123 - Laryssa and Liz Interview Cindy Liebel, Independent Jewelry Designer and Metalsmith

Summary

Success With Jewelry Podcast - Episode 123 Summary

Release Date: March 24, 2025
Hosts: Laryssa Wirstiuk and Liz Kantner
Guest: Cindy Liebel, Independent Jewelry Designer and Metalsmith

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1. Introduction

In Episode 123 of the Success With Jewelry podcast, hosts Laryssa Wirstiuk and Liz Kantner engage in an insightful conversation with Cindy Liebel, an accomplished independent jewelry designer and metalsmith. Cindy shares her extensive journey in the jewelry industry, offering valuable lessons and actionable advice for both aspiring and established jewelry entrepreneurs.

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2. Cindy's Background and Journey

Cindy Liebel launched her foray into jewelry making in 2008 as a hobby, initially exploring wire wrapping and basic metalsmithing. Her passion quickly evolved, leading her to pursue formal education in metalsmithing and eventually, in 2010, she formalized her venture by obtaining a business license. By 2014, Cindy took the leap to go full-time, transitioning from a corporate career to building her own jewelry brand.

[01:56] Cindy Liebel: "I spent several years just kind of learning all the basics before 2010, which is when I decided to become official and get my business license."

Cindy's work is profoundly influenced by Scandinavian modernist and Art Deco architecture, translating these aesthetics into elegant and wearable pieces. Based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Cindy emphasizes the importance of finding personal fulfillment alongside professional success.

[04:40] Cindy Liebel: "I was looking for something to keep something else to that made me happy for myself."

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3. Embracing Data and Organization

Despite her creative nature, Cindy doesn't shy away from the analytical aspects of her business. Her corporate background, which included roles in business administration and data management, equips her to handle the intricate details of running a successful jewelry business.

[05:31] Cindy Liebel: "I feel like it's kind of sort of because I used to work in that corporate world. And yet I also am creative. It's like balances out."

Cindy's peers recognize her exceptional organizational skills, often referring to her as "the most organized creative" within the Staple Collective.

[06:26] Laryssa: "Cindy has been in the Staple Collective for a long time, and all of the members think of Cindy as the most organized creative."

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4. Key Moments and Growth in Business

Several pivotal moments contributed to Cindy's business growth. Initially, she lacked a formal business plan but focused on increasing her visibility through online markets and physical shows. Her dedication led to appearances on prominent TV shows, including Scandal and Law & Order: SVU, showcasing her jewelry to a broader audience.

[09:25] Cindy Liebel: "I had a pair of earrings on Scandal and there were a couple of other shows, SVU too."

Additionally, Cindy strategically hired a consultant to enhance her market presence, which proved instrumental after a challenging first show experience.

[07:55] Cindy Liebel: "I hired a consultant to kind of like, be the eyes from out to kind of help lay the groundwork for me of what I needed to do to be seen and get myself out there."

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5. Challenges Faced

Cindy candidly discusses the challenges of solo entrepreneurship, including managing all facets of the business and initially underpricing her work. Facing skepticism from others about the viability of her craft as a "real job" was another significant hurdle. However, her resilience and unwavering commitment enabled her to navigate these obstacles effectively.

[19:39] Cindy Liebel: "I just like being the one to have my hands on all the things that I'm making."

[20:39] Liz: "It's not making enough money. But people are buying, so that's okay. That took a lot of work to change, Change things."

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6. Balancing Creativity and Business Operations

Maintaining creativity while handling business operations is a delicate balance Cindy manages through meticulous scheduling and dedicated creative time. She utilizes tools like Google Calendar and Trello to organize her tasks, ensuring that both her creative and administrative responsibilities are met.

[23:00] Cindy Liebel: "I input everything on [Google Calendar] from social media content, from events that I'm scheduled to do or even pending to do because I'm waiting on whether or not I got in or not."

Her creative process is fueled by continuous inspiration from various sources, including museums, long walks, and even unconventional elements like vehicle tail lights.

[25:19] Cindy Liebel: "The design of a vehicle's tail light draws inspiration, design ideas creatively for me."

