In this episode, we chat with Michelle and Brooke from BlueBird, a permanent jewelry business based just outside Sacramento, California. With backgrounds in esthetics, marketing, and sales, these two powerhouse women decided to combine their skills and passions to create a business that is both personal and successful! Brooke is the master welder, while Michelle works behind the scenes. Their seamless partnership is the secret behind their thriving business and loyal customer base.

We also dive into the heartwarming story behind their brand name, "BlueBird," and why choosing a meaningful and straightforward name is key for any permanent jewelry business. Michelle and Brooke emphasize the importance of marketing, social media, and creating a polished brand image to attract events and clientele. Every detail is intentional, from event themes to the personal connections they make with each customer, making them feel like the only person in the room. With a strong presence, they’ve been able to achieve balance, choosing what opportunities to say yes or no to—something many entrepreneurs strive for.

Michelle and Brooke share their tried & true tips on pricing strategies, securing high-end retail partnerships, and pulling off successful pop-ups and parties! They also dish out advice on starting a business with a partner, emphasizing the importance of transparency and setting boundaries from day one. With two studio locations (one in a salon and another with space for parties and a future gift boutique), they’re living proof that thoughtful planning, intentionality, and a little bit of help from the universe lead to success!

Finally, we chat about collaboration over competition. By supporting other small businesses, including other permanent jewelers in the area, they prove there’s enough business for everyone. Michelle and Brook’s journey is all about working smarter, not harder while building a brand that lasts! 

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Jen Thyrion: Hey there. I'm Jen Therrien, and I'm so glad you're here. I'm a former nine to fiver that dove into entrepreneurship eight years ago with zero business experience. I'm a wife, mama of two young girls, boutique owner, jewelry designer, and now the proud owner and coach leading GoldieLynx Permanent Jewelry.

I have a passion to empower fellow business spades. This podcast is made to equip you with everything you need to succeed from actionable marketing steps to digging deep on your mindset. I know firsthand the heart, hard work, and let's be real. At times a struggle that makes up this amazing journey. You want to know what has enabled me to shine the brightest coaching plus community here at Goldie links.

We share openly educate and lift each other up. Expect to get links with fellow PJ owners. That will do just that. Sprinkle with plenty of fun along the way. Competition isn't old school thought and connection is the way get ready to feel inspired. Welcome to the Goldie links podcast.

Hey there. Did you know that we offer handmade permanent jewelry supplies? Go to GoldieLinkSupplies. com to view our beautiful chains, connectors, bangles, and more, including our non permanent stretchy bracelets that are available to you for wholesale. Everything is created by our tribe of mama makers.

What is a mama maker? Stay at home moms that create on their own time between raising their children, serving as a self care creative outlet, and supporting their families. Your items come with signage on how these supplies are made, along with gemstone property info, as each gemstone has a special meaning.

If you want to level up your business with handmade, sign up today! Supplies not made by a machine, but made by hand with love. Then check it out at GoldieLinkSupplies. com. Now onto the show. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Michelle and Brooke from Bluebird Permanent Jewelry located in the Sacramento area of California.

I first met Brooke at PJX and honestly, I got goosebumps a couple of times chatting with her, just talking about the meaning behind their business name and her journey, her life journey leading into this business. And honestly, this happened a couple of times during our chat too. I got goose Bums, it was such an amazing convo.

We talk about partnership and how it works between the two of them. Starting out their business with intention and being so mindful and how that has played into their success as they celebrate one year in this month of August. So enjoy this convo. I hope you love it as much as I did. Hey, Brooke and Michelle.

I'm so excited you're here today. Why don't we just start off with you just telling us who you are, all the things, just like, like, obviously we just met you for the first time. What do you want us to know?

Michelle: So I'm Michelle Carr. I started this with Brooke and really how this bluebird permanent jewelry began is that she was actually interested in doing it.

And I was just encouraging her like, Hey, we know somebody go get some training. So she did and then, you know, told me all about it and then it was probably like a week or two later I called her and I'm like, Hey, want to do it together? I have some, you know, ideas. I love kind of more of like the business and marketing side of things.

And so, yeah, but we've also known each other for a very long time. Both grew up in Redding, California. We've been around each other for a very long period of time in life. So it's kind of a great opportunity for us to join and yeah, that's kind of how Bluebird began. Yeah.

Jen Thyrion: What did you guys do before you started Bluebird?

So what was your life like? What did it look like then?

Marketing management had open brand new properties. So, you know, marketing and management has kind of always been in my background sales. That's always been really more of like my background. I love that part of it, creating something from like the very beginning and watching it grow. So it's always a passion for me, especially if there's an object or people or maybe that I love to see grow.

It's like how very small to how, where, where can we take it?

Jen Thyrion: That's amazing. How about you, Brooke? So tell us a little bit about you.

Yep. I'm Brooke and other half of Bluebird, but I am also a licensed esthetician. So I have been doing that kind of in the field for Uh, over 20 years, probably dabbling in different areas of that.

So for a big chunk of that, probably about 12 years, I did account executive work for skincare companies, haircare companies, makeup companies, traveling, training. So I feel like my passion has always just been the people and the training and the knowledge and connection piece. But with that, obviously a big sales background, I guess business a little bit on the business side.

And so, and I have my two children, so I luckily over the course of having them, I was just renting a room and doing aesthetics work for the last about nine years, eight years. And so that's kind of what I was doing. And I had some big life changes come up to where I was, how can I add on to what I currently do without having to go back to a nine to five job a full time.

You know, demanding job to still be available to my kiddos as much as I had been already. And so my joke about Michelle is that she's like my sister, cousin slash therapist through kind of that journey of life changes. She was, um, like a solid person in my life that I would just call and, you know, throw ideas around with.

And so permanent jewelry, I started seeing it all over social media. And I just thought I could do this. Like I'm good with like detail oriented, small things, right? Like I microblade eyebrows. I wax. I, you know, do makeup. I mean, so I just felt like it kind of fell into what I already love to do. And. I was thinking, but then it's expensive to get it going.

And you know, there's these trainings online and I would call Michelle and be like, can you believe like, this is crazy. So she just kept encouraging me, like the universe brings you what you need. So I was very fortunate that I found a gal who was an acquaintance, friend of mine in our area. Who was willing to train me.

And so I kind of reached out, Michelle just said, just do the training, just meet with her, get the hands on experience and then go from there and see what happens. So, and like Michelle said, a couple of weeks after that, she came to me and said, well, what about, you know, being a trainer? I help you mainly like the business end too.

Like I have all these business ideas and can help support the back end.

Michelle: And I think watching this kind of develop over time, you know, you're seeing all these areas of like, Ooh, I have an idea for this. How can we do this a little bit better? Like I have some ways of kind of how do we grow this, but do it also organically, you know, very, you know, That is something that has always been really important to us.

And as cliche as this may sound, kind of having that Nordstrom approach, I always say this to people, has always been very important to me, but that's what I was trained in for a long time of giving that 15 to 20 minutes of making them feel like they are the only person, they're your only client. You end up having deep conversations and it's probably just like hairdressers and nail techs and you know, where you're kind of, they're like divulging so much.

But that's important to us. We want them to feel like they matter because they do, you know, and that's what has been very near and dear to both of us, but always wanting to make people feel, you know, that spotlight.

Jen Thyrion: I think that's what the most surprising thing is. Of course, like before I did this, of course, I always had a love and made jewelry for a very long time.

But obviously this is just that. I think someone initially looking into permanent jewelry does not think about that aspect of it, but that is literally the, probably the most important of this, you know, permanent jewelry is the connection piece and being able to have conversations and make people feel like, you know, just really special.

And that's, what's going to make them come back.

Michelle: And as silly as it may sound, but they're, they're making a big decision. They're choosing a chain. They're choosing a piece of jewelry. That is maybe a representation of them or that they want to feel beautiful. And that is, you know, it's a big, it's a big step for people.

And I think

Jen Thyrion: people feel it. Like, I mean, I don't know if there's something about if you guys feel this way, but I mean, I have people end up telling me pretty deep things when they sit that chair, you know what I mean? And like, and so I'm sure they don't do that to everybody. I feel like you have, they have to feel comfortable with you.

