Exactly.
Time to go to where the profitis right.

Speaker 3 (26:30):
So when pandemic hit I just had the store on Arguello
and that was the original storeand so again everything was
forcibly closed, right.
So we moved here and then Ireopened that store and was
running it remotely.
But there was just so muchcrime Because a lot of San
Francisco took a while to kindof reopen, you know longer than

(26:53):
other places, and so like thebuildings were still boarded up
because break-ins were happening.
So it was like my whole streetkind of had particle board over
the windows and stuff.
The restaurants didn't want toexpose their glass because they
were doing smashing grabs peoplewere leaving their like um
windows down in their teslas andlike other cars, like saying,
like you know, please don't robme, it's like nothing's in here,

(27:15):
leaving their glove boxes open,wow what yeah?
City put signs up saying likedon't leave anything exposed in
your car, because the touristswere the ones mainly getting hit
.
Right you leave a jacket in theback.
Someone will break in for thatin two seconds oh wow, that's
and so.
So that was.
It was a problem before, but itgot way worse with pandemic.
So we had six break-in attemptsand three break-ins over a

(27:39):
two-year period six break-inattempts in two years.
Yep, same location, yep wow itwas the argoello location, the
one that I still had, and it'slike sometimes we would come in
and the we would see littlemetal coils on the ground where
they had tried to drill the lockoh my gosh or like they had
tried to etch into the glassenough to like be able to pop it

(28:01):
, yeah.
And then one guy broke in with amotorcycle helmet on and a
briefcase and like crawled inand then like took jewelry and
it's like my jewelry's 14 karatgold filled, so it's what they
call demi-precious, but it's not.

Speaker 2 (28:16):
It doesn't have like a street value, like yeah, it's
not like you can go cash it infor gold right and these
criminals didn't didn't know thedifference, apparently those
numb, oh my God.

Speaker 3 (28:29):
So crime and crime and they were taking vegan
leather purses.
I'm like that has no streetvalue.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
It was the insurance payment was the biggest thing.

Speaker 3 (28:37):
It's like for the door and the glass is expensive
and yeah, oh my gosh.

Speaker 2 (28:42):
So when you were saying you were wholesaling, so
okay.
So that, aguilo, am I sayingthat right?
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (28:48):
Yeah, it's called our guillo, Our guillo.
But yeah, so that was sort of alot of my decision to finally
close that down because itwasn't, it didn't rebound,
People weren't out and aboutlike they were in that
neighborhood before.
And then also the break-ins andstuff.
I started being worried aboutthe safety of my girls too,
because some of my neighbors hadhad people come in, you know,
and, like you know, yell at theemployees and just grab stuff

(29:10):
while they were open and run.

Speaker 1 (29:12):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (29:12):
It's a wild west man.

Speaker 2 (29:13):
Yeah it wasn't worth it anymore.
Yeah, it just didn't feel goodA wild west.

Speaker 3 (29:16):
Meanwhile I'd opened the store here in Palm Springs
and it was like every day wasamazing.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
I was like you know.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
Sun was shining, the birds were singing yeah, because
sometimes you know like thewhole, like really bad weather
and the girls would be like thedoor keeps blowing open and
whatever, and I'm all like it'sso sunny.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
No rain down here, no rain in the desert.

Speaker 3 (29:45):
And then everyone in SF like we come into the store
and you know people alreadyfought for the parking and you
know like the bakery line nextdoor is long and so they always
had a reason to kind of be likeupset, right, yeah.
So we'd be like hi, welcome.
They'd be like I'm just looking, okay, and meanwhile here
everyone either they're herebecause they want to be right,
or you feel lucky that you livehere, you're on vacation here
and you feel lucky about that.
So people have like the bestattitude, so everyone's like
happy.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
Palm Springs has a great vibe.
I mean, no matter which way youslice it, I mean it really does
.
Just walking downtown, and theother day we went out for my
brother's birthday and I waslike I'm going to go over there
and buy him a present at a smallbusiness.
You know what I mean and I justI love that.
And then, of course, I pickedmyself up a couple of things.

