719 Beverly Price:

Entrepreneurship is often a lonely game, because there are so few people who truly understand what it takes to build a business from scratch. People who haven’t done it before think they know – and they don’t. That’s why we all need a support community around us, other women who’ve been there, built that and know what we’re going through.  That’s why my guest today – Beverly Price – invested so much of her time in building a community of entrepreneurial and executive women around her, and today she shares her own journey and why relationships are the key to everything.

MELINDA

Hi, I’m Melinda Wittstock and welcome to Wings of Inspired Business, where we share the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys, epiphanies, and practical advice from successful female founders … so you have everything you need at your fingertips to build the business and life of your dreams. I’m a 5-time serial entrepreneur who has lived and breathed the ups and downs of starting and growing businesses, currently the game changing social podcast app Podopolo. Wherever you are listening to this, take a moment and join the Wings community over on Podopolo, where we can take the conversation further with your questions, perspectives, experiences, and advice for other female founders at whatever stage of the journey you’re at! Because together we’re stronger, and we soar higher when we fly together.

Today we meet an inspiring entrepreneur who left the finance world behind to design jewelry and build a thriving business around her true passion.

Beverly Price, founder of Nastava Jewelry, says her custom creations reflect the journey of self-empowerment, self-expression, and beauty. Her process reflects her own journey, that began with the epiphany that inner confidence can often be inspired by feeling beautiful on the outside, so intuitively inspired by the elements, Beverly lets the semi-precious stones, freshwater pearls, and Swarovski© crystals speak to her when crafting her bespoke pieces – rather than following trends.

Through her methodology and endless style options, the artisan jewelry she creates energizes and connects to her clients, reflecting their true self while empowering them to try different looks.

Sometimes we find our true passion and purpose in life by doubling down on a hobby and expressing our artistic or other talents by building a business around it.

Beverly Price originally went the traditional route – with an MBA and climbing the executive ladder in the financial services industry. She said she spent years dressing professionally drab in the greys and blacks and power suits of a man’s world, before making the leap into advertising, where suddenly, around creatives, she found new freedom.  When she hired a stylist to play with her look, she found that she could be professional, while making a statement. Beverly shares today how she went from self-loathing to self-love, and how she now evokes the same transformation for her clients with her jewelry brand Nastava, making them feel beautiful, confident, and proud of the woman they’ve become. Beverly’s custom creations have been worn by celebrities such as Vivica Fox, Lisa Ling, and Cokie Roberts.

Today we talk about how to grow your inner confidence with outer expression, and why we often feel more confident as women in business when we look our best, plus mindset secrets and the necessity for women entrepreneurs to have a true support network of other powerful women around them.

Let’s put on our wings with the inspiring Beverly Price and be sure to download the podcast app Podopolo so we can keep the conversation going after the episode.

Melinda Wittstock:

Beverly, welcome to Wings.

Beverly Price:

Thank you so much for having me, Melinda.

Melinda Wittstock:

I’m fascinated by your journey, Beverly. I mean, you were in finance and you are a jewelry designer now with a growing business. How did that happen?

Beverly Price:

Oh. Well, one day I gave my daughters a gift certificate to a jewelry making shop and they enjoyed it and I fell in love. I became obsessed and wanted to design jewelry to go with all my work outfits. And then somebody suggested that they liked it so much that I start my own business. But if I step back, in my corporate life, I first started in a bank. Excuse me. I first started in a bank where we were taught, way back when, to dress very blah, and gray suits, black suits, no color, little bow tie.

And then I moved to an advertising agency where there was color and style and flash. And I was very insecure about how to dress, so I sought out a fashion stylist, one of the first things I ever did for myself. And she showed me how to use style and color and shape to make a different look, to make a personal, bold statement, which I loved. And then she showed me how I could take accessories and jewelry and make myself feel totally beautiful. And I found that the more beautiful I felt on the outside, the better I felt about myself on the inside.

