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Spark and Hustle
Welcome to Spark and Hustle. The podcast that ignites your inspiration and fuels your hustle in the dynamic worlds of career and entrepreneurship. Join our host Karina a marketing junkie, on a journey of exploration, conversation, and empowerment.
In each episode, we dive deep into stories of professionals, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders. Discover the spark that ignites their journeys and the hustles that propelled them to success.
Whether navigating the corporate ladder or building your empire, follow Spark and Hustle for inspiration, practical advice, and occasional humor. Get ready to spark your ambitions and elevate your hustle game.
We believe in the power of connection. Join our community on Spotify, iTunes, and Instagram to share your experiences, learn from others, and become part of a supportive network of dreamers and doers. 🚀✨
@sparknhustlepodcast
Spark and Hustle
From E-Commerce to Brick & Mortar with Zafiro Jewellers
Get ready to uncover the fascinating world of jewelry styles, from rustic handmade gold pieces to sleek modern designs. Karina shares her expertise on the sustainable and ethical advantages of using recycled gold and lab-grown diamonds. Whether you're a jewelry enthusiast or a conscious consumer, Karina's insights will help you navigate the complex landscape of diamond buying, emphasizing the crucial Four C's—color, cut, clarity, and carat—while making informed, ethical choices.
Karina's entrepreneurial voyage didn't come without challenges. Hear firsthand how she transitioned from a stable career at American Airlines to full-time entrepreneurship during the turbulent times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Karina reveals her secrets to building a strong personal brand, offering luxury customer experiences, and the invaluable role of mentorship. Plus, she shares her commitment to community engagement, empowering artisan women, and supporting non-profits focused on domestic violence. This episode is a treasure trove of inspiration and practical advice you won't want to miss!
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Welcome to Spark and Hustle, where we ignite stories of passion, determination and success. I'm your host, karina, and today we have the pleasure of diving into the remarkable journey of Karina Benavides, the creative force behind Zafiro Jewelers. Karina's journey from Nicaragua to the States and from online entrepreneurship to owning her own storefront is truly inspiring. Let's delve into her story. Owning her own storefront is truly inspiring. Let's delve into her story. Hello, welcome to Spark and Hustle, the podcast that ignites your inspiration and fuels your hustle in the dynamic worlds of career and entrepreneurship. I'm your host, karina, a marketing junkie on a journey of exploration, conversation and empowerment. In each episode, we dive deep into the stories of professionals, entrepreneurs and thought leaders, discover the spark that ignites their journeys and the hustle that propels them to success. Whether you're navigating the corporate ladder or building your empire, follow Sparking Hustle for inspiration, practical advice and why not? Occasional handwork. Get ready to spark your ambitions and elevate your hustle game. We believe in the power of connection. Join our community on Spotify, itunes and Instagram to share your experiences, learn from others and become part of a supportive network of dreamers and doers.
Speaker 1:Karina Tokaya who's Tokaya in English? I don't know what the translation is in English, but it basically means somebody who has your same name. But I'm super happy and glad that we are able to catch up and finally able to talk to you and I know we've had many discussions about entrepreneurship and about small business and how to start your business, but I feel that we've never had that space and time to where I can learn your background and you've mentioned briefly about your family and that's where you kind of got your passion for what you do now. But I'm very looking forward to learning about more of yourself and what ignites your creativity. So thank you so much for creating the space and the time to be here. Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself and about your background.
Speaker 2:Sure. Thank you, karina, for having me here and, like you said, you know, we met in an entrepreneurial kind of way, but we never really have discussed it, so I'm happy to be in your podcast and be able to share with you and your audience a little bit about us. I was born in Nicaragua, but I'm currently living in Fort Worth and I'm married. I have no kids, but I have two crazy boxers that keep me very active. We, with my husband, we love to travel, explore, enjoy different cultures. I love to exercise. Spa is super important for me. Days, for me, are super important. I love to explore, hike. I have it on my to-do list to do a marathon one day. You inspire me, believe it or not, karina, when I see you doing that. I love coffee, but I have definitely minimized it to just maybe one cup a day.
Speaker 1:I love healthy eating and drinking lots of water, the beach and music and volunteering the time to help others in my community, thank you, thank you so much for giving your introduction and happy to help in any kind of running topic. I would love to help whenever you are ready to do so. But yeah, thank you for sharing with us and you mentioned you're from Nicaragua and I know you've mentioned in the past to me that your family has a rich history in the jewelry business in Nicaragua. Can you share with us how your upbringing and cultural background influenced your decision to start Zafiro Jewelers here in the United States?
