Jennifer Lopez, the secret of smart collaboration, and the "super niche"

What’s the secret to making your product the one your buyers HAVE to have, even when there are literally thousands of other choices?

What would make some of the biggest names in entertainment (ahem Jennifer Lopez for example) want to wear your product, when you have spent little on advertising and don’t have any type of “In” in the industry?

A really specific niche, and some smart collaboration is the secret.

You hear a lot about niching down and getting really specific about who your customers are, but in a crowded market with lots of competitors, it’s the absolute key to success.

We’ve got some incredible tips for every type of business today on the show. Tasha is with us, owner of Rhythm Jewellery, who went from unknown in the dance world, to THE jewelry designer for the biggest names.  She knows how to niche, and how to get in front of the big names, who have big audiences, and she’s sharing her secrets with us today!

Find Tasha and Rhythm Jewellery:

Website:     HERE
Instagram: @rhythmjewellery 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] What's the secret to making your product the one year buyers have to have, even when there are literally thousands of other choices? What would make some of the biggest names in entertainment, Jennifer Lopez, for example, want to wear your product when you've spent very little on advertising and don't have any kind of in, in the industry.

A really specific niche and some smart collaborations are the key. You hear a lot about nicheing down and getting really specific about who your customers are, but in a crowded market with lots of competitors, it's the absolute key to success, and we've got some incredible tips. For every type of business.

Today on the show, Tasha's with us owner of Rhythm Jewelry. She went from an unknown in the dance world to the jewelry designer for the biggest names. She knows how to niche and she knows how to get in front of the big names who have big audiences, and she's sharing her secrets with us today. Let's get into it. 

Kristy: Tasha Satler is a goldsmith with over 20 years experience in the jewelry industry. She started [00:01:00] her own company, rhythm Jewelry, creating gold and sterling silver jewelry inspired by dance and dancers. And she's gone from unknown in the dance community to having her pieces owned by high profile dancers like Jennifer Lopez.

Last November, she launched a collection with celebrity choreographers and creative directors, nappy tabs. And if you're not in the dance world and you don't know who they are, I, I had to Google. They're a duo. They're creative directors for the 2020 Super Bowl. They've won several Emmys VMAs. They worked with everybody from Prince and Ed Sheeran to Madonna and Ariana Grande.

They're kind of a big deal, so if you, if you're not familiar with them, I was I wasn't either, but my goodness. What a, what an accomplishment. So first of all, thank you so much for, for being here, Tasha. Thanks for joining us today. 

Tasha: Thanks for having. So this is a 

Kristy: really cool path you found yourself on.

Can you give us the backstory? I'm sure, I'm sure it's an interesting story, how you got here and exactly 

Tasha: what it is that you're. Yeah, it's a little it's a little random [00:02:00] that I'm in this dance world now because I'm, the first question I get asked is, are you a dancer? And I am not unless you count in my kitchen.

Yeah, so I just, I started working in a jewelry store when I was 15, and then I did some traveling. I worked for him on and off for years, and then I decided to go into Goldsmith. So I went to school in Montana for a few years to learn goldsmithing. Once I graduated there, I came back to Canada and worked in a really busy studio that did a lot of work for the chain stores.

All the independently owned jewelry stores, all the small towns have their, you know, their mom and pop run and jewelry stores. So we were really busy and I worked there and continued training. I'd say probably another 10 years. And then I started my own company in my own studio when my girls were little about four years ago.

And I started Rhythm Jewelry, which is a line of jewelry inspired by dance. [00:03:00] So that started about four years ago. We still out of the studio do all of our regular custom engage rings, wedding bands. That's my whole career has been that. So it's kind of my jam. So I still, I still do that. And then we do the dance stuff as well through the studio.

Kristy: And how did you, how did you get into doing dance 

Tasha: jewelry? Yeah, so I have some friends who are professional dancers and very involved in the dance world. One friend in particular has taught dance for 30 years and they just kept asking me to consider doing a line of jewelry for dancers. And I was like, that's a hard no.