And then when I learned how to make my own jewelry, it became a natural extension and I gravitated toward very big, bold jewelry, and just started and had just started making it. And sold through brick and mortar shops and boutiques. And then I had to take a little hiatus because my elderly parents were aging. And after they passed, my husband and I moved to the beach and I restarted my business. But I wanted it to be different. I wanted it to be more than just selling jewelry. I wanted to change from brick and mortar to a hundred percent online. And I wanted it to give women that same feeling that I had gotten to move from self-expression to beauty, to self-empowerment.

Melinda Wittstock:

Isn’t it so interesting how our companies are really a reflection often, of our own personal journey and our true passion, like our own lived experience? And you’re a walking, talking example of that, and how beautiful.

Beverly Price:

Yeah. I think if you don’t have that passion within you, if you don’t have that personal connection to what you do, it doesn’t resonate as much with people. Because I believe when you can get in touch with that inner passion, that unleashes a lot of energy in you to create new and different things and come up with new and different ideas, and take bold and new steps.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. I love what you said about the confidence that comes from wherever we get it. In your case, just looking beautiful on the outside, gave you a confidence on the inside, and whatever that is. But that was a profound lived experience for you that I think a lot of women feel. And combining it with just a love of that kind of creativity, so wonderful.

Melinda Wittstock:

I think it’s been an interesting path for a lot of women in the pandemic, who were in corporate jobs, suddenly found themselves at home. And then, “Oh God, what do I do with myself?” And then finding a passion or a hobby, and then wait, “Why do I have to go back to that inflexible cubicle wherever?”

Beverly Price:

Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

And so, you’re presenting a pathway. So, were you doing this originally? It sounds like, kind of like as a side hustle, as you-

Beverly Price:

Started out as a side hustle, and then when I was still in the corporate world, a woman came up to me. And way back then in the corporate world, women weren’t really nice to each other. They were really competitive. So when this woman gave me a compliment, I was actually pretty shocked. But she told me that I ought to sell the jewelry, that it was so beautiful. And so, that was just the nudge I needed to then create my business.

And in terms of the beauty on the outside and the feelings on the inside, I’ve also had a very strong inside journey, starting with low self-esteem and insecurity, to kind of chart my path all the way to feeling secure and empowered. And so, I think it’s kind of that you need the security on the outside and the beauty on the outside, combined with that transformation on the inside to make a total empowerment experience for the woman.

Melinda Wittstock:

Something so deeply resonates with what you just said there, because I think in all the 720 odd interviews that I’ve done on this podcast, I haven’t met one successful female entrepreneur yet that hasn’t been on some sort of conscious journey. Perhaps it’s the entrepreneurship that sparks that. Where was that point in your life where you’re like, “Oh, wait a minute. This is an internal effort as much as an external one.”?

Beverly Price:

Well, I think it was in reaction to the lack of support I got when I became an entrepreneur. My family grew up in the depression, and so their opinion was, you needed to get a job and stay there your whole life, and work nine to five and get a paycheck. And so to them, when I said I wanted to be an entrepreneur, they looked at me like I had two heads. And I think in reaction to that, because I didn’t have a strong support system, I decided to move on this journey to work on myself so that I could kind of turn the corner and have the strength and the faith and the belief to do that.

And I think, I think the sad reality is, that a lot of women don’t have that. For example, Dove soap did a study that said less than 3% of women consider themselves beautiful. But they consider 80% of the women around them beautiful. So right there, the majority of women are feeling less than other women. So, there’s something about that creates the need for this journey.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, gosh. Thank goodness for you and for the world that you went on that because a lot of women don’t.

Beverly Price:

Yes. Absolutely.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s interesting what you say about your family and friends around you, because I think genuinely, they’re coming from, I guess, they think they’re acting in your best interest.

Beverly Price:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

They’re trying to protect you, but they’re coming from the only place they know to come from. And how to find the inner strength to go on the journey you did, where something intuitively told you, “No. No, that’s not right. I’m going to figure it out on my own.” Sadly, not everybody does that. What made you different?

