Once you really understand who you are, why you are here, you can do anything. Welcome to Honest Ecommerce, a podcast dedicated to cutting through the BS and finding actionable advice for online store owners. I'm your host, Chase Clymer, and I believe running a direct consumer brand does not have to be complicated or a guessing game. On this podcast, we interview founders and experts who are putting in the work and creating real results. I also share my own insights from running our top Shopify consultancy, Electric Eye. We cut the fluff in favor of facts to help you grow your Ecommerce business. Let's get on with the show. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Honest Ecommerce. Today, I'm welcoming the show Crystal Hughes. She is the creator of Crown Crystals and Crystal Glaze Glue. With a passion for all things bling in a deep dedication to her faith, Crystal has built a brand that reflects her love for Sparkly, glamorous creations while spreading the message of Christ, Crystal Hughes. Welcome to the show. Hello, Chase. I'm so glad to be here. I'm excited to chat. Obviously, I mentioned the products that you've brought to market, but can you quickly let the audience know? What are we actually selling online? What are the things you're hustling? I'm Crystal Hughes, founder CEO of Crown Crystals and creator of Crystal Glaze Glue, but my true passion lies in inspiring and motivating women specifically to become the best versions of themselves, unlocking the competence to shine, finding their purpose. And so Crown Crystals is the vehicle that connects me to these women. We all are like-minded women who share a passion for faith, DIY, bling, sparkle, and crafting. And so we supply rhinestones and the rhinestone glue to crafters, creatives, and bling artists. And so as a thought leader in this space, I am thrilled to get the opportunity each day to pour into the lives of women through rhinestone art. That's amazing. So the products themselves are the rhinestone and then the actual glue. All righty. Now, take me back in time. Where did the idea for this business come from? Well, I've always had the mind and heart of an entrepreneur. I am a product of a legacy of funeral directors. So my great grandparents and my grandparents and my mother are all a part of the funeral home industry. And so my great grandfather started that business and I spent all my summers, my after schools, my holidays, weekends at the funeral home. And so that's where I first gained the passion for entrepreneurship. I was raised around it. I saw it all the time. And so I started many businesses along the way before I founded Crown Crystals. Most of them failed. And it wasn't until I got to college and I started dabbling in the art of rhinestone crafting. I've always loved fancy, shiny, sparkly things. It made sense to me. I wanted to be able to make these things for myself. So I started in college. I was not very good at it. I started trying to make some baby shoes. I posted them on eBay and they were so bad. The customer sent them back to me because they were horrible and she gave me some advice. And that was about 2007, 2008. And I still have the shoes to this day. This is how they looked. If you are not familiar with rhinestone, art or crafting, you might even think they look bad. But if you can imagine the baby shoe foot could not fit in the shoe at all. So when we compare my work now and what I'm teaching people to do, there's a significant difference in the shine sparkle and placement of the rhinestones. And so I wasn't very good at it. I got discouraged after she sent them back to me. The customer sent the shoes back to me. I let it go. And it wasn't until I had my first baby that I wanted her walking shoes, the ugly walking shoes that most kids wear. They're playing white bulky and I wanted my babies to stand out. So I started back dabbling in the art of bling, rhinestone and all of my babies items. And then eventually I started posting all of my work on Instagram, which led to this new audience that I was, did not even know existed. Those people started asking me, where do you get your rhinestones from? How do you do that? And so after I got that question for so long, I started doing research on how I could become the supplier. And that's exactly what I did. Moving forward years later, they started asking some of the same questions. How do you glue the rhinestones? What glue do you use? And so after much research and testing, I founded Crystal Glaze Glue, which is now our top seller. And so they opened us up to an even wider audience of crafters, creatives, and bling artists. That's amazing. Can you talk to me about just posting on Instagram? Was it truly just kind of, you know, people started seeing it? Or were you trying to, you know, game the algorithm? Like, how did you, you know, first break into social? I was not trying it at all. You know, I was, I'm from the MySpace era. I'm a millennial. I've always loved the content, the capturing the moment, the sharing of the journey. So it was just kind of for my self-fulfillment of me posting my work. And I wasn't that hands-on with Instagram and how it works. And around that time, it was becoming kind of new, or at least to me, that people were really making money on Instagram. So that wasn't even a thought. It was just like, I'm posting. And after a while, it's like, oh, you want something for me? So how can I give that to you? So it wasn't that I started with the idea that I want to make all of this money. It just kind of happened once. I believe that once you are walking in your purpose, the correct doors begin to open for you because you're in alignment with what you're supposed to be doing. So I don't believe that if I had not started, I wouldn't be here because I didn't know that it was possible. You've also found some great success through social. How long would you say that you were posting content before it kind of evolved into a business? I still remember my maybe around 2018 is when I first started like, oh, I can make money from this. And I came across this small business coach at the time. I wasn't even familiar with those kinds of things that I had resources out there that people could