Speaker 2:I was born in Nicaragua but I was raised in Canada.
Speaker 2:So when I was 12 years old my parents decided to move back to Nicaragua and my dad is a watchmaker and he decided at that point that he was going to open a jewelry store to offer jewelry and watch repair as well.
Speaker 2:So that was the beginning of what today would be my career. Like it was something I never expected it to be, just because I was never really into designing myself, like I wasn't as great in arts I was a very creative and great at customer service. But, um, seeing um these artisans, you know, um making so many beautiful pieces really influenced me, and I think the diversity that brought to me when I moved to Nicaragua, the the spark you know to possibly have something here in the US, but with a more modern and finer twist of lines, because back there in Nicaragua it was I would I wouldn't say more of a rustic type of approach when it came to jewelry making. So I wanted to bring something a little different over here, but also thinking about those qualities that could always bring pieces that will commemorate a special life event, and so that definitely that richness of me seeing how they would work over there influenced a lot the decision to open a store here.
Speaker 1:Wow, wow, very interesting and a lot of influence for your family. I do want to ask you if you can elaborate a little bit on the rustic. You mentioned that your family was focusing more on the rustic style. So what would a rustic style? I know this is a conversation in audio and I am looking at you, but I don't know if you could describe what the realistic style could be versus the more modern twit, finer jewelry.
Speaker 2:So we were not using. We were using precious metals like solid gold and we were also using silver 925, but very minimum, very minimum. Most of the jewelry was in solid gold, pieces that would last a lifetime. People would bring their solid gold that was inherited from their grandparents and they were making a jewelry piece and we were recycling that gold to make a new piece. And we weren't using diamonds, we weren't using fine gemstones.
Speaker 2:People did not have that awareness. You could put a cubic zirconia next to a diamond and people wouldn't understand the difference in price, at least in this town where I was from. Nowadays, obviously, that has improved. It has, you know, expanded with everything in the internet and people have gotten that culture. Mind you, nicaragua was a country back in 1995, when we moved, that had just come out of oppression, a communist country, so not a lot of people had the awareness of, you know, fine jewelry. It was like that craftsmanship was. It had died down for a while. And perhaps in Managua yes, in the capital, but I was from a city called Esteli.
Speaker 2:It's a very small town and people were just looking for pieces that look like handmade. They wanted handmade stuff. People were not thinking. We weren't thinking about machine-made jewelry, like here in the usa. So you can imagine how you're making something by hand. It won't have perfect lines. It won't be perfect. Sometimes you would have a piece where, like, we would have to make it two times or three times because it was handmade and it didn't pass our control quality when we were wanting to give it to the customer. So that's what it was. It was styles that were handmade. There was a chain style that I never forget. It was called cha-cha. I will share a picture to you, but it's like you were weaving something. It looked like a little knit sweater and that was so intriguing to see when they were making it. It's. And then here in the us you know, everything is mass production so it was made here by hand, sorry, by machines, in here in the us and over there they were still making it, you know, by hand.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay, so I totally understand now the difference between what you're talking about, from being more of a rustic than being more of a modern. Look Now can you maybe, for those who don't know, who are listening can you explain a little bit the difference between the diamond and the zirconia. Is that what you call it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, so zirconia is what you typically see in a lot of jewelry. That is like people call it fake jewelry. You know, faux jewelry it's plastic. Faux jewelry it's plastic. It's made in a lab but with no composition. Like a diamond is mined in earth, so it's typically just a piece of, I would say, like plastic and has definitely no value at all. It will scratch. Cubic zirconias are obviously a lot nicer than just it has a better composition than just plasticky, inexpensive type of stones because there is that too and, of course, a diamond. You could either mine it from nature, you can have a natural diamond, and now lab-grown diamonds are the ones that are very popular nowadays because of the cost. It could be 50% difference in price and they are real diamonds. They're just made in a lab, just like anything in life, that is. You know, we live in a fast paced world. Well, the diamond industry has also found a way of recreating with the same component as a natural diamond, but in a lab way of doing it. So that's the majority of the difference.
Speaker 1:I'm still learning so much about jewelry and about diamonds and about the different types, um, but maybe I want to get your input and thoughts about being a diamond mind and with all these different cases and violence happening in different sides of the of the world, um, I, I do get that having a mine diamond, it's probably the real thing, the real thing, but then under what cost and then what? Versus having a lab-grown diamond, it sounds to me that it's a little bit more sustainable, no violence. So there's a lot of pros and cons of each one and and I just wanted to get your thoughts about you being a jeweler what are your thoughts about the not the mind diamonds? There's left room okay.