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7. Staying Consistent and Creative

Consistency is a cornerstone of Cindy's success. She emphasizes the importance of showing up regularly, whether through online presence or physical shows, to build and nurture her client base. This consistent effort, combined with authentic engagement, has been pivotal in establishing a loyal customer community.

[24:52] Laryssa: "We believe in consistency over here. Yes, it pays off, especially for years of running a business, like, staying consistent. In that time, you really, it really does pay off in a big way."

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8. Successes and Media Features

One of the standout moments in Cindy's career was being featured in Oprah's Favorite Things and appearing on David Muir's World News. These high-profile endorsements significantly boosted her brand's visibility and credibility, leading to increased sales and continued media interest.

[14:06] Cindy Liebel: "I sent every single design to them for her to pick. And just the simple fact that over on my work, my earrings, you know what I mean? It's just the best thing ever."

[16:18] Liz: "That's amazing. I'm always curious, like after opportunities like that, how does the business change? Hopefully in a positive way?"

Cindy acknowledges the surreal experience of national television exposure but notes the sustained attention and sales that followed.

[17:11] Larissa: "What were some of the challenges along the way? I also want to, I guess I also want to like make the point and point out that you were in business for what, like 15 years before you had like a really big opportunity like that."

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9. Advice for Emerging Jewelry Designers

Cindy imparts several key pieces of advice for those entering the jewelry industry:

• Authenticity: Stay true to your unique style and vision.

  [31:07] Cindy Liebel: "Being authentic? Yes, I am. I just enjoy the process and sharing the things that I feel."

• Consistency: Regularly engage with your audience and maintain a steady presence.

  [24:52] Liz: "Consistency is ingrained in me."

• Understanding Your Client: Invest time in identifying and connecting with your target audience through in-person shows and direct interactions.

  [33:55] Cindy Liebel: "If you don't know who your client is, get out of your comfort zone and do in-person shows."

• Flexibility in Marketing Strategies: Adapt your marketing efforts to what resonates best with your business model and personal strengths.

  [34:08] Cindy Liebel: "Do what works for your business and yourself and not what works for everybody else."

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10. Conclusion: How to Follow Cindy

Cindy encourages listeners to connect with her through various online platforms to stay updated on her latest creations and business ventures.

[34:16] Cindy Liebel: "You can follow me online at Cindy Legal Jewelry, on both Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. And of course, my website is cindylevel.com."

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Final Thoughts

Episode 123 of Success With Jewelry offers a comprehensive look into Cindy Liebel's successful journey in the jewelry industry. Her blend of creativity, organizational prowess, and relentless dedication serves as an inspiring blueprint for aspiring jewelry designers and entrepreneurs aiming to carve out their niche in a competitive market.

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Follow Cindy Liebel:

• Website: cindylevel.com
• Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest: Cindy Legal Jewelry

Connect with Success With Jewelry:
Visit patreon.com/successwithjewelry and leave a review to share your thoughts on this episode.

Transcript

[Larissa]

Welcome to the Success with Jewelry podcast where we invite you inside our conversations about business success and marketing for jewelry designers and entrepreneurs.

[Liz]

We're Larissa and Liz, jewelry marketing experts with a combined 16 years of experience in jewelry marketing and proven track records and helping jewelry brands meet their goals. When you listen to or watch this podcast, you get an intimate and exclusive peek behind the curtain of all the things you wish you could know about earning success in this industry.

[Larissa]

Welcome to episode 123. This week on Success with Jewelry, we're chatting with Cindy Liebel, an independent jewelry designer who has been creating jewelry since 2008. Inspired by the clean lines and bold simplicity of Scandinavian modernist and art deco architecture, Cindy translates these influences into elegant, wearable jewelry. She's successfully grown her business over the years and in this episode she's sharing insights on how she did it, plus valuable advice for emerging jewelry brands looking to to find their footing. In the bonus content, Cindy will reveal her top tips for emerging designers. Don't miss it. Hey, Cindy and Larissa, let's get into it.

[Liz]

Yay. Welcome, Cindy.

[Cindy Liebel]

Hi ladies. Thanks for having me.

[Larissa]

Thanks for being here. Why don't you introduce yourself?

