Going Rogue

I went rogue. And I'm so glad I did.

Last September, I decided to take a plunge I'd been fantasizing about for years.  After some sleepless nights, many heartfelt conversations with my partner, Tommy, and close friends and family, and a Netflix binge (I highly recommend these 2 comedy series:  Silicon Valley and Grace and Frankie),
I dissolved ties with most of my retailers and focused on selling direct to customers via my website. I held my breath and jumped in, readying myself for any outcome.  It was a relief - to say the least - when I sold 75% of my inventory.

After a lot of worry and uncertainty, the decision to focus on direct-to-consumer sales was the right move after all! I can't tell you what a good start that made for 2016. I've felt such a renewal of energy, optimism, and excitement about the future.

It could not have come at a better time.  After 20 years of designing jewelry and running a business, I needed a career shift - especially since I'm already living a new personal life with a soon-to-be-husband and stepchildren (Harley and Ethan). 

So many changes!

Oh, and did I mention that Tommy and I are working on having a baby?

We have an unconventional timeline for the things we want to do, but it works for us. For example, we finally scheduled an engagement party for late September, and we've been engaged for a full year already!  We'll figure out a wedding date soon. (Note: my "soon" is different than my mom's "soon.") 

It's been such a period of joy and transformation that it has taken awhile for me to recognize what lies underneath all this hectic excitement:  fear of the unknown.  Particularly where my career is concerned.

Some days I feel like I'm waiting for a burning bush to tell me what's next. But the reality is that I have so many burning bushes right in front of me:

• I have built a brand over 20 years with an important, life-affirming message:  reminding women of how beautiful and precious they already are.
• I have amazing customers who enrich my life. I truly love, adore, and appreciate all of them. ;)
• I have a vast and beautiful portfolio of jewelry designs from the past 20 years....and fun, exciting ideas for revamping them.

•   I have so many really cool loose gemstones, with an opportunity to design one-of-a-kinds with each of them.

• My mom - Jan Showers - and I designed a jewelry collection two years ago, which exists in renderings only right now. She is so well-regarded in her interior design world, and it could be quite an adventure launching a collection together.
• Some smart and talented ex-employees do contract work for me, and they are available to help move the business to its next stage.

So while I haven't found the singular "burning bush" I was seeking, I am rich in ideas, but it may take some time to know where all this exploration is leading. I know I am not alone in this - many of us struggle with decisions every day. I would love to hear how you make decisions when options are plentiful. How do you know which one is right?

Even though I lack a crystal ball, here is what I am sure of:

       I am 100% certain that I am soon going to offer a small handful of my bestselling styles of jewelry online (and keep in stock), and offer them at a new retail price that is below the previous store prices. (there are already some available on the site now)

I am 100% certain that I am going to roll out a special order business of my 100 bestselling styles from over the past 12 years.  I already have special orders from many of you for jewelry styles that I haven't carried in awhile. (We actually just uploaded a handful of bestsellers for special order that are now available on the site. Check it out!)  

I am 100% certain that very soon I will launch my Itsy-Bitsy Hope Star collection that includes several precious NEW Hope Star styles that I think people will love.

The most exciting part comes now, seeing which burning bush has the biggest fire, and what will happen next. I hope you'll stick around to see!

You and me together, we could do anything, Baby! (We're engaged)

Meet me at The Modern

Tommy invited me weeks in advance to a photography exhibit at The Modern in Fort Worth for 4pm on a Friday afternoon.  When I tried to reschedule with him to meet with one of my best friends visiting from Canada, he said you can't change our plans (Tommy is typically more flexible in changing plans.  I knew something was up). 

My favorite view of The Modern Museum.

The Ruse

While I did suspect he was going to ask me to marry him on this night, I had absolutely no idea of how and when he would do it. A museum guide approached us to say she was getting her certification to be a docent, and needed more practice in the process, offering a free tour. I said, "of course!" --not even thinking of any connection to Tommy's proposal. (it was all a ruse!)

Surprise!

The museum docent-in-training gave us a short tour, of which I asked a lot of questions (and Tommy later told me he was anxious for me to quit asking questions). Then she led us around the corner outside the museum to "show us Richard Serra's tall sculpture, Vortex." I turned the corner to see an adorable blown-up photo of the two of us, and I still didn't realize what was happening!
 

AH! At this point I realized what was up....very quickly Tommy was on one knee and asking, "Elizabeth Showers, I love you very much. Will you marry me?"