So I think that, and that is somebody like, if they're sharing that kind of important thing, that's That's the thing of like being a repeat, I guess. Like who else, why would they go to anyone else really? Because they felt so comfortable with you. They felt a connection. That is something that's going to like, you know, keep it going.

Right.

Well, and I already get that doing, you know, aesthetics work. Honestly, people are laying that, you know, you're, you're giving them a facial and they're telling their life story and mine, like some of my very close clients know a lot about me, you know, in those ways, but something I've always said too, is company truly, or, you know, doing permanent jewelry.

Has brought me something that I never knew I needed. It opened up this doors, I guess, and opportunities for me. And it was like, I mean, and in the people that I've met along the way in those conversations and a story that I've told multiple people was, uh, I did a private house party for a small group of women.

It was a birthday get together. And it was one of those like, Oh, come we'll pick her change real quick. You could be gone within the hour. And I ended up sitting there with them until nine o'clock at night, sharing my story. So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Um, let's see Um, the topic Um, um, the topic is, um, you know, we're going to talk a little bit more about these cute and adorable characters, um, but before that, I wanted you to know that we're not We're actually talking about some people that have been in our posts for a long time, her and some of our fans that have been loving this show for even longer than we have.

We're not talking about any of them and we haven't actually met them in person yet, but we will be talking about them in the future. But for now, I wanted to just kind of give you guys a little summary of what we've been These women and they have been repeat customers and people that have reached out and stayed in touch with.

So it really, it's more than just jewelry and it's hard to, I think, explain it to people. It

Jen Thyrion: is hard to explain. And then it's, it's hard to explain to somebody also to maybe a listening that's thinking about starting this. It's just something to be aware of. Cause I don't think you, again, if you don't go there, you just see this really cool stacks and it's like, you know what I mean?

You're, you're attracted to the style of it. And, but really it's like, it is deeper than that. And I think it's funny you said that. So as a Titian, I actually was. as a massage therapist before this. And so same thing. So you made me think, I'm like, yeah, I probably was already just used to having those conversations.

And I think maybe someone going into this that maybe isn't, it's kind of almost a muscle you would kind of have to grow maybe for some people.

Michelle: And I think even for me and the way that I approach a lot of this is that I was also, you know, directors of sales, regional director of sales. So. That is, I'm also the one having deep conversations with families to make the choice to move their loved one to senior living.

So, we've all been in these. And so I think you, when you have that, you know, that brain memory, if you will, it's just natural niche that you just kind of, it's very organic. You can't really teach it. You either have it or, you know, it's not going to come across that way.

Jen Thyrion: Yeah. So when did, when did you guys start?

We were about to celebrate one year. Yeah. Oh, one year. Oh my gosh. You guys are new, new. So just even like when I met Brooke and talking to you, I don't know, you have this, I want to say air about you, but that like, you've been doing this for a while. Yeah. Amazing. Well, congrats August 1st. Oh my gosh. How exciting.

Well, yeah, it looks like, so this is what's so great. So tell me about the, how you guys work together. And I think that is amazing. It seems like you are yin and yang for sure, because usually when people again, like go into something like this, it's like, they love the, like, Yeah. You know, the creative, maybe I wouldn't say the creative side, but they're not thinking of, you're not thinking right away, marketing, right.

And all the other things that you do, it's something that you're like, then you end up getting overwhelmed and be like, Oh my God, now I realize I have to be social media marketing and like, you know, do all the things that, you know, that you don't even think about when you want to start a business. Right.

So that's so cool. Like, how do you guys kind of work together? I guess.

Well, I think something that, that maybe makes us a little bit different than Uh, there's somebody else just trying to start this out on their own was one, the partnership, you know, it was like, I got trained to do the welding. Michelle did not.

So that was our piece starting out when Michelle was like, and maybe I'll learn it. And maybe I won't like, she's like, I don't really have that. Like I have to do it. To where for me, it was like a no brainer. I was going to learn how to weld and whatnot. And so when we kind of like right off the bat, I think we knew that that was how the setup was going to be.

And I think we did a few things different starting out to launch the business. And one was coming up with the name. Obviously it was like, do you want to do this? I'm like, yeah, like great. And it was like, well, what do we name it? And so our name is very like special to us. Um, and that was a, it was like, we're throwing around all these, like something with Brooke.

And I was like, I don't think I want my name in it. And our joke is that her husband is our CEO. So he always chimes in and they always like, I'll call and be like, Can I, um, please speak to the CEO? Will you put him on speaker?

Michelle: So he was really the one that came up with Bluebird. So no way. Yes. So Bluebird is very important to us.

And right on the fence, a bluebird sat for six hours of the open house. Yes. But his mom loves birds. But she loves bluebirds. She would feed the birds. She would feed the birds. Even if he would come over, he would always feed them. They were kind of like, that was really her thing. And so, It was really after that moment.

And so, um, That's kind of in it. We had it all kind of throughout our wedding and different pieces. So it was really like a representation of her. And so we, we, when he said that, and then it was like, okay, how do we do this? What do we do? So we have an amazing marketing person who really does a lot of our help with Instagram.

So I sent her the picture of our envelope from the wedding and I said, this is what we want. I don't know how we can create this. What's the best way? And so she was able, she created it from scratch. So she took a little bit of that and then that's how the Bluebird logo was created.

Jen Thyrion: Yeah. I love it. I love it.

I know you guys are giving me chills throughout this whole.

Michelle: Well, it is. And it's one of those things that it's always been really important. And when we talked about this, I said, I want to have a meaningful name, but I want to have something that's also easy to spell. It's not as something that's like misspelled and then people can never find it when they're looking up or how do you say it?

Yeah, I wanted a simple, but yet very meaningful. And so

we get asked all the time, they say, where's Bluebird from or how'd you guys come up with Bluebird or why is this company called Bluebird? Yeah. And for me, the minute her husband said in the background, again, on speakerphone, what about Bluebird? And I literally said, Bluebird permanent jewelry done.

Um, but I feel Bluebird can be so much more than permanent jewelry. And that was a reason where I'm like, Oh, Bluebird. So I am in the process of launching, um, Bluebird aesthetics. So I have like re I'm going to rebrand my aesthetic side, but I'm also like long term because that was part of getting permanent jewelry started is I do not think this is something that will just go away.

I don't think it's a phase or a fad. But you know, I believe that there's so much more you can do with it. And it can be a continued thing. Women always are going to love jewelry and it's a matter of how do you take that? How do we grow? How do we make this something that will be around in 10 years? So like a vision I've always kind of had is got Bluebird boutique, like to where Bluebird can be so many things and that's kind of starting to be the direction we're going a little bit with it is what's next.

How do we do something? I

Jen Thyrion: love that. I know when anyone, and I remember telling you this when we met, I was like Bluebird, like, I remember like after I left PJX and there were certain people I met that I was like, I really would love to chat more with them. Bluebird. I didn't have to think about it. I was like, I knew and I could remember that name.

And when anyone asked me like, you know, kind of just my suggestions for names and keep in mind I'm Goldie links. So of course, like there is the word links in my name. But anyone else, like two, that was two years ago. Now I would tell someone stay away from like links and ever and forever. And like, you know, because again, they just say L combined.

And you're like, who is that? Link who? Like, yeah. So it's like, keep it simple. Like you said, yeah. Don't make it like hard where you can't don't like, how do you spell that? Or, you know, I feel like a lot of times it's like, These names that are like blank and like Brooke and Michelle, and then you have all these and and you're like, okay, what names were they?

You know, it's like you want to try to keep it short and sweet and like, yeah, it's just something memorable. Like I feel like you're so memorable.

Michelle: It's good to know. And you think that that's where that's a lot of feedback we get from people. They don't usually forget.

Jen Thyrion: Yeah. Yeah. So. The only reason they remember me is because they think of Goldilocks.

So they're like, Oh, that's easy. But for me, Goldie is my daughter's name. So it was like, that's obviously, you know, when people ask me, it's like a very easy, you know, you know, there's a reason for that. But I have to say though, with Bluebird, and that makes so much sense too. And that putting your name, like you said, Brooke, you're like, I don't want to learn my name.

Because like you said, what if you never know what can happen? Like, what if you decide to sell and then you have the name in it? Right. You probably don't think that when you're starting something like, Oh yeah, that'll never happen. But you never ever know what can happen. Even for you thinking big, like boutique or whatever.