Like, what do I know about making jewelry for dancers? And they just kept asking and getting a little. A little more aggressive about it, , and then I I did some market research and they were right. Everything that's out there is designed for five year olds, and it's all for ballet, so it's kind of like five year old, 10 year old kind of tacky jewelry.

There was really nothing that represented the more senior dancers or the adult professionals. [00:04:00] It is a very dedicated lifestyle. They spend more time at the studio than they do with their families. Some of them dance for years whether they own a studio or they're professionally dancing and there just was nothing for them and nothing for the other genres of dance, nothing for men.

There's a lot of male dancers. So that's kind of the, the niche that we're trying to. 

Kristy: That's amazing. So besides making gorgeous jewelry, and honestly if anyone has a, a dancer in their family, or if you're a dancer, you have to check out Tasha's site. We're gonna link it in the show notes. Cuz you've got some really beautiful and unique, and like you said, they're not the cliche pieces, right.

That you, you expect like the little, you know, the little, the little slipper pendant or whatever it happens to be. They're, they're really artistic and beautiful. Besides the, the jewelry, you've mastered a few things that I think apply to every woman in business. And that's, I really would like to talk about that today because I think they're key skills that are gonna help anybody explode their business if they can get these right.

So number [00:05:00] one is, is growing in a saturated market because jewelry is a crazy, crazy crowded market. I worked in jewelry promotions for 15 years. Oh, I didn't know that. Yeah. In the Caribbean and on, on cruise ships, and, It's hard to imagine that there's a corner of the market that hasn't been tapped yet.

So, I mean, if you wanna talk about saturated markets, that's definitely one. And number two is finding really valuable collaboration opportunities. It it, you know, it's a lot like PR where it's, it gives you the opportunity to see really explosive growth if you get it right. So, so let's start with number one.

So finding your place and, and growing in a seemingly saturated market. What are your tips for that? How do you do that? 

Tasha: I feel like Anytime you, you could throw a rock and, and hit a person making jewelry. So you have to be very specific on who you're marketing to. If it's young moms, if it's, in my case, it's dancers.

If it's whatever it happens to be, you just need to be very, very clear about who you're talking to when you're marketing on your, your Instagram [00:06:00] or your Facebook, because if you're trying to sell to everybody, you're not selling to anybody. So be very specific and intentional in who it is that you're talking to, and take as much feedback as you can.

So I always tell the dancers that, you know, the first question is, oh, do you dance? And I'm like, oh, no. I spent so much time learning how to make jewelry. I didn't have enough time to learn how to dance, so I rely on their feedback a ton. I'm always asking questions. I have a private Facebook group that has, I call them like my die hard v i p clients, and I'll ask them, do you prefer this style or this style?

Do you want me to do salsa or would you like me to do highland dance? And I get as much feedback from them as possible because ultimately that is who's gonna purchase it. So, It's not necessarily about making what I wanna make, it's about making what they're going to want to wear, which I think sometimes as artists we can get really caught up in making what we want and what expresses ourselves, but you have to try to find [00:07:00] that, that blend between the, the two of them and make it saleable as well too.

 And then I would say for niches, you have to really. Just focus on yourself. It's very easy to see the highlights of what everybody else is doing, and oh my God, they have so many Instagram followers, but you don't necessarily know what's going on behind the scenes. They might not be making any money. I know people who have very few followers on Instagram and they're making buttloads of cash, and then there's some people who have a ton of followers and their sales just aren't there.

So I think getting caught up in the focusing on what everybody else is doing. Wasting energy, you need to focus on yourself, and the chances of you being the only person focused on that niche is gonna be slim to nil. So it's very easy to get caught up in the competitiveness, but the one thing you have that they don't have is you and your brain and your ability to do what you do.

So focus on yourself rather than what everybody else is doing. Yeah. Oh, 

Kristy: so much, so much wisdom there. [00:08:00] And. It's funny because your niche that you, you chose is not something you were familiar with and. And I don't know if that's a, if that's a, a positive or a negative for you because I think when we're familiar with it, we assume we know all the answers and we don't ask all the questions.

