Today we’d like to introduce you to LaToya Thompson.
Hi LaToya, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I have worked in the financial industry for 12 years, I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Corrections/Criminal Justice. My husband and I met at work, fell in love and have been together for ten years.
My small business, JoAlice Collections, all started with a homemade bracelet my husband bought me for our anniversary in 2015. I enjoyed the bracelet so much and wore it daily however; It broke two months after he bought it. I was extremely disappointed, and when I told him about it, he said, “Well, okay I’ll go buy you another one”.
That’s when inspiration struck me. I believed that I could create a better quality bracelet myself. My husband knew of a lady at our local flea market who, unfortunately, has since passed away, who sold jewelry-making supplies. I purchased my first string of beads, and a set of tools and JoAlice Collection began from there. Simply through trial and error, and watching many YouTube tutorials taught myself how to make bracelets. I have fallen in love with making bracelets, for both men and women, I create designs based on clients’ personalities and event themes, and have even begun to make a bespoke line of waist beads, which have become some of JoAlice Collection best sellers.
At first, I was only creating bracelets for myself and my husband, but soon close friends and family members began to ask me about my jewelry. After a while I was designing bracelets for friends of friends, neighbors and coworkers, my clientele list slowly grew. My husband even became my main sales agent, modeling and wearing JoAlice designs daily, handing out my cards, and taking orders for me. We talked about it, and thought, “I guess this is a nice little side hustle.” So that is exactly what we did.
We were able to come up with a small business model where I would make bracelets and we were telling all of the people that we knew and were close to. My mom would actually sell them for me at her job as well. It was a family affair!
Why did I name my business JoAlice? When it came to the name I wanted to come up with something that would be deeply meaningful to me and also unique. Again, my husband Ryan and I put our heads together and decided on my maternal grandmother’s name, Jo Alice. It was perfect because it not only pays homage to a beautiful lady who I cherish deeply and who had a heavy hand in raising me, (she passed away in 2014) it is also super unique.
In the following years, JoAlice Collection came to a halt. Something that I adored doing so much stopped totally as I faced a terrible, emotional obstacle. You see, in 2018 we decided to start a family and things were a bit harder than I expected. That’s putting it mildly. Things were very hard. One thing that I had to deal with was a severe bout of postpartum depression. The doctors and magazines tell you that this is a possibility, but there isn’t a lot of discussion about it. And I didn’t know a lot of women who were talking about it then. That is why I am choosing to mention it now. I struggled with postpartum depression and it wasn’t until I sought out some professional help, that allowed me to realize what was going on with me, and my body and my hormones. Soon after, once I was seeking and receiving help, I was able to work through it. I had to slowly ease back into the jewelry-making game. It wasn’t easy. I was lucky enough that I was able to go from working full-time hours to working part-time. I was also blessed enough that I was fully supported by my husband during this time of transition. And finally, I was overjoyed that I was able to make this journey cuddling my healthy baby boy. In 2020 right before the Pandemic started, I launched into creating my bracelets again and have been doing well ever since.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As with starting anything new, There have been some challenges of having your own business. For me, one of them was trying to find my own style and voice as a creative. It was very important to me that I didn’t feel like I was creating something that was already out there. I didn’t want to feel like a copycat. Imposter syndrome is real, and I was beginning to get a taste of that as sales started to increase. How I regulated this was by continuing to remind myself that I was using my skills well and to listen to the people who were encouraging me and telling me that my work was quality and beautifully done. Another obstacle has been the pandemic of course. This pandemic has been tough on everyone, for me it’s caused supplies to become hard to find. And sure some of my sales took a hit.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
CUSTOM SIZES WORDING &COLORS AVAILABLE for the Waist Beads Shipping available nationwide.
Pricing:
- Waist Beads Designer $30
- Waist Beads Words $15
- Waist Beads Plain $12
- Women’s Bracelet $15
- Men’s Bracelet $15
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Joalicecollection
- Facebook: Joalicecollection
- Other: Tiktok- joalicecollection
