SPEAKER_00
This is an extra special episode as I'm bringing one of my clients back on the podcast to share the milestones she's celebrating after one year in her jewelry business and all the lessons she's learned. So if you're a newer jewelry business owner, you're going to love this episode. My name is Robin Clark and I'm obsessed with all things business and marketing.

I'm a jewelry designer who left the corporate world and grew a successful jewelry business and now I help women just like you from around the world do the same. I'm the founder and CEO of the jewelry business academy, the host of the jewelry business academy podcast. And I'm here to help you scale your jewelry business to six figures and beyond without burning out through my coaching program and podcast.

I help you navigate the challenging seasons of business as well as teach you the secrets to building a sustainable business that makes you feel good. So grab a cup of tea and your notebook, get cozy and let's dive in. Hello and welcome back.

It's so good to have you here today and I'm really looking forward to sharing this conversation. I think you are going to love it because I'm bringing on a guest that we had a couple of months ago to hear all her updates in her jewelry business. And I'm going to go into more detail in a few seconds, but before we dive into today's episode, I wanted to take a moment just to remind you that we have five months left of 2023, five months.

And this is a really good point in your business to be like, okay, let's recheck our goals that we set at the beginning of the year. Let's look and see like are we on track to hit them? Are we going to surpass them? Are we really nowhere close to hitting them? Because you can achieve a lot in five months. You can actually achieve a lot in 90 days.

You know, so many business owners under estimate the impact and the power they have if they commit to showing up consistently, intentionally and strategically for 90 days. And I've seen it with clients who come into the jewelry business academy, you know, who just go all in, who commit to showing up, taking action, being consistent. I've seen them completely change the trajectory of their business in 30 days, 60 days, some of them 90 days.

And that's how much power you have. So if you're looking at maybe your data and you're like, oh my goodness, maybe I won't hit my goals this year. I'm not too sure.

You do have the power to make a change. You can achieve so, so much in five months, especially with Black Friday coming up, end of summer, the holiday season, like you can still do so, so much in your business. And often a lot of people will make even more in those last five months than the other seven months in their business.

So really don't underestimate that at all, but make sure that you're being very intentional, you're being very strategic with what you're doing. And if you're looking at those numbers and you're feeling a little anxious and you're feeling like maybe I'm not going to hit this, or you know what, I want to make sure I do hit these goals this year. And I want to feel confident in my plan and strategy moving forward and make sure I am set up to do this in a way that feels good and in a way that I'm not going to hit burnout and just be completely wiped out by the end of the year.

Then I'd love to invite you to join me in the Jory Business Academy. You guys know it is the most expansive container for Jory business owners wanting to scale their business in a way that feels good. And you'll get my eyes on your business every single week.

You're going to get my support. You're going to be a part of a community of Jory business owners from around the world, all doing the same thing as you, all scaling their business and all supporting one another along the way. Honestly, it's the most beautiful community.

And so if that feels exciting to you, if it feels uplifting, if you feel like, you know what, I'm ready to take this seriously. I'm ready to go all in on my business on myself and make this happen. And completely change the trajectory of my business and start hitting some big goals, then head to JoryBusinessAcademy.

ca to learn more. And you can go ahead and book in a call with my team and we'll take it from there. And so today I'm really excited to share this conversation because I invited Eva Woon, who is the founder and designer behind Inari Jory back onto the podcast.

She had her first episode on the podcast back in January, 2023, when her business was about seven months old at that stage. And she shared the lessons that she'd learned in business over the first few months. And now her business Inari Jory just celebrated its one year anniversary.

Super exciting. And Eva's hit some incredible milestones. And so, you know, this is also a very special episode because Eva is a dear client of mine.

She's been a member of the JoryBusiness Academy for almost a year now, close to a year. And she's really going to share what her journeys looked like during our conversation. And we chat about the art of building lasting and authentic connections within your JoryBusiness community and within your customer community as well.

Eva shares her valuable insights on nurturing relationships, embracing vulnerability and gracefully scaling your JoryBusiness. And we also talk about the impact that little milestones have in celebrating those little milestones has on your business building journey and how she transitioned from the corporate world into entrepreneurship and her advice for others looking to do the same. So this is just a really fun, relaxed conversation.

We actually tried something new during this conversation. So we were also streaming live on Instagram and we did have one technical glitch on Instagram. So you'll notice there's one little cut in here, but the whole conversation there, it's all good.

But there is one little cut where there's not a little flow, but you'll be fine. And yeah, you can actually watch the video version of this as well. So if you are listening to this, head to Instagram, screenshot the episode you're listening to and tag me.

It's Robin Clark Coaching. I love hearing from you and connecting with you on your business building journeys. And I love hearing that the podcast is motivating you, uplifting you, inspiring you to take action in your business and to chase your dreams.

So we're going to dive right in. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. And if you want to connect with Eva, we forgot to drop her handles, but I've dropped all of that into the show notes.