[Cindy Liebel]

Hi everyone. I am Cindy Liebel with Cindy Liebel Jewelry. I am. I usually tell people I am a metalsmith and that I work in the jewelry industry, fine jewelry industry. I am based here in Fredericksburg, Virginia which is 50 miles south of D.C. and yeah, I make all the things that Liz has mentioned.

[Liz]

I didn't realize you've been doing this since 2008. That is quite a journey and you've seen a lot of changes, I feel like in the industry over that time.

[Cindy Liebel]

Yeah. Well, to be clear, I started out as a hobby in 2008. I learned how to do some wire wrapping and from there I took some basic metalsmithing classes and just have not looked back. So I spent several years just kind of learning all the basics before 2010, which is when I decided to become official and get my business license.

[Liz]

When did you go full time with it?

[Cindy Liebel]

I went full time in 2014.

[Liz]

Nice.

[Larissa]

Yeah, that. I mean that's a pretty quick and long journey to like full time in the jewelry industry. I think that it's really important for emerging brands to know that like five months in business is not enough to like really establish yourself. Like you need to like put in years, years to get to the point where you could leave a job or it becomes less of a hobby and more of a full time thing or becomes more of an official business. It takes time.

[Cindy Liebel]

It does And I honestly this. Having a jewelry business was not a goal at all. You know, it was. I wasn't clear on what I wanted to do and just to kind of backtrack I was. I had the privilege of being a stay at home mom, so. So I left the corporate world to raise my kids. And during that time there was a. Although I enjoyed everything that I was doing with my children and raising them and married life, family life, there was still like I was missing something. And I think, you know, after going to school for photography and fine art, I decided to tap into another craft back in the day. And moving forward from that, the money that I made from that is I used that money to put towards all the tools and materials that I could buy, you know, and to work with and making jewelry and kind of going back to that. What I was going to say was I was looking for something to keep something else to that made me happy for myself. Not that raising kids doesn't make any a mom happy, but there's a little bit of. I felt like something was missing so that created this spark in me to really kind of dive into something that I could really enjoy. And yeah, I've just wake up every day very excited and thrilled and privileged to be able to do what I do right now.

[Larissa]

What were you doing in corporate?

[Cindy Liebel]

In the corporate world all the. It's probably boring to a lot of creatives, but I loved it. It was a lot of business administration work. I love data, I love pulling reports, just kind of like going over all those things. There was a point in period too where I was a legal secretary, a paralegal assistant and I did do a little bit of marketing for a hot min.

[Larissa]

Yeah.

[Liz]

Did you find? So it's so interesting to hear that you love that and you were very involved with data, which is something I think a lot of people in jewelry because they're right brained, they're creative. It's like, oh, who wants to deal with that? Do you find that you embrace data in your business now?

[Cindy Liebel]

Oh, big time. Like I know I could hire someone to do a lot of the things on this side of business for me, but I think there's this bit of control that I have a hard time letting go. And the fact that I don't mind it, it doesn't bother me to sit here for a couple of hours or all day to like pull reports, create spreadsheets, do all this data stuff. And I feel like it's kind of sort of because I used to work in that corporate world. And yet I also am creative. I kind. It's kind of like balances out, and I think, what is it? Kind of. My friend of mine, we were kind of thinking there's like this, like an. This engineer kind of thing that's process, you know, with creating and all the data and stuff like that that I enjoy.

[Larissa]

I think that. So Cindy has been in the staple collective for a long time, and all of the members, like, think of Cindy as, like, the most organized creative.

[Liz]

I think I love that.

[Cindy Liebel]

That is so wild.

[Larissa]

So organized. Everybody's like, I want to be like Cindy. Like, Cindy is the goal post.

[Cindy Liebel]

Well, it's not perfect. I'm always working on making it better. But yeah, yeah, it's. It's a little bit organized.

[Liz]

You think that's just your personality or have you worked to get to that point in business, or both?

[Cindy Liebel]

I think it's a little bit of both. Yeah. I think there's just like, this sort of this satisfaction of when you can create a spreadsheet and. And fill all the little sections with code to read information from another tab of a spreadsheet. There's just something about this accomplishment, and maybe it's also how I look at jewelry, too, when I'm making and designing jewelry.