But because it's not your, you're not a dancer, you actively are always going out and asking those questions. So you know, that's got to have been a big help over the years and I think. If you were familiar with dance, maybe you wouldn't have asked those questions. And, and it can be such a subtle difference, right?

I mean, to, to, to someone who's not a dancer, you know, how pointed the toe is, or the position of the arm or the leg or something, we, we may not even notice. Whereas to a dancer, they wouldn't buy that piece of jewelry because it's actually not, you know, a good position or whatever it happens to be. Right.

It's, all of that feedback is 

Tasha: absolute gold. Yeah, I think so too. I've done Custom work most of my life and I re it doesn't matter what industry you're in, I remember I did something for a, a dog kennel. They had, they were, you know, [00:09:00] the pureed dogs and they're just as intense, like the, the space between the eyes and the pointiness of the ears and the measurements of everything.

So it doesn't necessarily matter what industry it is, you have to make sure that you get it exact. Mm-hmm. and just keep, just keep asking. I do say to my dancers though, even though I'm not a dancer, there's so much crossover between their lifestyle and my lifestyle that it's not exactly the same, but I, I get it.

Mm-hmm. , I get that you're in the studio till your body hurts and you're tired. And I get the days that you're frustrating cuz you're doing the same thing over and over and over again and you can't get it right. And then other days it just seems to flow really well. There's, there's so much crossover.

It's just that there. Using a different form of art than what I'm doing. There's a lot of, a lot of crossover and I think tapping into that is what really matters. I also learned a long time ago that jewelry isn't jewelry like it's jewelry is memories and emotions and stories. So when people find out what I do, the first thing they do is they go and they get their jewelry box and they [00:10:00] pull it all their treasures, and they show me everything that they've ever.

And it's very rare that someone will say, oh, it's a two car 14 carat goal. Like, it's very rare that they give me the specs. Most of the time they give me the story that's associated with it. My husband bought it for me on my 40th anniversary, or we were taking a trip to Italy and we found this store. And there's always like a story or a, or a meaning behind it.

Yeah. So now that I'm focusing on the, on the dance inspired jewelry, that's really what it's about is focusing. The meaning and the milestones and the story that goes behind every piece. And I think once you can tap into that, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what niche you're in, you're selling a product that fits inside that lifestyle, and it's not necessarily about the product itself.

Kristy: Mm, absolutely. And, and you said you mentioned a Facebook group , for your die hards. When you're nicheing like this and when you've got a really tight niche like you do, what's your take on how community fits into that? [00:11:00] 

Tasha: Oh, I couldn't do it without them. I mean, I could, but I wouldn't be as successful without them.

So the Facebook group, for example, is a private one, and I tell them all the time, you know, if you wanna message me privately, you're not comfortable putting your ideas out there for everybody else to see. You can message me privately. And I'm always putting up votes. You know, what, what do you want me to do next?

And the feedback that they give. Is invaluable. Absolutely invaluable. And then in return, I'll let them shop collections before they launch. I'll do giveaways, discounts whatever happens to be going on at that time. But the feedback that they give me is, is invaluable. Even the feedback that I'm getting when I'm setting up you know, at markets or at dance expose or wherever I happen to be, you can't, you can't do everything everybody tells you to do.

Mm-hmm. . But if you keep getting the same feedback over and over again, for example, I hear you. Salsa dancers, they're sliding into the dms and they're starting to get a little aggressive. So salsa is what we're moving on to [00:12:00] next because I was starting to get a lot of continual feedback of, where's the salsa pieces?

There's nothing available for us. Can you do salsa next? So that's kind of, I let them guide me. That's, that's 

Kristy: so great. And I think so many so many of us start our businesses. The backwards to that, which is it makes it a slower start where we, we, we build it and then we, we put it out there and we hope that somebody's gonna buy it rather than getting the feedback and finding out.

What they really want and exactly what they want it to look like and building what's gonna sell. And I think that's such a key to success. Let's, let's talk about a little bit more about the niche, but marketing to a niche like this, because it's so specific. This isn't something where you're gonna put necessarily, you know, adds out to the world because the world may not be your market.