And you can connect with her on Instagram as well at, let me just pull it up for you. It is Inari Jewelry. So it's all linked in the show notes for you.

And we'll dive into our convo now. Well, I'm really excited to have this conversation with you, Eva, because I know we're chatting the other day and you were on the podcast. I think it was actually seven months ago.

I think it was January 2023, where you came on the Dory Business Academy podcast and you shared the lessons that you've learned in the first seven months of building your jewelry business from scratch. You know, you were in the corporate world before and then you decided to like go all in. You left the corporate world, went full time in your jewelry business and you shared all the wins, challenges, lessons learned during those first seven months.

And now you recently, this past week, celebrated your one year anniversary, which is super exciting. So I was like, Eva, come share your updates with us. Come share the lessons you've learned.

Let us hear more about like what's going on with you and your business, because you've been so busy and you've been hitting and celebrating so many incredible milestones. And you've had your fair share of challenges as well. And so I was like, come join us.

So yeah, thank you for coming and joining me. I know it's like early morning for you over there as well.

SPEAKER_01
Yeah, no, thank you for having me back again on this podcast. I think, yeah, it has been seven months, hasn't it? And it feels like it feels like it's been a long time ago, but crazy to think that it's only been seven months. A lot has happened in the past seven months, I'd say.

We've been really busy. Business has been growing. Community has been growing, which is incredible.

And the team has grown. We now also have a couple of consignment stores that are carrying our brand. Because when we first started, we didn't have any of this, right? When we first started speaking, I think I've only done my first event then.

But since then we've done, I can't even remember how many, but 18 days is what I counted of events in six months. So as you can imagine, it was a lot of fun, a lot of learning, but also very tiring. But no, it's been, it's been great in the past seven months.

I think we were focused on, you know, taking the learnings that we have learned from one, one event or, you know, the first consignment store and applying it to the next one and really just iterating it step by step and really figuring out, you know, what worked, what didn't work, how can we improve it in the next set of like milestones that we're trying to hit. So yeah, a lot has happened since then. And I've also just got back from a vacation, much-needed vacation.

I think that was the very first one for the year. So I'd say that in itself is a win.

SPEAKER_00
Oh yeah, 100% like taking that vacation, taking that time off and just celebrating is so important. So I'm so glad that you did that. But you just shared so many things that I want to touch upon.

I know. Like so many different things. So I want to just go back.

So let's just talk, you know, when you came on the podcast a few months ago, you'd only done one event so far and you were still like new to the event space and new to doing events. And I know like you have the most gorgeous event display and you very quickly built a very loyal group of like superfound customers through your events. You had people being like, Eva, I'm coming to see you just because I saw you there.

And they'd only just met you the week before. And you grew this very like strong community really, really quickly. And there's many different reasons for this, but I'd love for you to just share like what do you think like one of the like greatest parts of doing these events and meeting these customers in person has been and like what your favorite part of that has been.

SPEAKER_01
I mean, like before I did events, I was obviously really scared. Right. I was like, oh, is anyone going to show up? Why would anybody buy my stuff? You know, the typical imposter syndrome. And slowly as like I started going for more events and meeting people, I realized that I was able to build genuine like connection with each and every one of them.

And I tend to remember people pretty well. So I have a visual memory, I would say. So if I've seen you somewhere before, I would probably remember that.

I might not remember your name, but I remember something about you. And I think that was really helpful because I started noticing people going from like my first event to my second event, my second event to my third event. And, you know, after seeing them in like the first or second event, you're kind of like, you know, you feel like, hey, there's this connection here.

They're coming back because there's something probably that they like about the brand or it could also be you, right? That people come back for and learning how to embrace that because I think there were a lot of times where, especially in the beginning, I was just like.

SPEAKER_00
We were talking about these events and the connection that you were able to build with your community, you know, in terms of like remembering them, meeting them, connecting with them, which is so, so powerful. And yeah, you know, I think that's really uncomfortable for a lot of people to do. At the beginning, they don't want to be the face of their brand.

They don't want to put themselves out there because it's a really vulnerable thing to do. It puts you in a position where people can judge you, they can criticize you, and they can reject you, which is what we don't want. We want people to love us and accept us.

And so it does put yourself in that position. But by doing that, by being vulnerable, you've actually driven connection. You've driven that like connection with your community as well and built that sort of super fan base in that way.

And you've done it in such a genuine and authentic and like just a really human way as well, which I love. So what is it?

SPEAKER_01
Yeah. Yeah, sorry, sorry. Cutting you off there.

And I think that is actually the, a super important, right? So I just want to like underscore that because I feel like a lot of times, when you put yourself out there, the whole intention is to sell and make money. For me, I always start off with actually just wanting to build genuine connection and meeting people and hearing their feedback because for me, because we don't have a physical store that I'm at all the time. Yes, Instagram is a platform, but you know, not everyone gives you sort of like a genuine feedback as well.