[Larissa]

Were there any key moments that helped you grow your business?

[Cindy Liebel]

There were a lot. One of the things was I. Well, it wasn't one of the things. First off, I didn't have a business plan. I literally just jumped into doing this without the business plan. That came, like, much later. But a lot of it was trying to figure out a way to get myself out there. And one of the things that I did was do. I did a lot of research on online markets. And so there were a couple of online markets that I so had my jewelry available to their customers, and I did a lot of drop shipping, and then that kind of morphed into growing customers, you know, that I would have never known I. That would find me. I also hired a consultant to kind of like, be the eyes from out to kind of help lay the groundwork for me of what I needed to do to be seen and get myself out there. And one of the things that she told me to do was shows. And I did do my first show before meeting with her, and it was a complete wash. I think There were like, 30 PE customers that walked the event, and there were like, 20 vendors, and it was such a bad day, it rained. And I think I sold, like, three pieces of jewelry, like three earrings, one to a vendor and one to a Customer and one to a friend. And I'm like, this is ridiculous. What am I doing with my life? Why am I here on the streets of Northern Virginia trying to, you know, sell my jewelry? But she really said, you need to get back out there. And so that's what I did. I again, spent hours just researching shows along in Virginia and D.C. and I made a point in changing up my display and collecting email addresses, and it's everything just kind of grew from there. I also did research on finding out ways to market my work through press. So I joined a group where your jewelry could be worn on celebrities and TV shows and movies. So that was pretty fun. I had a pair of earrings on Scandal and there were a couple of other shows, SVU too. So I just made a point to really just do the work because I knew it was important that people find me because although I was on Instagram, that still wasn't enough at that time.

[Larissa]

I think that that's. I mean, just having known you for a while, I think that that's a big part of your success. It's like you're willing to do the work and you're willing to, you know, try as hard as you can to make it successful and do the research and be prepared. And all of that really goes a long way.

[Cindy Liebel]

It really does. I think a lot of it's. It's hard, you know, but for me too, when I came into this industry, I was alone. Now, as jewelers or artists, we're all. We were always working alone, but I was like, really, like alone because I didn't know what I was doing. I was just trying to figure it all out. I did join a few groups to help me and. Which was so, so amazing. And that really kind of also led the segue into doing even more and more of getting myself out there and just sticking to it.

[Liz]

Yeah, there's also. Excuse me, there's also this idea that I think digital, just digital media, digital marketing makes it feel very easy to open up shop and like, you have endless potential to reach an audience. And so a lot of people won't take that extra proactive step to, like, do all those things you did. Because there's this attitude of, like, oh, if I build it, they will just come, like, it's open for. Open for business, like, where are the customers? But it's actually a building process that you have to do and it takes a long time.

[Cindy Liebel]

It does. It really does. You know, even when I opened up my first online Etsy shop and I was only selling to family and friends. My one of my sister in laws was amazing. She. I got a lot of clients through her from her showing off my work and she's probably one of my top buyers from the family, aside from my mom. But. But yeah, it really does take a lot of work, you know. And word of mouth is also helpful too. I don't. Sometimes people may not realize the amount of work it takes to run a business until they're actually in it. And then it can be kind of challenging and overwhelming.

[Larissa]

I think that's something you've done really well too, is you really like nurtured the client base and your clients and you done a lot of work in terms of like not only doing a ton of shows, but making sure you're collecting emails even if you're not getting sales. So like cultivating this community around what you're doing.

[Cindy Liebel]

Yeah, so true. I mean I was super excited when I got my first 5 and 10 and 15 subscribers. I was like, oh my gosh, this. It was just the best thing, you know, to wake up to, to see. It's like, oh, I got a new subscriber. What shall I talk about?

[Larissa]

And I guess the most exciting thing that's happened to you very recently is being selected as Oprah one of Oprah's favorite things, right? And then World News.

[Liz]

That's so cool.