Speaker 2:So, um, personally, I'm very conscious of where the origin of the diamond is. That is very important. There is ways, as jewelers, to get natural diamonds from a reputable source without having that origin, where there has been violence, jobs that are not being, you know, paid like fair wages for those mining them. So there are ways of you finding those. Asking those questions to your providers is very, for me personally, is very important when I'm sourcing natural diamonds Right now.
Speaker 2:The industry has gotten very strict about that because of everything going on in the world, and so typically, you will know if it was sourced sustainably the natural diamond as far as the lab-grown diamond. Natural diamond as far as the lab grown diamond. There is also ways for you to also making sure that they are sustainable, because there are also factories. You know these are made in labs, so you want to make sure that these employees are also being treated fairly. It's not like there are no employees involved. So when it comes to that part of like, which one is worse than the other, I think it's really making sure that the jeweler you're working with if that is something that you are wanting to ensure gives you that proper information A jeweler that is conscious about anything sustainable making sure job neighbors are being treated fairly for these employers then you will feel confident in buying from that jeweler.
Speaker 2:A jeweler should be able to disclose that information, like I had a customer who said I want the origin, I want to know. So I source personally myself a lot of our diamonds here in the USA and I work with some of them that are mined over here or created here, like in New York. Here or created here, like in New York, and although there are mines overseas, we try to work a lot with providers here in the US.
Speaker 1:Okay, thank you. So, yes, you're right. I mean, even though they could be left grown, that doesn't mean that their employees are necessary. The employees are necessary could be treated, uh, fairly. So, um, I thank you for sharing your point of view and before we get into how safito started and more of the uh background story behind safito, can you maybe, for those also who are in this discovery phase of learning about diamonds, can you probably give us like a quick run through of, um, like a teaching informational session of how to tell if it's what kind of diamond it is, you know, from the cut, the clarity uh, the shape, uh, and maybe if you could just share a little bit of a of like a cheat sheet for for diamond yes, no, definitely.
Speaker 2:So there you will find a lot of information on uh google. I'm personally going to be working on a blog that I will have uh sometime in the next few months. Uh on my website so you guys can find that, but typically you will never be, unless you are a gemologist that was trained and you're not going to really know how to tell the difference between a natural diamond and a lab-grown diamond. However, um, if you know, like you could put two together next to each other and you're not going to be able to tell. However, something that you want to look for, it's always called the four C's your color, your cut, your clarity and your carrot. So, to some people, the carrot is important and they don't care if it's five carat, it's a big one. They don't really care about their color or the clarity.
Speaker 2:So, when you're wanting to purchase your future diamond, think a lot. First, of course, your budget. You want to make sure that's your first thing, you know, because if you want a five carat, even lab grown, and your budget is $2,000, that's probably not going to be something you know, something sustainable to reach. So you want to make sure that your color and your clarity are important based on the shape of your stone. Round diamonds are the easiest one to find a decent quality with color and clarity alone, but there are shapes like oval where the depth is very important compared to a round one, for example, um emerald cut. So, depending on the shape of the diamond, we want to be very careful on what color, clarity and cut we are picking at that point.
Speaker 2:I'll give you an example. The oval one has a bow tie in the middle when you look at it and you have some that are wider and some that are elongated. So you could have a three carat diamond that could be elongated and look maybe smaller than one that's wider three carat based on the cut or the millimeters. So it creates a little bit of a challenge when you're looking for these diamonds, especially when you're sourcing them online. Sourcing them online, you want to make sure the jeweler you're working with has that you know knowledge to ensure she or he picks the perfect ring for you. So I've I have customers I work online with they're in, for example, canada, where I was raised, and they trust that I'm picking the best diamond based on what they want also to achieve at the end with the ring. So that was just one example. You know we can get into more different shapes of diamonds, but depending on the shape of the diamond, sometimes color is more important than clarity. Sometimes cut is more important than, uh, clarity, the clarity you know.
Speaker 1:So it just depends and then just to follow up on that, how does it work? So let's say I want to go and buy myself a ring with diamonds and it's gonna be something that will last a lifetime. How do I know, or how can you tell us, if that's going to maintain the same price if I want to sell it in maybe 15 years? Is that going to be less of a value, or how can you explain that?