It's like, I'm sure a year ago, you guys weren't thinking that way. But as things are evolving, it's like, what can happen? It's pretty cool.

Well, and it's evolved so quickly, you know, like you said, yeah, a year, like we hit the ground running, as I would say, anything Michelle touches, like that's going to be the expectation and it's like, go big or go home.

So I think we, we did a few things different again, than probably other people starting out. And one of which was investing. Into the business. You know, we put a lot into started out, you know, probably double or triple what most people would put into starting the business. And I think that's paid off for us.

Michelle: But again, it goes back to wanting to have that first impression. It was important that people could see, wow, like they really have it, you know, and those were the things that we really had to start. And that's kind of what I told her. I mean, we probably spent a good two months preparing before we even really launched anything.

But that was to really go through with a fine tooth comb of like picking all the chains, you know, picking the logo, how, what colors are we going to add into this, you know, trying to really start out good. We had a photo shoot, so that way we had everything. So the day we launched our Instagram and social media.

Facebook. We also wanted to make sure we had collateral on hand. We had things ready to go. So it wasn't like, you know, here's just a random picture. It was like, no, I want to make sure it's done right.

Jen Thyrion: That's right. Yeah. I'm hearing that big time. Obviously you guys both had experience with like having your own esthetician business, but also like, obviously your marketing side, it's like you had so much intention behind things, which is great.

Like, I feel like you guys knew from the beginning what vibe you guys wanted to be, like what you wanted to say with your business. Like that's so important because I mean, let's talk about that because actually when you talk about the Nordstrom, you know, approach or whatever, it seems to be obviously from even scouring your Instagram for not even like seven seconds, you see about all these amazing events you guys are doing and Nordstrom is one of them, right?

Are you right? Do you regularly pop up in Nordstrom?

Michelle: Typically once a month, sometimes twice in a month, depending on kind of what's happening. But yeah, what had happened was, is I actually saw that somebody was doing a pop up and I didn't realize that because I thought most things with Nordstroms is typically marketing their brands.

And it's something that they have been really passionate about, about working with people. And so I just went in to the store and I asked to talk to the manager, the store manager. And so, but thankfully though, they love her there. I am a frequent Are you a frequent shopper? And so, you know, I know, I know her by, I may know a couple people in there.

You're like, you know your credit card, we've seen your credit card many times, . They're like, oh, and she's back. But I did, I went in and, but I was actually. A little taken back in some ways because she was like, yes. And so I had to set up a meeting with her. I had to bring all of our chains. I had to bring some of our collateral.

I had to bring a computer to show her our Instagram. I had to bring in and really present. And so I met with her. She went over everything. And then I got an email back about, I think, a day or two later. And she was like, yep, you guys are clear to be able to come in. And so I think our first one was in November.

And it

was kind of like, let's trial, like, let's see what happens.

Michelle: And it was wild. It was people standing in line the entire time. So are they marketing it for you as well? So what they, they don't, I don't want to say they market. I mean, cause you also have to go in, they have to have their tables, their linens.

You have to have a setup. They can only have their signage. We can't have any of ours. They have to create it for you. But you send them your information and like your logo and they have it. They have a sign set up next to you typically. And what's great is it's two stories. So we're on the second floor, right by the escalator, but it's a great team.

So they set it up and it was very successful. So that was in November and then we had done it really once a month since.

Jen Thyrion: Wow. Are there any other places that you're like, like you do regularly like that, where you're there once a month or do you have a lot of places set up that way?

Yeah. Well, I feel like we have our like core, we kind of call them our core partnerships where it's either every month or like in every other anthropology being another big one, we're same thing.

We had kind of. Do they do these type of pop ups? And Michelle just went in there and talked to the store manager and she was like, actually, this location is one of the only ones that hasn't done it. And I'm looking to do one. Was May maybe the first one? I believe

Michelle: it was the first one, yeah.

And now it's kind of a, every two or three month thing we've, so we've done anthropology a few times and then a couple boutiques in our area.

One is a really well known in our area. It's called Bayabel, and they've been around for, Oh my gosh, 10, maybe 10, a long time,

Michelle: strong following.

She has great social media. I have been a frequent, I think we've both been frequent shoppers there. And so we met with the store manager there and just same thing, kind of threw it out there.

Like, we know you've had pop ups here. We would love to, you know, come in or be a part of it. And we've grown a great relationship with them as well going in about once a month or every other month there. We've never met. That's a core one too, where there's just certain partnerships where you're like, no matter what, we will show up for these people.

And again, that Lincoln it's with the little towns called Lincoln. That following is huge. And they've come to us at other pop ups or are we have a location in Rockland where people can make appointments or come in and see us as well. So people will. Reach out to one of us and show up there for an appointment too.

Awesome.

Jen Thyrion: Yeah. So what do you feel has been the, I hear, I just was hearing a lot that you're going into these places and talking to people in person. And am I right? Are you doing more of that than DMs and emails? And you

Michelle: know, I think in some ways, but I think for us and when Burke and I talked about this, it's all about too, we also want to be profitable.

And our time and products and energy. And so it's kind of like, where can we do that to be successful? And so that is a big part of why, when we had talked about this, it was like, okay. Places like Nordstrom's anthropology, the really strong following at Baybel and Lincoln, we knew that those would be great.

Also opportunities where people, we can get kind of like our right. clientele, if you will. And then that is also going to snowball because then they're going to tell their friends about it. And so that's really what has always been our focus. But then we also love, you know, private parties, birthday parties, bridal showers, baby showers.

I've

done some really fun ones like bunk night. And book club, like they book exchanged. So I'm done some really cute fun. It's fun to see what people come up with,

Michelle: but it's also important to, to make sure that we, that's also why we wanted to have a location though, for example, because we wanted to be able to have those people who maybe just wanted the one on one time.

Maybe they wanted to just have a moment with their mom or their sister or their best friend who lives in. The East Coast and they're here in town. So we wanted to have a location and that was something that, again, we started from the beginning and I told Brooke, I don't want to do this unless we have a location because I don't want to be in a situation where people are reaching out and it's just one person wanting to come and we have nowhere for them to go.

I can't say, Oh, we'll meet you at Starbucks and we'll see if we can use their plugs. No. It was like, no, let's have a location. I want to make sure that we can cover everything. Anybody, no matter what, to really be able to meet the need.

Jen Thyrion: I'm like actually very mobile. Um, I do take appointments in my home, which I don't, you know, I'm not going to like go out and advertise.

Cause it's not like, you know, it's my home, but I love that you said that. Cause honestly I am to the point where it would be nice to have a studio location, because there's something to be said about that to almost making you a little bit more legit of a business too, you know, it's like, as to knowing you have a location, yes, you're mobile, you do events, you do parties, but you literally have a place, a home for your business, you know,

Michelle: anything that goes back to wanting to be able to present ourselves from the beginning with that very strong forefront of being the, we are here.

We're real, you know,

and when you're at these pop ups, you know, these events, it's crazy. Cause People will be hesitant and then we'll say, we have a location in Rockland, you can always come see us. Heaven forbid there's an issue with your chain. Please reach out. And that almost gives them security.

They're like, Oh, you do? Okay, great. Then I'll do it today. Like it's almost, you know, insurance, like backup, like, Oh, okay. If something's wrong, there's a place I can go or I can easily reach out to you.

Michelle: And something that's also been very important to us is that we also really guarantee our work. So we really like to tell people, I mean, we've been doing this a year now.

It's been our goal to be able to, you know, what if their two year old pulls on the chain? What if they, you know, they have an anklet and they're pulling, you know, they're getting stuck on, right? The dog, the whole thing. The dog. Yep. And the animal. Yep. But that's why we also wanted to say, Here's our information.

Reach out. We will replace that for you. We'll get it reconnected. We'll add the whatever we have to do. But again, they're investing in you, right? They're spending the money and it's important to make them feel like it's guaranteed.

And the amount of like repeat business we've gotten from these connections and You know, it's something like we go into a Nordstrom's.

