Conversations with Cynthia Schmidt

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cynthia Schmidt.

Hi Cynthia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I had been in the software technology world in Silicon Valley for over 30 years and was always finding ways to express my creativity on the side by making jewelry, doing landscape photography, casting resin, making stained glass art pieces, working with fiber, taking various art & technique classes, etc. Finally, a life change created the opportunity for me to turn my creativity into a business! I left the corporate world behind and decided to focus first on my jewelry making because it allows me to use so many creative techniques that I love.

I have always loved natural stones and collected many over the years. I wanted to create something with the beauty of natural stones, so I focused on designing and making artisan jewelry that shows off the stunning beauty of the natural world that surrounds us.

I am especially inspired by the mountains in Colorado. I live in Conifer, with mountains and trees surrounding me on every side. I use the colors and patterns of what I see here to inspire what I create. Even my business name, Earth Song Jewelry, reflects how I see the world. And, my logo captures what surrounds me here in Colorado.

I kicked off my business at a holiday market in 2017. I enjoyed that, and more importantly, I found that other people wanted to buy what I created. So, I turned my hobby into a business. Initially, I sold my jewelry at local fairs. But over time, I moved on to create my own website and also joined other marketplaces to sell my products.

I enjoy using my skills from my previous tech career to create and manage my artisan jewelry business. For example, due to my software background, it’s easy for me to build my own website. And, because I managed a large engineering organization, I can apply my past business and operational lessons to my jewelry business. This gives me a perfect combination of creativity, engineering and business to balance what I do every day!

I truly hope my jewelry helps people find inspiration in the world around us.

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?
Building a business is never 100% smooth sailing!

Initially, I struggled with doing everything myself. Since I was building everything from scratch, there was a lot to do, with never enough hours in a day. After a few years, I decided to hire some help. I chose to hire help for those tasks where I am not an expert. This was a smart move, and it accelerated my path to stability. Now that I am stable, I am able to run my business without outside help.

The other struggle is, of course, finding new customers to drive my business growth. This is a fine balance between how much to spend attracting new customers (for example, with advertising, or expanding to new marketplaces) vs. revenue & profit. It can be easy to spend too much without a good enough return if you don’t take the time to look at the longer-term return on your spending.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I design and make handmade artisan jewelry. My specialty is creating simple and modern designs that show off the beauty of natural stones. Rather than adding a lot of flashy gold to my jewelry, I design with sterling silver and copper, keeping those materials as accents, rather than the “main attraction” of the piece. Your eye should always be drawn to the stones in my jewelry, not to the materials surrounding the stone. It’s difficult to find others who focus on the stones, as I do.

Another thing that sets me apart is that I am very careful to acquire my stones and other materials from sellers with ethical businesses. I want to be careful that the stones I use are exactly what they claim to be. I don’t purchase from unethical suppliers who dye their stones, and I am careful to avoid synthetic replications.

An important aspect of my products is that they are always hypoallergenic and nickel-free. I suffer from allergies and understand how difficult it is to find jewelry that won’t aggravate your symptoms. I want all of my customers to be able to safely wear my jewelry. This is why I educate them about what it means to be “hypoallergenic” for jewelry, and why I always list exactly what material is used for every product.

Finally, I am an environmentally conscious business. I use recycled materials as much as possible (such as recycled sterling silver and boxes), I am certified carbon neutral, and I give back by donating 10% of my proceeds to environmental organizations. Running my business in an eco-friendly way is very important to me. This forms a core part of my mission and values. See my mission and values here> https://earthsongjewelry.com/pages/earth-song-jewelry-about. To celebrate the natural world, I must take care of it, too!

What does success mean to you?
For me, success is creating a business that allows me to do the things I enjoy doing. That sounds simple, but it’s a powerful driver. Over my original 30-year career, there was a lot that I didn’t enjoy doing. Now that I’m running my own business, I have made sure to build it in a way that allows me to spend my time doing things I enjoy. This informs what I do every day, and how I want to grow my business. Of course, I want to continue to grow my revenue (with great profit)! But I always keep an eye on how that growth affects me.

Pricing:

• My products range in price from $18 to $300+
• I design/create custom jewelry for no additional fees
• Earrings range from $18 to $200+
• Necklaces range from $20 to $150
• Bracelets range from $20 to $300+

Contact Info:

• Website: https://earthsongjewelry.com/?utm_source=voyage
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earthsongjewelry/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthSongJewelry/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthiakayschmidt

Image Credits
N/a