So being in markets and being able to really just focusing on building the connection, I think it brings you to a much further place than you would have been able to go if you're just focusing on, okay, I'm going to make my next sale. You know, so the intention and where it comes from actually helps for me at the very least, I think. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
Yeah. You know, I love that you shared that so much actually because it's, it's so, so true that the research, the information and the research that you get, the market research you get from being at events, from tracking people's eyes, from looking at their body language, from seeing what they draw into, from seeing how they interact with your pieces. That's invaluable.

And then building those connections as a business owner who's based online, who doesn't have a physical store, those connections are powerful, those relationships are powerful. And you can not only like build a friendship group from that as well, that's just a side bonus, but you build a customer base that is, you know, in a really just a way that feels good, a way that you feel more connected to people in a way that you feel more connected to the world around you as well. And then you can go and make significant changes to like the way you're doing things, your connections in a much faster way than you can as somebody who just tries to go online without trying to do any in person events.

So I really love that you shared that and that you've really gone all in on doing that and you've done some incredible events. Your displays are just gorgeous, like absolutely dreamy. So anyone who's like listening to this, you definitely want to check out Eva's Instagram.

And if you're in the area, definitely want to go check out her events because yeah, you really create some experience for your community when they come. It's not just like your products out there. It's a whole experience meeting you and seeing your pieces, which I love.

So I love to chat about the fact that you've built a team. You know, I think when we, when you came on a few months ago, I don't think you had a team yet, or maybe you had one employee.

SPEAKER_01
Yeah, I had one person who joined the team on a part-time basis because I was going on a holiday. I always thought to myself, like I always think to myself that actually this business, even though it's been a year, I truly really only started focusing on it and like not be on holiday in the past six to seven months because last year after starting the business for two months, I had to go to a different country for a while because of weddings and commitments, et cetera. And of course, making it a holiday because I'm traveling halfway across the world really.

I thought like, you know, I really needed someone to help me out because, you know, I just started this business. How dare I go on holiday? That was the mindset I had. And lucky enough, I had a friend who was in a transitional period of her life at that point in time who said, hey, like, look, I could help you out.

And a lot of the people that have joined my team, my team, they kind of like, it's based off of timing. It wasn't like, you know, I went out there and I'm like, hey, I need to look for someone and I'm going to put out a job description, et cetera. It came very naturally as the business grew, as the brand grew.

And one person introduced the other person and then the other person introduced the other person. And that is how the team actually grew. Yeah. So yeah, we started off with one earlier last year towards the till end of last year just really to help me kind of like fill in the gaps and ship things out when I was away because I physically wasn't around. And as time passes, you know, we kind of like grew that role and put more structure into it, formalized it a bit more.

And then we realized as business was growing or the brand was growing, we needed more people. And that was how like, you know, my second team member joined and then third and then now fourth. So there are five of us at the moment.

Now I want to point out that they are not all full-timers because that would be crazy to have, you know, five full-time team member. But yeah, I know I think each and every one of them bring in very unique strength to the business and to the brand that I couldn't have been able to do it myself. I am immensely thankful that they were introduced or they offered help or, you know, we just had a conversation and it just happened.

So I think sometimes it is also just following the flow and that's literally what happened with my team. I kind of knew that I needed help and I was doing a lot of different components myself, but after a while, you know, I don't want to put myself in a situation where I have to hire someone who is wrong or I have to introduce someone to the team that doesn't fit the culture. So I was very intentional about, you know, only really bringing in people who fit the values of the team and, you know, kind of like share the same vision and can see the vision that I have for the brand.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
I love that so much. I love that you really had an organic approach to growing your team and that you gracefully let go of roles because let me tell you, that's one of the hardest things and we always bottleneck ourselves in business, honestly, because especially in a jewelry business, you pour your heart and soul into it. And so letting go of those roles is really challenging, even if they're roles that aren't your strengths.

And so you've done such a great job, not only have you like bought in these team members who came through, like very organically, but they're all people who have these different strengths and you've handed over those responsibilities to them, which is challenging. So I'd love to know your advice for someone who's listening, who's like, I know I need to do this, but it's so hard and I don't like it. Like what would your advice be to them?

SPEAKER_01
To be honest, I still find it quite hard. I'm still holding on to quite a lot of, you know, different components of the business. And to be honest, it took maybe six, seven months to get to, you know, building trust because like you said, it's really hard to just let go and you wouldn't, you know, have someone who's new joining the team.

And then you look, the mindset is like, I'm going to let go of all this responsibility. So there's a balance between like, when do I let go and trust versus when do I train and teach kind of a lot, like share, right? So I think it took a while before, you know, one, I realized, I learned that, you know, they're going to be okay. You need to trust and you need to let go of it a little bit more to learning how to deal with my own emotion.

Because a lot of times I'm, you know, I come from consulting. Sometimes I know that I tend to want to, you want to call it micromanaging. I try not to do that, but like you tend to want to be in control of everything.

