Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Weil.
Courtney was a hobbyist jewelry-maker since childhood and launched Crafts & Love in 2011 as a creative outlet to her engineering studies at Georgia Tech. It began small as an Etsy shop designed to raise enough money to pay for a flight to Nicaragua to spend a summer abroad.
After that trip, she continued her studies and received an MPH from Emory, while maintaining an Etsy shop and beginning to sell jewelry in boutiques across the country. She fell in love with the small business hustle and has been running Crafts & Love full-time since 2013.
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?
The best piece of advice I can give is to join a group of like-minded artists or small business owners in your community. I found that home at The Beehive here in Atlanta. The community and support I’ve had through the Beehive have helped me through so many issues over the years. Every small business owner approaches their path so differently, and that’s what makes us special. However, there are certainly parts of a business that you shouldn’t have to stress about, and simply talking it out with your peers helps immensely. Don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice, no matter how silly you may think your question may be.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Crafts & Love – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Crafts & Love focuses on highlighting natural beauty through minimalist, geometric lines to create affordable, hand-crafted jewelry. I travel the country to hand-pick the most unique raw, natural stones to use in my designs. I love natural beauty, and gemstones can be so breath-taking, sometimes, I am amazed that the earth continues to create such gorgeous stones. Shopping big gem shows and discovering something new is such a thrill, and I aim to provide my customers with high-quality stones at affordable prices. I tend to gravitate to gems with patterns and fun colors, my current favorite being Ocean Jasper because each stone has so much variation, it truly makes every stone one-of-a-kind.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
Most days, I’m a one-woman show who works from home, so podcasts are my life-line when I need some noise around my work-space. I LOVE podcasts. I listen to multiple every day while I work. For business, The Pitch and StartUp by Gilmet are fun listens to get me excited about hustling harder. I also love comedy podcasts when I need a brain break during times of intense production — 2 Dope Queens and How Did This Get Made? are my go-tos. Of course, like many others, I also get in moods where I want to listen to a long, single story, and there are so many crime and history podcasts that fit this bill that I love — Atlanta Monster, Up and Vanished, Best Case Worst Case, Cover-Up, and Buried Truths are some of my favorites now. Jonathan Van Ness, the Grooming specialist on Queer Eye, makes me so happy to listen to and his podcast Getting Curious is also one of my all-time favorites.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.craftsandlove.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/craftsandlove/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/craftsandlove
Image Credit:
Julia Fenner
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