Samantha Levine is the owner and creative director of Auburn Jewelry, a company that makes custom sterling silver, brass and 14-karat gold pieces with a signature look featuring a circular charm.
Levine started making jewelry at her high school, which featured a metals program. She said, “I saw people using blowtorches in class and thought, ‘Awesome!’ I signed up for jewelry classes as soon as I could and never looked back.” Her jewelry is now sold on her website and in several retail stores. It has been featured in “Parade Magazine,” Lucky.com and People StyleWatch, among many other media outlets.
The Start
How did you get started with your business?
I’ve been hand-making jewelry since I was 14 years old. My high school had a metals program, and by the time I graduated from high school I was president of the jewelry club and a teacher’s assistant.
When I was looking at colleges, I wanted to make sure I went somewhere that had a metals program. I landed at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, where I minored in jewelry and metals.
Then I went to law school. I asked my parents for all the equipment to have a metal studio in our house as a Chanukah gift, and they obliged. I started making jewelry again because I missed it so much while I was in law school. I thought it would be a great outlet while I was in school. Everybody loved the pieces so much, that when I graduated I started doing this full-time.
How did you fund your business in the beginning? Have you taken on any additional funding since?
My parents gave me the initial gift of the equipment. I’ve never had to take out a loan – thank God, because I’d done enough of that with law school! I have very little overhead right now because I’m still working out of the house.
The business is growing and we’re looking into manufacturing at this point because it’s getting a little tough for me to keep up with orders because I’m still making every single piece by hand, and it’s only me. Once we start manufacturing, there will be more overhead and more expenses.
Running the Business
How did you learn to run your business?
I didn’t – It’s kind of been trial and error. Law school has been great preparation because it taught me to think logically.
Who was your first customer?
My first customer was one of my friends from law school. I keep up my social media a lot, so customer acquisition comes from word of mouth, my personal Facebook page, the business Facebook page and the website. I’ve also gotten a ton of press since I started the business, which has definitely helped.
What’s the smartest thing you did in the first year?
The smartest thing I did was to tell every single person I spoke to about my business. Word of mouth is amazing. Because it’s something I’ve been doing since I was 14 and it’s my dream come true to have this business, I think people can see how excited I am about it, and that makes a big difference.
What’s the most rewarding thing about running your own business?
I love interacting with my customers. I love when they ask for something that I don’t have on my website. I love custom work – I do a ton of custom work. The most rewarding thing is hearing back from my customers once they get their piece about how much they love it.
What’s the most difficult/challenging thing about running your own business?
It’s tough because it’s only me. I literally do all of the jewelry making, all of the social media, all of the PR, all of the accounting — balancing my time between all of the aspects of running my own business is the most difficult thing. And figuring out what is the most pressing is hard. Is it making all the jewelry? Is it keeping up with the books?
I absolutely love doing all of the PR, marketing and social media, so sometimes it’s tough to drag myself away from the computer for a little bit to get the pieces made. You also have to be in the right mindset to be creative.
What’s the most surprising thing about running your own business?
I’ve been really surprised by how much attention my line got when I first introduced it. I’ve only been in business for a year and a half at this point, and within a year we were featured on Seventeen.com and People.com, and I was being picked up by blogs and getting some serious press. I definitely did not think that was going to happen when I started the business. I’m just a kid making jewelry in my basement! I definitely didn’t see that coming.
What business owner or entrepreneur do you admire most? Who is your role model?
I have two very good friends who are also women who own their own businesses. My friend Cristina Racanelli has a dog grooming business in our town, Wipe Your Paws. I really look up to her and I ask her for advice probably every day. She was a big inspiration to me because she’s so successful at what she does, and she went to business school. She’s very good to bounce ideas off of and she’s very smart.
Another friend, Laura Damiano, owns her own business, Laura Damiano Designs. She does graphic design, custom stationary and wedding invitations. She does amazing work. It’s awesome to be surrounded by other entrepreneurial women who are doing what they love.
What I’ve Learned
What advice do you have for others starting their own business?
Have a plan. This just kind of happened upon me, but I think having a plan before you start is a better way of starting a business.
Set goals. When I was first starting out, I was working with a small business coach and she asked me what my goals were. I said, “I have no idea because I didn’t even think of that because I don’t have a plan.” Set goals for a year, set goals for five years. Make sure you know where you want to be. One of my goals for one year was to be in a big magazine, and I did it.
What do you wish you had known before starting your business?
I wish I had taken some actual business classes and maybe some accounting classes. I really don’t like to outsource everything. I like to be able to do everything, which I know is not always possible. Right now, I have an accountant, but I would have liked to be able to do all the books.
About the Author — Ashley Sweren is a freelance marketing writer and editor. She owns her own small business, Firework Writing, located in San Jose, California.
This article was originally written on April 3, 2015 and updated on July 22, 2016.
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