We recently connected with Sierra Howard and have shared our conversation below.
Sierra, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from experience. I grew up with grandmother and she’s the strongest woman I know. She raised me to be hard working and to never give up on the things that I want out of life even when things get hard. My resilience comes from observing her working hard for everything that she owns and applying that into my daily life whenever I feel like self doubt
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a jewelry designer! I create jewelry using pliers, gold-filled metals, and crystals from home. I’m currently saving enough revenue from my brand to open a studio to create permanent jewelry as well as open a physical shop of my own. I’m known for my spiritually inspired jewelry that consists of crystals, symbolism, zodiac pieces, religious pieces, and cultural pieces.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I honestly didn’t have a lot of skill as far as running a business just yet, but I did have skill in creating pieces from scratch such as bracelets and designing unique necklaces. If I could give someone in their early stages of their journey advice, I’d say study business management first. There are a few things I wish I would’ve taken more seriously in the beginning of my journey such as getting my business license, switching my major a little sooner to business management, and really taking my time to improve the overall quality of my brand. I started off Sierras Collections making jewelry out of cheap metals which is a learning curve I had to face, but I regret not taking my time to learn which metals would be best for sensitive skin and longer lasting wears. I feel this left a rocky first impression of my brand in the beginning. I’m happy to say I’ve learned so much and my customers could testify that my brand has experienced major improvements since then.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
While working on my jewelry brand, I was simultaneously reading a motivational book called, “How To Be A Bad Ass” by Jen Cincero. Her book highlights how life is too short to not pursue the things you desire and it also highlights the significance of entrepreneurship and how it’s the key to long term financial freedom. Overall, she’s helped me gain the confidence I needed to start my brand and gave me motivational and disciplinary tips on ways to improve my self love, self sufficiency, financial responsibility, and outlook on the way I view the world. She was an important piece to my spiritual journey. A few quotes that I love from her are these:
“If you’re serious about changing your life, you’ll find a way. If you’re not, you’ll find an excuse.”
“Nobody who ever accomplished anything big or new or worth raising a celebratory fist in the air did it from their comfort zone.”
“What other people think about you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Sierrascollections.com
- Instagram: Sierrascollectionsjewelry
Image Credits
Photography: @Jonesthestudio
@miriamthegoddess @with.love.maleah @alyssanicole.official
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