Speaker 2:So if, when you are putting your budget, if for you it's important to keep value over time, natural diamond is the best way to go. I wouldn't suggest lab grown. If that's like, hey, you know what, karina, In 15 years I want to upgrade or resell my ring, whatever the situation is, will it have value? So real gold, like right now solid gold, has increased to 2400 that ounce. That has never been the case in history. It was, I remember, used to be $200 the ounce back in like 1970. So imagine how much increment it has done.
Speaker 2:So if you have gold from your grandparents from the 80s, 70s, you have value right now, okay Now. So when it comes to keeping value, you need to purchase natural diamonds, lab-grown diamonds. You got to be very careful who you're purchasing it from, because at times there is right now a controversial news that I'm not going to mention a company, but they were increasing their prices of lab-grown diamonds very high and right now those diamonds have plummeted, you know, like gone down so much in value. So lab grown diamonds definitely will not keep that value wow, good to know.
Speaker 1:thank you for sharing um, I feel like I've taken over this session as a learning session instead of your story. But going back to the birth of Safiro, yours as an online venture and then transitioning to your physical store in Fort Worth, texas, which currently had your grand opening. Congratulations, what inspired you to take this leap and what were some of the challenges you faced along the way? I feel that I've kind of been part of your process and I'm very proud to see you grow from when I met you, which I believe it's been a couple years now, to where you are now. So I'm incredibly proud of everything you've achieved and your persistence and consistent how consistent you've been with your business. So I would love for you to share a little bit of that story transitioning from being your online venture to now having your own physical store, and what can others learn from your challenges that you faced along the way?
Speaker 2:Sure. So this adventure really with my business, I will kind of go back in time. I started in 2013 in Nicaragua. I opened a physical store. We were open Monday through Saturday, so I already had that retail experience. I already knew what it entails to have a physical store, you know, for managing employees and all of that.
Speaker 2:But I had a little spark inside of me and I wanted to travel the world because I was married and had a divorce. I went through a divorce in 2012. And in 2013, my mom said why don't you start your jewelry business? You know, and I did so after a year in Nicaragua, I was like mom, I think I want to travel. You know, when you have a dream that you never accomplished and you want to accomplish it, that was it kept bothering me that I wanted to work again for the airline, which I temporarily did in my 20s. So I moved to Miami in 2014. And again I was not working with the airline. But then something else inside of me was bothering me. It's like I want to sell jewelry. I want to sell jewelry, but how do I start?
Speaker 2:I remember having an Instagram account back in 2013 when I opened the jewelry, but I just didn't know For me back then. I remember sitting one day and thinking how do I start a business in the US? You know, I didn't know Nicaragua. I had everything. It was so quick for me to open it. I had my parents, I had their support. It was just very different. So I said one day, why not start selling, just trying out a few pieces? So I went, I remember, to downtown Miami, purchased a few jewelry pieces in silver 925. And I just started showing it to my friends Just randomly. Hey, you know, I have some jewelry. Do you want to see it? The old way, I did some pictures. I remember posting on my Instagram Horrible pictures, by the way, didn't have no lighting, they look black. But I was posting and I started getting questions and I started, you know, selling showing mainly in person. I love the face front type of um service. I don't know, I just enjoy it very much more than online um, but it was, that's what it was at that point. I kept doing that for a few years, but then I put it on pause in 2018. Put it on pause. I remember taking a box plastic box. Put that in pause Because I wanted to focus on my airline career.
Speaker 2:I was growing in the corporate world and I just didn't have time to do the full time I was. I'm married again, and so I just had wanted to enjoy time with my new husband, and so I didn't have time for entrepreneur and corporate job. You know so and corporate job, you know so. But then in 2019, I got this little spark again of like, I want to have freedom of time. I want to have freedom of time, I want to have my own business, I want to travel the world, and I said why don't I just start showing my jewelry pieces again? So I started showing my jewelry pieces again to people. I didn't even know anyone here in Texas. I had just moved to Texas in 2016. And when I showed my pieces, a lot of people said oh my God, you have really nice jewelry. Because when I would tell people I would sell jewelry, they thought it was like I don't know paparazzi, like fake jewelry. Just how would I say the word Fake jewelry? It wasn't precious metals, but that was me. I always wanted to do precious metal, real gold.