Well, that generates multiple other events for us where we have been very blessed. We always say this. We have been reached out to more to come do something versus us having to go look for the events. Someone new starting out in this, I would say like, don't be afraid of that piece. Like, yeah, I feel like the events will come, you know, it might take you a little bit to get it going, but I feel like once you really put it out there, you know, at least in our experience was We've had more people reaching out to us saying, can you do this?

Can you do that? Will you join our event? Um, versus us having to be like, what's going to be the next thing this month is slow. Our biggest joke is every month Michelle's like, well, there's not a lot on the books by the end of the month. I'm like, Michelle, can you bite your tongue every month? It turns into like 20 events and

Jen Thyrion: I'm like, say no, we need to say no.

You book yourself pretty solid on weekends. Do you feel that is that kind of the case with events?

I mean, I already know, I would say the last six months. So the first six months, I guess I should say of starting the business was insanity. I mean, it literally, again, bigger than I ever, I think we ever thought possible.

Our first event, which we were very blessed to launch it in Reading, which is where again, we're both from. We still have family and friends here, a big support system. And it was like Michelle's mom's house. And it was like, Oh, well maybe get, you know, 20 people. We're just going to have a

Michelle: couple of people stop by.

We had people start, we were going to do it from like four to six. Okay. We were just doing, had not done anything yet. People were reaching out, started coming to my mom's house at like one o'clock in the afternoon. The last thing was until 10 PM. No way. At one

point I was like, I'm so new. Yes. I was like, I don't know what I'm doing.

This is insane. And from that, it kind of just snowballed to, I mean, that event alone, I think we got like five other people that wanted to host events. And so it just kind of snowballed. But I would say when we first started, yes, we were very heavy weekends. My joke, but the reality is, is this is pretty much my full time job and aesthetics is now my part time job.

So it can be a full time thing. I feel like for people, if they have the time and they're willing, I think for Michelle, it's enough of a job. She's like, I'm good. I'm good. This is

Michelle: a lot, you know? Yeah. I think for it too, I think it goes back to really the basics is that having, and this was something that I had told Brooke when we started this, is like, you have to have a very strong forefront.

And that was, Having the social media, having a person like Jessica who does a lot of our marketing, does a lot of our social media, because we wanted to make sure it was targeting the right audience, the right people, but also very clean. I wanted people, we wanted people to get on our social media and Jessica's very good at kind of also going through sometimes and being like, Oh, something got posted.

This doesn't really flow with yours. And so we've

gotten a ton of compliments and or business from our social media

Michelle: and people have looked at that. And they have drawn that and, but I think that that is worth the investment. Again, it goes back to the drawing board is because we have that dialed in, that has made us stronger.

It is worth the investment.

Jen Thyrion: Well, yeah, I have to say, I mean, you definitely, again, just from seeing your social, you definitely get an idea of what your business is. You know, it's definitely more lux, I would say, right? I'm assuming, do you guys offer solid gold? Is it, what, what do you, let's talk a little quick about your prices and like what it is for you?

Like what, do you offer a lot of solid gold? Like what does it look like?

Michelle: Yeah. Yeah. So we have the gold filled sterling silver and rose gold, and then something that was really important. was having that 14 karat gold and that 14 karat white gold. It was important to both of us to really be able to target that audience.

We wanted to be very fair in pricing, but also wanted to have the range because you're going to have people who come up who are, can barely afford, you know, and we have a lot of our gold filled sterling silver and rose gold set for 65 for a bracelet. And even for that sometimes is really like, oof, that's kind of a lot.

But that's also why we go back to backing it. And if something were to happen, you reach out to us. We're happy to fix that for you for the first time. And that goes into that. But then also having that 14 karat, that's important because you have some people who may be alerted to something no matter what, or just only want, they only want it.

They, oh, they will not look at anything else. And so it was important to have that. It's a definitely a wide range of inventory, but. Again, you go back to having what people, you know, making sure you're covering every realm of the people who are going to walk up.

Because I think we have about eight or 10, 14 karat gold options and with gold filled in sterling silver, we should have counted them, but we have a lot, like we've got about 30, about 30.

Okay.

Jen Thyrion: So what are your price ranges for, I mean, do you have tiers or do you have like, how do you price your chains?

Michelle: You know, we don't, we talked about that and it's funny, there's a lot of people who also sometimes come up as like, Oh, is, are you, do I have to pay by the inch or something? I didn't want it to be that way.

You're going to have all, we have kid pricing, we have regular pricing. And that's it. And I didn't want to have tears. I think that's a little off putting didn't want to have to be measuring and you're here going in with broken. My wrist is, you know, an inch bigger. Well, that's weird. She's paying more or I'm having to pay more than her.

That's awkward. And so it's just, it's very straight.

So we have for gold filled sterling silver 65 at a bracelet, and then it goes up for anklet necklace. And then for 14 karat gold starts at 95 for a bracelet. And the same thing goes up for an inklet necklace. Perfect.

Jen Thyrion: Yeah. Cause I'm assuming I, depending on where you go and I know it depends on your area too.

Like here I'm in Castle Rock, which is basically right between Colorado Springs and Denver, but I've done pop ups in Denver or certain areas where Like they just walk up and they're like, where's your solid gold. They don't even want to see like, it's like there's, and I realized certain areas or places I go, I can almost now predict what's going to happen.

Do you feel the same? I mean, you're in California, right? So I can assume that there's areas where people are wanting more of the solid gold or that's kind of like,

Michelle: yeah. And sometimes it can be surprising. There's times that you would think you would do more and you don't. And then there's times that we do places that more people have chosen the 14 carat than not.

The event that we're like, Oh, like, you know, we get there, we set up, we're like, okay, this Whatever we do, we do. We're happy with. And then that ends up being the biggest event we've ever. Yeah. And I was like, again, like, what is happening? Or that ends up being the event where we only sell 14 karat gold. And we're like, that was weird.

You know, and or charm add ons. We of course carry in a range of charms that they can add on. And it's funny, there's events where I feel like charms are not as popular. And then that's where I'm doing a charm on every single one. And I'm like,

Jen Thyrion: I know it really is hard to predict. Like even I try to tell my girls that work for goalie links.

It's like, sometimes, I mean, I've even agreed to do a party for like four women just because they lived down the street from me, that'll be an 800 party. And I'm like, okay. And you're there for like, cause it's only four people. You're there for an hour and a half. We're like, wow, this was awesome. And then sometimes you go to a party and you're like, wow, this is like, nothing's really happening.

But then you get one person. I just did this recently. It was like a birthday party. So I was like, they were just, sometimes I feel like I say, if it's another type of party, you don't know what to have, what's going to happen. Cause they're not there just for permanent jewelry. Right. So it can be kind of like, Oh, you're just there.

And people kind of get it. But there was one person, just one person spent 550. So I was like, okay. Okay. So, cause I was kind of sitting there. I'm like, yep, I guess nothing's happening. It might be just one of those, one of those parties that, you know, maybe I'll walk out with just 500 total. And then I'm like one person.

So you just never know. Like you just never know.

We've kind of said, we'll try anything once and then put it aside. We're at a point with our business where I feel like we like going back to like the weekend thing, we're at a point with our business where we're like, we want ballot. We don't want to necessarily say yes to everything and or have to work every single, you know, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or even Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

So it's kind of picking like, okay, if we had a, if we have an event on the books for Friday or Saturday, then we're taking Sunday off. And as we get into the holidays, that Could change a little bit for us because last November and December, I mean, I literally, I think we had an event every single Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, like all through the two months.

It was when I, like I said, insanity.

Michelle: Uh, that's when you also have to, then you have staff, you have people that are part of your team recently brought on, um, a person. Yeah. Her name is Allie. She is actually a hairdresser. And so what's great is that we use her location at the W salon in Rocklin. And so that way it's really a two fold.

So our, We have a desk and everything in her little suite, but it's things like that. And we have a couple other people that we have on hand. So when we have different events or if we happen to get, you know, two events in one weekend, we can actually divide and conquer. So, you know, you don't want to miss out.

And so that's the part of it is having some staff on hand, you know, people who can really be there to have that support as well.

Jen Thyrion: Yeah. I mean, you make a good point. Like, obviously in the beginning, they're just, I feel like if you really are trying to grow a legit business, there is just a hustle period.