help me to build this business. And I still remember we did like an onboarding sheet where we had to explain where we currently are in the journey. And I remember having like 796 followers. And that was still big back then. To me, it's like, I don't know these people, but I'm steadily gaining the traffic of these people coming to my page. And so once I took that course and I really understood how Instagram worked and what was expected of me, then I kind of started to tailor my content around what my audience needed for me. And so after that, I don't know the specific times in how fast I grew, but it was not long at all that a little over time, the more I posted, and at that time, the more I posted, the more people joined me quickly. So now I think we set it 50 something thousand followers on Instagram alone. And we started it from what I can remember about 790. Absolutely. And now are you guys also on TikTok? Yes, we are on TikTok. I don't even like TikTok, but we're on TikTok. I prefer Instagram and YouTube, but we are on TikTok. Absolutely. Yeah. I know that a lot of businesses have found at least trialed TikTok and some found success. Some haven't really made it work for them. But social media, it's so interesting to me to build a business on the back of it, whereas other contemporary entrepreneurs, they're almost beholden to, like, meta for the ads and not for social reach. So I guess my question on top of that would be, do you feel that if you had the ability to, would you want to expand your reach through paid ads to grow faster? Or do you think that building this audience organically was the best route for you and your business? I think that ads are important realistically or truthfully, I've just started really using ads like last year. And we turned them out for a while and we just started a couple months ago. I am a product of organic reach, organic marketing. So I think that organic reach is important. Your journey along the way will change. When I first started posting, I was just being myself. I am the face of the brand. So people were drawn to me as a person. And so as their business grows over time, you realize that this is overwhelming. These are too many people reaching out to me. I need a separation. This is not a company. I am no longer just by myself. I have a whole team. And so the structure of my business, how we market it changed along the way. And I experienced a huge bump in the road when I started trying to slowly remove my face from the brand. My audience is used to seeing me. And that's a common mistake that can happen with people in business. When you get ready to sell your business, then because you are the face of the brand, it would be very much more difficult for you to sell your brand if you are the face of the brand. So once I start attending masterminds and realizing that my business could be acquired, I started trying to, okay, well, maybe I shouldn't be the face of the brand. I can use some of my UGC content. However, when you're walking in your purpose, when you're on a specific path that God has assigned you, everybody does not have the same journey. I wanted so bad to not be the face of my brand at one point, but that has not worked out. That is not the position and the call that God has for me because my true passion is to inspire and serve the women and motivate them. And so how can I do that if I'm never seen and my voice has never heard. So everybody has a different journey. I feel that organic marketing has helped and continues to help me reach the people that I'm supposed to reach. However, there are still many people who do not know about me, who need to hear my story, who need my products. And so we have started running paid ads, which I think are beneficial as well. Absolutely. It just helps the poor. I think that one of the best ways to think about paid ads is like it's pouring gas on a fire, but there's no fire to begin with. It's just kind of wasted money. Exactly. So true. So true. Hey Shopify store owners. Have you ever wondered if your store is leaving money on the table? 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Let's kind of talk about what's going on now with the business. We're recording this just before Q4 2024. What's Crystal's secret sauce? What's your marketing plan for 2024? How are you going to have the best year ever? Well, my secret sauce is just being myself. I found that when I try to be somebody else, I don't attract the right people. I am terrified to show up. I am unorganized. It's best that I just be myself. I attract the people that I want to inspire and motivate. I lead with posting creative content of me creating the bling items that I create, which inspires others to want to learn the craft. That continues to open me up to an even wider audience that I get to serve. We're trying to inspire as many people as we possibly can to not only love the art of rhinestones, but to become the best versions of themselves. I launched my first book, I believe, two years ago. Recently, I published my second book, which releases on Amazon on October 30th. The title of that book is Think Bigger, Shine Brighter. I want my audience to unlock their purpose and their potential. Everyone has been blessed with gifts, talents, and abilities. Because we serve together, because we all have the same thing in common. We love DIY crafting art. We love spreading the love of Christ. We come together under one common goal to become the best versions of ourselves. I'm excited about where we currently are in 2024. We're wrapping things up, but it leads us into an even greater 2025. Absolutely. I know that you guys have an amazing content model of how you make the content. Can you walk me through what you're doing on IG Lives and how it's just so fun? I don't want to really give it away. Yes, you know, I'm not really a live girl. I go live, but I am really an introverted heart. Most people think that I'm an extrovert. I don't mind sharing when I'm comfortable about a specific subject I can remember all day. I am really a talker, but I'm really an introvert. I'm an extroverted introvert. I can't adapt, but I don't really like the going live, but I love creating creative content. I love