Speaker 2:And so, fast forward, in 2020, I quit my corporate job with American Airlines and I decided to start my business full time. Obviously, this didn't start right away. You know, I had two years of planning prior to this, financially and mentally, to be ready to resign from a corporate job because I had a salary that was steady. I also needed the support from my husband and he was super supportive with the idea and I gave him a promise give me five years if I don't make this work, because people think that you'll start a business and you'll have success in day one or first year. No, and I said to my husband I need five years, and in five years I'm not saying I was going to reach the major success, but at least have a good foundation to continue growing the business. So he said yes, I'll give you, because my thought was well, if I fail, let's say my business is not going to work, just go back and work again like I have. I'm humble in that sense, like I have no issue about restarting a journey. I had to restart after a divorce and I think that really made me a stronger women. Um, any anything you have in life that, let's say you struggle health-wise, um, you go through a divorce like any major event in your life that will shape you. Let's say, I don't know. A disaster comes like a natural disaster destroys your house and you have to rebuild. Like I learned that I could restart anything. So that's why I didn't mind risking five years in not being in a corporate world to start my business. So here we are now, fast forward, and for two years, 2020 was imagine the impact. Covid came oh my God. I had this plan of resigning and now COVID is here. What do I do?
Speaker 2:But back then, I had a mentor that I was taking a course with and she kept reminding us, you know, and we were facing something in the world where how am I selling jewelry and there's a disaster going worldwide? How do you have that? So I remember that I started seeing all these other companies selling jewelry. What message they were giving. So the message was to be very empathetic with the situation, and that's what I did. I took a bootcamp course and we built back then my brand to being empathetic with what the situation was happening worldwide. I will tell you that my goal was to sell $1,000 in one month, in the month of April, and I remember selling like 4,000. And I was like, oh my God. And then, in May, I sold 7,000. I was like, no way In the pandemic. Yes, people were buying, and that girl gave me the push to continue my business.
Speaker 2:So everything was online. I was very active doing lives, doing stories, like out of my comfort zone, because I didn't even know what I was doing. I didn't even have branding back then. I just had an idea. I had a logo. I had a little more of branding than, of course, what I had back in 2013. But, anyhow, I kept going.
Speaker 2:And then 2020, more people started coming out around the fall. So I started looking for in person events. I found a few here and there. I did a few, but everything was online. In 2021, everything was online.
Speaker 2:Towards the fall of 2021, I did notice that sales were decreasing. People weren't watching lives as much. It's like people were stranded and they were so enclosed in their houses for like a year or so that everybody was going out. So I had to start doing pop ups. I had to go out. So it's like I pivoted, you know. It's like, okay, now Karina, we're not having so many sales online, let's go out and show the world. So I started renting small little spaces, 10 by 10. If you are listening and are familiar with painted tree, they're these collectives where there's different small businesses in one house started renting spaces like that just to test if my jewelry was selling before I would get into a lease, you know. And I tested that idea and it was selling. Jewelry was selling. I was like, okay, people are coming to a space to look for jewelry. That's good. So I rented like a small.
Speaker 2:I had a dream that I wanted to create engagement rings. That's something I have enjoyed since day one. Back even when I was going through my divorce, they were coming to my jewelry store and that was my passion. Uh, it was helping these couples. I believed in love. Despite me going through what I went through, I still believe in love and, um, I was helping them create their, their rings and I enjoyed that. And I said I want to do that here in in you know, fort Worth, how do I do it?
Speaker 2:So I needed a space because I was noticing that online it was hard for me to sell this luxury type of item. So I felt like, okay, if I have an in person space, people can come and they'll feel confident and they'll feel like they can trust me that I'm a real jeweler, that I'm going to give them the service, that I'm going to deliver what they're paying, you know, because they're not paying $100. You're paying over $2,000, $10,000, $15,000, depending on what ring they're making. So I wanted them to feel that trust. So that's how I started. That's what sparked the idea of having a space was to have that one-on-one ability to sell diamonds in person. So that's how it started. I did not, obviously, open the doors and people started coming for engagement rings. Definitely that did not happen. It has taken a while.
Speaker 1:But they are coming now, right, I mean, you do sell them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they are coming now. Right I to lose weight in a month? That's not going to happen. It's not going to happen, sometimes, in a year. It's a progress of time. What are you doing behind the scene to achieve that?
Speaker 1:We've learned about how resilient you've been. You know, going through all these life changes, stages of your life, new chapters, I see that you've been super resilient and, most importantly, you've inspired me so much and have motivated me because I, as you know, I met you through my small business as well and for the last two years now it's been on pause Not 100%, but I have not been as active as I was and I've been having this thought in my head like I need to close the circle. I need to close the circle. What am I going to do? Am I going to completely just close it down or am I going to continue? Like I've been having all these second thoughts.
Speaker 1:But now that you mentioned your story, it's really inspiring and motivating that. You know it doesn't need to be closed down. If I want to take a break and if I decided to take a break, I can take a break and I can always come back to it. So it's not a completely yes or no thing. We can always put it in the parking lot for for the moment. So thank you so much for bringing that spark to me again.