(30:24):
You know we were heading toBelize so I needed some.
You know I needed some clothes.
But I mean, that's what I loveabout Palm Springs are all the
tiny little shops, you know.
Yeah, so okay.
So how did you end up?
So you ended up here.
Well, first of all, I can'teven believe you came in August
and then you said you liked it.
So number one I'm-.
No, it was rough.

Speaker 1 (30:45):
Yeah, especially in the Bay Area it was really rough
.

Speaker 2 (30:47):
I was going to say I hate when people go.
I love the heat.
That's what I'm like.
What's wrong with you?
I'm like let's switch places.
You know I'll come to yourplace when it's hot as hell down
here, but anyway.
So you came and you were here.
And then how did you meet upwith Flannery?
You were inside of.

Speaker 1 (31:06):
Flannery Exchange correct.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
Okay, how did that all so?

Speaker 3 (31:10):
I didn't have any interest in opening another
store.
I had the San Francisco one.
I wasn't sure what I was goingto do with it at that point.
I didn't know you know how itwas going to be post-pandemic.
But a friend of mine had toldme that the Flannery was turning
.
It was going to be a co-workingspace at first.
Right yeah.
And then they pivoted and putretail in there and she was like

(31:32):
, oh my gosh, you have to seethis space.
And I was like, well, I don'tknow, I don't think I really
want to do a store anymore.
I had signed up to get my realestate license.
Oh, I was like I guess.
I'm just going to do somethingdifferent, yeah, and so then I
went to see, I remember Mike,the owner was walking me through

(31:53):
and telling me about it, and itwas at the very beginning.
So it had no walls, no, nothing.
The coffee shop wasn't open, Ithink like, if you know it, the
pink X in the front, I thinkthat was there, but everything
else had been delivered, but wasjust kind of all sitting around
, you know.
And so he was explaining it tome, like this is going to be
like this and this wall is goingto be here and this can be your
space.
And I don't know, I guess itwas maybe just because the

(32:16):
timing of it all, because it wasstill pandemic, you know, we
were coming out of it, but notyet.
And I was like I don't know,like I just couldn't see the
vision yet, right, so he offeredme the space and I was like no,
I think I'm going to pass, youknow, but thank you so much, you
know.
And so then I want to say thatwas November of 2020.

(32:38):
Yeah, that was November.
And then February came and theyopened right, february 2021.
And they opened.
And I remember I was drivingdown the street and I was like
what I was like, oh my God,that's that space.
So I pulled in, I went in and Iwas instantly my heart sank.
I was like damn, this is socute.
I was like I missed out.
And then I was looking at thecoffee shop.
I was like this is 1,000% myvibe for the store, you know

(33:01):
what I mean it was like it wouldhave been a really good thing.
And so I was about to walk outand then I saw Erica, the wife
of Mike Bauer, and so I said,hey, you know, I met Mike and I
think I'd met her really briefly, like she was at the building
too, and I was like I met you afew, you know, a few months ago.
I said, if anything changes?
I know that Mike has bookedevery, you know, everything is

(33:21):
rented out.
But I was like, if anythingchanges, let me know.
And she was like, okay, cool, Iwas like because I made a
mistake.
This is super cute.

Speaker 2 (33:36):
And he called me.
Something had changed and aspot had opened up.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
Oh my gosh, talk about I'm glad you went in there
, right, yeah, right yeah,because there was originally
going to be a salon taking uptwo of the spaces and so they,
something had happened like itcouldn't I think the water or
something, it just couldn't bedone, you know.
And so, um, anyway, the spotswere open and he asked me did I
want one or both of them?
And I started small, you know,I was like, oh, I want to start
small, so I took one.

(33:57):
And then a really good friend ofmine that owns a stationery
shop she at the time she wasonly online moved to town around
the same time I did, and so wemet for coffee and I was like,
hey, I'm going to move into thespace, Like it's really cool.