Beverly Price:

Well, I think it was a combination of strength and a little bit of foolishness, to be real honest. It was that creative spirit. I had just felt I had worked in corporate for so long, and my plan was to stay there a couple more years till my girls got in college. But I got to the point I was in kind of a toxic work environment and I got to the point, I just didn’t want to take it anymore, that I didn’t deserve it. And so, I decided at that point, rather than looking for something else in corporate America, that I wanted to take the leap of faith and see if I could pull it off myself.

Melinda Wittstock:

Mm. Oh, yes. A hundred percent. I think there’s something though, in the DNA of an entrepreneur that just sort of says, “Well, why not? How hard could it be?”

Beverly Price:

Yep. What the heck?

Melinda Wittstock:

There’s some sort of crazy confidence underneath everything. Right? And then you learn-

Beverly Price:

Yeah. What the heck? Let’s do it.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. And then you learn as you go. So, there you are. You’re starting. What did you wish you knew then that you know now that [inaudible 00:09:06]-

Beverly Price:

Oh, wow. I guess three things, the first is, believe in yourself and believe in yourself, no matter what, no matter what anybody says or does. And if you don’t believe in yourself, or if you have doubts, act as if you believe in yourself. And I found that even on down days, if I act as if, I say to myself, “What would a person that believed in themselves act like?” And do those things. And I found out that then it comes.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, that’s so interesting. I mean, that’s the central [inaudible 00:09:47] of so much kind of spiritual growth as well. Sort of be the as well sort of be the person that you want to be. Just start being that person and you attract more of what that person would want and get. And you start to manifest that way.

Beverly Price:

Absolutely. The second thing I would do, or I wish I had known back then was, have a support system. I had spent most of my life being a single mom of two, with two elderly parents living with me-

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, that’s hard.

Beverly Price:

… and hadn’t taken the time to build a support system with friendships. I just didn’t have the time. So, I woke up and when I needed one, I didn’t have it. So, I had to go out and intentionally build one, which took quite a while. So I would say, “Value those friendships and that support and nurture them because if you don’t, you’ll lose them.” But the third thing is, be prepared for the emotional rollercoaster that being an entrepreneur is. Particularly when your revenue peaks and valleys, your emotions can peak in valley with it. And I think you just have to-

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, don’t I know that.

Beverly Price:

Yeah. I think you have to know that you need this inner resource or this support system, that when things are low, to pick you up. Because it will get better, but at that moment, you might think, “Oh, I should throw in the towel. I don’t want to do this.” But I think that roller coaster is something… I know when I was getting my MBA, they didn’t teach you a bit about the emotional side of being an entrepreneur.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, no, not at all, because I think most MBAs aren’t really focused on entrepreneurship. I mean, increasingly, they’re being pushed that way, but mostly, it’s like, you learn about an established business or creating a business in the old way. Whereas, doesn’t really work that way anymore. And no two businesses are the same, in terms of their journey or the challenges they’re going to face. So, the developing the resilience muscle or developing an ability and a willingness and an openness and acceptance that failure, is a profound part of the growth process.

Beverly Price:

Yes. And I would also recommend a life coach, I think, when you’re starting out, because I think sometimes you can get caught up in your own perspective with some tunnel vision. And I think if you have that support and guidance and person that can reflect things back to you, it can really help.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, gosh. I want to go back to what you were saying about the friend network, because when we’re growing our businesses, our work is never done. There’s so much to do, so the temptation can be, and especially for women, we think we have to do everything. We double down, we’re working really hard, and we think we don’t have time for the relationship.

And the irony is, women are good at relationship. And that’s the one muscle that we often don’t use in our businesses and that men more of to grow their businesses. It’s a paradox. And then you wake up and you need the support of people and they’re not there. So, talk to me… I think this is a common experience of a lot of female founders who feel very lonely and alone. And so, you said it took you a while to do it. Take me through the steps of how you built that network and that support, and what it looks like now.