What have you found as far as marketing to a niche like this? That's, that's a little bit. 

Tasha: Well, for me personally, I spend very little on ads. like, [00:13:00] I'm running the company, we're doing a lot of the finish work here in the studio, so I, I'm wearing like a lot of hats. And so I don't have time at the moment to sit down and really get into the, the, the workings of how ads work and how to do them properly.

So I've gone a totally different route. I've built my business through collaborations. And reaching out to other people, I give away a ton of free product. Whether it's a dance competition that needs awards for their soloists, I will give you a pendant. And I do a lot through social media, just sending jewelry to dancers.

When covid hit, the dance community was totally decimated. Like everything went dark for the professional dancer. The studio owners were just trying to keep their doors open. So we took a little bit of a different approach, and rather than approaching people to purchase things, we just started handing out free jewelry and just sending letters in the mail saying, you know, I know it's a tough time, but maybe this'll, you know, brighten your day.

Here's a piece of jewelry. [00:14:00] And sometimes that doesn't come back to you right away. Mm-hmm. . But it will eventually, if you focus. I've always been a big believer on focus on giving them value versus what can I get from you? And if you focus on what you can give to other people, it sounds a little woo woo, but it, it always, it always comes background.

It always comes background. Absolutely. 

Kristy: Well, and the loyalty and the referrals that come from that. And, and especially with your pieces, because that one person is gonna show it to, to 30 people who are, guess what? All dancers, . that's amazing. So let's talk about the collaboration piece because that's, that's been a big one for you of late and, you've only been in the dance world for what, four is it? Four years? 

Tasha: Four years. Almost five 

Kristy: years now. Yeah. Right. So you're relatively new to the dance world, and this is a big deal to be working with nappy tabs. How, how do you build a collaboration like that and how do you. How do you leverage a collaboration like that?

Can you share a bit of that with us? 

Tasha: Yeah, so collaborating was also really just a sneaky way for me to advertise because I knew that if I had to [00:15:00] pay these people to advertise for me, when you're starting a business, every dollar counts and I don't have the budget that some of the huge companies have.

So collaborating is kind of My way of circumventing that. So I've done several collaborations. I collaborated with Anna McNulty, who's a Canadian her background's in cheer and she does a lot of, she's like super bendy, like contortionist bendy. So she's got, it's crazy. So I think she has like 8 million on TikTok now, or she's got a lot.

So I collaborated with her. I just did the Hat Sisters. We collaborated. Taylor and Reese are sisters from Edmonton, and Taylor just danced with Imagine Dragons. On their show. She toured with Janet Jackson. They're both very involved in Disney. And and then I collaborated with Natalie Curl, who is a Canadian dancer slash actress.

So basically what I did is approached them from a point of. Giving value would you like to design a piece with me that reflects who you are as a dancer, [00:16:00] as an artist? Because if it appeals to them, it's also going to appeal to their market as well too. So we design a piece together and then put that on the website and then I give them a percentage of sales off of that piece.

But what's really beautiful is because they've spent the time and the effort designing that piece. They have requirements of, you know, they, how much they need to post and yada, yada, but they almost always go way beyond that because they design the pieces themselves and they're really proud of them.

Yeah. So with nappy tabs, when we designed Tabitha, We launched in October and Tabitha was producing at the Grammy's that spring. And every photo they posted of her at the Grammy's, she was wearing her jewelry because she loves it cuz she made it and it's her idea. So that's not part of the contract, that's her just wearing it because she loves it.

So it's a really great way for advertising on our end as well. 

Kristy: That's [00:17:00] genius. So, so if you're listening and you're, you're doing obviously something other than jewelry, think about how you can, who you can collaborate with and, and in a way that they become involved in what they're creating or think about.

Other businesses that are, have the same market, target market you do, but have a non-competing product, how can you collaborate with them to get in front of their audience? Yes. 

Tasha: Great. Perfect example. My photographer, when I first started, if I had to pay her to do. All the beautiful photos that she does for me, I would never be able to afford her cuz she's crazy talented.