Speaker 2 (34:19):
And she was like I don't want to do retail again.

Speaker 3 (34:20):
I don't want to, and I was like, I know, but let me
just show it to you.
And then she saw it and she'slike, yep, all right, so I'm
gonna have a store.
So we both got sucked in.
So, yeah, that's one of myreally good friends, so she's my
neighbor now and yeah, and nowsince then one of her really
good friends has moved in with adog store.
And then, um, yeah, there's acute plant store.
So it's just been like growingand growing and growing.

Speaker 2 (34:35):
It's really cool okay , so I think I told you.
So I went to go see theexchange but they were like
major construction, like therewas nothing, and so I remember
mike had taken us upstairsbecause they had that big, huge
room right that goes on therooftop, and so he was telling
me what it was going to be andall of this.
And at the time we had our, wehad our showroom in Palm Springs

(34:58):
, on Palm Canyon, and we weren'tsure what we're going to do
with it, because I rented thatstore in March when the weather
was beautiful, and thensummertime came and we didn't
realize we didn't have AC, so wewere like it's not really
feasible.

Speaker 1 (35:12):
You can't really do that, no, so we were like it's
not really feasible.

Speaker 2 (35:16):
You can't really do that in the desert.
No, no, no retail, okay, anyway.
So we were like, okay, we'regonna get out of our lease
because it we're, at least it'sover anyway.
And so we were looking for aspace.
However, these spaces were toosmall.
Yeah, they were like three orfour hundred square feet, and I
was like I, I just can't, that'stoo small like I I wasn't even
sure how to really really managea place that's kind of tiny.

(35:37):
I could see a jewelry shop,perfect.
Yeah, we can put a lot of stuffin there, yeah, yeah, exactly.
So I ended up not taking aspace and we ended up getting
something on TalkWits.
So I'm on TalkWits in Indianand so it's like 1,000 square
feet, but anyway, so that's howthat all came about.

Speaker 3 (35:54):
Yeah, that's so funny .

Speaker 2 (35:55):
Yeah, but it's such a cute, cute place and I love she
named it La Jefa.
Yeah, she don't play.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
Right up your alley.

Speaker 3 (36:04):
It's a perfect space and I love it.
I actually jokingly call itlike my retail retirement,
because, like San Francisco isso much different having a
business Like I would go earlyto like San Francisco is so much
different having a businessLike I would go early to like
you know, clean graffiti off thewindow or like pick crap out of
my planter or you know whatever, and now it's like it's just
nice and easy and likeeverything stays organized and

(36:26):
yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
There you go and I have great neighbors.

Speaker 3 (36:29):
Oh, that's the best, and like it's like a fun little
community?

Speaker 2 (36:32):
and yeah, so how many stores are in there, would you
say?

Speaker 3 (36:35):
Let's see Like 10 or so Five, five yeah so it's the
dog people and the stationery,yeah, so there's Bean Goods,
there's Bobo, there's LosAngeles, there's Savage Art
Gallery and there's me.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
Yeah, very cool, and I know they were making that
cute little patio area right.

Speaker 3 (36:53):
Yeah, and that's only gotten cuter and cuter.
Like it's funny.
I look back on it and Iremember always thinking that it
was a great, like really cutespace.
And now I'm like, oh, they'vemade it even cuter.
Like yes, and now there's liketiki torches and all the
greenery outside and like thecute little pickup window and
the airstreams out there.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yeah, that's what I thought there was in Airstream,
right, and they're making drinksout of it, right, yeah,
something.

Speaker 3 (37:14):
Yeah, they did have a bar in there.
I think they're going to dosomething else with it soon.
But yeah, and then it sort ofwent through a few changes
inside.
So we started out.
I was really teeny, like maybe150 square feet.
It was super small, like whenyou saw it.
And then we expanded like by50%, and then we expand by 50%
again because there used to bedesks behind the stores because

(37:37):
they were still sort of figuringout if the co-working would
work right but then they decidedto just expand all the way and
make it for retail.
So, yeah, so over the threeyears, what would be four years
in May, but I've done twoexpansions wow, that means that
means the space is doing whatit's supposed to do, right,
driving traffic right.

