From Gemstones to Paper
Meet Kristin…
Kristin Pearce is a Miami native renowned for her creative endeavors in jewelry design and stationery. She is the founder of Mimi Paper, a brand offering charming stationery products. The brand is affectionately named after her dog, Mimi, a West Highland terrier and poodle mix born during the pandemic. Beyond her work with Mimi Paper, Kristin is passionate about travel, needlepoint, and blogging. She shares her experiences and interests on her blog, Summer in Newport.
We're going to be discovering trade secrets of creative entrepreneurship on this week’s episode of Creating Creative Success! Kristin Pearce has used her creativity to make a name for herself as an artistic entrepreneur. Kristin Pearce has a passion for stationery, but refuses to stand still because her company Mimi Paper is not the only thing she's known for. Like many up-and-coming creatives, she struggled with uncertainty about if she could turn her passion into a real career. Yet, driven by perseverance and backed by a strong support network, she pushed past those fears and began selling her art online and at local markets.
The persistence of marketing
Kristin has learned a few things the hard way—like the time she kept giving away free jewelry because people claimed they had a “connection” to someone famous. Spoiler: nothing ever came of it... well, almost never.
In this episode, Kristin shares the one time it actually worked—when she ran into an actress from Alias at an airport at 6 AM, completely sleep-deprived, and somehow managed to pull herself together enough to show her some of her jewelry. Next thing she knew, the actress was picking one out for Jennifer Garner. And then? A follow-up call, a holiday event sighting, and even a Christmas card from Jennifer herself.
And if you think handwritten notes don’t matter anymore, think again! Kristin spills the details on how sending a simple Christmas card to the Royal Family guarantees a response (yes, really).
Kristin Pearce
“I feel like if you have passion for something and you want to make this a part of The revenue generating part of your life, it's all about starting correctly”
Kristin Pearce
“My jewelry has changed so much. And I look back at some of those old pieces and I like remember beading it, putting all those beads on wire and then it would drop and they would fly all over the place.”
Creating something going viral
In January 2020, Kristin’s business took off thanks to one unexpected moment. A stylish woman on Instagram, known as Cattle Baron and Cashmere, spotted one of Kristin’s heart designs and shared it with her followers. Within days, 500 orders flooded in, and Kristin was shipping nonstop.
That one post completely changed things, bringing in amazing new customers from Houston. Kristin still thinks about that small act of kindness and how one person’s support made such a huge impact. It’s proof that even the smallest gestures can make a big difference for a small business.
TUNE IN NOW TO HEAR MORE ABOUT:
Networking and the importance of artistic collaboration
Assuring quality in your product
Growing and adapting your creative business