So it's like finding the balance between, you know, trust, not micromanaging, but giving enough sort of like coaching to make sure that you know, it goes the way you want it to go. But at the same time realizing that just because you think that is the right way of doing things, it might actually not always be. So getting the feedback, learning to get the feedback is also super important and just bringing different perspective into certain tasks that you need to do.

Sometimes can just make it a lot better than what you think is the right way to do it. If that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00
Yeah, 100%. That makes so much sense. And I think it's definitely something that, you know, a lot of listeners are going to really benefit from hearing that because you can hear it again and again and again.

You know, you know this and you still like you'll probably still go through phases where it's like still hard to let go of things even though you like, okay, yeah. But being able to listen to other people's ideas and approaches and to be open to them, whether or not you decide to go with them is a different story. But being open to them is a really good approach if you want to be successful in business because thinking we know it all is not the answer.

Being open to other people's like potential ways of doing things, but being clear on your like sort of mission and values in your business is going to help you be like, yeah, you know what, they're approach aligns with what I'm wanting to do. Let's try it out. Let's test it.

Let's see how it goes. Or you know what, this isn't that I like their idea. I like that they feel comfortable open it being like sharing it because it is really important to have a culture where people feel open and confident enough to share their ideas because you can learn so much from your employees as well.

Yeah, I really love that you've shared that.

SPEAKER_01
Yeah. And also the other thing is, as you were sharing that I, it reminded me of this, right? It's a two way thing. It's not a one way thing.

So your team also probably need to want to build that trust from like gain your trust, right? And they need to put themselves out there to want to play a bigger role, right? Because it's a two way thing. So I think just realizing that and looking out for those kind of like traits. You know, it's super helpful as well.

SPEAKER_00
Yeah, 100%. Well, thank you for sharing that. And I'd love to chat a little bit.

So I know we touched on events, but you've done some like really incredible events and collaborations and like you've had a lot of very fun milestones. Can you tell us a story of like one of the most impactful ones that you've really enjoyed over the past seven months?

SPEAKER_01
Okay. We did so many different events. But I would have to say the most impactful one for me and most meaningful one for me was the Inari turns one kind of private tea party that we organized.

So we wanted to do something that it's a bit more significant because like you mentioned, you know, you only turn one once. And I never really understood why parents would throw a one year old birthday party for their baby who is really young and probably wouldn't even remember it. But now I get it.

You're throwing up for your business. Yeah. So my business is kind of like my baby. Yeah. And I never truly understood why. But then I realized like, Hey, actually, it means so much because I wanted to have, you know, an event or a space where I could bring everyone who has kind of like been there for you since the beginning or in the middle along the way, you know, to kind of celebrate.

That friendship and that connection. It wasn't about making money. It wasn't about, you know, getting more followers.

It wasn't about that. It was, it really truly came from a place that is genuine that I just wanted to see everyone in the same place. And I think this, this group of females would love getting to know each other.

And at this age, networking is, you know, it's, it's hard to make friends sometimes, right? When you're older, you know, and I thought like, you know, hey, I've got this great group of girlfriends or like customers who are now girlfriends, you know, that I think share the same mindset, share the same values. And it would be great to bring them all together. So that's literally what we did.

We brought them all together, we treated them to like a tea party. We got brands to sponsor the event in Goody Becks form. And to be honest, I think one of the brand partners have joined our life as well.

Amazing. Say hi. Hi. I don't know if she's still here. You want to give them a shout out.

Hi, Novel. And she actually was a customer. And then she, both of us started just decided to start working together.

And then we're now also yoga slash Pilates buddies. So this is the whole point around coming back to like actually building genuine connection, right? I have gained so many good friends from this business because I think partially because I just really want to build good connection with people. Right. I don't want it to always be about sales. It's not always about money.

And that's what I always tell people, right? It's not always about the money. Of course, money helps you keep the business alive and for you to be alive kind of in that sense. So it's important, but beyond that, right? The underlying values, it's about building connection.

So during this event, we had so many different brand sponsors that aligned with our ethos. It was literally just saying hi on email and like, hi, this is what we're doing. Do you want to be part of it? Some said no, some said, some didn't reply.

But hey, what matters are the people who actually said yes. And of course, not to say the people who said no, it doesn't matter. But who knows, maybe in the future, there might be opportunities that work for them, right? Yeah.

And we brought together like a little panel. We talked about what success means to each and every one of them. I had my mom there because I was like, you know, what is all this without my mom? Because and my other half, he was the only guy who was at the event.

And I think it was so important to have people who have been there for you to kind of celebrate this thing as well, right? This little baby that you've grown. Yeah. So I would say that was the most meaningful event that I've thrown or been a part of. Because I was just telling you, I was looking at photos and there were just so many like genuine facial expression and connection that you could see from the photos.

And that to me was a win, like a huge massive win. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
Oh yeah, 100%. That's an incredible win. And I actually really love that you've shared this because this is something that I have spoken to a lot of jewelry business owners about in particular, where they all say to me like, well, some days I just feel really guilty that all I'm doing in the world is selling jewelry.