Speaker 1 (37:58):
Yeah, um, you kind of mentioned you have your online
presence.
You're kind of like yourbusiness was kind of built for
online, wasn't it?
I mean, you're the jewelry andpeople can kind of follow you
via social media.
Is.
Is that something in the future?
Do you see that that kind ofbeing a big part of your
business?
Is it a big part of yourbusiness right now?

Speaker 3 (38:17):
I don't know.
I will be 100% honest.
I suck at online.

Speaker 2 (38:22):
But you were doing it right for a while, so it didn't
just become no, I had thewebsite, but it was never.
Well, I was going to tell youto help me set up mine.

Speaker 3 (38:31):
No, no no, I mean full you to help me, no, no, no,
I mean full disclosure.
I can make a good lookingwebsite like you'll go to it and
it looks good, it looks like itmight be successful visually,
because I love visuals.
So I love like merchandising agreat space, like creating sort
of an environment for people toyou know, like love.
That's my favorite thing rightthat's what I love about the
trade shows, like setting up theboots and like I love that

(38:54):
stuff.
So the part I love about onlineis making it look good, right.
So I love having great photosand making engaging content and
all that stuff.
But I know nothing about seo,like you know.
Funnels like driving traffic andfor jewelry, it is so, so, so
competitive I would bet like,even though you know, even if
you kind of dial down into yourniche of the type of jewelry,

(39:16):
it's just insanely competitive,like the keywords, like
purchasing ads, like all thisstuff for jewelry is just
astronomical and reallycompetitive and I do not know
what I'm doing oh okay, butdon't you like, don't you like
go?
okay, I'm gonna hire somebodyout because I need that, but I'm
I've tried and I actually had alocal brand that did IHANA

(39:38):
space Shout out to them.
They did a good job.
So they actually used to do themarketing and stuff for the
flannery and so I saw that theydid a really good job with that.
So it was great.
I didn't have to like vet them,I already kind of knew them and
so they helped me with the SEOoand so now we rank like number
one, I think, for if you googlelike permanent jewelry, palm
springs and so like.

(39:59):
So we're ranking wise.
We do good for visibility, butit's still just like something's
up with, like the whole cartflow or something you know.
I mean like I know it needs tobe tweaked right yeah, but it's
so hard, like it's just takingfinding the time because that's
an entire other job that's atotally different entity.

Speaker 2 (40:19):
I have friends that have very successful online
businesses, and it's been.

Speaker 3 (40:23):
It's just very interesting and eye-opening to
see just how much time theyspend on it.
It's probably more time thanthey spend on their retail oh,
they're spending on that forsure.
Yeah, and I mean justconstantly cranking out the
content and I mean it's yeah,it's so.
I kind of am like I don't knowif I kind of okay you know, I
mean like I don't know if I wantto devote that much time to it,

(40:44):
because I really do love likefocusing on the in-store
experience.
And then we also have a hat barnow in the store where you can
pick your patches and we heatpress your hat and then you can
also adorn like a felt hat, youknow, with like accents.
We have the permanent jewelryand then, um, I'm currently
learning a laser machine, like alaser etching machine, so we

(41:05):
can do like engraving and stufflike that.
And then we have a charm barwith like 150 charms and you can
make purse, you know, like thelittle purse chains that are
popular now.
So so you can make thosenecklaces, bracelets, yeah, so
we have a lot of fun interactiveexperiences that people love
doing when they come to PalmSprings.
It's great for the groups andstuff like that.
And then, yeah, I'm doing a popup for an influencer

(41:28):
hospitality suite for Coachella.
And so I'd really like to takeit more in that direction.
I think the time and energyversus devoting that to the
website, I would think I wouldrather focus more on like doing
more events and stuff like thatwith our interactive things and

(41:50):
very bubbly and stuff.