"YES!" I said!



At this point, I still had no idea that there was a photographer capturing all of this.





I love Tommy. He is such a good man and the perfect partner for me. We are perfect partners for each other.







Tommy found this ring on Etsy to use as a placeholder ring until the Love Monkey Ring that we designed together was complete.  I love this ring--it's an infinite row of ampersands, to symbolize all the things we will do and create together... and and and and and and....



 The rain was exceptionally beautiful on that day.









He had champagne glasses made to commemorate this wonderful day.

Engraved on the bottom of each glass is one of our favorite songs from the Dave Matthews Band:

"You and me together, we could do anything, Baby!"

I look forward to soon sharing with you my engagement ring that Tommy and I designed together.

Remember how beautiful you are,

Elizabeth

Vintage is Back

Before my blog post, I have some REALLY FUN NEWS! Though it has been years since we at Elizabeth Showers Studio have sold our Vintage Collection, that’s all changing this Thursday, when we will begin offering a few styles from our classic collection online for a limited time.

During our (incredibly successful) moving sale event last month, my staff was thrilled to uncover a treasure trove of our beaded Vintage Collection!  What a surprise!  Customers ask for these designs all the time, so we were so excited to find them. We hope you’ll be excited about them too.

Be sure to pop in to elizabethshowers.com on Thursday to check out the Vintage Collection!

It’s been great looking back through this collection that meant so much to my career and development. Holding these pieces in my hands really got me thinking about the history of my business, its humble beginnings and its not-so-humble aspirations.

The necklace I have on below (at age 26) is the first necklace I ever made, all the way back in 1997.

Okay, this is actually the first unique necklace I ever made. 

I made my first piece of jewelry in 1996—an anklet made of super-cheap round, smooth amethyst beads. It was nothing special, but it was enough to get me hooked.

That first unique necklace was made of 24kt gold leaf Venetian glass beads, which I popularized in the late 1990s. At their peak, I couldn’t design enough styles using Venetian glass gold leaf and silver leaf beads.  Although very simply constructed, they were so popular and distinctive. If only online shopping had been mainstream then!

I started my business at age twenty-four, driven by a mostly-unexplored talent, blind optimism, and a passion for designing and selling jewelry. Like everyone starting out, I was a portrait of youthful naiveté and cluelessness about how to build a successful business. Though I didn’t have anything approximating a sales strategy, nor anything so straightforward as a written business plan, I possessed an incredible surplus of focus, time, and determination.

My first mission was to make my mark with unusual materials that others weren’t using. When I discovered Venetian glass beads, I understood right away that I had found my breakthrough. Specifically 24kt gold leaf Venetian beads in clear (my favorite) and in colors stuck out like magic in the jewelry scene of those days. They were so distinctive and fresh. I knew I was at the beginning of a fun adventure.

I started selling wholesale at Carol Quist showroom in The Apparel Mart, and southern US retailers started writing orders for my jewels right and left. I was a real designer!

Tootsie’s in Dallas was the first retailer to sell in my hometown. Susie Calmes, the buyer there at that time, is a friend of my mother. She called me and said, “When do I get to see your collection?”

I said, “I need more time to prepare for you. Maybe we could meet in a couple of months.”

She said, “Okay, I will see you this Tuesday.”

It was totally nerve-wracking. It would be an understatement to say that Susie has good taste and high standards.

Tootsies in Dallas

Naturally I was terrified of her reaction to my work. But I’m still so grateful to Susie. I’ll never be able to thank her enough for pushing me to be ready before I was. I showed up with my jewels in Ziploc bags with no price tags, and she bought almost everything I took with me that day.  What a life-changing and affirming experience! It really was an occasion to remember.  Thank you, Susie!

All that was just the beginning of the uncertain road that eventually led to my selling at Neiman Marcus, and onward down the path to a lasting business. 

Some of those early pieces I still love as much as the day I made them. In some others I can see the beauty and the good instincts, but they don’t represent me in quite the same way. But all of them are a part of me, part of the work that has led to this moment in my trajectory.

This is me modeling my jewelry!

I’ll talk more about the progression and development of my business in a future post.

In the meantime, please remember to stop by elizabethshowers.com on or after this Thursday to take a look at the pieces that started it all for me.  You just might find the perfect thing you didn’t even know you were looking for!

Feel Beautiful!
Elizabeth