She's a dance photographer here in the city, so I call her my 90 day fiance because I messaged her on Instagram and I was basically like, Hey, you do dance photography and I make dance jewelry. Do you wanna be friends? I didn't word it like that, but that's basically what I said, friends with me and you wanna be my friend?

And then that was four years ago, and now we're like, we're, we're super [00:18:00] intertwined. So she does all of my photos for me, but then when she does shows where she needs an assistant, like she's doing dance studio portraits and she needs an assistant. She can't do it all by herself. We trade. , I will come work for you if you do photos for me.

And then we cross promote each other as often cuz her market is the same market as mine only, we're selling two different things. So I send people her way, she sends people my way. So it's, it's worked out wonderfully for me. 

Kristy: Amazing. Yeah, great tip. When you're starting out too, if you can find people that you can exchange services with and because you know what, it's not, it's not equal time for equal time, either necessarily depending on what you're doing.

Because something that takes me, you know, that I'm not good at, that's not my thing and takes me 10 hours to do is gonna take somebody who's really good at it, an hour . So you are actually both getting ahead, even if it's, if it's something that's not as specific as 

Tasha: photography, and I think that's the kicker is you need to make sure when you're approaching people.

That you're giving them some type of value. Because I have a lot of people who message me and it's kind of icky, [00:19:00] like you can tell they just want something from me. Oh, can you just send me free jewelry? And it's kind of an icky way to approach it. Whereas if you approach them so that both parties are gaining something, if they're gonna gain something and you're gonna gain something, it's a wonderful relat.

But if you're coming at them where you're only gonna gain and they're getting very little, yeah. You're not gonna get a lot of response that way. And lead with the 

Kristy: value. Right. Lead with the value upfront. 

Tasha: Absolutely. I know everybody asks me like with nappy tabs in the dance, in the dance world they're kind of a big deal and everybody thinks that I had some sort of in with them and the.

The super boring answer to that is I did not, I just emailed them. I was very strategic about my email. Yeah, let's 

Kristy: talk about that for a second, because you, yeah, there's, I think everybody that's listening is gonna think, okay, hang on. Here's somebody in my industry or you know, that I could maybe do something with.

Now how on earth do I 

Tasha: get 

Kristy: in front of them, pass the gatekeeper or through the dms or whatever it is. So what's your strategy? 

Tasha: So my strategy is people are [00:20:00] busy and they don't have a lot of time for you. Mm-hmm. . So keep it short and sweet and to the point so you don't have to give them as much as you wanna give them all their information and tell them how wonderful your product is because you have a lot of passion about it.

They're really only gonna read the first couple of sentences and they're gonna decide right then whether they're gonna go ahead with it or they're gonna delete the email and move on with their life. Mm-hmm. . So I'm very short and to the point. Here. Here's what I'm offering you. Here's who I am and here's what I'm offering you.

And I get that in the first couple of sentences and then I'll do a short paragraph that kind of establishes me as an expert or establish like, why should they trust you with their name and their brand? Cuz that's very important. So you need to establish yourself as an expert, but keep it very short and it's a conversation.

You don't need to give them all of the information, the first email, cuz it's gonna get deleted. If they're interested, if you can hook them in the first couple of sentences, they'll message you back or they'll schedule a phone call or, or whatever. So you just need to be very strategic about [00:21:00] the first reach out that you give to them.

people are gonna say, no, that's life. It doesn't mean you're terrible and your product's terrible. They're just not a good fit. You need to be okay with the no. 

Kristy: And maybe not a good fit right now, right? I mean, the number of things I say no to, and it's not that it's, it's not a good idea. It's just not right now we're in the middle of something else.

We're in the, so what do you do as far as as far as follow up and, do you follow up a few times? Do you kind of. Come back to it at a later date. What's your strategy for 

Tasha: that? I usually will I usually give them like a week or two because sometimes people read it and they're interested and then they just go on with their lives and they forget all about it.