Speaker 2 (41:51):
So I'm sure you need that social interaction right, I
would think so.

Speaker 3 (41:54):
So I love that stuff.
So, yeah, I think that's wherethe focus is going to be, like
trying to grow that more so.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
So when you say permanent jewelry, what does
that mean?

Speaker 3 (42:04):
So it's basically like it's we have a bunch of
different chains.
We have I think we have 18different options now and a
bunch of little charms, and sowe fit it to you, so it's custom
fitted for you, and then wespark it.
It's basically a cold solder.
So you know how, if you soldersomething normally it's like a
bunch of metal, like drippingyou're putting on your mask yeah

(42:24):
, so because we use tiny jumprings to attach the bracelets,
you can actually sort of createthat same reaction, but with
electricity.
So it's like such a like hotelectrical flash that it sort of
melts those ends of the jumpring together and creates a sort
of a cold solder, they call it.
So it's a safe way to do it,like on your wrist.

(42:45):
So we just put a little pieceof leather between you and our
little pin for sparking.

Speaker 2 (42:52):
Well, what if you want to take it off?

Speaker 3 (42:54):
You can actually cut them off with scissors.
You to take it off.
You can actually cut them offwith scissors.
You would cut it off.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
You can cut it off the scissors hence the word
permanent yeah, I mean that's itpermanent it's permanent until
you take it off.
Air quotes right and so it's.

Speaker 3 (43:05):
But I mean like, for example, these that I have on.
I've had them on for two years,like since we started doing
this and I mean shower, andyou're not supposed to go and
like put it in like sulfur likeyou know sulfur hot springs or
whatever.
I've been in all that stuff andit's totally fine yeah.

Speaker 2 (43:20):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (43:21):
Yeah, and it's nice.

Speaker 3 (43:22):
Like you don't have to worry about it.
They're just there all the timeand we use dainty chains so you
really don't even feel thatthey're there.
And we also use that for safetyreasons, because if you ever
get caught on something, it'llsnap, it won't hurt you, and
then you can always just likecome back and we'll spark it
back on for you if need be wow,yeah, I need to come down and
get some jewelry I love jewelrywhenever we go, like when we

(43:44):
travel, it's like we went.

Speaker 2 (43:45):
We went to barcelona, oh, that was my favorite,
because they've got those bigbuildings and they're all down.
You know, on the first story,or is little businesses.

Speaker 3 (43:54):
You were probably all about the architecture, all the
tiles.
Oh yeah, Like the Gaudiarchitecture.

Speaker 2 (43:58):
We went to Lisbon on purpose, because there's all
these all those buildings arejust colored tiles, so pretty,
it's like what the hell yeah sopretty.

Speaker 3 (44:08):
I mean that was a lot of money to do something like
that.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
That was really really cool.

Speaker 1 (44:13):
Beautiful, it was beautiful.
Take me back.

Speaker 3 (44:16):
Yeah, that's not my favorite place.
We want to go to Porto next.
Yeah, we went there for the day.

Speaker 2 (44:21):
Yeah, it was really nice Did you go to Lisbon?

Speaker 3 (44:23):
Yeah, so we spent a week in Lisbon, went to Porto
Actually, we spent the night inPorto and then went to Sintra,
which is a little bit further.

Speaker 2 (44:31):
Yeah, I've heard of that one too, and I haven't.
We didn't go to that, but westayed for a while in lesbos.
We had them.
I loved my hotel.
It was awesome how you walk inand it just smelled so beautiful
.
I was like these people knowwhat they're doing those
europeans know luxury, don'tthey?

Speaker 3 (44:46):
it was good, it was so charming we love portugal.

Speaker 1 (44:50):
But in my research of your company I saw that you
also had some media.
The New York Times kind offeatured you guys.
Yeah, that was recent.
Yeah, I saw.
Yeah, that's pretty cool, Ididn't know that was happening.
Yeah, like I wanted to kind ofask you about that experience.
I mean, is that another one ofthese things where it kind of
just caught you flat footed andyou were like Did not know that
was happening.
Really.