I don't feel like I'm adding value to the world. I don't like I feel like I'm not doing work. That's that meaningful.

And this is a perfect example of how meaningful jewelry really is in this world and how important this business is. And what are jewelry businesses and specifically yours? Is it so much more than the product? It's the whole impact. Like your brand has such a positive impact on the world around it, on its community, on your team, on you, on your family.

And that's what these businesses are. Like they have so much, it's such a much greater impact than just like giving people a product. You know, you're building that community, you're building connection, you're helping people feel seen.

And it's so true, you know, making friends as an adult is challenging, like so, so challenging. Finding people who are on the same wavelength as you have the same values, have the same time and energy. Very challenging.

So for you to bring people like that together to connect them, which is a really generous thing to do, you know, a lot of people shy away from doing that because they're like, oh, I don't want them to meet everyone. But you just put people together, you're bringing them together through your brand. That's incredibly powerful.

It's so special. And I think it's really a good reminder as well when you talk about like your focus isn't always on the money. As a business, you have to make money.

But I think it's actually really important to recognize this because honestly, all the successful jewelry businesses I know, their first focus was on the community. That was their first focus. The money has to be a part of it.

But when your focus is just on the money, I feel like people cut corners in terms of the things that are going to drive connection and trust. And those are the things that are really important, especially when you're building such an impact driven brand. So I love that.

And I love that you bought your mom and your other half to your celebration because again, it's important for us to celebrate the milestones that we're going through. But it's also important for us to bring our support team, whoever those are, and let them be like, hey, you know what? You've helped me on days that I was struggling. You've helped me through these moments.

Like we're celebrating you as well. Yeah, you're a milestone. So I love that so much.

And I have a lot of different questions for you. So I'm just thinking what everyone wants to hear. But you know, we've chatted about the events.

We've chatted about your birthday bash, which I can't wait to see the photos from. It sounds like such an incredible event. But I'd love for you to just share a little bit.

Obviously, you've been in the jewelry business academy now for not quite a year. I think it's like 10 months. Yeah, 10 months ish.

Yeah. And I think you were on vacation when you first came in. But I'd love for you just to share.

But anyone who's listening who hasn't listened to your other episode, you know, just your experience of being in the jewelry business academy, how you're feeling before, how you're feeling now, how it's impacted your journey, how being part of a community has impacted your journey just for anyone listening.

SPEAKER_01
Sure. And I think like one of the hardest things about leaving a corporate job and, you know, starting your own business is not having kind of like the community that understands, you know, the intricacy and the details behind running a jewelry brand or any brand, to be honest, right. And this goes to any businesses in any industry.

But for me personally speaking from my own experience when I first started. Yes, you have your support system. You have people who would give their take on how to run a business.

But until you truly do like every single step in the business, it's really hard to truly understand the depth or the, yeah, how much there is to it and how much actually problem solving there is. Because I remember before I started, I remember, you know, friends and family saying, hey, you know, would you be challenged enough because here you are going from a consulting job, you know, trying to solve like really big problems for a large organization to actually just packing jewelry, making jewelry, sending it off. That sounds super simple, right.

But the reality is, it's not that simple. There are so many different steps that people don't see. People think tend to think that, oh, you should sell jewelry.

That's all you do, right. And that is where it's really hard to try and get input from people that may not have experienced it the way you have. And for me finding a community like the JBA that, you know, where everyone is going through kind of like the same process or are in different stages of that process, you're able to learn from each other.

And I remember, you know, I remember messaging you on how people tactically approach certain situation, right. I remember like when I first started consignment store, you know, the consideration of like having boutiques whole my jewelry pieces. And I remember messaging you while I was on a holiday and I was like Robin, I kind of need to put together this, you know, pitch deck.

And I was like, I'm going to do this for a jewelry business before can I get some structure like how do I even start right and things like that that are very tactical that people might not have thought about was super helpful when you have a group of people who have gone through it or are going through it and we share ideas. And what I like about it is that people are not there to steal your ideas people are not there to like, you know, look down upon you or judge you. Because they are genuinely to help each other out.

And I would say to any people who are starting anyone who's starting a business. And it's just from my one year humble experience. Definitely get like your support system and like have a community, find one that is able to, you know, help you grow along your journey because I think even today right one year into business.

much that I still learn from the team, from the community in JBA. Like, I learn from my business buddies around how they launch their brand. And I'm always super like, fascinated by their approach.

And I could learn so much from it, right? And I love, I love the sharing that happens. And I love, you know, just learning from different brands and having you as a coach as well. Because, I mean, I honestly don't know who else to turn around and ask all these questions to be fair.

SPEAKER_00
Yeah. I know. And we just hopped off a coaching call just before this. So, yeah, I love that you shared that.

I think having that community. And I think what you shared is super common. I had that as well when I started many years ago, as people are like, Oh, well, this person has a business, they can help you.

