This is my story.

Crystal Forged started as anything else does. An idea... a hobby... a simple passion. Until it became more. Until it became the potential freedom I have been seeking my whole life so far. The freedom to work solely for myself and pursue every creative tendril I can. 

Starting my own business is the craziest thing, yet best thing I have ever done

Crystal Forged started under a totally different name in the beginning. I went by Squeak Boutique and for those who have followed me from the start will recognize that name. I started making simple jewelry because I wanted to wear what I created. In high school I had some encouragement and even sold a few pieces. I kept at it and experiment with different styles and even beading. In college I launched my Etsy shop and took to working on it whenever I had any free time. I did local craft shows and tried to get my name out there as a small hobby craft business. This was back in 2015 when I decided to start to turn my hobby into a business. Now this took time and effort that I didn't always have as a college student and many times Squeak Boutique ended up on the back burner. 

You Will Fail Again and Again

So many people do not realize what goes into starting a business and it's safe to say I did not either. After graduating college and settling into a full-time job, I had a little more time to work on my business, but something always seemed to be holding me back and the sales weren't coming like I hoped they were. I advertised constantly, but I stopped enjoying what I was doing and felt defeated. I even got bored of the style of jewelry that I was making. This led to taking a break for a few months where I decided to sit and wait until inspiration struck again. 

Finally a new technique!

I stumbled upon these intricate sculpted copper pieces on Pinterest one day. I was intrigued and started doing research into how something like that was made. It turns out that was Electroforming and suddenly I saw a whole new realm of possibility! I went from uninspired and bored to being unable to wait to start creating. I spent the next three months researching what I would need to start with this new technique and learning everything I could. In Jan 2019 I officially started electroforming and oh boy was it an experience. The learning curve was a bit steep at first until I got the hang of it, but that quickly led me to trying all kinds of new things. 

These were my first few pieces I made and I couldn't have been more excited at how they came out! I fell in love with this technique and just wanted to keep creating. I finally fell back in love with creating!

Re-Branding

The aesthetic and design of my jewelry had gradually been changing for the last few months as I incorporated more crystals and Mystic elements in my work. When I started learning electroforming I was able to take this to a whole new level and start really creating the things I wanted to create. This led to re-branding my entire Etsy shop and business as Crystal Forged. 

Now I was a lot more serious about running this hobby as an actual business and started to create a cohesive brand, but there was still a lot of work to do! After re-branding I did notice a lot more traffic and sales. It looked like it worked for awhile, but as everyone does I hit a bit of wall with my electroforming skills and started to plateau a bit while exploring different styles and methods. Exploring home décor

I wanted to create something different. I wasn't moving away from jewelry, but I wanted to try something else for a bit and found resin. Resin is quite easy at first, or so it seems. It had it challenges, but it presented itself as a brand new fun project and I created my first Best seller: Moon Phase Wall Hangings!

I couldn't keep these in stock! I would create three at a time and I sold out of them pretty quickly. I even got onto Tik-Tok and had some fun there. That was another avenue that helped my business grow! This new foray into home décor led to creating all kinds of things from resin! I still create magical wares with resin, but I also found something that brought me back to sculpture. I created apothecary jars with polymer clay.  

These three apothecary jars were the first ones I ever made and sold quite quickly which pleasantly surprised me! I was ecstatic and I loved to sculpt to I went right back into making more of them. In the end the sculpting led me back to creating more jewelry and I spent all my free time working on the business and enjoying life! 

In 2020 the World Stopped

As we all know the world ground to a halt within an instant in 2020. Suddenly we weren't allowed to go out, go to work, or even spend time with other people that you didn't live with. It was terrible and everyone was isolated, but the internet brought us together in ways we couldn't have imagined. Suddenly we were connected through Tik-Tok, Zoom, Teams, Discord and playing video games, and even through Animal Crossing. In the midst of the craziness and huge amount of people started supporting the Small Businesses around them and around the US. Many of those small businesses were Etsy shops and I found mine to be one of them that saw a huge increase in traffic and sales. Suddenly my days went from being filled with animal crossing to working non-stop on my business and growing it. I was off of work for a little while and I used that time to focus on what I was passionate about.

Growth and Lots of It!

I was growing and while I didn't go viral or get 1K orders a month I started growing to the point that my business was finally making revenue and not just barely breaking even or losing money. I could afford to invest in new things and better materials. I started importing crystals directly from the family owned mines in India and investing in new camera equipment. 

I also embraced the Witchy Aesthetic and fell in love with this ethereal and earthy design. I dived into creating wherever inspiration took me and it led to starting my collections. I found a theme I was inspired by and was able to create a whole collection exploring that theme. Some my recent collections were Dark Woodland, Assassin's Blade, Mythical Creatures, Dark of the Moon, and many others like that. 

I also became a fan of creating stylized photoshoots and had fun with dressing up in outfits I created out of whatever I could find in my wardrobe. This led to social media growth and really having fun with content creation. For small businesses were one person does it all the content creation can be tedious, repetitive, and dreadful, but with my collections and stylized photoshoots I was having fun. I also discovered a love for photography and eventually film. I even started a YouTube Channel recently!

 Going Legit!

In 2022 I decided the time was right to go official and form an LLC. I am now the proud CEO of Crystal Forged LLC and can't wait to see where this journey takes me next! For all those who have supported me and continue to follow me thank you! I couldn't have done without your orders, likes, shares, comments, and constant encouragement!