Speaker 3 (45:09):
So I into the store and, um, I was dropping
something off for steph like,who works at the store on
weekends, and I was, was I even?
I'm like I don't think I washad any makeup on or anything, I
was literally just runningerrands into the store.

Speaker 2 (45:23):
Don't talk to me.
Don't talk to me.

Speaker 3 (45:24):
Yeah, so I like ran in and she was like she's super
sweet and very bubbly and she'salways happy to see me, which I
so appreciate.
But like she was extra happy tosee me, which I so appreciate.
But like she was extra happy tosee me and I was like, okay,
steph, because I usually don'tlike I kind of beeline for the
desk, so I just like weave forthe people and like give her
whatever I need to give her.
So I didn't really even noticethat some of the few people were

(45:45):
in the store, and so she's like, oh, my God, you're here.
And I'm like, okay, yay, likeI'm here.
And so she's like, no, no,there's this guy here.
And I was like, okay, it's likehi.
And I introduced myself and shewas like he's from the new york
times.
I was like, oh, yes, okay, so Isee why you're excited that I'm
here.
And so he was very, very nice,the photographer and he like we

(46:07):
didn't end up getting a photobecause it was like 36 hours in
palm springs and they only useda couple of photos to represent
like the entire article.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
Right.

Speaker 3 (46:14):
But he was taking photos of, you know, like all
the shops, and also my shopneighbor, angie for Bobo, was
featured too.
So he was taking pictures likebetween our stores.
But yeah, I had no idea.
I was like, so you're aphotographer for the New York
Times?
And he was like yeah, and hewas like, did you know I was
coming, I?
And he was like, yeah, and hewas like did you know?

Speaker 2 (46:34):
I was coming.

Speaker 3 (46:34):
I was like nope.
And he was like, oh, I'm sorry,no, a lot of people haven't
known I was coming.
And so I guess like, yeah, Iguess she reached out to some
people.
They didn't reach out to others, but I don't think they gave
anyone like an exact date forwhen the photos were happening
or anything like that.
And so, yeah, I was like I'msorry we have not tidied up
Quick, quick.
Yeah, I was like let me know ifyou need any photos, I can go

(47:00):
fix this.
But yeah, so it was such areally it was an awesome honor
and such a great surprise.
And then when it came out, Iposted about it and then tagged
the writer and she wrote me thesweetest like three paragraph
message in DMs about how muchshe loved my store and like how,
you know, she had hoped thatthe article really helped out

(47:21):
and like, yeah, it was just thesweetest, like it literally
almost made me start crying.

Speaker 2 (47:25):
It was like the sweetest, no, ever nice, you're
like I must be doing somethingright.

Speaker 1 (47:30):
I know I was like oh yeah, but once again, that was
not solicited by you or yourcompany.
It's just you do good work andpeople notice it and the media
comes calling.
Right, I mean that's prettyimpressive because I mean people
pay for that kind of stuff.
Right, I mean we're alwaysthrowing money at advertising
and stuff like that to kind ofget our names out there.
You're getting free bigadvertisement, but I think it

(47:55):
just speaks to the quality ofyour shop, you know.

Speaker 2 (47:56):
So that's, that's awesome, that's awesome.

Speaker 3 (47:59):
So do you advertise?
No, I don't.
I mean, I boost some post oninstagram no, it's I.

Speaker 2 (48:06):
I totally get that because we were um we've like,
we've discussed a couple thingslike um palm springs, life and
those kinds of things.

Speaker 3 (48:14):
Oh, I was in that guide, the Palm Springs Life
guide.
That's awesome.
Yeah, I paid to do that lastyear.
The little one that goes intoall the hotel rooms and
everything.
I mean I think it's really cooland I love how it's handheld.
You know, like a little peoplecan take it with them.

Speaker 2 (48:28):
I wonder if that's a September issue.
Oh no, no issue.
Oh no, no.
The september issue is like thehard hard cover.
Yeah, I think it comes out withthat okay, like so.

