Today we’d like to introduce you to Desiree Robinson.
Desiree, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve always been creative. I love to create. For me, it gives me purpose. As a young girl, I remember writing, singing, drawing and trying to create accessories from actual writing paper. Due to life and choices and uncertainties about my future, I decided to go back to college when I was 27. I was freshly married, and both of us being in the creative space, I was on a hunt to find all the ways I could to make some money while going through school. So I began to create earrings from recycled metal. That’s how my first Etsy shop came about. I worked that the best every way I could until I graduated. However, after a while, I had to let go of the business when we started to grow our family.
Then in 2018, just for fun, and my desire for a specific earring I saw on I.G., I went to the craft store and bought polymer clay and an exacto knife. After trial and error, I was really pleased with my first pair, and so were my co-workers and others in my circle. To make a short story even shorter, my sister suggested I start creating and selling them, and 1.5 years later, here I am! I love using polymer clay as my medium for creating my pieces. It’s so fun, forgiving, and flexible. They are the perfect combination of functional and fashionable, which is great for my personal lifestyle. I might be my own favorite customer!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It hasn’t been smooth, but it hasn’t been the worst, and the road is still being made. Most of my struggles have been an internal battle of value and worth. When you create, you want it to be good. You want people to want to buy it, not to have to convince people to buy your product. I had to learn the value of my product, my time, and myself quickly. I remember going to my first market as a seller, and realizing that to build my customer base and sell my pieces. I had to SELL my pieces and myself. My confidence was something I wrestled with the first few months of opening the market. I would almost act like I was surprised when people did want to buy a pair of earrings. I knew I loved my creations, but questioned my skill when I realized others loved my pieces too. I couldn’t take the compliment of people genuinely loving their purchases, and I would almost undersell, and devalue them. But I quickly saw what that got me. I watched other creatives and makers, and how they would interact, and began to change my communication and my views. That has helped me out SO MUCH, as a person, in my creating process, my marketing and of course, in my sales and customer growth.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
D.R. Variety Market is a curated, jewelry boutique that uses polymer clay as it’s medium for creating. It’s a slow production process, adding personality and uniqueness to each piece created. The beauty of my pieces is that about half of them can’t be duplicated. So, my clients are really and truly receiving a one-of-a-kind piece. My best selling pieces are bold in the pattern, color, and design. I have jewelry for all types of women. Still, I fell in love personally with polymer clay, because as a mom of a little person, I want to have fabulous, bold jewelry that isn’t heavy, and that can easily and effortlessly add a little “something” to whatever I am wearing. These earrings do that for me, and I’ve heard from other ladies that it’s done that for them as well! And I love that! I want all ladies to feel good when they wear my pieces. I want the pieces to speak to the customer’s personality, no matter how low-key or fabulously extra that personality is!
What were you like growing up?
I feel like I have always been an extrovert. I’m an Enneagram fanatic, so I think I’ve always been a true 9. I adored people, justice, and fairness, bringing peace and joy to people. I’m naturally loud and come from a rather loud family. As kids, my sisters and I were always trying to make something, start something, be a part of something bigger than us. That has spilled over into my adult life for sure. As I’ve grown older, though, I realized that quiet, and introvertedness also has its place.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.drvarietymarket.com
- Instagram: @drvarietymarket ; @desireedrobinson
- Facebook: @drvarietymarket
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