[Cindy Liebel]

It is. It was so mind blowing. Just kind of like a quick backstory. You know, Oprah's. There are a couple of Oprah's team members that walk the New York now show that I did for the first time last February in 2024. And I noticed they bypassed. They passed my booth and then I thought nothing of it. And then I showed up in August and then they came and they were interested in my wire earrings and I was just kind of like tickled. I'm like, no way. So after the show they called, they wanted to present the earrings to Oprah. So I sent every single design to them to her for her to pick. And just the simple fact that overlay touched my work, my earrings, you know what I mean? It's just the best thing to like best thing ever. And so that was a great experience. You know, two and a half weeks later, you know, they selected, she selected two earrings that my Isla or I call them Isla Hoops and the Kyra Hoops in the gold fill. And they just took off. During that time between November and December, her Oprah Oprah's favorite things was a two month gift kind of online marketing thing through Amazon, which I did. And then in December, I was contacted by the Hearst magazine in possibly being chosen to be on David Mirror's main in America. They asked a series of questions and I had a few days just to kind of get the recording to send in to them. And I was on national television and I was just shaking like, I cannot believe this is happening right now. It was one of the most surreal moments in my life.

[Liz]

So cool, so cool.

[Larissa]

Oprah could be like in her garden right now wearing your earrings, right?

[Cindy Liebel]

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. You never know.

[Liz]

That's amazing. I'm always curious, like after opportunities like that, how does the business change? Hopefully in a positive way? Like, what results were you able to see from that?

[Cindy Liebel]

Well, since the holiday, I mean, it was. I was busy non stop. It was pretty. I had no life. I really had to get my mindset ready to. For the experience of what I experience. And post holiday. Yes, the sales had slowed down. But then I still have people coming in from the press that I've received since David Muir and the Oprah's favorite things had launched. So it's been pretty good so far.

[Liz]

That's amazing.

[Cindy Liebel]

Thank you.

[Larissa]

What were some of the challenges along the way? I also want to, I guess I also want to like make the point and point out that you were in business for what, like 15 years before you had like a really big opportunity like that.

[Liz]

I was gonna say that.

[Larissa]

Really long time.

[Cindy Liebel]

Oh, yeah, yeah. This is my 15th year this month. Yes, it's a long time.

[Larissa]

Takes a long time. And I think that's just a misconception. I think people think things happen faster than they do.

[Cindy Liebel]

Yeah, they do. Even when my work was on like Scandal and svu, it didn't like draw any major sales to my website at that time either. You know, it's. It's more of that social or that proof, you know, so. Yeah. And you just never know. I, I mean, I never really thought something like that would happen to me. I was at the right place at the right time.

[Larissa]

And you deserve it. You've worked really hard.

[Cindy Liebel]

Thank you. Yeah.

[Liz]

And you have to create those opportunities for yourself too. It's like just showing up all the time means that those people saw you at New York now and like, you know, being your best self and showing up, that's part of what you created for yourself.

[Cindy Liebel]

It is. That's always been important to me. Ever since I had that consultation. I really, I realize how important it is to show up because no one's going to know anything about you if you don't show up.

[Larissa]

What would you say some of the biggest challenges you faced in business?

[Cindy Liebel]

Oh, my gosh. Well, then one of the main ones really is, you know, when you. I think there were moments when I. No one really had that kind of that faith in me and necessarily what I was doing. There was that pressure of you need to be doing what's normal instead of trying to create something that people often looked at as a hobby or that's not like a real job kind of thing. And that was the very beginning. But I've always been someone who, if there's something I want to do or need to do, I am going to do that thing. And not. I don't care. I should say I care less about what others think in that negative way. I need to figure out how I'm going to do it to be successful and make something happen. The challenge is too, is just being a solo entrepreneur, business owner and really doing all the things that was challenging as well. And then pricing too low. You know, I didn't know much about pricing. I just priced my work like everyone else did on Etsy and thought I was doing something great. Yeah, you know, not making an. Not, you know, not realizing, you know, I'm really not making enough money. But people are buying, so that's okay. That took a lot of work to change, Change things.

[Liz]

Do you still work completely on your own or do you have like production help?

