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Meet Julie Bell of Scattering Kindness in Monroe

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Bell.

Julie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started making beaded and hemp jewelry in my early 20’s. It just seemed that what I saw in the stores was not what I really wanted, so I went out and bought supplies to make my own. Friends would compliment it and want some of their own, so I would make them some too. It was just a fun and rewarding thing to do to make something that you were proud of and that other people wanted. It created smiles and I liked that.

On to my 30’s and the jewelry making stopped. With marriage, multiple jobs and the birth of my son, there was just not as much time. I would make some things just for me, but it did not get any further than that.

Then fast forward to my 40’s.  My early 40’s were the hardest years of my life.  I had an unexpected major curve in my life path that included divorce, and my son and I moving to Monroe.  I did have a stay-at-home job, but the pay was minimal. I did not want a “regular” full-time job because that would mean I could not be there for my child as much as I wanted.  My main focus was being the best parent I could be, but I needed another source of income.

There was one specific day that made my decision to get back into jewelry as an additional income source. I remember it well. I had a very upsetting meeting with my lawyer and learned my divorce would have to be settled in court. I felt sick, sad, stressed and emotionally drained. I had to make a stop at the grocery store before going home.  While standing in line at the store, I was just about in tears thinking about everything that was happening. I was trying to think of something happy and hold the tears back (the lady and cashier in front of me would have thought I was a nut if I just started crying holding milk and bread!). Then the customer in front of me turned in my direction and was looking past me to see her child coming back to her. She had sent him to get something she forgot. It was at that time that I got a glimpse of her necklace. It was a simple little round charm on a leather cord and it said “You’ve Got This.” A few things happened at this time. First, the message stuck and I believed it. I have got this! I do! It just clicked right then and there. Only I can let what I cannot control, control me. I could not control what someone else decided to do to change my life, but I can control how I react and how I move forward in my own life journey. I will not be destroyed. I will come out of this learning a grand lesson and I will be a better person because of it. Then it clicked how that simple little necklace just made me think of things differently in an instant. How can I help people in that way? What in the world could I do to maybe send a signal to someone who is going through something hard, to keep looking for the good and everything will be okay? I can make jewelry with meaning! So, that is where Scattering Kindness started.

Has it been a smooth road?
It seems NONE of my roads have been smooth. Hahahaha! But it has been an adventurous path full of more happiness than sorrows. It is still not smooth, but it is rewarding. The problem with trying to make money with something that takes money is getting the money to start in the first place, right?  At the time I was wanting to start up Scattering Kindness, I had no money to be spending on jewelry supplies.  So what I did was dig up some of the old stuff I had stored away and I made “new” out of the “old.” That got a lot of hemp stuff started, as I had a lot of hemp left over from the past. What I decided to do was weave words of inspiration and kindness into the hemp for bracelets. Some of the top sellers were Imagine, Love, Happiness, Kindness, Strength, Soar, Believe and Peace. Friends were buying them and even asking for bulk orders for groups, etc. That was a great start, but friends could not keep me afloat forever. I had to find places to sell my items.

That is when my friend, Marc Hammes, suggested I join him and get my own booth as an artisan member of the Monroe Farmer’s Market. His craft is making things out of old pallets, so I was even able to have him make me a few stands and boxes to start my display for the market. On that first day, I did not have much product to sell and my only money goal was to make back my membership fee and my daily tent rent. I DOUBLED my goal! I was amazed! As time went on there, I was having a hard time keeping up the inventory, and that is a good thing! This is when I turned to my son, Ian, for help.  He has helped me in so many ways and has a much different eye than I do.  I take him shopping and let him pick out some supplies, some of which I would have never picked up myself, and they end up being great sellers!  He also helps with marketing, making necklaces, setting up and breaking down the booth, and is my cashier at the market.  He earns a salary when he works, and with his money he saves two-thirds (car and college) and one-third is for spending.  So, when you buy from us you are putting a little change in Ian’s college fund.  Thank you!

At the market, customers can also design their own unique items and tell me what words they would like to wear. They can pick their own hemp/ribbon color and/or their own beads and letters to form their own words. This makes me so happy! I am able to meet new people who tell me their story, then I go home and get their order ready for the next market for them to pick up. I love seeing them come back to get their finished product. They are happy and you can see that maybe that piece will help them through whatever they are going through. I especially like the requests that come from a person wanting to create something to help another person. To watch the process of them deciding what to choose for another person is absolutely heartwarming.

Another struggle was finding a place to go when the Monroe Farmer’s Market was out of season.  I wanted to keep what I was doing going, but now I had to find another place to go. That is when I met Hope Reese at Monroe-Walton Center for the Arts. As soon as I met her, I knew I wanted to be a part of what she was doing. It was crystal clear that she embraced every single artist that was in MWCA and that she wanted to see us all succeed as artisans! She invited me to become a member and I moved a little display into the store part of MWCA immediately. She also offers to have the artists teach classes, workshops, PopUp Shops, be involved in shows and basically come in any time to do whatever we need. Because of this, through workshops and PopUp shops, I have been able to continue the face-to-face involvement with my customers when it is not market season.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Scattering Kindness story. Tell us more about the business.
What I do is make simple jewelry that is focusing on Peace, Love, Kindness, Happiness and your emotional well-being. I don’t make anything over 20.00.  I also never have a financial goal and I do not count on the income for any major bills.  My number one priority is Happiness, smiles and bringing people together.