Speaker 1:And then another thing I wanted to say that it's another topic I've also discussed in other episodes, how proud I am of you of not being ashamed to come in front of the camera. I I've seen how hard you work on being consistent in social media and doing your lives and doing your reels and doing everything and again, like we've mentioned in previous episodes, I mean you are the face of your business. People see you and they know, they know you're gay, see your brand. So I just want to say how proud I am of you. I still need to get motivated into being in front of the camera like that. I think this is this. This video recording through the podcast has been the most that I've been in front of the camera. But I cannot break that barrier of just, you know, talking to the camera. But maybe a workshop, one of the workshops, like you did, or maybe doing some mentorship workshops as well, like you've done, could be helpful for others to also break that barrier. How did you find your mentorships and workshops?
Speaker 2:What made you decide which one to go to my husband is from Puerto Rico and through working in the airline, I met a few friends and one of those friends said to me hey, karina, do you want to join my WhatsApp group? And this was in 2019. We're learning about Instagram. So I said, hey, this is great because I'm starting my business again and I want to learn about how to post online. That's how it all started. It's like networking super important. Networking is crucial. I know you are great at that, karina. That's how I learned a lot about good spots here in Dallas for pop ups like I was lost and I networked and I'm not afraid about asking questions. I also not afraid to help others at the same time, you know. So now I get questions from other entrepreneurs that are starting, and it's an honor for me to be able to help them, because I once needed that help. So that's how I started.
Speaker 2:I found, through social media. Networking through social media is a thing. I was following others and seeing what they were doing, who they were following, what mentors they had, and there are so many out there that you might get lost, and there are so many out there that you might get lost. And one that I found was called. It's in Spanish, renuncia Feliz, and she's from Puerto Rico. Her name is Marisa Belby. She's amazing, and it just caught my attention how to quit your corporate job happily, if we want to translate it, you know, from Spanish to English and I was like, oh wait, she's teaching something that is really in my interest. So I think, depending on the stage of your life, there will come a podcast that you will probably find useful based on what you're living. So in that moment, it was her, marisa, and she had an amazing course that teaches you how to prepare yourself to quit, how to set goals, how to prepare an agenda, how to plan so many things in that course and from her then, after I had to learn more about Instagram. So I saw this other boot camp hey, 20 days to improve your social media and I took that other course as well because, again, it was something I needed. How do I do lives? Because you remember I was just posting. So that's, that course was focused on that.
Speaker 2:So, based on your personal not your personal, sorry based on your current goals of your business, you look for those mentors that will fulfill those needs. So that's what happened then, and I am very picky of who is my mentor? Marisa from Renuncia Feliz. She's been my mentor up to today's date. From Renuncia Feliz. She's been my mentor up to today's date. She has grown so much in her business that she now offers like a mastermind retreat and I'll talk more about that after. But I participated in her mastermind last year and it's just been fabulous. I truly believe in educating yourself. Whether you are in corporate or you have a business, you have to educate yourself.
Speaker 1:Education is key. I mean, I think education is the number one thing that, no matter what happened like, let's say, like you mentioned, a natural disaster happens, and God forbid with the weather like this. You know, the store is gone tomorrow, correct, okay, the store is gone, the material things are gone. But you for sharing some of the workshops and mentors that you've worked with and that you're currently working. But going back a little bit to where you started, so, as an entrepreneur entering a new market from a different place, what strategies did you employ to establish Safido in such a competitive landscape here in the US? How are you differentiating yourself, your brand and connecting with customers?
Speaker 2:We live in a fast-paced world, everything is quick and I think we have lost that personal touch from customer to customer. And you know, even big companies they start small and then they start growing and they lose that connection with the customer. So for me, something that I have is I have a yearly plan, a five year plan, like vision wise. I create a lot of mood boards to keep me going and always staying focused on my goal. And for me, one thing I am very, very sure that I don't want in my life is I don't want to grow my business where I have more than 10 employees in my structure. And why is that? Because for me it's so important to keep a boutique feel in my structure. And why is that? Because for me it's so important to keep a boutique feel in my business like customer service oriented. That to me is like I want to give that luxury experience to my customers. So as I am growing and I am bringing more of that luxury item, I want that customer to feel like hey, that they're talking to me one-on-one, that I can come to them if they need to. I want to keep it that way and so that vision is so important for me like I don't care about making. We are always working to make money, but I'm not here right now thinking about money, money, money, money and growth. In that sense, I'm thinking about quality and service, and so I have felt it face front. You know, when you shop from these big companies and you don't get that service and that impacts you a lot. Talenting opened me the world to think of how beautiful it feels to treat me as the owner, to still give that service to my customer. Of course, as we're growing, you know I have right now an associate at my store, for example, but because it's such a small team, I can train them to deliver that service.