[Cindy Liebel]

So I currently do work on my own. I used to have production work. I had someone who was a. What do you call them? They lived in New York and they helped me with my. With some production work. I did hire a social media assistant a few years back. That was really great. And then I had, you know, but that's it. It's always been me. My daughter does assist me with prep, so I'm, you know, it's like, hey, Corinne, I need this and this done. And she will help me do that, you know, kind of thing. But yeah, I do everything myself, which is not probably the thing you should be doing.

[Larissa]

But you don't like metalsmithing. I mean, that's like the part of the business that you, or, I mean, you like a lot of aspects of it. But that's one piece that you really love.

[Cindy Liebel]

Oh, I do like, I don't know, you know, teaching someone to do something in a way that you want them to do it is a. It can be challenging, especially if it has to be done a specific way and maybe their brain is thinking of another way of doing it and you're like, oh, no, no, no, no, let's not do that. But yeah, I just like being the one to have my hands on all the things that I'm making. Even if I fabricate the piece and have a mold made and have it cast, I'll do that. But I like being the one touching and making the jewelry myself. I. The only thing I don't like doing is chaining. I don't like chaining pendants. And, you know, sometimes I'll get some help with that. But yeah, I just love the process of it.

[Larissa]

As your business grew, kind of. What changes did you make along the way? Or can you talk, speak to, like, how you've stayed organized in your business or any tips for designers on that end of things?

[Cindy Liebel]

I am not functional without my Google Calendar or whatever calendar you use. I input everything on there from social media content, from events that I'm scheduled to do or even pending to do because I'm waiting on whether or not I got in or not. I put everything on there. And also my, my, my kids, my young, my young people, you know, their information is on there. So I also need to work around that. I do have a CRM Trello. I use Trello. I'm not consistent with it. So that has been helpful, though, in kind of really keeping up to date with the retail partners I have, along with custom orders I have done currently and in the past. But yeah, I do live by my Google Calendar. And then I'm kind of old school. I like both digital and paper. I have a big calendar that I travel with a notebook. And like, when I travel to Tucson, I will. I think I spent up to July, I planned out my half of my year on the airplane.

[Liz]

Airplane is a great time to do stuff.

[Cindy Liebel]

I mean, it really is. So, yes, I do plan. And Liz. Liz is a. Has always taught consistency, and so consistency is, like, ingrained in me.

[Larissa]

We believe in consistency over here. Yes, it pays off, especially for years of running a business, like, staying consistent. In that time, you really. It really does pay off in a big way. How do. Let's talk about the creative side of the business. How do you stay creative? Or like, how do you push yourself creatively while running everything else?

[Cindy Liebel]

That's a good question. I find it hard to balance, honestly. I do a lot of sketching and a lot of times I just hang out in my studio and I'm like, kind of like fussing around with material and sometimes just fussing around with the material kind of hates help spark an inspiration or an idea. I also Tend to. I love museums. The museums really inspire my creativity. Just seeing all of the artifacts and the beautiful artwork and stuff like that, that's always been something I love to do. I go on long walks, I draw inspiration. I mean, I draw inspiration from all kinds of places and stuff to keep me motivated. I mean, I know this sounds really, really odd, but the design of a vehicle's tail light draws inspiration, design ideas creatively for me, because my brain, when I look at things, my brain just goes into overload. Oh, how can I make that into something wearable and just, you know, I also have like on my calendar, I have blocked times where I spend, you know, certain amount of hours on certain days a week in my studio at the Bench. And then I have other days where I'm doing admin work. I have days where I'm like just sitting at my desk or work tables drawing and sketching. And I make a lot of paper models too for design ideas. And sometimes I'll try to do some digital design ideas that kind of really. And then I'm always picking other my friends brains, you know. What do you think about this kind of thing?

[Larissa]

I think that's so important as a solopreneur to like talk to other people and run ideas by other people because it's really hard to do alone.

