From Starting A Jewelry Brand On My Apartment Floor To Opening Our First Storefront [Update]
This is a follow up story for Bang-Up Betty. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published almost 6 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
Hello again! This is Stacey Bowers, creator of Bang-Up Betty, the snarky, unusual, handmade, Arkansas-based jewelry brand I’ve been steadily growing since 2013. We’re known for our snarky and funny stamped jewelry as well as our thoughtful collections of nature-, science-, and history-inspired jewelry. My favorite collection is the Gallery Collection inspired by art history. It draws from artists like Vincent Van Gogh, Georgia O'Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, and many others. Our Siren Collection inspired by Greek mythology is also a fan favorite, as well as our Seven Seas Collection inspired by sea creatures. We're also known for our Arkansas-centric jewelry, like our Arkansas Rice Flower Necklace I designed using real Arkansas rice; we've raised more than $1,000 for the Arkansas Foodbank with it.
I think what sets our jewelry apart is how much like wearable art it is. When I release a new collection of jewelry, there is always a story behind the entire collection and each piece in it. I wasn't much of a jewelry wearer before I started making it because I didn't think most jewelry I saw in stores was very interesting. I put a lot of thought into each piece that I make, and I make sure that it's something I would wear before I release it into the world.
I’m proud that I started this business as a self-taught artisan on my apartment floor and grew it into something much bigger that’s given me the chance to design jewelry for large companies and open my storefront, all while staying true to my values and interests. In the past year, we’ve partnered with The Outrage to design feminist jewelry for them, been featured In-Store Magazine (a national jewelry magazine), opened our flagship storefront in my hometown of North Little Rock, and had a cocktail named after Bang-Up Betty at my favorite local restaurant. I put that last one up there as high as all the others.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to! Has the business been growing?
By far the biggest thing to happen in the last year was the opening of our first storefront. Our storefront in the Argenta Arts District in downtown North Little Rock is a fun, rainbow-painted happy place where we showcase our jewelry along with tons of hilarious, creative, and clever gifts. We stock outrageous greeting cards, local pottery, gorgeous puzzles, amazing candles, party supplies, funny shirts, prints and original art, thoughtful home decor and so much more. And all of it complements our jewelry. Every piece of jewelry in the shop is Bang-Up Betty as well as every enamel pin, shirt, and bumper sticker. I forgot to mention we design those things too.
Our opening day was one of the most unforgettable days of my life. I had no idea how big the turnout was going to be. Even during a pandemic, there was a line wrapped around the building at the opening, and the store was packed all day long. I was so emotional about it.
With the storefront came so much more time and responsibility. I just couldn’t run the whole business by myself anymore AND make all of the jewelry. I hired two incredible people (hey, Trish and Betsy!) who have brought so much to the business. It’s been game-changing to have fresh insights and viewpoints. Not only do they give their own opinions, but they consistently talk to our customers at the shop to learn about them, how they found us, what they like about us, and what they want to see us do next.
I wish I could tell you that I upped a dollar amount in marketing and turn saw x amount of sales (I did up my advertising budget and was super disappointed in immeasurable but seemingly low returns from both social media (Instagram and Facebook) and print advertising in local publications around the holiday season), but I can say that I have learned the importance of community building and word of mouth marketing.
Last year we partnered with our local library in North Little Rock on a “book club” where I picked books and hid gifts inside of them with clues on social media for folks to find them, and that brought a lot of foot traffic from people who live in our city. We are also partnering with our neighboring businesses. I’ve given postcards to the bed and breakfast next door and we get visitors that way, and we’re giving coupons to the salon on our block for their clients. The upside of working harder on word-of-mouth, more guerilla-style marketing is it’s cheaper than buying ads, but it costs a whole lot more of your time and energy.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
I think that having a business and growing it from scratch is a continuous learning experience. And having a creative business where you make your products by hand is a lot to juggle because you have to run the business side of things and still find the time and inspiration to create new work and make products to stock your shop or website. I'm one to try to do everything myself, and it's taken me a while to find the right people to help me run Bang-Up Betty so that I can create more and more. I wish I would have asked for help sooner!
