Check Out Nicole Bates’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Bates

Nicole, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started making jewelry around 11 years ago in my senior year of high school. I had just joined Instagram and came across other jewelers who were wire wrappers and I gained an immediate interest in it. I fell into it instantly and never stopped. I hadn’t initially planned to create a business out of it, I just wanted to make some jewelry here and there for myself. But as the years went on, I had fallen so in love with creating and the process of learning new things involving my passion so I had quit my job and worked towards making it a full time thing. In my early adulthood I quickly learned I couldn’t work a full time job due to a progressive neuromuscular condition I was born with called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease so at the time I wanted to see if I could pay my bills by doing what I love. It was an incredibly slow process, but my parents were extremely patient and supportive of my journey and with time, I slowly gained a following as Instagram was changing their algorithm and when they added reels, my page grew and the support from the amazing people on the internet absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. Even 11 years later, I am still learning and I am still growing and although being a small business owner is extremely unpredictable and difficult at times, it’s safe to say I absolutely love what I do. Not only getting to pursue my passion on a daily basis, but I also get the opportunity to take breaks when my body needs me to due to my condition.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I would love to say that it has been, but owning a small business and being a jeweler who mainly focuses on online sales is difficult. There’s been plenty of times where people have pushed me down and told me to go to college and get a “real job”. There’s been times where I have to deal with algorithm changes on Instagram which occasionally changes the consistency of my sales. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure to succeed, not only from myself but from others. When I first started, it was extremely slow. I’ve have moments throughout this journey where I’ve considered giving up because of the bumps in the road. Or where I almost feel like at times I have imposter syndrome because I can’t get things right or accomplish what my brain is telling my hands to do. Given this is now my full time job, it continues to be slow growing not only a customer base but to try and continue to gain new customers monthly to keep my income consistent.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a wire artist, specializing in wire wrapping but I also recently (about a year ago) started electroforming. Which is something I don’t see often (people choosing to do both mediums). Electroforming is using is DC power supply to grow copper on crystals to make them wearable. I would say I am best known for creating not only clean wraps, but not overpowering the stones with too much wire. Adding just enough for them to be worn, without putting too much wire that it distracts people from the beauty of the stone. This is why I got into making jewelry, because I just loved crystals, I thought they were absolutely beautiful and I wanted to be able to wear them on a daily basis with out having to be worried about the extra amount of wire being ruined or warped through everyday wear.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
People can always feel free to reach out to me on my Facebook (facebook.com/crystallineadornments) or my Instagram crystallineadornments. I love working with others, I love chatting with people and teaching people how to grow in their passion on wire art. They can support me not only my following my social media platforms but by visiting my website crystallineadornments.com, I have biweekly shop restocks and every single item is one of a kind.

Pricing:

• I keep things affordable but also make things that are high end. I have items listed as low as $20 to as high at $2,000

Contact Info:

• Website: https://crystallineadornments.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/crystallineadornments
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/crystallineadornments