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Thrive By Design: Business and Marketing Strategy for Fashion, Jewelry and Creative Brands

I’m your host, Tracy Matthews, Chief Visionary Officer of Flourish & Thrive Academy. After 20+ years in the jewelry industry, I believe you deserve to make money doing what you love, without spending every waking minute doing it. I’ve built two jewelry businesses: one that totally flopped after years of stress and burnout, and then one that I built around MY desired lifestyle, which is still thriving to this day. Both were fueled by equal passion and dedication. The only difference is that I realized your business should be built around your lifestyle, not the other way around. I founded Flourish & Thrive Academy because it’s my mission to help independent jewelry designers and handmade product makers like you build a business that THRIVES in today’s market and aligns with what YOU want. Every week, I’m dedicated to demystifying the secrets of the jewelry industry and teaching you tips and strategies that are working now, so you don’t have to learn the hard way, like I did. My Desired Brand Effect Methodology has helped thousands of jewelry designers and makers build and scale businesses that create financial freedom in their lives. Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint, and you don’t have to do it alone. I’m so happy to be on this journey with you. You can subscribe to the show here and watch every episode on YouTube here. Follow us on Instagram @flourish_thrive or slide into my DMs @tracymatthewsny. Visit flourishthriveacademy.com to learn more about our mission and our high-level coaching programs for dedicated business owners, Laying The Foundation and Momentum. And if you want to learn more about The Desired Brand Effect, I wrote a whole book about it! Read the first chapter for free here. Welcome to the #ThriveTribe, m’dear. I’m always dropping new resources, masterclasses, and opportunities for independent makers, so stay tuned!
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Thrive By Design: Business and Marketing Strategy for Fashion, Jewelry and Creative Brands
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Now displaying: December, 2019
Dec 31, 2019

What’s your money story?

When it comes to money, everyone has different stories they tell themselves, including you - though you may not even realize it.

Most people start out with negative money stories that take serious work to clear. They can be inherited from family, picked up in the media, established from experience, etc.

No matter where it started, fear around money always stems from some form of scarcity mindset and will only ever get in the way of your success.

Successful entrepreneurs put in the work to transform their money story into one that’s compatible with a growth mindset.

And that’s what we’re going to do today.

Dec 24, 2019

Let Go of Stories that Hold You Back

Sometimes you hold on to stories about the world and your place in it that hold you back from our true potential.

Those stories will keep limiting you until you acknowledge them and do the work to clear them.

Negative mantras that drag you down, like, “There isn’t enough money to go around.” can be reframed in the positive: “There is enough money to go around.”

The first step is to identify YOUR limiting beliefs and stories. What it will take to clear them?

Take Full Responsibility for Your Success

Have you ever caught yourself playing the “Blame Game?” I know I have.

Tsk tsk tsk.

It’s easy to blame others for your problems and avoid taking responsibility, but it’s neither realistic nor productive.

As a jewelry-preneur and creative visionary, you are responsible for your own success. Own it. And when those sweet moments of success do come, they’ll be even better!

Always Operate from a Growth Mindset

At times, it can be a challenge to stay positive and operate from a growth mindset, rather than a scarcity mindset. But when you do it, it pays off. 

Every. Single. Time.

Don’t expect miracles to happen when you haven’t done the work. Take action. Implement what you learn. The miracles will come.

If you nurture a mindset that is open to new opportunities, you will start to notice them all around you. It’s like magic. 

That’s all I can say for now. To hear the rest of the 7 lessons from 2019, listen to the full episode above. 

I’m wishing you restful holidays, m’dear! 

Dec 17, 2019

Have you ever thought about the impact your brand has on the environment and in communities around the globe?

There’s a shift happening in the jewelry industry right now. People all the way down the chain, from consumers to designers to miners, are becoming aware of the environmental and social impact of jewelry.

The Chicago Responsible Jewelry Conference is an annual event dedicated to changing the jewelry industry for the better. It’s only in its third year, but its already making an impact.

Director of Education Jessica Gebauer sat down to talk through the major takeaways from this year’s conference with Niki Grandics, founder of Enji Studio and the co-chair of marketing and communications for Ethical Metalsmiths.

They talked about a few things YOU can do to start making a difference.

Dec 10, 2019

1) You Feel Overly Defensive of Your Biz

Someone asks a critical question about your business or offers constructive feedback, and you immediately snap into defense mode. That’s a red flag.

As the creative visionary, you may be too close to your biz to see some of the big-picture problems. 

I get it, you’re passionate about what you do. That passion is what fuels your success, but it can also get in the way of growth if you let it.

If you find yourself feeling overly defensive of your business decisions, that’s usually the first sign it’s time to get some outside perspective on things.

2) You’re Operating from a Scarcity Mindset

You feel stressed because there’s not enough money to go around, not enough room in the marketplace for your work, etc.

It’s not true.

Repeat after me, and believe it: money is limitless, sales are limitless, your opportunities for growth are limitless. It’s only a matter of getting your head in the right space and putting in the work.

The best cure for a scarcity mindset is to reach out to a supportive community of like-minded artists who can help you shift your thinking.

3) Your Actions and Goals are Misaligned

You are setting ambitious goals but not making a plan or implementing the actions that will allow you to follow through.

Here’s the unfortunate truth: sometimes the person you are today is not going to the person you want to be in the future.

Recognizing this forces you to reflect on your own approach to business. This is where a coach or mentor can really help you out.

If you’re feeling a little called out right now, don’t be too hard on yourself! This is the first step of tapping into your potential for growth.

Listen to the rest of the podcast, where I talk about the actions you can take once you’ve identified that it’s time to ask for help.

Until next week, m’dear!

xo, Tracy

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Dec 3, 2019

Do you ever feel like you’re trying to do everything at once?

This is a problem. When you’re trying to run a business and handle everything by yourself, it quickly becomes overwhelming and you end up focusing on menial tasks that aren’t actually moving your business forward.

That’s why “Delegate to Elevate” is an intrinsic part of the Desired Brand Effect methodology.

In this episode, I chatted with Krista DeJoseph, someone who really took “Delegate to Elevate” to heart. 

As the creative behind Queens Metal, Krista has been at the helm of her company for over a decade. Designing and fabricating jewelry is her passion, and nothing makes her happier than smashing the hell out of a piece of metal.

When Krista decided she wanted to take winters off to travel, she knew she needed someone to keep an eye on things while she was gone. This led her to “stumble into” (her words) hiring a virtual assistant.

But she never expected what happened next.

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