Speaker 3 (48:36):
There's the hard cover, but then there's like the
guide edition, like of the softmagazine, and then it's tucked
in there but then also it's atall the different stores like
sort of on the cash wrap like,because it's pretty small.
The only thing that's hardabout it is there's no way to
really track who's coming fromit or who's seeing it, or you
know so it's one of those things.
You just have to do it and kindof hope that it's getting good

(48:58):
reach right yeah well, ask you.

Speaker 2 (49:00):
Don't ask people how they heard about you.
I mean that when people walk inour doors I always ask like,
how did you hear about us?
Especially if I don't know them.
And all the time it's like, ohgoogle, it's almost always
google for us a lot.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
It's well for, because the coffee shop people
just kind of like come in andthey're like oh surprise shops
are in here, you know so,honestly, we get a lot of that.

Speaker 2 (49:20):
People are like yay it worked out really well.

Speaker 3 (49:23):
You know their vision yeah, so that's really cool.
But when people do we alwaysask when people get permanent
jewelry, because we'rechit-chatting with them more.
We're like how'd, how'd youfind us?
And what's funny is a lot of it.
I would say probably the numberone way is TikTok and Instagram
.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
Yeah, Social media.

Speaker 2 (49:39):
I love me some TikTok .
I am not even on TikTok.

Speaker 1 (49:43):
Even though it's banned.

Speaker 3 (49:46):
So my other team member.

Speaker 1 (49:47):
Jordan.

Speaker 3 (49:48):
So Jordan is a film student and is really great with
making TikToks and she makesour reels and all that stuff.
So, yeah, I used to do it andpost on tiktok like every blue
moon, but she does it for us nowand like post on a regular
basis oh, that's so great yeah,social media is where
everything's going.
Yeah, no, I love instagram andI'm really good with that.
But like tiktok, I don't like Iend up down the rabbit hole

(50:11):
like doing other stuff on t.
I'm like what happened here?
I came out here to post and nowI'm looking at recipes and
great tips on cleaning.

Speaker 2 (50:20):
Well, I want to do the Kendrick Lamar dance.

Speaker 1 (50:23):
Oh my gosh, I do.
Yeah, you should.
We get some views man.

Speaker 2 (50:27):
This is how I walk when I walk into my new slab
studio.

Speaker 3 (50:29):
Right, exactly you should do that yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:34):
So I studios, right exactly you should do that.
Yeah, so I look at the dancevideos and then do it.

Speaker 2 (50:37):
Let's do it, let's do it.
I'll drive some.
That'll drive some.
Eyeballs probably fall and slipeven better, even better, yeah
it's all about.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
It's all about attention these days right, all
about attention, but we'regetting kind of towards the end.
We always want to ask ourentrepreneurs, you know, if
there's some advice you'd maybegive to somebody that's maybe
thinking about going down thesame route you did.
You know, wanted to go get intothe creative jewelry space.
Or even if you like you seemlike you're an OG with the
retail, you know a lot aboutretail, how to do that, you know

(51:06):
what.
What advice would you givesomebody that's young, trying to
come in and thinking maybethat's something that the
business that they want to kindof start with?
Would you have some advice forthem?

Speaker 3 (51:16):
I guess my number one thing would be what saved me
along the way as I was growingis diversifying your income
streams.
Do you know what I mean?
Because you can't just all in.
I mean, some people can, but ifyou're bootstrapping your
business, you usually can't justall in on a store because there
are going to be a lot ofupfront costs before you start
recouping your money and so like.

(51:37):
For me, I had the wholesalebusiness right, so I was able to
take money from that and floatthe store as things grew.
And then in the very, verybeginning, even when I started
the wholesale business, when Ileft my job, like, I found a
little studio space, which wasso funny.
It was in this building that Iloved so much and I couldn't
afford an office space in there.