And then if you send 'em an email, they're like, oh, yeah. Right. And so sometimes people need the general reminder, but, but, but don't be like emailing them every day. What, you know, what are you doing? Are you interested? I've had people do that too, where it gets to the point of like, hounding and then it works the exact opposite, because then what they're gonna do is start telling all their friends, This person's kind of crazy.

You need to run. Right? So I give them like a week or two and I follow up. [00:22:00] Sometimes I'll follow up a third time, but most of the time I just follow up once and if they're not interested, then I move on. 

Kristy: Move on. So, anything else as far as the I wanna talk about the stakes in a second here, but anything else as far as the marketing to a niche or you know, finding and your niche and growing in it that, that you wanna share with us?

Yeah, I 

Tasha: would just, you know, like I said before, be very. Specific on who you're on, who you're talking to, and not everybody is gonna be your kind of people. There's always gonna be people who think my product is too expensive, and there's always gonna be people who think my product is too cheap, or whatever the problem happens to be.

So you need to just focus on those specific people and then you really need to identify what makes you different. So I think for me personally when you start getting into the high end, jewelry can get a little stuff. Like you can get a little. You know, it's really expensive. There's not a lot of humor in it.

It's just kind of like a luxurious, but that's not, [00:23:00] that's not really my personality. I'm a little crazy. So when I post reels, I started in the beginning to like try to fit what everybody else was doing. And I wasn't getting much a response. But then when I started doing reels, that was basically what it's actually like in the studio.

Like they're singing and dancing and we're, we're a little weird. Those get the biggest response. And I see people all the time. I was just at a market on the weekend and I had people coming up to the table, oh my God, you're rhythm. I've seen your, I love them. So it's like once you start being yourself and not really caring, that's what people really identify with.

And behind the. You think it's boring because it's your everyday life. Yes. But people love seeing behind the scenes, no matter what it is. I do too. Somebody's making candles. I'm like, oh, how do they, how do they do that? But the person making the candles is like, this is my day and it's boring and I hate it.

But it's true when other people are doing it. It's really interesting. So I get comments on that all the time. Show us how to, like, how did you make that [00:24:00] ring? Or how do you polish this? Or whatever. Behind the scenes have really worked for me. Excellent. And, 

Kristy: and you, I, I love what you said about being yourself and you know, that attracts, that attracts your people.

Right. And you know what, it repels the people that aren't for you, which is great because then they're not 

Tasha: cluttering the way. . Yeah. 

Kristy: I love it. I love it. So let's talk about mistakes. What do you think the, the biggest mistakes are that entrepreneurs make when they're starting out pricing.

Tasha: I think particularly in jewelry, I teach jewelry making now. I have some students that come to the studio for private lessons and then I teach at a few places in the city, and that's the one. If I could just shake 'em, that's the one thing that I would do. I think particularly as a women, sometimes we have a very difficult time valuing ourselves and our work.

So if you came to me and you were like, I just made this, how much should I charge for it? I'd be like, you need to charge this [00:25:00] much cuz you're worth it and it's awesome. But then as soon as it comes to pricing for myself, you kind of, the self doubt creeps in. , but if you're not pricing properly, you're doing yourself a disservice and you're doing all the other makers around you a disservice.

Particularly jewelry is what I know. So I see this in jewelry a lot. Mm-hmm. , I see someone selling earrings for $20 in a market and I'm like, I know that took you three days to make those and you're selling them for $20. So now what you're doing is everybody else who's at the market, who's like priced themselves appropriately, now you're lowering their their value because why would I spend that $150 when this lady's selling it for 20.

So I think being very, very clear on pricing and there's courses you can, you can take on that kind of stuff or have friends kind of value it for you as well too. But pricing is one of the biggest things, and it's 

Kristy: not sustainable when you do that either. I mean, it's, you know, yeah, sure, you can sell more of them than the, than the person next to you, but how long can you keep doing that when you're, you're not, you know, not making a sustainable [00:26:00] amount of money.

Tasha: Your time matters, like the amount of people that are making various things. I don't do that many markets, but when I do, I like to go around and talk to all the makers. Oh, well we don't pay for our time. We just, we really enjoy doing it. And it's like, no, your time, your time matters. You need to put your time in there.

