Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in jewelry but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Shawn Mikkelson, owner and CEO of FORGE Jewelry Works, located in Provo, UT, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
FORGE Jewelry Works is a fine jewelry store specializing in custom design. Located in Provo, we reach couples nearby and nationwide thanks to our virtual design meetings FORGE Connect. Here we focus on our guests being the center of the creative experience, where they get to design their dream rings from scratch right in our shop in under an hour. Custom for non-custom prices, FORGE focuses on her design in his budget, creating unique and elegant engagement rings and other custom jewelry pieces that will last through generations.
Tell us about yourself
As lifetime lovers of rocks and metals, each of the founders worked in the jewelry industry long before FORGE was... well, forged! In those years, among the things in the industry we loved, we found some issues that were leaving the jewelry industry behind in the constant change of this world. Particularly having to tell couples "no" when we didn't have the exact idea they wanted for an engagement ring, so we created FORGE to be set up in a completely different way than any other jewelry store we had seen, where the focus was on the customized piece and therefore the guest's experience in designing their ring!
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
We are very grateful for the success and support we have received in the last eight years FORGE has been around, especially as we started from scratch. We are ecstatic to say since the year we opened, we have won Utah Valley Magazine's Best Jeweler and The Daily Herald's Best Jeweler Award each year.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
We have found that there are two major sides to running a company: what the company itself is about (in our case, fine jewelry and custom design) and the business aspect of it (handling financials, marketing, keeping the business on its feet, etc.). There are business owners who are passionate about the business side, and they often team up with someone who has an idea but lacks the business skill to get the company going.
Then other business owners start one company because they are passionate about what the company is about. We are the latter, so we work hard to keep FORGE going on the business side so we can help others find their dream rings, and they can be joyous because they made their own, our main intention for starting FORGE. Balancing both sides of the spectrum is what we find to be difficult, but it is doable when motivated, and we sure are!
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Work hard! It will be worth it.
- Realize you don't know everything. You can learn from everyone, even the employee you hired yesterday.
- Have fun on the journey. If it's not enjoyable, find something else to do.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.forgejewelryworks.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forgejewelryworks/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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