Like you said, I mean, it's kind of almost. That is a way to get your name out and do and kind of say yes to all the things to kind of figure out what you do say no to. How do you know that unless you just do it? Right. So, and then you get to a point where like, yeah, okay. You've grown enough. You can hire, or you can be more selective because Brooke, obviously being a mother, I mean, cause I could relate.

I'm like, I have a three and a five year old and it's hard to like, be a way, obviously every weekend. And you don't want to be either. As my kids are getting older, I'm assuming there's more activities on weekends and sports and things like that. So you have to like, how has that been for you? Like with the balance of it all.

Well, and that's. Me. 'cause in my aesthetics business, my, you know, over the past 10 years of kind of renting my own room and trying to build clientele, advice I had always gotten from others was don't start the weekend clientele if you don't want it forever. Because once you start booking that Saturday, it's really hard to get rid of that Saturday.

Right. And so. Um, my mind was always like, well, I don't really want to do that because I'm not willing to miss a soccer game if my kids want to play sports or whatnot. So when this came again, when this came into my life, I was in a big transition period where I wasn't having my kids every weekend. And so it's kind of like they go back and forth at this point.

So I think it also gave me a drive and a focus and you know, they for sure are my reason why this business has been able to allow me to, to provide for my children in a way that didn't think I'd be able to. So yes, being away from them or like when it's my weekends with them, trying harder to not buck events around that and be just more selective on, again, what I'm going to say yes to or not.

And that's why bringing on Uh, employees or help is a goal of ours because you know, there's also times where it's like Michelle and her husband like to go out of town and they have their fun little things they want to do that's that limit them to still be able to do that too. So it's kind of like, there'll be times where I'm like, okay, Michelle's going out of town.

I'm going to do an event by myself. Like I'm going to book a little house party because I know I can easily do that when, you know, yeah, she's not around, that's okay.

Michelle: And I think that's the other thing for people because a lot of times you're finding a lot of people doing this permanent jewelry. It's just a one person show.

And so that was something that was important. So that is why, again, we're kind of the yin and the yang. It's like, okay, Brooke, you handle the all hands on that. And I will do. the back house and the marketing and all the financial, the ordering, just that whole piece. And then when we are actually there together, it's great because I'm usually helping people pick out the chains, having that conversation.

Then they go to Broke and then they'll circle back with me. I check them out and kind of do that piece of it. And so that also is what helps with events. I

And we've partnered with a few other permanent jewelry gals, like the girl that trained me, to where we've done an event with her. And she was like, wow, I get it.

Like the two, the both of you being here and how she's like, it's like almost amazing for me to like, have that help. Because I think about it, like doing a one man show and doing this, I do think it would be hard. There's been events where I'm by myself and it is overwhelming and it is like, okay, how do I help them?

But still, it's like, Have that conversation piece and put the jewelry on them. You know, they're only sitting there a minute when you actually put it on them, but it's like, how do I make them feel important? I, my hat goes off to those out there doing this by themselves and rocking it and being successful and having that balance because it is hard.

And I feel like I've been a little bit spoiled with Michelle being there with me, you know, things. So, but again, that's what I think makes us a little bit different as people really know Bluebird as both of us. And sometimes they'll be on our Instagram messaging because we'll respond to all the messages or I'll text and say, Hey, Michelle, and I'll just go with it.

Like, Hey, I don't, you know, and then sometimes they'll be like, well, I don't know who I talked to. If it was Brooke or Michelle. I'm like, if it was Instagram, it was probably Michelle. But I go in and read it. Like I try to stay up to date.

Michelle: And that's, and that was something that was important too. You know, I set it up that I get the messages immediately with Bluebird.

And that was something that was important because I want people to feel heard. How frustrating is it for all of us when you're trying to reach out to somebody to schedule an appointment or make a connection, host a party, and they don't get back to you. That's something that. I really in like a within five minutes or so, if I can, you know, there's times obviously you can't get to it right away, but that's been important because you want people to feel heard and like, Oh wow, thanks for getting back to me.

But that's important. Usually sometimes it's a quick question or wanting to make an appointment or, you know, whatever that may be. Hey, busy entrepreneur, as

Jen Thyrion: you know, being a business owner, you have to wear all the hats. You're a social media manager, marketer, creator. Graphic designer, accountant, photographer, videographer, web designer, business coach, scheduler, and the list goes on.

I know how overwhelming it can be, and this is why I created the Goldilocks Society. It's our monthly permanent jewelry membership. We have a weekly call to talk about all the things, but not only that, including monthly photography and video to use for your social media and marketing, Canva templates, monthly business exercises.

monthly training, support group, discount, and first dibs on Goldilinks supplies and more. My intention is to create a beautiful community of permanent jewelers that want to level up their businesses together by creating lasting friendships and having fun. This is what I wish existed when I started my business almost 10 years ago.

If you want to know more, check it out at GoldilinksSociety. com or at AllTheThingsPermanentJewelry. com. I hope to see you there. No, it's so great. I hear you guys talking like almost a little bit jealous of that you have each other because I'm not going to lie. Like, yeah, as you get busier and I think of myself at events and there's so many times where I'm like, gosh, I should, I would love to have someone just here.

Like you said, when you're welding, it's hard for someone to walk up and be like, also described as my table has grown and I have so many chains and all the things. And You know, trying to like try to explain mental quality and all these things while you're trying to, well, give this person attention. It is hard, but then sometimes I'm like, well, maybe I don't need that at every event.

So you're like, you don't know what, you know, should I hire someone for everyone?

Michelle: together we've done this, we're learning that. And I think that it's important again, to also make like connect with the right people. Again, and how Brooke and I had looked at this is when we were starting to talk about bringing, you know, people on, it was like, they have to also understand our passion for this.

It's very important. This name is really important. It's a representation of both of us. And so I have, we want to make sure that anybody that is working for us will give people that same experience that they would if, if both of us were

Jen Thyrion: there. But just to have each other too, to like bounce things off of each other and to have that partnership of like, Cause entrepreneurship in general can be pretty honest.

They can be pretty lonely. You know, that's why those communities are great. Like the Facebook groups and things like that, or like groups, I always suggest joining some kind of group. Cause in my experience being in business prior to even this by myself is like, even just a women's business group or something you can like join, because it's just, it's, it's hard when it's all in your head and you know, you have your highs and lows and there's times you're so overwhelmed and you just need to like, It's hard because you can't just talk to a friend who has no idea who hasn't, who's not in this.

Right. Cause it's like, they can listen, but they can't relate. And so it's so nice that someone can relate and you guys can literally just work together on everything. You know, Well, and

that, I guess my other like piece to other people doing this is. It is not competition. There is enough business for all of us, in my opinion.

And, you know, become friends with your local permanent jewelry equal, or even just the people that you go to these events with. Like I try to make it a point to go and support and shop when we're at our, at these little events. I almost buy something from everyone or at least one person and have made really good connections with other vendors.

But with that being said, like get to know your other permanent jewelry people and it's. partner up. I mean, there's, there's power in numbers and community, you know,

Michelle: and that's why too, we have been asked a couple of times, the same event I'm always referring out. If we can't do it, there are, you know, a couple of people, we will always make sure like, Hey, I will reach out to this person for you, or here is their contact.

Please reach them. And vice versa. We've had that happen with us. And again, It is. There's a lot to go around. It all comes. It all goes back. I say this all the time, you know, we're all where we're supposed to be. And again, I believe in the universe and all of these things through and yeah, you kind of know, I think if

Jen Thyrion: we're coming from a scarcity mindset, that's what we're going to get.

That's like, you know, I just, that's my friend of mine too. It's like the more we give, the more we get kind of thing. So it's like, I mean, saying,

Michelle: yeah. And believe us when we went into this, it was very scary. We, we, we put a lot in and it was like, And I thought for sure, I said, when we put in, you know, cause we put in a lot to get this going and I was like, if this is going to take us, you know, forever to be able to repay and even be able, you know, it's like, we're taking away like for Brooke, especially she's taken away from time that she could have been with clients.

Right. And so you're dipping into this unknown and we were very blessed because we were able to pay back and really start making our profit within about, I don't know, close to 60, 90 days. It was a very turnaround.

Jen Thyrion: So let's go back. So remember you said in the beginning you invested, right? And when you talk about social media and you talk about this amazing Jessica, okay?