I believe that if I change my priority to money-making, then I will lose my passion if my money goal is not met, so I just don’t make a money goal.  I go into every workshop and Market with the only expectation to be Smiles and Kindness. Money is secondary.  I believe the rewards will come whether they are monetary rewards or not.  I want everyone to be able to have something they can afford, love, be proud of and enjoy.

I teach people who are picking something with words on it, to pick something they want the reader to know about them or something you just want to say to the reader. This normally focuses on necklaces, charms or wrist wraps. I have told my “You’ve Got This” story a gazillion times. I bet that lady in the store had no idea what she did to me that day and I have no idea why she was wearing those words herself, but I will always remember that moment she said something very important to me without even speaking a word.

A big part of what I do is beaded bracelet bundles, and beaded bracelet workshops are my biggest draw right now. With these, I have noticed that only half of the customers put charms with words on their bracelets, which is totally okay!  Now we focus on what colors make us feel good. Customers come in and choose out of my thousands of beads, exactly what THEY want. The only direction in choosing the bead is to walk through and pick up what speaks to you. Put them all on your beading board, arrange them in a pattern that makes you feel good, string, wear and smile. They also have an opportunity to bead lava into anything they create. The lava rock absorbs essential oils. Because Hope, Director of MWCA, is also a DoTerra advocate, she has her oils at my workshops I do at MWCA and can educate customers as to the benefits of essential oils and which oils may be best for them specifically.

Scattering Kindness Drops: From time-to-time, I do what I call: “Kindness Drops.” This is where I pack up a few of my goodies in a bag, place it somewhere in the city, then go to my Instagram and Facebook to give clues of where the bag is. My customers love this! The bag normally says something like “You have found a Scattering gift of Kindness” or “Take Me, I’m Yours.” The feedback on these have been wonderful. Customers let me know they have found it, how much it meant, who they shared their items with, etc. This is one of my favorite things to do. It makes me so happy to put a smile on someone else’s face.

Monthly “Kindness Places” Gift Certificate Giveaways: Another thing I like to do is give gift certificates of local places that make ME feel good when I go there. We all have some favorite places that you just feel good when you enter. The energy is good, the mood is peaceful. So when I enter a place that feels good, I buy a 20.00 gift certificate from that place to give from “Scattering Kindness.” I announce this on my Instagram and Facebook. The way you can win is to share one of my upcoming Scattering Kindness events on your own page, and I will put you in the drawing. I draw on the first of the month and then the winner gets that 20.00 gift certificate of the place I chose that month. This month it is Coffee Camper Company in Monroe. The drinks and treats are amazing.  It is ran by one of the sweetest people I have met in Monroe, Crystal Padilla, who just happens to also be an amazing musician.  The entire atmosphere of the place is just wonderful.  You should definitely stop by the shop whenever you are in Monroe.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I am a “go with the flow” type of girl. Products will change with customer demands. Sometimes, it is more hemp. Right now beaded bracelets is the thing my customers are loving. Last year’s market was all about the silk wrist wraps.

I also like to be grounded and stay near my roots. I see myself staying right with Monroe Farmer’s Market and Monroe-Walton Center for the Arts as long as they will have me. Both of these establishments welcomed me when I did not have much to offer them. I did not have a following or many supporters on social media when these two places opened their arms to me. If my customers want my product and are local, I invite them to come to the Monroe Farmer’s Market on Court Street in Monroe on Saturday’s May 12-November 17 (Check Facebook and Instagram for the actual Saturday’s I will be a part of the market) and/or visit my booth at Monroe-Walton Center for the Arts at 205 S. Broad Street, Monroe.

On social media you can follow my Facebook and Instagram, both @ScatterSomeKindness, to learn about the workshops and PopUp shops I may be having at MWCA and also which Saturday’s I will be at the Monroe Farmer’s Market.

Also for my local customers, I have some fabulous news!  I have just been given the okay from Project Happiness to include their curriculum/teachings within my workshops.  I plan to work this in at the beginning or end of the workshops and call them “Happy Hour with Scattering Kindness.”  We will focus on ways to make ourselves the happiest we can be, including Project Happiness teachings.  Stay tuned on when these will start.  I am still going over the information to be sure I am presenting this in the best way possible.  I plan to use Project Happiness as my base, but to also allow our group to get off track a little and talk about other things.  I am really looking forward to this amazing opportunity.  If you want to know more about Project Happiness you can go to www.ProjectHappiness.org.

As for my out-of-town customers, I love you too and I do look to put some more items on my Etsy shop soon. It has been opened and closed many times, due to me trying to keep plenty of product available locally. I love the face-to-face contact with my customers but I do realize I cannot have this with everyone, and my out of town customers have made a great impact on my business.  This is something I will be working on this summer, I promise! You can go to my Etsy also @ScatterSomeKindness and I will have some stuff on there soon!

Contact Info:


Image Credit:
Michelle Halstead Photography, Hope Reese

Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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