(51:58):
Right, it was a mixed usebuilding and they had a utility
closet.
Yeah, they were not using thosea hundred square feet and I was
like the guy showed me a spaceand told me the price and I was
like, well, those aren't reallymy budget, I'm new.
And we were walking out of thebuilding and I was like what's
that?
He was like that's a utilitycloset.
I was like would you guys rentit because it's empty?
And so I rented it.

(52:18):
Oh, my god, and my dad and myhusband have painted it sky blue
, like a soft blue, so it feltlike you know, had outdoors.
I went to ikea and I got thesecloud paintings that like made
it look like it had like littlewindows or whatever, and and I
started teaching jewelry classesin there.
And so that's how I sort ofmade ends meet in the beginning
while I was trying to grow thewholesale business on a

(52:39):
full-time basis.
Yeah, so I feel like I've justalways kind of had a few things
going on to keep the revenuestreams, you know, flowing.
So that's what I would say forpeople, because it makes the
growth not so stressful and itsort of frees you up to be able
to, because you know you have totake calculated risks to grow.
You know all about that, and soit's like if you're so tight and

(53:02):
so stressed, then you can'tafford to take those risks and
you might miss someopportunities that can help
level up your business right.
So it's like having thoseadditional revenue streams can
really help free you up so thatyou can take advantage of
opportunities when they comeyour way.

Speaker 2 (53:17):
And you just like never know also who you're going
to meet when you have thosecertain things, and this might
lead to that, and you just Right, exactly, it just kind of all
works.

Speaker 3 (53:25):
Yeah, it totally all works out.

Speaker 2 (53:27):
So do you still do jewelry classes and how do I
sign up?

Speaker 3 (53:31):
Oh my gosh.
No, no, no, I do not.
I get asked that all the timeCome on, let's do it.
And I have thought aboutbringing them back, but I don't
know.
I think that in this part of mylife my patience isn't there
anymore.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
You're like been there, done that right.
No, thank you.
No it's funny.

Speaker 3 (53:46):
I actually, as a crafty person, I love nothing
more than taking a class.
I took, like, a class onprecious metal clay jewelry
making last week at Las Palmasarts.
She has awesome classes If youwant to take them, on all
different things.
But yeah, it's like I soappreciate a good teacher
because all the differentpersonalities right.
There's always a person thatlike is like oh my God, I'm over

(54:06):
this, can you just do it for me?
There's the person that's lightyears ahead and you're all like
, slow it down, let's keep up.
The person that's behind, andyou have to balance all those
personalities.

Speaker 2 (54:17):
And I just don't know if I have that anymore.
Oh, that sounds like sales,because you know what you deal
with all kinds of differentpersonalities.
I use it for that, so I don'tknow if I have it left for the
classes anymore.

Speaker 3 (54:27):
But I might I get asked a lot?
I might, for old time's sake,just bring one back.
There you go, breaking news.
Breaking news.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
YouTube it right yeah .
Breaking news.

Speaker 1 (54:38):
Hey, so we'll be the first to know Exactly.
We're going to let you guysknow out there, but that's
awesome.
So we're really happy that youcame in.
You're a wealth of knowledge,you're obviously very talented
and you're an inspiration forthe community down here.
So where can our followers andpeople that are watching this
find you and your company?
Where can they kind of checkout your work?
Where's a good place to findyou.

Speaker 3 (54:59):
So the store is at 750 North Palm Canyon Drive
inside the Flannery Exchange.
There's Cafe La Jefa in thefront, the coffee shop that's
pink.
I'm right across the way fromthat, across the hall.
Or you can go to covetpscom, tothe website and find us, and
there's all the informationabout booking permanent jewelry
and things like that on there.
Or you can find us on Instagramor TikTok at covetps as well

(55:23):
awesome.

Speaker 1 (55:26):
Everybody go.
I went there a lot of coolstuff.
I think you're going to seesome really interesting and
unique stuff on that Instagrampage.
So if you guys found some value, you guys know the routine like
, subscribe and follow and we'llsee you guys next time on TV
Hustle.