YouTube videos, and so I am a fan of voice overs. And so voice overs allow me to be able to express my personality, share my story. And if we are all aware of what's happening on social media right now, lots of people record videos, and then they will do a voice over about something completely different. So sometimes I might be blinking out a pair of shoes, but I'm talking to my audience about unlocking their purpose to shine, how to use their talents, gifts, and abilities. And that has worked for me. I think it's important that each and every person finds what's best for them. Sometimes I would love the opportunity to be like some of the Instagram account holders who just post their hands or their faceless accounts. Everyone serves a different purpose. So for me, it has been valuable content of me teaching my audience how to do what I do, and then how to go even further in their journey. So finding what works best for you, I think, is very important. And building community around what you know how to do and what you offer is extremely important as well. Absolutely. Let's talk a bit more about community. Obviously, you are started on Instagram, and now you're getting the IG and TikTok exists for... Yes. You know, how are you connecting with that community beyond just the content? Yes. So for a while, it was just the content. Another phase in my business, I think around 2021, I launched the Bling Boss Academy where it was a high ticket program, and I was helping entrepreneurs and sharing them the things that I experienced at that point along my journey and giving them all the tools, everything that they needed to start the business. I found that that was not my specific area of... I just didn't enjoy it. I'm not... I don't like to consider myself to be a coach, but I do love connecting, inspiring, and motivating women. I've discovered along my path that I love business, but I don't really like teaching business. I like... I like to be able to help you to see what you are capable of doing, give you the tools, help you to think bigger so that you can shine brighter, and then lead you on your way. So we are in the process currently to launch 2025, the Shine Brighter Society, where it's basically like a membership program, and we all come together in this group where I get to show and share Bling Trips and tips, but also share the specifics of how to build a business, how to connect on Instagram, how to grow a following. Everything that I know I want to be able to inspire those who are part of my group, and so we're launching that in 2025. It gives me a breather because I could just show up and be myself and nurture the people who truly desire to learn from me, and I don't feel like I'm a coach, and I could just be myself and give them the content that they specifically need being a part of the Shine Brighter Society. That's amazing, Crystal. Now, is there anything I didn't ask you about today that you think would resonate with our audience? I think that it's important to just keep going. I tool myself even after all of these years in business, I want to quit so many times. It gets so difficult, it becomes extremely overwhelming, and if you are not grounded in your faith, if you do not understand your purpose while you're here, it will be extremely difficult, so I think it's important to first do a lot of self-work. I used to not be a reader, but I learned so much just by reading books, and I've always been a great writer, but I've never a great reader, but me writing my books also serves as a way for me to be able to bless others and share my story and share tools that people can use. I'm excited about where we're going, and I'm excited to be able to inspire, to continue to inspire others to think bigger in Shine Brighter. I want you to know that you can do it. You are no different than anyone else, and just like I can, it's so cliche. We hear it all the time, but it's really true. Once you really understand who you are, why you are here, you can do anything, and you can enjoy what you're doing along the journey as well. Absolutely. Crystal's not lying, so if I'm listening to this podcast, and I'm picking up what you're putting down, and you're like, "You know what, I want to bling out some stuff, like where should I go, what should I do?" Yes, you should go to www.crownedcrystals.com, k-r-o-w-n-e-d crystals.com, and we supply rhinestones and crystal glaze glue. Soon to be on Amazon, our rhinestones are unique because they are glass rhinestones, and they come all mixed together in one pack. That's a common thing that people who are just getting started in the craft, they're confused. They don't know about size, and we make it easy. Everything comes together in one pack, and then you can follow me on YouTube where I give live demonstrations on how to use the actual product. So if you have no clue where to even begin, I'm here to teach you how to do that as well and supply you with the best high-quality rhinestones ink glue. Awesome, Crystal, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Thank you so much Chase for having me. We can't thank our guests enough for coming on the show and sharing their knowledge and journey with us. We've got a lot to think about and potentially add into our own businesses. You can find all the links to the show notes. You can subscribe to the newsletter at honestycomers.co to get each episode delivered right into your inbox. If you're enjoying this content, consider leaving a review on iTunes that really helps us out. Lastly, if you're a store owner looking for an amazing partner to help you get your Shopify store to the next level, reach out to electriceye@electriceye.io/connect. Until next time.
On this bonus episode of Honest Ecommerce, we have Krystal Hughes. Krystal is the creator of Krowned Krystals and Krystal Glaze glue. With a passion for all things bling and a deep dedication to her faith, Krystal has built a brand that reflects her love for sparkly, glamorous creations while spreading the message of Christ.
We talk about achieving business success by being real with your audience, evolving social content into a thriving business, balancing organic growth with paid ads for success, and so much more!
