This is the fifth in a series of interviews with women who work from home. Barbara Giordano, an adoptive parent and a jewelry business owner, joins us today.
Barbara is the owner of SunfluersJewelryDesigns.com. Barbara has graciously agreed to answer some questions.
Work From Home Momma: How many years have you worked from home?
Barbara: I've been working from home for four years. After returning home from China with my baby girl, I knew I needed to have meaningful work I can do from home. I enjoy being creative and working with my hands. Creating jewelry designs is something I always wanted to do. With the availability of the Internet, I decided to establish an e-commerce website.
Barbara: I wanted to be home with my children. Having a home-based business gives me the flexibility to balance parenting my children and work I enjoy doing. I can clock in hours according to my schedule. It's great being my own boss.
Work From Home Momma: Why did you choose making jewelry?
Barbara: Handcrafted jewelry has always appealed to me. As a creative person and one who enjoys working with my hands, it was the best choice for me. Personally, I prefer accessories that are not mass-produced. I knew I could create designs that are unique, artistic and offer a product of very high quality.
Work From Home Momma: What is your biggest challenge?
Barbara: Balancing my time between my business and managing my household. I take care of all sides of my business from accounting to quality control. During the holidays, especially, my time is devoted to my business. Customers want and expect to have their orders shipped promptly. Exceptional quality customer service is a high priority.
Work From Home Momma: What is unique about your jewelry?
Barbara: As an adoptive parent, I found it difficult to find jewelry to reflect adoption. In 2004, I launched a signature line of adoption theme jewelry designs for adults and children through my virtual store. At the time, no one else was offering adoption jewelry on the Internet. Adoption jewelry is close to my heart. The designs reflect my experiences adopting my children. Many of the designs are created to tell a story, a journey of the heart. The adoption line became a bigger success than I imagined. When I launched the adoption designs I had no idea how profoundly meaningful it would be to my customers. I receive many emails from my customers sharing with me how much having something tangible helps them through the wait. One customer recently said the bracelet on her wrist is a constant reminder of being an expecting mother.
Work From Home Momma: Where do you see your jewelry business going in the next year?
Barbara: I'll continue to expand on the awareness designs I create. At the present time, I'm working on offering more spiritual designs to the catalogue. I'm focusing on spiritual designs with meaning because we live in such tumultuous times. I think people are looking to tap into spiritual relief. I want to offer my customers something that will bring comfort, a little reminder to take time for reflection, to slow the pace, reflect on beauty, to dream and have hope.
Work From Home Momma: Where do you see it going in the next five years?
Barbara: My children are growing up so fast. In five years, I'll not need to be at home as much. I envision a brick and mortar setting for my business.
Work From Home Momma: Is there anything else about your business that you'd like to tell the readers of Work From Home Momma?
Barbara: Having your own home-based business is both rewarding and challenging. It is not for the faint of heart. It takes a great deal of effort, creativity and tenacity to market your product. My personal reward is offering a high quality, handcrafted product. It's such a remarkable feeling knowing my customers enjoy the designs I create. All of the hard work is so worthwhile when your efforts come to fruition.
Do you have more than two years experience in a home business? Would you like to share your story on Work From Home Momma? Contact me at Laura [at symbol] workfromhomemomma.com.
What a nice interview. I'm inspired to see a WAHM who is using her creativity as the foundation for her business. It's very refreshing:)
Posted by: Tammi | September 10, 2007 10:26 AM | Permalink to Comment