And it's like, well, if you have a car business, or you have a restaurant, these are very different businesses. Like, even as even a small product-based business versus jewelry, very different. So I think getting in the right community 100% makes a huge difference.

And I'm so glad that you loving the community. I think we have an incredible group of men and women in there who are just, again, like, so supportive of one another. There's no competition, which I think is really special.

And they just always helping supporting, lifting one another up, which I love so much. So I'd love for you, because I know we'll probably have some newbies listening to this who are like, Oh, well, I'm all curious, what would you say to somebody who's thinking of joining the jewelry business academy?

SPEAKER_01
I'd say, definitely, like, speak to a couple of people who have been in there, right? Because I think every single person has a different experience and are different life stages of your business. And think about what you're trying to get out of it. If you can, you come in with a clear purpose, you'll make the best out of it, right? Because there will be people who would know or share the same phase of journey that you're going through.

And, you know, invest in yourself, because I feel like I invested in myself. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's a big decision at the very beginning of your business journey, right? But again, it comes back to what your intention is and what do you want to achieve out of this, right? And when you have that clarity, it helps you make, like, I guess, decisions that are aligned with your business vision. Yeah, you know, what you want to build.

And I personally felt that, you know, investing in me, I'm not just investing in the business, I'm actually investing in me, because there's so much of self coaching that's going on as well, right, beyond just the business, investing in myself, you know, the returns is so much more than what you have to fork out in the beginning, right? And I truly honestly believe that, you know, just having an important support system that knows what you're going through and is able to coach you along the way like yourself, Robin, will make a tremendous difference in the trajectory of, you know, your vision of your vision of your the growth of your vision. So I mean, I always reflect back and I always feel right if I didn't have like a coach, a community, I'm probably going to be like this, right? I'm trying to figure it out along the way, or maybe it's not even going to look like this, it's going to look like that, right? But because I have, you know, a coach, a community, I'm able to grow like that, you know, at a higher, faster pace or a more sustainable, more well informed pace. As I mentioned, right? And it used to be a foggy road, but like, I'm able to see clarity, maybe in the next 100 meter, you will never be able to see the end of the tunnel, the road right at the end, because things change along the way.

But at the very least, you know, from the fog, I can at least see 100 meter ahead. And that makes such a big difference. So definitely like, you know, if you're scared, talk to a couple of people.

And then remember that, you know, it's not a one time investment. It's a lifetime investment on yourself, you know, and it makes a difference. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00
Yeah, 100%. You know, I love that you shared that, that reminded me of a podcast I was listening to earlier today, actually, where they were talking about education. And when you look at all the different types of investments, there are out there actually, even if it's like the stock markets, housing, all of this, education is the only investment you don't lose.

You can't lose in a divorce, you can't like, nobody can take it away from you. It's actually the only investment that you can't lose. So yeah, it's just really interesting that you shared that.

And I'm obviously really glad that you've had such a good experience. It's been so much fun, like having you come in at such an early stage, I think your business was two months old when you came in. And it's so rewarding to see somebody take like the systems and the structure, implement it into your business.

And that's why you have this clear path. And yeah, things change, things get refined. But it's so different from somebody who comes in two, three years down the line.

And then we have to sometimes they've gone through this up and down and all they've gone down and they're in debt. And then we have to get them out, which we can do, but it's just very different. It's so nice seeing you just really build momentum.

You keep building momentum. Yeah, you have little dips occasionally, that's normal in business. But overall, the trajectory is going up and you're growing at such a beautiful pace and in such a sustainable way, which is really important.

And what I love is that it looks like you're enjoying the journey. Do you feel like you're enjoying the journey?

SPEAKER_01
Yeah, 100%. I think I did another interview the other day. And I was like, I don't want to go back to my comfort job.

But I mean, jokes aside, right? I do think my comfort job has given me so much skills to be able to do what I'm doing today. And coming back to the point around training, one of the things that I feel like when you start your own business, you probably won't get the same level of training as your company would have given you, right? So I'm also making an intention where every single year I'm going to invest in myself and I'm going to sign up for one training. It can be anything, but I'm investing in education every single year so that I'm always learning and I'm always upscaling.

So yeah, I thought I wanted to share that as well. I actually love that. That's

SPEAKER_00
my I do exactly the same. I'm like every year because it's so true. And I went for many years as an entrepreneur not investing because I just I just didn't really know about it to be honest with you.

And I couldn't find what I was looking for. But yeah, if you want a job, you own the corporate world for many years, you know, every year they're investing in you in different ways. And yeah, while we're talking about the corporate world, you know, we have a lot of members recently who've joined actually into the Jory Business Academy who are from the corporate world.

We have finance managers, we have people in security, we have people who are like in all different industries, but they're coming from the corporate world. And what I find really interesting is that this is a very different industry to come into the jewelry industry. And it's a massive transition to make.

And some people think about it for many, many years before starting that transition. Some people do it part time. Some people go all in like you.