Beverly Price:

Well, I began on a path of, one of the things that’s very important to me is diversity and being around people that are very different than myself, because of the richness it fills my life with. So, I built a group of women, and just started it. And back then, we didn’t have Facebook groups or social media or Zoom, so we met in person. And the idea was, that we would attempt to build friendships, excuse me. We would attempt to build friendships with intentional diversity. And that is, intentionally spending time with women different than ourselves.

And so what I would do was, I would just go to lunch with a woman and then I would ask her to give me the names of three women she thought I should get to know. And typically if you do that, they’re going to give you the best women they know. And then for each of those women, you ask three women, and it grows exponentially.

Now some of them, you’ll hit it off with, and some of them, you won’t. Some of them will be too busy for friendships, and some of you won’t. But you’ve built this network, and what I found is, even if you’re not terribly close to a person, if you sat down and have lunch with them, they’re willing to take a phone call. They’re willing to answer a question or something like that.

So, I built this group and then we met in restaurants and coffee shops and really started to interact as friends. But there were some just beautiful moments. I remember one time there was a woman that had grown up in the projects without enough food to eat. And there was another woman that lived in a mansion who had every luxury item you could imagine. And the two of them sat at a table together sharing their stories. And it was like these light bulbs came on, that they were sharing about a world that the other woman knew nothing about. But by telling that story, they learned something about that world.

Melinda Wittstock:

I think this is really important just in terms of building a team for your company as well.

Beverly Price:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

A lot of people talk about wanting a diverse team, but you just presented, for your own personal network, you presented a really great way to build a diverse team and a backbench where you should almost always be recruiting. Because you never know when you’re going to have a transition or whatever, and doing that with diversity in mind.

Beverly Price:

Well, I think something that’s really tough about implementing diversity at the workplace is, unless you’re willing to do it at the personal level, it’s very hard to artificially create it at the work level. And I like to ask this question, and it says, “When was the last time you invited someone different than yourself to your home for dinner?” And a lot of times, you’ll find everybody’s answer is, “Well, I can’t remember.”

And now in some cities that are much more diverse, that may not be the case, but I grew up in the south. So, it was very true where I grew up. And I think that you have to be very intentional about it. And you have to hope for an environment at a workplace that people start to see themselves for their expertise, not for the color of their skin or where they came from or what they believe in.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, what were some of the things that were the toughest for you to overcome in the early stages, and then as your business grew?

Beverly Price:

Oh. Well, one of the toughest is what you mentioned already. It’s having to do everything, and knowing that when you have to do everything, you can’t do everything perfectly. None of us is perfect and you’re going to have trial and error. What is the statistic about how many times an entrepreneur fails before they succeed?

The first time I created my jewelry business, I wouldn’t say it was a failure, but the revenue didn’t produce what I wanted it to. So then when I reinvented it, I had learned a lot the first time around, that I could do differently. So, those are some of the challenges that I think I had.

The other ones I mentioned, believing in yourself and a support system and the emotions. But really, finally coming to grips with the fact that there was stuff I didn’t know how to do and I wasn’t good at, and there were things I didn’t like to do. And those would be the first candidates for farming out to somebody else. And what I used initially was, I just went to the local college and got some interns to help because they were so appreciated of the opportunity to learn a business. And it was a great way to help me offload some of my work.

Melinda Wittstock:

I think often when it comes to hiring, we can think that a hire is an expense rather than an investment.

Beverly Price:

Correct. Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

So when we think of it as an expense, we get all worried like, “Oh my goodness, what if I can’t pay this person? So, I better wait until I know for sure.” And we keep our businesses small that way. But the other aspect of it though too is, seeing it as an investment, then you start to think about, “Well, what result will this person bring in?” So you’re not hiring people to do things, you’re hiring people for results.

Beverly Price:

Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

That’s a big mindset shift for a lot of people. And it’s also a mindset shift if you’re hiring people that are used to working in big companies and now suddenly, it’s a startup-

Beverly Price:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

… where there’s no place to hide. You’re either going to produce the result or you’re not. How was it for you, in terms of hiring people and building your team and hiring them fast enough, first of all, but then that accountability part where they are actually delivering results for you?

