Several years ago I was introduced to a jewelry line, "Jewels for God". The jewelry was very nice; but what really caught my attention was the mission behind this non-profit business, we'll get to that in a few minutes. The original line of jewelry sold by Jewels for God is handmade, each piece being unique. Lovely pieces, but not reproducible and therefore limited quantities. To increase sales potential they developed a line of jewelry to be sold through home or catalog parties; pieces that could be reproduced. This line isn't handmade but it is very nice; both in workmanship and materials.
Because I desired to contribute to the mission, I decided to sign on to sell the jewelry. I bought the start up kit, scheduled a few parties, and sold some jewelry. This process taught me something about myself. I am too concerned about what my customers can afford to spend. This is not a good thing if selling is suppose to be your focus. It is difficult, at best, for me to encourage someone to purchase a simple bracelet for $50 or more. Knowing the materials were fairly expensive, silver, semi-precious stones, etc., I still was not comfortable with the price point. Nothing wrong with the prices; just not comfortable for me. So for all my good intentions I was not having much success and the question became, where do I go from here? How do I help?
Fast forward a couple months, I commented on a necklace a friend was wearing. Her reply was "I made it". That 30 second conversation started the journey that lead to H and L Creations. The journey has been a lot of fun, a fair amount of frustration, and a major learning experience. I am now at a point where I can offer affordable handmade jewelry in styles from pearls and wire weave to Boho and Steampunk. Not only am I having fun creating unique pieces of jewelry; it is also much easier to promote and sell because I am comfortable with the price point.
Circle back to the beginning; how does this contribute to the Jewels for God cause? I contribute 20% of H and L Creations proceeds to Jewel's for God. As my business grows so does my ability to support a very deserving non-profit organization.
So, what does that organization do? Their mission is to embrace, support, train, and show love to women and men rescued out of human trafficking, substance addiction, abusive and other life destroying situations. They are a branch of Teen Challenge, an organization birthed in the late 1950s on the streets of New York, NY to minister to teen gang members. "The Cross and the Switchblade" is the story of where and how Teen Challenge began. To learn more about Teen Challenge and Jewels for God check out the links below. Both organizations do amazing work to help rebuild damaged lives. I hope you will take some time to learn about these ministries and the reason I find them so very worthy of support.
Teen Challenge: http://www.teenchallengeusa.com/about/history
Jewels for God: http://jewels4god.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment