When Rebecca, owner of The Dedication Company, first introduced herself and expressed interest in sponsoring MoKoPo, I of course said "Yes, please! I would LOVE to have you!" I immediately fell in love with this shop, filled with simple, elegant, beautiful pieces of jewelry with lots of sentimentality and meaning. Her lockets are my favorite-- tiny little treasures!
Take a second to read about this super-fab Fabulous Sponsor and then try your best to pick your favorite necklace (I bet you can't pick just one!):
1. Hello! Please give us a brief introduction of your lovely self and tell us how you came up with your shop and/or blog name.
Hi There! I’m Rebecca the lady behind The Dedication Company. About four years ago I began selling my handcrafted jewelry on Etsy. I used my first Etsy shop as a business incubator to test the market on what designs would sell well. One of my personalized locket pieces was picked up by a major catalog. That same piece was featured on some online publications. I built a collection around that line called The Dedication Collection. All of the pieces in that line were personalized – sort of like little dedications for my customers. The Dedication Collection did very well so I launched the expanded collection The Dedication Company in January of 2011.
I also blog at Our Simple Souls. I began blogging as a way to showcase my work but as my family grew my husband started to blog with me and Our Simple Souls turned into our family blog that also documents our life as well as news about The Dedication Company.
2. What led you to create the products that you create? How did you get started?
I have an unhealthy obsession with jewelry and always want to be wearing something that is unique to me, something that no one else has. I make most of my own jewelry and have always craved sharing it with others. Selling online has given me that opportunity and now this is how I make my living.
3. What is a typical day like for you?
I wake up and spend a little time with my son. Then I answer emails, post to my blog and my facebook. Maybe check over my Twitter feed. Then I do straight production work for a bulk of the day. Next I package up all of those orders and my husband takes them to the post office. Then it is dinner and family time. After my son goes to bed I write blog posts, answer emails, set up custom listings, order supplies, edit photos and spend time with my husband.
4. What has been the biggest business challenge for you so far?
Defining my collections and narrowing my market was an exciting challenge. With my first Etsy shop I had a little bit of everything happening there – all sorts of jewelry styles. After testing the market on what worked well I was able to define my collections. This allowed me to get to the heart of my target market and it has led to greater sales.
5. What has been the best highlight?
Having my work featured on television a couple of times and getting to quit my day job as a result of really hard work.
6. Do you have a favorite product that you create? If so, what is it and why?
My customers buy my jewelry because it is personalized to represent a memory, person or special occasion to them. Whether my jewelry represents a new baby, push present, wedding, birth or death each piece of jewelry is acknowledges a piece of someone’s life so I have a special place for each piece I create. If I had to narrow it down for what I personally love to wear myself - the square sliding block necklace. It is simple in shape and design and is vintage with reused components.
7. When you're not creating/blogging/being a creative genius, what do you like to do?
I spend time with my family any chance I can get. I love to bake too!
8. What are some of your favorite blogs and/or etsy shops?
Xenotees – original screenprinted scarves, tees, etc. we own a lot of their designs at our house! Organic Gardens Network – a super resource for recipes and living a simple lifestyle. The community that Kim has built on Facebook is amazing! Manic Mrs. Stone – Author Elisabeth shares a lot of the same values that John and I do about food, parenting and life in general but more than that she is warm, kind, friendly and that goes a long way!
9. What can we look forward to in the future from you and your biz?
So many things! My mind is always working, thinking, designing. I am going to be releasing my second sterling silver and gemstome jewelry collection under my other brand (details to follow on my blog soon!). I have several new collections for The Dedication Company slated to be released in early 2012 including more minimalist necklaces, more lockets designs as well as two collections I am so excited about – but you’ll have to tune in to see/hear more about those!!
Where can we find you on the interwebs?