So I think that pricing is a huge hurdle that maybe it's a self, a self worth thing, but pricing is really, I think 

Kristy: specifically for women too. And the other thing that we see quite often is where they're, they're setting their price based on only the time and the raw materials cost or whatever it happens to be.

And especially in service based businesses, you can't really do that because how much, you know, it may only take you an hour to do it, but what's the value to the customer? You know, what's the value on the other end? It took you an hour to do it. It's gonna save. 20 hours a week, then it's worth more than the hour it took you to do it.

And I think we really, we just don't women specifically, I think you're [00:27:00] right. We undervalue, ourselves. 

Tasha: if you put your work too cheap. Mm-hmm. people sometimes view it as it's cheap and it's not worth it. Mm-hmm. , oh, those earrings are cheap. She's only 20 bucks. They move. I, I have know several people who have gone to shows and like doubled or tripled their prices and their sales went up because people view it as more valuable when it's priced a little bit higher.

Yeah. So I always advise my students to kind of work backwards. I do this for engagement rings all the time. I get them to give me a rough budget of where they wanna. And then I kind of price check. A couple of different stores at what they're offering that's similar and what their prices are so that I can make sure I'm kind of in the same range.

And then you can always go a little bit under if you need to, to be competitive. You don't wanna be super cheap, but you wanna be competitive as well too, right? So I think that pricing is a huge issue and I think people try to do everything themselves is the other hurdle. When you're starting a business, you're not perfect at everything and you need to [00:28:00] figure.

I needed to figure out very early on where I. And then find somebody who doesn't suck at that to, to do that for me. I love that description. I 

Kristy: love that. Yes. Find out where you suck, and then find someone who sucks less at it than 

Tasha: you do . Yeah. Cause you can't be perfect at everything. And then what are your strengths?

I'm pretty extroverted and my whole life has been in sales, so I know I'm pretty good at sales, so I try to put myself in this sales position as much as possible. Terrible at math. Mm-hmm. . So, you know, finding a good accountant who can take care of that. If I'm trying to do it all the paperwork is gonna be a hot mess express, so I need to find somebody who can do that for me.

Also, the, I think, and particularly in artistic product. You take everything personal and it's yours, and you wanna have your, you wanna have your fingers on everything, but at some point in time, if you want to grow and actually make money at it, you can't do everything yourself because you're gonna [00:29:00] tap out on time.

So it's very hard to let it go and to farm some things out to other people. But if you want to grow, you have to pick and choose what you're going to do yourself and what you're gonna hire other people to do or send out for other people to do. Which is very hard for people to let, let go of the control, I guess it would be.

Yeah. Yeah. Agreed. And what about 

Kristy: perfection Paralysis? 

Tasha: Yes. . So, I was lucky enough to train from under many Goldsmiths who have been training for much longer than me, and I learned all sorts of different things along the way, and one of the guys that I trained under used to say, set it and forget it. So, If you're waiting for something to be perfect, I would still be making the first engagement ring that I ever started on, because the longer you stare at it, all you see is oh, that that diamond could be moved to half a millimeter to the left.

All you see are mistakes and you're not gonna get anywhere. So you'd always say to me, just set it like, just set your stones, just set it and forget it. Do the best that [00:30:00] you can and move on. And I see that a lot, especially with my students that are just starting jewelry businesses. They want it to be absolutely perfect before they go ahead or they want, they, if they're not comfortable enough in what they're being approached with, they'll automatically say no.

Mm i, I say yes to everything and then just kind of figure it out as I go and hope for the best. So I just did a line of jewelry that has wood. I don't know anything about making jewelry out of wood, but I said yes to it and I went with it. And then I found people who know how to, how to work with wood a lot better than I do, and ask them a ton of questions, and we work together.

And then the, the line was created. So just say yes and go with it. and trust that you're smart enough to figure it out because you are, you're smart enough to figure it out, and you'll find a. That 

Kristy: is such, that's, that's a huge key to success, I think, is being willing to say yes, even if you're not quite sure how it's all gonna come together, but you know, you can figure it out.