But I thought to hear your advice to someone listening to this who's like, well, I'm in a corporate job right now. It's a great job. I'm climbing the corporate ladder.

But something inside me is saying I want to do something different. I would love to like do this full time. What would your advice be to them?

SPEAKER_01
So, Mark, big question. I know it's a big, big question because I think like for me, it wasn't just like I know people would think that, you know, oh my god, you're quitting your job and you're going to go do this full time. You probably, these are some of the comments I've gotten when I first started.

You probably haven't done research because it's a really saturated market. Oh, that's going to be really hard. Good luck.

So I've had a lot of comments like that before. And as much as I would love to think that, you know, I like had no experience whatsoever. I've never dabbled my feet into it and just went straight in.

The reality is it doesn't look like that. I've been dabbling in it for years. Right. I started two other businesses before I was doing one in the UK and I was doing it part time. And I've learned so much from that.

And I did a whole different model back then. And then I started another one with my mom about, I think, three years ago. And I learned so much from that as well and what to do and what not to do.

And even with this business, even though we've been around for like one year, it's been one year of like being live. Actually, the thought process, the testing, the experimenting happened one whole year before that. And I was actually already working in, well, still working in my corporate job.

And it was really hard, right? Because we used to work crazy hours to find time, to be able to find time, to do the iteration, to still work on your project. So it wasn't like an overnight thing where I decided, okay, I'm just going to quit my job and do this. Right. It was, maybe you can say five years in the making, you might not know that this is the eventuality. But I probably think like it started since my very first business back in the days where I was living in London, right? And I was doing it part-time all the way up until last year.

And that was after knowing that there are a couple of key criteria I need to have before I take the plunge. One, I need to make sure that I'm at a level where I can go back to a corporate job or whatever job that I am wanting to move into in case it doesn't work. Two, having enough savings to be able to invest comfortably into the business and also support yourself.

Because the last thing I want is not having enough cash to invest into the business. You haven't given it your best shot and then having to cut it short, cut your dream short and then go back. Right. And I think that's just the practical side of things really. Three, you need to, like for me, it was a more personal thing where I needed to make sure I have my permanent residency in another country in case I wanted to go back because that was where my last job was at.

Right. That was important for me. And like for I have a business plan and a vision for this that I'm passionate about.

Because if I don't, then when the tough gets going, you kind of probably want to give up. And I would say it's not easy. Sometimes I look at my friends and sometimes I look at my partner and I'm like, jam, this is hard.

And just reflecting back. Right. And wondering, you know, I remember one of my friends asking me, will you be bored? Like, you know, when you leave your crop job and go and start a business. And I know it comes from a good place and I know it comes from a genuine place.

But looking back, I'm like, man, I'm never bored. So many problems to solve every single day. And when I say problems, it's not just customer problems.

Right. It's problems with the back end. It's problem with your supplies.

It's problem with where you want to bring your brand towards. It's like, when you're in a corporate role, and again, it depends on what kind of role you're in, right. You tend to focus very on a very specific topic.

But when you're running your own business, you kind of have to think through the end to end, even the least sexiest stuff. Yeah, I have to do. Because some days I'm like folding polishing cloth and like stuffing it into bags.

And I sometimes get my partner to do it. And I'm like, well, you're a senior manager and day and at night or weekends, you are my, you know, zero dollar employee. And that's the reality of it.

Right. So I'd say, you know, coming back to your question, I'd say, you know, don't don't just plunge into it blindly. Definitely think about what you want to achieve.

What's your purpose and what do you want to build really? And then work backwards. Yeah. And during what you don't have skills on and you kind of like, you might not need to know everything, but you need to know a little bit of something in that specific area, just so that you're well prepared. Because I think when people are not well prepared, they jump into it, if you realize, damn, this is not what I signed up for.

You know, it's kind of hard to like, kind of like work that back. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Just be kind of like well informed.

SPEAKER_00
I think that's really, really good advice. Definitely. I really appreciate your honesty with that.

Because I think a lot of listeners are really going to get so much value from that. Because yeah, you know, the reality is there's a lot of things to take into consideration. Everybody is going to be in different places.

I think even like we are speaking about like the people coming into the academy, everybody's in different stages of life and everyone has different goals in their business and they wanting to get different things out of that business. And same thing when you're leaving like the corporate job, your corporate world to come into business, it's like, well, you have different experience based on your job, based on the years that you've been dabbling in businesses, based on all of that and really taking the time to get clear on what you're wanting to build. But then also setting a timeframe for being like, okay, well, here's what I need.

Here's the information I need. Here's what I need to get started. Because I do see two different scenarios.

I did a bad thing. I just write in because I was just the hull in with the corporate world, to be honest with you. And I did have to take into account visas and residency because I had the same situation.

I did have to take into account savings to a certain extent and stuff. But I just dived in and it put me in a very stressful position where I had no choice but to make it work. And I thrive under that situation.