So what do you feel like people reaching out to you? Obviously I do think it helped that you were like, you lock in these amazing places. Like there does give some credibility to you being in anthropology in Nordstrom. I mean, there's no doubt. Like if you're even just scour and see that you've been there, it'd be somebody I would be like, wow, okay.

They've been in Nordstrom and Anthro. Like, yeah. Yeah. I'm going to like reach out, Hey, I want to party with these girls. You know what I'm saying? But like, what do you think is, so are you, is she your social media market you're paying like monthly? Like she's working, she's always behind the scenes. Are you boosting posts or like, how are you feel like you're getting people, you know, reaching out to you?

Michelle: I do think that that's a big target. You know, she does that on the side. She's also, she's a photographer, but she's also really helps people with small businesses. So helping people to do, whether it's ads, their social media, creating logos, um, collateral, all of that kind of stuff. She's really helped us to be able to keep ourselves kind of separate.

How do we kind of, you know, separate ourselves? We're still the same, but how can we stand out in our own way?

Jen Thyrion: So are you investing in ads and like boosting things? Do you, do you regularly do that? No, it's really just with her.

Michelle: Yeah.

Jen Thyrion: Oh, okay. Okay.

Michelle: I've talked about that a couple of times, but I think it's really just how her marketing background and kind of what it's going to catch people's eye.

So we haven't

paid for like

Michelle: No, we haven't paid for like boostings. No, haven't done any of that. It's really just her helping so we can make sure it's also very clean and a very like clear and can be seen. And the other thing we do is we have little jewelry cloths, um, that are embroidered. I should have had one with me.

I can show you, but we give people little jewelry cleaning cloths as well. Once they get it. And so again, wanted them to leave with something they're giving back to us. And so how can we make them feel like, Oh, I have a little something that, you know.

Jen Thyrion: Yes. So what do you feel are your biggest contributors?

I guess to kind of taking, it kind of feels like it did take off really fast, you know, whether is it, was it just, I mean, when you invested, you said you invested a lot to start, was it because you had photography, like social media set up, like what were your investments to start that you felt was like, kind of set this up?

It was,

Michelle: it was that inventory. Inventory is huge. But again, I had said, I don't want to start with just 10 chains. No, we have to begin with what we're always going to carry. This is going to take a deep dig. But I was like, I don't want to go to our first event or start this out and say, Oh, we only have like five or 10.

No, I wanted to have 10.

every range. So right off the bat, we invested in the 14 karat and, you know, kind of a solid amount of the chains. And we still have like core and all of our chains are named after people in our lives. So special men and women, animals in our lives. So like we even sat down and was like, okay, who do we want to name this after?

So we did kind of all of that. And even like our table decor, like right off the bat, we knew the look we wanted. So we, you know, purchased kind of that stuff. Marketing right off the bat, we paid for like a photo shoot with her and to start up, created our logo. I would say our biggest investments were marketing, branding, even down to one of our, it was, I guess, our real like, A big event for us and Michelle's over here like, well, we're going to Matt and I'm like, okay, we created, we have shirts that, I mean, we have them on our shirt.

Jen Thyrion: I noticed them. I love them so much. And

it has our bird on the back, but it's like, we created shirts. We wore like matching leggings, like matching shoes. Okay. And it came. And every single person said something to us about our outfits, and so then it kind of became our thing. We were like, well, we have to match at the next event.

So we either match or coordinate even what we wear

Michelle: to I

love it.

Michelle: But we also want to, it may sound silly, but I think it's such a great sound because usually, and I had told Brooke this, I said, especially when we're at big events, like for example, you know, Nordstrom's Anthropologie, but even if we're going to somebody's birthday party, we want to come and show up being like a great representation.

I don't want to look like I just kind of. You know, rolled out of bed. We are always there. It's usually always kind of cor corresponding with kind of the vibe of where we're at. For example, she just did a bridal shower last Saturday. It was a pink theme. She went with like a pink shirt.

Yeah. You know.

We've done an all white party where we had dress in all white. So we dressed up, changed our table decor. Yeah. Basically to be all white. Make, meet the theme. Nordstrom's is another one where they, we use their black tablecloth. So a lot of the time we'll wear all black when we go into there. So you know, putting thought into that stuff when you are starting a business like this, because a big part of, I personally think like they're going to look at us and be like, Ooh, I want to buy from them.

And it kind of ties into like my aesthetics work. I have people like, Oh, you have such beautiful skin. What do you do? Well, when I say I'm an esthetician, they then want to talk to me about skin care. They want to come see me. It's like we are walking advertisements for this business. You know, another big one is every chain that we wear.

It's like, do you guys have those? Yes, we do. You know, there's a few that have like phased out that we might not carry, or we have some that we are saying like are seasonal, like maybe we'll only keep them for a little bits of time, but it's. You know, it's like, I want to represent what we're doing.

Jen Thyrion: What I hear you guys say is like, everything's very intentional, which I think is definitely played into your success.

I truly feel like, you know, and even just intentional, but also the clarity you guys have behind what you're doing and the confidence. Cause I'm assuming like when you talk to someone Nordstrom, you weren't just like, Oh, I'm kind of just starting this business. You know what I mean? I'm sure, you know, you really were very confident for them to trust you, especially.

Being that you weren't in business too long when you see, right. And I

Michelle: think one of the greatest compliments from them, and I feel like we get this from a lot of people is just, you know, thank you for making me feel special. Thank you for, you know, giving me that little bit of time and also just like you guys have a great representation.

And that is something that I think has been very important to both of us is that want to make sure that people are excited about investing in us, you know, and that's being able to buy our product and come back or remember else in the experience or remember, you know, and like I say, they're only sitting with us or they're probably with us for about 10 minutes, give or take.

It's important to just make them feel they are the only customer. They are the only person and believe me, there's a many times there is a line waiting, but you know, I feel like Brooke and both Allie are both very good at being able to sit there while they're welding the jewelry, having that conversation, making them feel it's not like they're just trying to rush people through you again, they're investing.

Don't make them feel like they don't matter.

Jen Thyrion: Yes, I know it can be nerve wracking when you see a line, but that's why I always tell people to is like, just focus on the person in front of you because it doesn't, that's, you know, the line's not going to change if you're, you know, so,

Michelle: you know, that's why it's also nice to have some people there to help you.

And then I'll just make conversation and keep them going. You got, you know, people to the other part to remember is that when you're investing in this, try to maybe reach out to your family or friends to help you. It gives people that. Encouragement because it is overwhelming. There's been many times Brooke is like, Oh my goodness, you know, cause we've got a line or whatever.

But when you can have somebody there to kind of ease that talk to people while they're there, they're don't mind waiting. That I think is a very helpful thing. And you know, whether that's trading with people or saying, you know, like, Hey, can you help me in all, you know, I'll get you a free bracelet or I'll come watch your kids.

You know, I just need some help because of this. I think that's also. can make a difference too.

Jen Thyrion: I know in the beginning, it's like if you have a friend who just likes to talk to people and you know, you have your friends that you know can talk to anyone. I had a friend come who, um, was like literally holding babies, you know, while their moms are looking at me.

You have those people in your life that maybe they would just do it for even fun or to get a free bracelet and help you out. You know, it's, uh, it's helpful. What would you tell someone who is actually considering either adding a partner or going into a partnership? Like what advice would you give them?

Michelle: I think something that was really important, and we talked about this from day one, is that very open and transparent, everything was written out, everything was, it's very black and white, and it was important to always share exactly what you want, what's important, maybe sometimes have a tough conversation if you need to, but you have to be very, very Open, communicate, and very transparent, no matter what.

Jen Thyrion: Yes, your expectations are clear.

Yes. Yes. Clear expectations. And I felt like, uh, with Michelle, it was almost like a no brainer when she said, what are your feelings on a partnership? And for me, it was like a no brainer because it was, she's not a, she's not a family member. She wasn't. And then she wasn't necessarily my best friend either.

It was this, we have a hard time explaining our relationship to people because, you know, it's like, yes, has she known me almost my whole life? I mean, I think we did Pop Warner cheerleading together at like six years old. Yeah. But it, it wasn't, it wasn't, she wasn't my best friend growing up. I was in her wedding.