Currently, I would give past me the advice to hire so much sooner. That’s an investment that I’ve seen so much return on. Not only are my employees constantly bringing me fresh ideas and feedback from our customers, but I have the time I need to be creative. In a creative business, you can’t burn yourself out. And if you’re doing everything all the time and you’re never off the clock, you’re not going to be as inspired to do the creative parts of the business. My jewelry is the absolute heart of my business. I need to always be designing and crafting new jewelry and collections. Since hiring, I’ve been able to finish my latest collection stress-free and on time, and I’m already thinking about future collections. Check back with us around mid-March for the launch of our new collection! I think you’ll be able to see some of the fresh energy I had fueling these designs.
I’ve stated before how powerful our local partnerships were, and I’m already working on new community partnerships for this year that I can’t reveal quite yet. As always, we’ll be partnering with a nonprofit to give back to our community via a jewelry piece.
Speaking of word of mouth marketing, by a stroke of luck one of our designs was worn several times by author and podcaster Dana Schwartz last year, and that got us in front of the history-loving, book-reading clients I love to design for. She wore our Anne Boleyn-inspired monogram necklace on Instagram and I made Anne Boleyn necklaces until my head almost fell off.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
We’re focused on three main goals right now: broadening awareness about our storefront locally since it’s still really new; creating new, original, thought-provoking jewelry designs that are always a step ahead of our competitors, and keeping our audience interested in our work; and expanding our wholesale market.
Make sure you’re being genuine and original in your product and in the voice you use to market your product.
We sell our jewelry to storefronts across the United States, and we’re always looking for ways to reach more storefronts that would appreciate the edgy appeal of our jewelry, stickers, and pins. Our main wholesale channels are relationships I’ve personally built with clients over the years and online wholesale marketplaces like Faire, but I’ve never been extremely happy with online marketplaces and have wanted to try a wholesale representative. I figure if I’m paying a commission, it might as well be to an actual human who is doing actual work to sell my products to targeted businesses instead of just depending on people to stumble upon my work on a website.
Have you read any good books in the last year?
Call me artsy, but when I’m at my workbench making jewelry, I listen to podcasts and books, but they’re never about business. (Sorry to be disappointing!) They do tie into my work, though. Whenever I’m working on a new collection, I completely immerse myself in the subject. Every jewelry collection for me is a learning experience. Once I decide on the theme of a collection, my first step is to go to my local library and check out every book I can find on the topic. I read and make notes on post-its and use the library’s app to listen to audiobooks while my hands are busy making jewelry.
My newest collection (coming March 2022!) is all about space, so for the last several months, I’ve been reading books about how the universe formed, listening to podcasts about space travel, watching space documentaries, and reading to/listening to classic science fiction. I highly suggest taking advantage of your local library’s free audiobook/e-book app if you’re not already. You’ll probably be able to download Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles'' with it, which is the one that’s moving me the most right now. And I’m sure you’ll find lots of helpful entrepreneurial audiobooks and e-books as well.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
My first piece of advice is to make sure you’re being genuine and original in your product and in the voice you use to market your product. Whether you’re selling something super creative, like handmade jewelry, or something you wouldn’t necessarily immediately think of as creative, like insurance or wealth management, I think your brand can always benefit from an original voice and perspective.
In our case, I started our brand with stamped cuffs and bar necklaces that said outrageous, curse-wordy, and hilarious things. Sort of circling back to how I used to think jewelry was boring, I put a new spin on something to make it fun to wear and share. I also speak about it on social media and our website from a personal point of view, sharing backstories behind what inspired certain pieces of jewelry, why a theme of a jewelry collection is important to me, or the story of my boy cat named Betty who was the inspiration behind our brand name. You can be creative in a more mainstream business by finding a funny or original voice to speak about it.
You also might be trying to reach a general audience, when what you need to be doing is finding niche audiences for your business or product. An example for us would be how specific our Anne Boleyn monogram pearl necklace is, and how it reached a lot of people who would appreciate it through a history podcaster.
You can find ways to stand out and be original in your workspace too. There are a lot of gift shops in the Little Rock area, but none of them except for ours is painted rainbow and has a big inflatable unicorn wearing a pink boa in it.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We are interested in finding a good sales rep, company, or showroom that’s interested in fun, funky, snarky jewelry, and gifts. If you are one or you know one, please email stacey@bangupbetty.com!
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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