[Cindy Liebel]

It is. And it's nice to get a second opinion or third opinion kind of thing. I often will make something and I'm like, oh my God, this is so cool. And then I'll take a picture of it and I'll text it to a friend who does is not in the jewelry industry. She's a great friend and I trust her opinion. She's like, oh, that's so cool. Maybe make it longer or shorter or wider. And I'm like, oh, okay. And then I'm like, I'm going back, you know. And then the other thing is too, when you design or you come up with a really cool design that you really, really like. You like, there's this adrenaline rush that I get that I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't stop. And then, oh my gosh, I have to cook dinner or I didn't eat, I need water, you know, because I'm just so enthralled and tuned to what I'm doing because I really am excited about something I just created that I love.

[Larissa]

So how did you find your voice and how do you like continue to like stick to that and like keep leaning into it?

[Cindy Liebel]

I don't know, to be honest with You. How did I find my voice.

[Larissa]

To do. Yeah, it is.

[Cindy Liebel]

You know, I think it was. It was just something that came naturally, just from sharing, you know, just. I don't consider myself. I'm not a writer at all, but I think the more and more I would do, like, write blog posts or write newsletters, I think that kind of helped me also find my voice for the most part. And, you know, sharing my work just kind of. And, you know, in the early days of Instagram, I remember I would share. Share my work. And I notice, oh, everyone likes me, likes when I share process photos. So back then, my personal, which is now my business, Instagram, it was filled with nothing but process images of me working. Because at the time, too, a lot of people did not really think it was me making the jewelry. So that was also a thing. So just. I really kind of just fed off of what the followers and customers are really, really liking a lot at that time.

[Larissa]

I'm going to ask one more question, and then we're going to wrap up and talk to insiders. But what would you say is working now? I know, sorry, it's a big question, but, like, what now in terms of, like, getting. Everyone needs to know, effectively communicating, connecting with customers, what would you say is. Is really working for you right now?

[Cindy Liebel]

Oh, my gosh. Wow. This is something I really should know right now. Really. It sounds very repeatable. But showing up, I. Being patient with myself. Gosh, just.

[Liz]

Being authentic. Do you think that helps?

[Cindy Liebel]

Being authentic? Yes, I. Yeah, you know, I. I am. I just enjoying the process and sharing the things that I feel. That's important to me, and I hope that it translates well to the wearer, to the people that do follow, and, you know, being consistent. It takes time, you know, to find your. Your. Your design aesthetic. And I think that is also working too, for me and just, you know, being true to myself and true to the customer. Yeah. Yeah. That's something I really had to think about.

[Larissa]

That's a good answer. I think if somebody asked me the question of, like, what's working in your business now? I'd have a hard time of answering, too.

[Cindy Liebel]

Yeah, yeah, that. That was tough. You know, I should. Like I said, it's something I should know.

[Larissa]

I guess here's maybe a better question.

[Liz]

To wrap it up.

[Larissa]

What's one piece of advice you'd give to someone who's just starting out in the industry?

[Cindy Liebel]

Oh, gosh, I have a lot of advice on that.

[Liz]

To get Oprah to notice you.

[Cindy Liebel]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, seriously, the Oprah effect is a real thing. Okay, so do what works for your business and yourself and not what works for everybody else. A lot of times if. If posting a reel does not work for you and posting a carousel does. Post a carousel. If you want to fabricate and cast a piece that's going to make it your life easier, do that thing and not worry about what other people think. If you're casting something or not making it handmade, as long as you have your messaging, you know, explaining that and because I think it's really important for people to really do the things that they need to do to pay their bills, what makes them happy, what their customers and their clients want and are excited about. And if you another one here. If you don't know who your client is, get out of your comfort zone and do in person shows. It took me a long time to know who my customer was, and it wasn't until, like years ago. But I think it really helps and allows you to figure that out and enjoy the process and just enjoy it. That's great.

[Larissa]

All right, Cindy, thank you so much for being here. We're going to talk to our insiders. Where can people follow you?

[Cindy Liebel]

You can follow me online at Cindy Legal Jewelry, on both Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. And of course, my website is cindylevel.com.

[Larissa]

Thanks for being here.

[Cindy Liebel]

Thank you for having me. This is great.

[Larissa]

All right, what did you think of this episode? Let us know. Visit patreon.com successwithjewelry and if you love the podcast, we'd love to hear from you. Send us a message or leave us a review. Thanks for being a part of the community.