Speaker 2:So in such a competitive world here in the US, because when I first started they told me you're going to open a jewelry store. There are so many jewelry stores in the US Like that was the first thing I heard from a friend, my mom never, because my mom has a special story. My mom, when we open our store, we were in a strip where, like a downtown strip, and we were the last jewelry store. So when people were coming to us, they were like they had already shopped around and we were the last store and they would end up buying from us. Why? Because of quality, quality and service. My mom was always giving the best service that she could give and so that, to me, opened my vision and my eyes. When I was here, I was like it doesn't matter, I can still stay uh, competitive if I'm giving the best service. People will come to me. I can be the most expensive boutique shop, but they're going to come to me because I'm giving the best service.
Speaker 1:Yes, I think I'm a testament of that. My mother-in-law was visiting from Panama a few weeks ago and she had a few pieces of jewelry that she wanted to take back to Kendra Scott because they had already tarnished. And as we were there, of course you know I'm a big jewelry fan yeah, and I couldn't just I couldn't, um stop myself from window shopping and looking at all these amazing, amazing pieces of jewelry that Kendra Scott has. But in my mind I'm like you know, I'm not gonna buy from Kendra Scott. I mean, I already have someone that I go back to and I am a return customer.
Speaker 1:So I love the customer experience you give and I love how personalized you make it. So I think it is a big differentiator from other of the thousands jewelers or jewelry stores that there are out there. Whenever I think jewelry, I think Karina, and if I need something, I don't even have to go to your website. I know I can just send you a whats and you're going to basically send me the full catalog while you know talking to me. So I really appreciate that and I think that is a big differentiator. Like I said, I feel like I'm a testament of it and that's why I'll continue to come back and purchase from you. So now you talked a little bit about your mom. So now that you brought her up and you mentioned the store that you guys had back in Nicaragua, blending a little bit of the tradition and innovation Zafiro commends a traditional craftsmanship with the modern design. So can you tell us more about your creative process and how you infuse in some of your pieces, some cultural elements into your collection?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so at the moment I have yet to make my own you know collection like Karina's collection, like from scratch. It just takes time and thought. But that's a goal I have for the future. But for the moment, when I am traveling and I am creating the jewelry pieces that I want to bring to my store, I'm a very eclectic type of person. So today I can be very minimalist and tomorrow I can be very boho. I just have those type of person. So today I can be very minimalist and tomorrow I can be very boho. I just have those type of like different styles that I enjoy. So that, I think, also comes with that background. You know the diversity.
Speaker 2:I was born in Nicaragua, raised in Canada, went back to Nicaragua again. I have lived in Miami, so've lived in different way places in the world and that has shaped me of who I am today. Um, that's why, maybe when I'm at the beach, I love that Bejo style. Um, if I'm like in Nicaragua, I might want to go with a more colorful type of jewelry. So I personally right now that's how I kind of look at all the pieces is bringing those tones of influences from our Latin background.
Speaker 2:So, for example, I'll give you one collection that I enjoyed bringing during the summer. It's our Colombian artisan handmade. And not only we're supporting these artisan women that I personally know directly, but we're giving them a fair wage support to them. So their story is really nice and I was going to remove this collection because I wanted to strictly focus just on precious metals. But this collection, like I said, is very special.
Speaker 2:After hearing these artisan stories, I said I have to keep bringing this collection year after year and this one has vibrant colors and that reminds me a lot of the warmth of the Latinos culture and bringing that here to Fort Worth just to bring something different. And people love that. When they come to my store they're like, oh my god, we love these rich colors and they feel like they're traveling the world. So I have like an Italian semi-fine line which is all in silver 925. That also is very minimal, modern for, like that, everyday women, especially here. A lot of them love dainty jewelry, but I also have that more bold, bigger statement pieces for that woman that wants to be very creative, wants to play around with colors. And then we have our artisan handcrafted line for people that really appreciate handmade stuff.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I can relate totally. I know lately I've been wanting to do jewelry, but I am very eclectic too and I've seen all these bulky pieces and I'm always wanting to explore and venture. So maybe that could be my next piece. And some advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs, especially to those who are venturing into new territories or even industries?