I mean, I'm somebody who she will always be in my life or I would be in her life. But it was this different type of friendship. So you would just say, you know, put a lot of thought into that on how you're going to choose because I do think businesses ruin relationships all the time. And I think another thing for Michelle and I was like, if we do this in the last year, great.

We do this at last 10 years. Who knows? I mean, I think we both went into it very open minded with clear expectations. Like she said, everything in writing we met with like a tax person right away. We got like a few advice from some lawyers, like. Yep. Just, just picking their brain. You know, we both have access to all

Michelle: the accounts.

But it was important. And again, it goes back to communicating, having that open, you know, conversation, being very, very transparent. You need to be, because it was something that I had said, I said, I would never want anything to come in between. And so it's kind of like, we always have to be. from the get go.

This is all very clear. No hidden agenda.

And I mean, we've even went back to, I'm like, hem forbid, Michelle, something happened to you. Is Nick gonna let me have this business? Her husband's like, am I gonna be like fighting him over like, do we need to put something in writing? I was gonna say, you might need a contract there.

Yeah. But that's towards like, I'm very blessed that he, you know, I think loves me very much and would have no matter what, right. But that's things that honestly, that's real life. You have to think about, you know, because this has become my livelihood. Like this feeds my children. You know, this helps pay my bills for sure.

Without this, I couldn't do some things that I'm recently doing that. I never honestly thought I would do again being single. You know, so it, she just bought a house. Yeah.

Jen Thyrion: Good for

you.

Jen Thyrion: Congrats.

In California. Right? Yes. Yeah. So we have some big things kind of coming up because with where I bought a house, it was being a little bit, it's, it's being closer to parents and family and friends.

So kind of in the process of relocating. So we're keeping our location where we currently have it. So for current people in Rockland, we're about to start announcing and launching a storefront in Redding. So that's where we'll be.

Jen Thyrion: No way! That's exciting. So you're going to have a second location. Oh my gosh.

So tell me a little bit more. Your first location, is it just kind of a studio situation? Second location. Is it going to be the same setup? Like, tell me about those situations. Like the,

Michelle: yeah, so our first location or first location in Rockland current location is with our team member, Allie, who she's a hairdresser.

So it was again, very great opportunity. It's a studio setting, so we've got a great little desk there so she can do both. And that was the thing. So we can schedule appointments. She's got her thing. So that way she can be in one place doing both.

Yeah, I could pop in and do appointments there

Michelle: if I need to.

And then with Brooke making this transition, another thing, kind of Landed in our lap. Fell into our lap of, uh, somebody that we know who has a great hair salon. And then they had a whole nother thousand square feet of just empty space that they had never, they hadn't touched. And so it's like, well, would you guys be interested?

And it was like, well,

well, how did we mess it up? So it was, I felt like it was decent rent. Um, so we're, we're signed a year lease. That's how we're starting out. And I actually built out an aesthetics room. So I will have Bluebird aesthetics within Bluebird. Um, so I have a little esthetician room. We have our own entry and bathroom, a little office.

We will always have like the permanent jewelry setup. there so we could even host our own events there, um, or people to come and do appointments or whatnot. Private parties. Yeah. Private parties. And then I think the vision of growing it to be boutique y, I say, because I envision a full blown, I don't want like all this inventory, but right now I'm going to retail the skincare line that I use, you know, little gifty, you know, maybe some things that you can't get very easily in Reading being a smaller town.

Michelle: I think it's that it's also connecting with local small businesses. Do you do something simple as whether it's like plants or flowers? Do you do candles? You know, what little things can you incorporate into the small business, but it was really a great opportunity because it's a great hair salon that has, I think about like five to six people.

And so, you know, it's separate. and private, but yet you're still connected. And so again, being in the beauty industry, this all is under that same umbrella. So you can get it all together. It's this. Well, so people who are processing, getting their hair done can come over. So, and vice versa.

Jen Thyrion: It's so smart. I was just talking to my group about this because, you know, just thinking about studio spaces and depending on where you live here in the Denver, the rent is insane.

And so it's just, you have to like weigh, you know, kind of like, okay, how much would you have to be doing to make a profit knowing you're paying X amount of rent? You know what I mean? You have to do the math, but especially like foot traffic, right? Depending like being in a salon, you already have this set, this built in foot traffic, which is amazing.

And like you said, most people getting their hair done, this is most likely their vibe, right? Like they're interested in, you know, feeling and looking good. And yeah, so that's amazing.

Michelle: It's that same process though.

Jen Thyrion: So great. Yeah. Like more opportunity to with just a bigger space and who knows what can happen.

So that sounds fun. So where do you see it? Like, I mean, honestly, this is happening, but where do you see your business? Like do you have goals at this point of where you want to be in a year or two, three, five years down the road? Like where you can see this going?

Michelle: You know, I think it's one of those things that it's hard to say of what vision this may be.

Again, I don't think that either one of us thought we would be where we are today a year ago. Yeah. You know, and so it's like I tell Brooke, I just trust the process, whatever that may be. I think it's hard to really, I, I would hate to put like a, a goal. I don't want to say it and it's not hard to do goals, but what I'm saying is you don't want to have too big of overachieving you put out there.

So for us, I think it's just, let's focus on what we have and let's just trust the process and whatever comes our way. I think we just really put some thought into it and make sure, okay, where we're at. Like, how are you feeling? Don't want to overcommit. I think now we're at a place where we're like, okay, let's kind of rein this back in.

Where can we be the most profitable, but yet also be able to give that same experience. You cannot overextend yourself.

Jen Thyrion: Yes. So at this point, obviously, Michelle, you are, you are welding, right? You guys are both welding.

Michelle: I mean, I have a couple times, but no, but I always kind of say I'm, I am like, I'm not a fine tooth comb person with that.

Like it's not my thing. And so I'm just like, I will do all the other parts and I love to be able to sell the chains and talk about all the different things.

Jen Thyrion: Oh, that's awesome. Okay. Cause I knew in the beginning you got trained, but I thought over time maybe you were welding with, okay, that's awesome. So there's always just one welder going.

Okay.

Michelle: That are, well, and a lot of times too, now that we have Allie who we, um, so we're kind of at the point I've trained

a few people. Um, One of which she helps us kind of when she's in town, but she's, uh, in college. So she kind of does her own little thing away at college, but when she's in town, she kind of works for us or represents us.

Yeah. So I've trained a few people, but we're kind of at a point, cause I've had a lot of people ask me like, would you ever train me? And we're at a point that we will only train people who want to be a part of Bluebird. You know, we definitely are looking for, um, kind of help or employees or whatnot, as you would say.

So like for me in Reading, that's going to be kind of my next thing is finding somebody who would want to learn how to weld and could play a part in some way, shape or form. So right now there's two of us that weld and we either do our own little things or if it's a big event like Nordstrom's when we were there in July, we were just there.

We both welded at the same time. So we do own multiple welders and things like that.

Jen Thyrion: So there's a question mark I have in my mind and if it's too much, we can, um, but when you have a partnership, right, you obviously have to, your finances, you know, when you're by yourself, you can obviously no one's, you're not answering anyone's, you're spending money how you want.

Right. How do you work that out? Then if you don't mind me asking, is it like you have a set amount that you, you agree on? Cause if you're not, you know, especially how is it working with you welding? You're not welding. Like, I mean, how does that work?

Michelle: I think for us, we knew going into this that we knew pretty much 50, 50, it's 50, 50 across the board, no matter what.

Because at the end of the day, am I not welding? Sure. But we wouldn't be where we are. Right. If I hadn't made these comments, if I'm not doing the ordering, if I'm not backing everything and

I joke, I'm like, where's my binder? Something happens to you. I don't know how to order. I'm like, well, let me see.

Michelle: She's like, well, I don't know. What's the order? That's the password. I don't know. So it's 50 50. And we have one set of, we have a set amount every month.

Yeah. We basically both take a salary every month. And then obviously, and something else that I think people don't understand or realize when going into something like this, it's also a lot of money each month back into the business, you know, replenishing, like people think, Oh, you're making all this money.

I mean, those are the most expensive part. It's like, so I don't think people realize that you, uh, you know, a lot is also going back into, and we like to have a little nest egg always in the account too.