Tasha: Yeah. And you're not gonna nail it every time you're gonna [00:31:00] make mistakes, but you need to figure out what you learn from that mistake and move, move forward. The key is to always be moving forward, even if you're stumbling and it's not pretty and it looks terrible, at least you're moving.

Forward because if you're not moving forward, you're not, you're not gonna go anywhere. And I mean, at the end of the day, the reason why most people started their business is because they wanted to be more independent or provide a better life for their children or get outta that job that they hated, or to improve your quality of life somehow.

So if you're stuck. Waiting for it to be perfect before you do anything. You're not, you're never gonna get there. And that comes, 

Kristy: you know, full circle back to the beginning of the conversation. It's all feedback, right? Whether it's feedback, you asking them what they want or it's feedback. You putting something out and realizing that it's not exactly what it needs to be.

It's all feedback. And I'm not saying, you know, put out a, a terrible product or something that you know is not good, but you gotta get your, your stuff out there in front of people. Yeah, and see, see what works and what doesn't and, and get that feedback. 

Tasha: And I [00:32:00] think you could be, I think it's just human nature.

You could be, you could be standing on the street with your product interviewing, let's say interview a hundred people and 98 of them are like, oh my God, that's the best soup I've ever tasted in my life. But the two people who tell you it's terrible garbage, that's what you're gonna focus on. Break your.

Yeah. So you need to kind of take it with a grain of salt. Is that something, is that person just miserable or is that something that I need to improve on? Don't necessarily take it personally, cause not everybody is your people and that's okay. I get that all the time. Well, your jeweler's too expensive.

Yes. Because your dancer is six. That's not right. That's not who I'm, talk to me when she's 17 and she's graduating and she's been dancing for the last 15 years or, or whatever it happens to be, then I'm more your, your price point, right? So it's kind of trying to find the happy medium between the two.

Love it. Don't just focus on the negative. Yes. 

Kristy: [00:33:00] So before we wrap up, I, there's one thing I would love to ask you on your journey as an entrepreneur. I would love your best lesson learned, your best piece of advice, something you've either learned or someone's, advice they've given you on the way.

What would you pass on to newer women entre. 

Tasha: I would say, well, I think we've covered most of it. I would say focusing on value, even if you don't feel like it's coming back to you right away. It does. It always does. And then, Don't be, don't be afraid to just try e email people, message people. Reach out to, even if you reach out to other people in the industry somebody who can mentor you or coach you.

And if they're in your industry, let's say you're making candles, you're gonna find the odd person who's a jerk, who's like, oh, she's just trying to steal my candle idea, or whatever, right? Some people are, some people are like, But there's gonna be somebody who's gonna be like, absolutely, let's swap ideas.

Let's help each other. So take the nose with a grain of salt and just reach out for help whenever you, [00:34:00] whenever you need help. Love it. 

Kristy: So we are going to link. Tasha's site in the show notes. It is rhythm jewelry.com. If you're, if you're listening and you haven't got a pen, if you can't see the show notes where, where you are, whatever platform you're on, some of them don't show the show notes.

You can always go over to the podcast website as well, one step empire.com and we've got. All the links, all the show notes, all the good stuff is there. So rhythm jewelry.com and check it out. Beautiful pieces. And just really unique. I, there's a few there. I'm not even a dancer and I was like, oh, I love that

Tasha: Well, we started doing that more. This last collection was more like loosely inspired by, because there's so many people who are wearing it that aren't necessarily dancers like myself. I wear half the pieces and I'm not a dancer. So we started kind of branching out in that direction. Oh, they're gorgeous.

Kristy: They're go and clever. They're clever, which I love. So we're gonna, we're gonna put that in the show notes for you. We'll link that over to Tasha's site. And I just wanna say thank you. Thanks so much for coming on and, [00:35:00] and sharing your, your wisdom with us today. I really appreciate you being on 

Tasha: with us.

Thanks for having me. It was great.