Today we’d like to introduce you to Tara Smith.
Tara, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started this little business – named after my Grandma June – to share my love of jewelry with ladies who also love to accessorize. It all started when my younger sister, who is in my hometown of Ohio, started her own small business of a clothing boutique. She couldn’t run accessories along with clothing, so she encouraged to “do the accessory part from Texas.” Initially, I started the Facebook Group in July of 2018 and gained my main customer base from her core customer base in Ohio. I ran the whole business on Facebook through Album sales on Sundays.
Eventually, word got around within my friend and work group and they all encouraged me to expand to a bigger and broader market here in Dallas. I did just that; in May of 2019, I did my first ever Pop Up Market with the beautiful humans over at The Boho Market. It was amazing; since then, I have been doing a Pop Up almost every weekend with Boho and Deep Ellum Outdoor Market.
With the success of the Pop Up Market scene, I decided to launch an online website and stop doing Facebook sales. So, in August of 2019 www.junebugsjewelrybox.com launched officially! It’s been a wonderful meeting customers, making friends within the Pop Up Market community and helping women find the perfect accessory for them or their loved ones!
As of February 2nd, I will be in my first brick and mortar location; although it is in Ohio and not Dallas, I am so excited! My sister is opening her first boutique store front and Junebug’s Jewelry Box will be available at this location for the first time.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly, it’s been much smoother than I expected for it to be. The biggest struggle was teaching myself to build a website from scratch, not knowing anything about website design. But, after lots of trial and error, I finally figured it out. The other struggle was learning what the Dallas marketplace wanted; it’s very different from what my customer base in Ohio was looking for. Ohio customers wanted simple, small and everyday earrings. The Dallas market wanted much more trend driven items, color, and the bigger, the better! I think I finally have it all figured out and have been able to make both kinds of customers happy!
Another thing that this small business has given me was so much better time management skills. At the beginning balancing a full time career, my social life and small business with a website and Pop Up Events, I was crazy busy. But, I got the hang of it within a couple of months and I now feel like it is running so much more smoothly!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I am the owner and I am a one woman team! I have a piece of jewelry and women’s accessory business. I carry a huge variety of jewelry; earrings, bracelets and necklaces – everything from the fringe to tassels to dainty studs, eye catching bracelets and beautiful necklaces. Each piece is unique and hand selected by me from a supplier that I work very closely with weekly. I select a limited amount of each style/color to ensure that each piece is as unique as the woman wearing it! I also have now expanded to carry a variety of fun & unique hair accessories; scrunchies, headbands, clips, scarf scrunchies & more! I would say that one of the things that I am most proud of is the connection that I can make with my customers. I have lots of repeat customers, and I ensure that they are given the highest quality product at the most affordable price. My low price/high-quality method is one of the things that I believe sets me apart from other fashion jewelry businesses. I also think that the variety that I provide is something else that is not as easily found in the marketplace.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Hard work, dedication, and getting comfortable being uncomfortable. I have given so much time to planning, setting up, and being at the Pop Up Markets. There is a lot that goes into it and it isn’t as glamorous as some may think, but it is so much fun! The 100+ degree summer days get long, but everyone is hot and sweaty together. The online store takes dedication because there is quite a bit to keep up with but it’s so amazing to see people from all over the country buying my products!
At first, the Pop Up Markets were a little uncomfortable in the sense that I felt like a fish out of water. Most everyone knew what they were going; they had their setup and breakdown down to a science. I was quite the opposite but with each and every market I got more and more comfortable and into a groove that worked best for me. It’s also been hard to hear people critique your product when you put so much of yourself into selecting the pieces, but I’ve learned that everyone has different tastes, and that’s just life!
Pricing:
- Jewelry – $12-20 each
- Hair Accessories $5-10
Contact Info:
- Website: www.junebugsjewelrybox.com
- Email: junebugsjewelrybox@gmail.com
- Instagram: junebugsjewelrybox
- Facebook: junebugsjewelrybox
Image Credit:
Laura Brown & Destiny Paige
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