Michelle: And it's always important. You know, we look it over. I look at it almost daily, daily checking it. Sure.

I'm super on top of it, but I love that kind of stuff. It's more of my case, right? So, and we always want to keep a very good little nest egg because in case of an emergency or what if something happens or, or it's just not busy, whatever that may mean, I always want to make sure no matter what. We each get our, you know, salary every month, no matter what, and then whatever else can be.

And so that's how we just always wanted to make sure we were covered.

And I think the other thing too, is going into this, I mean, we LLC'd kind of our name right off the bat and met with a tax person and stuff because it's like, no, we're, we're going to be legit. We pay taxes. We're going to, you know, kind of do.

Everything we need to do to grow it to be a real

Michelle: business. But you also have to have a tax ID number. You also have to have a business license. You have to have your LLC. You have to have a seller's permit. I did all of those things before doing this, but that's also because we're not buying from Etsy.

We're buying from a nationally ranked company that we have to submit all this information to to be able to get the right product. People are on Amazon, Etsy. They're buying all the things. That's great. But for us, I was like, No, we are buying from the real. I don't want to just have some fake items that, you know.

That's

a part of keeping it, you know, that goes back into the business and how we split it and all of that.

Jen Thyrion: But I mean, people, I mean, this is, I guess, a totally off subject, but, but the Etsy thing, it's like, sure, there are legit people on there, but, but they don't realize, and this is also something, again, You know, it's like everyone needs a Michelle in their business because, you know, again, most people are just like, correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I feel, but it's like, they just see it.

This is fun. This is a trend. Like do it. They're not thinking about all the things you just listed, right? Like insurance, licensing.

Michelle: We all have insurance. Yeah. We also have insurance, you know, that's

Jen Thyrion: why it's a, people are going straight to Etsy because of course you don't need, and yes, you are getting product there, but we don't realize is that same chain.

If you buy it from a, like a legit supplier, wholesale is like 6 less a foot that comes into play with your pricing. When you want to get in the pricing conversation, it's like, well, that's Your might, someone might say your prices are low, but if they're buying their chains off Etsy and spending double on their chains, you know, Davey, that's, that's all playing into your pricing.

Right. Anyway. But yeah, it's, it's like, because when I'm hearing you talk and you're like, you love the numbers. I'm like, yup. I need someone just like you, but

Michelle: in that way too. And even with our tax person, I. I sent her, for example, like our monthly bank statements. I sent her our Square account. I want her to look at everything, you know, where are we at, always wanting to like cross our T's, dot our I's, but that's important because at the end of the day, like I've said, this is our name.

Our information is connected to this and I want to make sure that we're, you

know, dialed

Michelle: in.

And going back to you, if you wanted to continue being a growing business and not just something that's here for a year, kind of setting it up for success right

Jen Thyrion: away. So smart. So smart. Oh my gosh. You girls are awesome.

Is there any advice you, I guess maybe you probably covered this, but is there any advice you want to give to someone just starting on permanent jewelry?

Michelle: I think the important thing to always remember is you want to have the right people that are helping you to be successful. Again, like I said, we don't take all the credit.

We have a lot of people who are in here helping us to make sure that we are doing what we need. And again, you know, it's all about working smarter, not harder. That is why we have these people connected, having like a more profitable mindset. Like I, what is the profit that I'm going to make from this?

Like, what's my benefit? What do I get back from this, right? We're putting all of this into here, but what do we get in return? And so I think you have to really go in, whether that sounds selfish or not, You have to go in with that mindset of like, what, what profit am I going to gain?

And they feel like I would tell people like some, again, Michelle encouraged me, take the first step, do the training.

You know, there's a lot of these online trainings and they're very expensive. Reach out to your local people, reach out to somebody like how I was really lucky to, I mean, I paid her for her time and her training, but I mean, minimal compared to thousands and thousands of dollars that these online trainings can give you.

I'm a very hands on learner, and I knew I needed to actually physically just start trying it. Yeah, you can watch YouTube videos and this and that, but I wanted to More than that, you know, again, like starting at the right foot, but just don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and just do your first event and get the first event over with.

And because that night, I mean, I left there overwhelmed with so many emotions and I mean, I was exhausted. I was happy. I mean, I could have cried from excitement of it because it was so much more than we thought, even though I'm like half those bracelets probably fell off.

We've all been there, you know, so you. It's okay. Like, start, try, you know, them, your products. Like I said, it has not happened very often, but yes, we've replaced someone's bracelet for them. Or if, and I always tell people, I can repair it or put it back on. I will do that complimentary for sure. Medical reasons, I will cut it off and put it back on you.

Fun fact, I recently had emergency surgery. And they just wrapped my bracelets in ace bandages. I didn't have to cut off my jewelry.

Jen Thyrion: Some are really understanding about it, from what I hear. Depending on where your surgery is, of course, what it's on, but it's, um, some are being more understanding. I think that they're seeing it more.

I think because it's more

Michelle: common.

Yeah. So, I think it depends on your doctor or, I mean, I even, I went through a CT machine with them on. I mean, you know, me, I obviously have on a lot of jewelry, so a necklace, I mean, I have it all. You know, it's like, just ask your doctor, but yeah, so we'll just, you know, but again, like I tell people, come see me, I'll cut it off, I'll put it back on you complimentary if it's medical reasons.

I mean, that alone, just those little things, but yeah, I think just my main advice would be try to let go of that fear a little bit and just put yourself out there once you get through that first, those first. It's, it's huge.

Jen Thyrion: And I think even just the fact that you reach out to other permanent jewelers, the fact that you did that is so amazing.

Most people would not. And I've, I've also done the same. I've trained local girls here and of course, again, they pay me for my time. But I, cause from what I hear and just a real quick story, there's another, there's a spray tan place opening here in Casa rock and she, we, we kind of befriend each other on Facebook and she's adding permanent jewelry.

Well, she did get training from one of the training that's out there. And I kept talking about PJX and she was like, Oh, I don't need to go. No, I don't think I'm going to go. She finally decided to go bring a couple of her employees. She's like, Jen, we were doing so many things wrong. We learned so much.

They ended up buying a new machine when they were there. They ended up like, and it just leveled up their business. Whereas like. Not to put anything against the training, but there's nothing like in person, like you said, to actually talk to someone who's also been doing the business, to talk about the metal quality, to talk about things that they might not be talking about in this training.

They're talking about literally just how to weld, but there's nothing like an in person experience. I don't know how someone can just watch a YouTube video and then know how to.

Well, they don't. I mean, it's trial and error, you know, but.

Jen Thyrion: So yeah, there's something to be said about it. I love how you're, it just seems also to you guys are very, I'm assuming people in your area feel that it can approach you too.

The same goes both ways that only can lead to good thing. I mean, I can't tell you, I know this is going back to what we were kind of saying before, but I mean, how much connections I have with local permanent jewelers that actually led to me having more business because of them. So it's, it's always helpful to reach out to your local community.

Michelle: Um, and again, you just want to have that door open and have those easy conversations. And again, you know, just, you know, come from all of those things. So yeah. That's been a big part of it.

Jen Thyrion: Well, it's so great chatting with you ladies. I'm so glad you took the time today. I can't wait to see what happens in a year.

Michelle: what's going to happen. That's crazy. Yes. And let us know. We're happy to, you know, share any of this or do any more of the. You know, podcasts with you. We're happy to kind of talk about maybe different topics.

Yeah. Deep dive more into

Jen Thyrion: like partnership or something. Yeah, completely. I think you guys have a lot to share. I think that's

correct too. Other, per majority vote, I mean, reach out, ask questions, you know, very open. Yeah. Open book. Yes,

Jen Thyrion: for sure. All right. Thank you so much, ladies. so much for having us.

Amazing

Michelle: day. Okay. We'll talk to you soon.

Jen Thyrion: Well, how do you feel? I hope you found value in today's episode and you walk away feeling inspired. I would love to hear from you. Let's link up. You can find me on Instagram at GoldieLinkSociety. You can find out more about our permanent jewelry membership at GoldieLinkSociety.

com, our handmade permanent jewelry supplies of connectors, chain, and more at GoldieLinkSupplies. com. Okay, I will see you next time. Have a golden day.