Speaker 2:oh my god, yes. So one thing, one word don't overthink it. My husband, he's an overthinker and at times I have to kind of tell him babe, let's move on, let's over, let's not think too much, something. Of course, you know, like I told you guys, before two years prior to me quitting my corporate job, I made a plan. So, yes, you of course want to plan your journey somehow. Be also like don't be afraid of if things along the way you have those little stones that you got to move away. You know to make it happen. So don't overthink it, just start.
Speaker 2:I've noticed that a lot of the people don't start a business because they either feel they don't have enough money Paul don't start a business because they either feel they don't have enough money, they either feel don't have the logo, the perfect situation, the branding, and they're just so afraid to start. I started with just $500. I started with these business cards and these little jewelry pouches that are in white silk, but to this date I still carry. At time that's how it started. I didn't have much and just a little suitcase, a red suitcase that I still have, with all the jewelry in there. So I didn't have much. When I go back to my Instagram and I look at what I had, I was like, oh wow, so that is something that I would definitely tell you and Amazon.
Speaker 2:Jeff Bessel, he said I knew that if I failed I wouldn't regret it, but I knew that one thing I might regret is not trying, and that, to me, is so important. If you don't try, you're going to fail yourself. So it is important that you conquer those fears. I know there's a lot of fear when you're starting something new, but you have to try it and don't be also overthinking so much about what other people will say, because you're not living in someone else's life. You're living your own life, and so that's the best thing I can advise people that are starting a new journey. They're venturing in a new, especially a new, industry. So don't be afraid. I mean, if you failed, you tried and that right there, you will very conquer the world.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's very inspiring and I hope that this will be helpful for others to hear as well. Thank you for sharing, karina. And in terms of community engagement and giving back, I know that for businesses it's often crucial, so especially those in family traditions. How does a fetal jubilance give back to the community and how important is it for you to maintain these connections?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so for me, I love to support nonprofit organizations, especially the ones with domestic violence for women, especially the ones with domestic violence for women. I never experienced that in my first marriage but unfortunately, towards the end of our marriage it did get a little bit not in the best situation, just because alcohol got involved in his life and that made him be a person totally different and he had some type of violence, and so for me that's a very dear and touching type of organizations that I want to support. So we've worked with Genesis in Dallas and also here in Fort Worth with Safe Havens. So we do donations with them. We have done events with them as well to give back. I think if you give back, it's going to come back to you as well, so those two are very dear to me.
Speaker 2:Also, mental health organizations the past two years have been very hard in my marriage because my husband started suffering with mental health and so people don't talk about that a lot. I don't talk a lot about that in my own Instagram, but that has been a very tough one because you always see you know men being strong and that they don't suffer from this, but it does happen survivors of cancer and also friends, and so I like to donate as well to those organizations. And so to me, if you're not giving back to your community as a business owners, I think it's it's. I'm not gonna say your business is not going to strive or grow, but you are going to be a happier person in your business and it's just an overall satisfaction. To wrap, up.
Speaker 1:I wanted to ask you two final questions. One, it's in regards of your future endeavors and expansion. So what are your aspirations for Zafira Jewelers? Do you have an? Do you envisioning expanding your reach beyond four words or exploring new adventures for growth and innovation in the jewelry industry?
Speaker 2:So, like I mentioned before, my husband is from Puerto Rico, so our dream is to eventually move to Puerto Rico. This is one of the other reasons why I also started a business is to have that relocation a lot faster. Business is to have that relocation a lot faster. So for the moment we plan on staying here in, only not expanding locally with a store. But I do want to expand my e commerce nationwide and also Puerto Rico and Canada, perhaps the world as well, but that's another complication to go with. But for now it's like reaching out more people within the USA. I do want to improve our services and one thing I want to focus on, maybe for next year, is offering more personalized jewelry. We currently do personalized and engravings, but I want to learn how to do it myself with a software and a machine that we want to purchase to give that service in our store, and I want to further my education and get my GIA diamond and gemstone certificates.
Speaker 1:Nice. Well, good luck with all of that. And just to wrap up, and one final question if you could share a trade secret for all those of us who are listening.
Speaker 2:For me is always keep challenging yourself. Like that's really important for me is to keep challenging myself, stay disciplined, don't give up, and consistent challenging myself.
Speaker 1:Stay disciplined, don't give up, and consistent. Karina, your story is a testament of the power of passion, perseverance and resilience. Thank you for sharing your journey with us today, To our listeners. Thank you for tuning in Spark and Hustle. Remember, no matter where you are in your journey, your dreams are within reach. Until next time, keep sparking and hustling.