Two new small businesses are booming for OVS seniors Jocelyn Gonzalez and Bella Slosberg, one creating beautiful accessories for people, and the other for pets
Jocelyn began her small jewelry business, Jewels By Jocy, as a way to pass the time, but it now has evolved into so much more than that. “At first it was just a hobby. I would keep buying all of these beads and I would spend my evenings making jewelry,” Jocelyn explained. “I came up with some designs I really liked, but I could only make so much jewelry for myself, so I decided to start selling my designs.”
After deciding she wanted to share her pieces of jewelry, Jocelyn decided to start up her own self-run business and put in some time, effort, and money into getting her shop up and running. “As I invested more and more time and money into beads and jewelry findings, I decided to list a few of my items on my Depop,” Jocely said. “I already sold clothes and such on my Depop pretty casually, so I listed some jewelry there too. I eventually bought a jewelry stand to photograph my products on, and I ended up having about twenty items I was selling.”
Senior, Bella Slosberg started up her dog and pet accessory business, Stay Pawsitive after receiving supplies to begin handcrafting custom pet collars, and she soon began to create and sell them. “I got all the supplies and I thought it would be a great way to do something positive and fun. I started an Instagram and Etsy, and I told people around the school, as well as my friends out of school,” Bella explained. “I’m going to donate some to the humane society, and I eventually want to sell the collars at feed and pet stores in Ojai as well.”
Not only is having a small business laborious, but it is also very time-consuming and takes a lot of behind-the-scenes work to stay successful. Jocelyn shows her dedication to her business through her work ethic and effort. “Any hour of sunlight I have to myself, I use it to photograph my jewelry or do shoots to post on social media, and during the night I work on editing, posting, and making the jewelry itself,” she explained. “I bought a bunch of cute packaging
to make my orders look more professional, and I designed my own business thank-you cards with a logo.”
Bella currently spends her free time crafting and designing her collars as well. “I’ve always loved dogs and animals so it seemed like a really fun thing I could do. Whenever I have free time I try to make as many collars as I can,” Bella explained.
Jocelyn has been able to continue to run her jewelry business while staying on top of her personal life and education at the same time. “It can be difficult, though I genuinely enjoy working towards growing my business so it pretty much acts as my free time,” Jocelyn explained. “Often at school, during the ten-minute break in between classes, I will take advantage of the sunlight and take off whatever jewelry I am wearing that day to take a photo of it. When I get home from school I like to work on my business, and it often doesn’t really feel like work.”
Jocelyn has been making the most of any time and opportunity she has to grow her business. “It’s all about small upgrades. It is easy to get discouraged when you see all of these professional companies collaborating with people and selling high-quality jewelry that they have invested thousands of dollars into, but I have seen such progress and the hours I have been putting in are really paying off,” she explained.
Her hard work and dedication have started to pay off, and Jocelyn has begun making sales. “So far I have sold five items. It is such an exciting feeling when somebody makes a purchase for many reasons,” Jocelyn added. “It means that they genuinely liked your jewelry enough to buy it for themselves, and that is such a great feeling.”
Although starting up your own small business is a great challenge, in the end, it is very rewarding. “It is a lot of work just getting the logistics and details down, but it was really rewarding once I got my first few sales,” Bella shared. “I really hope I can start selling more because making the collars doesn’t feel like work, it feels like a pastime and a hobby.”