We were lucky to catch up with Christal Chapman recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Christal , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
I’ve been blessed with parents that were hard workers and taught me to always keep striving. There is a satisfaction when you accomplish something even if it takes a while. Lots of people have dreams of starting their own business, but there is a high failure rate because it takes a lot more work than many people are willing to put forth. You need to be flexible and willing to change how you reach your goal. There may be times when you feel that for every step forward, you take two steps backward. The more challenges I have faced, the harder I have worked to fight those challenges. When I created Green Games Jewelry, I wanted to make necklaces and thought it would have a huge following. I setup a couple of online stores and was ready to have the sales roll in. Soon I learned that there was a lot of competition in the jewelry field, and some people were selling their necklaces for just a couple of dollars. I learned more about creating jewelry, and the side business of selling jewelry supplies from the extras in my workshop. The jewelry supply business had much less competition and I slowly grew my customer base. I was able to come up with different sales venues as I narrowed down what customers wanted that I met in person, and what online customers wanted. I love where my business is today, but have to keep working hard and continue to pivot.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I created Green Games Jewelry in 2011 after learning how to make scrabble tile necklaces in a local mom’s group. I have always loved creating, but I enjoyed my tiny canvases and have spun off many different types of game piece jewelry since then. Teaching others to create has also been a joy of mine, so I’ve held home parties and bring all the supplies with me so my guests can make their own necklaces. I’m thrilled when someone invents a new way to bring their art to life. I’ve hosted birthday parties for 10 year old twins up to a 40th birthday party and fundraisers for a variety of causes. It is amazing to be in a room of people having fun creating their own custom necklace and raising funds for incredible organizations at the same time. In addition to necklaces, I make earrings, wine charms, Christmas ornaments, keychains, and DIY Kits.
Sharing my tiny handcrafted jewelry is also something that makes me happy. Farmer’s markets and craft fairs are the best way to meet new people and get real life feedback from customers. I expanded my canvases from scrabble tiles to dominos and mahjong tiles and other game pieces, and fell in love with working with alcohol ink. The vibrant colors turn out amazing and I never quite know what I will create until it is done. For about five years my alcohol ink pendants were featured in City Hall in a suburb of Denver, Colorado where we lived. I was honored to be a part of that community until we moved to Peculiar, Missouri and now I get the opportunity to share my art just south of Kansas City. Although I have a full time job, I look forward to getting to build my jewelry business when I retire at some point in the future.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the three qualities that have impacted me the most are flexibility, perseverance, and making wise investments when I started selling a few of my items. You need to have a plan of what you are hoping to accomplish, but be ready to make tweaks to that plan if it isn’t working. My original plan of creating necklaces was stifled because there was so much competition. I was flexible by selling jewelry supplies while I redefined my necklaces and came up with additional techniques and products. It took a couple of years to discover the alcohol ink techniques that have become my favorite pieces. I’m afraid I may have given up in 6 months if I had only tried to make the original necklaces since they did not sell well online and I didn’t have any in-person venues yet. You also have to be smart with how you invest the money you have to work with. When I started having sales, I reinvested a large portion of that into new supplies.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
My largest obstacle right now is time management. I have a full time job and a family, so my jewelry business is part time and has to work around dishes and laundry and spending time with my loved ones. Planning my annual events is something I start working on in January so that I don’t get overwhelmed. Our local farmers and artisan market is weekly in the summer and is a great place to try out my new ideas. I have trusted friends that I’ve known for seven years at the farmers market, and having a chance to talk to other people with a small home based business keeps me mentally healthy. I also sell my necklaces online, so life can get pretty crazy from October to December when people are shopping more and I’m filling orders in the evening after my regular job. I look forward to retirement in the future to devote more of my time to creating and getting to those venues to share my handcrafted tiny canvases with the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.greengamesjewelry.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057438970685
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GreenGamesJewelry
Image Credits
All pictures by Christal Chapman