But most people don't. And it's not a good idea. I don't 10 out of 10 do not recommend.

But you know, if you have the time to be like, okay, I'm in the corporate world. Yeah, this is not where I see myself long term. But let me get clarity.

But set a timeframe. Be intentional with getting clarity over what you're wanting to do, getting clarity over what that journey is going to look like. Because some people, you know, we've had members join who've thought about this for 10 years, 10 years for a long time to think about something without taking action.

And rather you start taking action, get information. And then you know, like, you can make those decisions so much faster. But thank you for sharing that and sharing that journey.

And I think, you know, when you're talking about the problems in business, I like to talk about like, business and work, your problem solving and whatever job you go into or business, it's just the types of problems. And I find like the jewelry industry, the problems are so fun. Yes, there's a range.

I mean, it's interesting, you're connecting with people that there's such a variety. It's so much spicier, so much more fun. So thinking about like, what are the problems I want to solve? Because whether you go in the corporate world, or in business, you're going to have problems.

It's just like, what do those look like? And how fun are they to actually solve? This has been so much fun, Eva. Thank you for joining me. I know it's like super early your side.

Is there anything else you wanted to share with everyone before we go?

SPEAKER_01
I'm, no, thank you so much for, you know, having me on this, right? And for everyone who's joining, I guess, you know, you only live once and, you know, live purposefully, I'd say. And if purposeful is, you know, staying in that corporate job, because you find a lot of purpose from it, do it, right? There's no right or wrong. And my journey does not reflect your journey.

So just, you know, we sometimes we get so caught up in like, you know, the day to day that we forget to look in words and think about what's really, you know, meaningful and intentional for yourself. So, yeah, I mean, whatever you're doing, just take a pause and reflect back sometimes because who knows what greater lengths, you know, that reflection would do for you and would bring you. Yeah. That is

SPEAKER_00
so beautiful. Oh my gosh, when you turn that into a quote, for sure. I love that, Eva.

And actually, you know, that reminds me of something that I've talked about before where I think a lot of people unintentionally are going through life on autopilot. And so actually, it's easy, very easy to go many years and just like be an autopilot and to actually take a pause, step back, get perspective and be like, wait, what does my heart say? What is my true purpose? Yeah. Do I feel like this is in alignment? Like, have I thought about what I'm doing and what my true purpose is during my time on this earth or during the season is actually really powerful.

So I think everyone always needs that reminder because it's busy. Life is busy, business is busy, it's easy even in business to get in that cycle. We forget to take a step back and be like, wait, let me evaluate tonight.

Encourage everyone, even business owners living the dream to always every few months or every week, make sure you're taking a time, a chance to step back, get perspective, look at what's working, what's not. You don't want to do the same thing for 10 years and then 10 years down the line, this little problem that you had has expanded into this massive issue. And you could have just like changed paths slightly at some stage.

So I love that. This is such a powerful way to end our mini podcast, not so many and our Instagram live. Thank you guys for bearing with our messy action here with the technology.

But again, this is how business rolls. If we're going to wait till everything's perfect, we're never going to get stuff done. And so yeah.

But this has been so much fun. We'll just be better next time. We'll be better next time.

We're going to bring you back on in six months. We'll bring you back on in January because I know December is going to be wild. Do you want to just share any fun things coming up?

SPEAKER_01
Oh, well, I'm going on a big holiday. Incredible. For me, that's a big exciting thing because I realized like it's really hard to just walk away sometimes.

But for me, going on a holiday is important because it means that I have set structures and a system that allows me to detach myself for a bit. Because the worst thing you can do is tie yourself with super glue or like, you know, with, I don't know, whatever that's like super, you know, tied. But basically, like tying yourself to the business where it would not survive without you.

I think that's the worst thing that you can do. So going on this big holiday is going to be a massive win for me if I can go and come back with no worries and everything is still working. I think this is the

SPEAKER_00
most powerful thing from a whole conversation. I love this because this is something everyone struggles with and being able to be like, let's do this test over vacation time and just enjoy your vacation and see it. Let things figure it out.

Like let your team figure things out and go from there. But it's going to be so good. And I hope you have a great vacation.

Let us know how it goes. And we'll chat to you back on the podcast in six months and hear your updates. Sounds good.

Thank you so much Robin for having me here. Thank you so much for listening today. And I hope you enjoyed this conversation as much as I did.

If this podcast is really uplifting you and inspiring you and making you feel motivated to show up in your jewelry business, then I'd love for you to take a second to screenshot the episode you're listening to and tag me on Instagram. It's Robin Clark coaching. I love connecting with you on your entrepreneurial journey over on Instagram.

And if you are also finding this podcast incredibly valuable, I really would appreciate you to take one minute to quickly leave us a five star review on Apple podcasts. It really has a huge impact on helping us get the word out there so that we can support more and more jewelry business owners on their journey through our podcast and through our content and program. So thank you in advance for taking a moment to do that.

And I'm looking forward to seeing you next week.