Beverly Price:

Well, I think it’s kind of exactly as you said. It’s scary, and you look at the bottom line and you go, “Can I afford this?” And then the next question is, can I afford not to do this? And it’s just finding the right people, which is always the challenge, whether you’re an entrepreneur or whether you’re in corporate America. And then instilling in that person, the concept of team and respect and being a part of and including them, I think is so critical. But I think, just like always, it’s very difficult to find just the right talent. I was real fortunate. I had a couple missteps, but then I found the right person and am just very blessed right now.

Melinda Wittstock:

So Beverly, let’s go back to the beginning. You were talking about how this was originally brick and mortar, but you had an intention to set it up a hundred percent online. Have you done that, and how is that going? How is it sold?

Beverly Price:

I would say about 95% of its online now. I kept three stores that are close to me, geographically. They’re other people’s stores. I don’t own the brick and mortar, but I sell them in boutiques. And I got rid of my least performing stores and held onto the highest performers. And so, that’s been quite good. They don’t take a lot of maintenance. But when I had a lot of unprofitable stores, the unprofitable ones seemed to take the most time and effort. So, I saved a lot of time by doing that.

I’ve moved to the online format, and I would say it’s still building because building a hundred percent online is a lot more challenging than you may think in terms of finding the people. In my case, my jewelry is high-end and it’s one of a kind and very unusual. And so, finding that right target consumer can be a challenge. So I’m probably halfway there, not all the way there, and I’m very eager to get there.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, what are some of the challenges on the online side of things. Because suddenly now, you’re all up in funnels and I’m assuming Shopify and auto responders and social media and advertising and all these sorts of things.

Beverly Price:

There’s a whole realm of expense that you didn’t consider. There’s a lot of technology and you have to put a lot more into your social media and things that go nationally rather than just a local store, and counting on them to do their own promotion. So, you’re doing the promotion for your work. And then finding that perfect target market and the source where you can go after that target market is a challenge.

So, it’s a lot bigger than it sounds, but as I think about that, everything in entrepreneurship is. It’s bigger than you think when you get into it. But it just offers this unique set of challenges with even more technology and even more marketing expense than you have when you’re doing it in brick and mortar. But on brick and mortar, you’re giving the store a cut of the price. You’re giving them a commission. And online you’re not, so it’s kind of a tradeoff.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. A hundred percent. And so the technology, it can get very overwhelming and all the different contractors and all the stuff, just working through that. But this is true of any business. There’s always a whole bunch of things that you didn’t anticipate. And then it’s [inaudible 00:25:25] you’re on a constant learning journey.

Beverly Price:

Yep. Constant.

Melinda Wittstock:

Constant. And so at this stage, just on all of that and all the… build the plane as you could fly it, what do you wish advisors, personal networks, coaches, or whatever might have told you, or you might have wished you’d known earlier?

Beverly Price:

Hmm. Well, I go back to those same main premises. But I think specifically in regard to making the move online, I think it’s to have prepared myself that it wasn’t just the switch to a different sales channel. It was a switch to a whole work way of life or business way of life, given what you had to do versus what you didn’t have to do before. It’s almost like it’s not wearing multiple hats, it’s wearing multiple hats that are all a different size. And you have to know which hat to put on and which hat to take off at the appropriate time, if that makes any sense.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. A hundred percent. And I mean, you have a family and you have four dogs.

Beverly Price:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

I just have the one, so-

Beverly Price:

My babies.

Melinda Wittstock:

How do you balance all this with your dogs? Tell me a little bit about your work life balance, what that looks like.

Beverly Price:

Well, their little beds are right next to my studio, so they’re right there. And they have a big backyard to play. And I have a wonderful husband that helps me with them when I’m working. So, I’m blessed. We moved. I was from North Carolina and we moved to South Carolina beach area.

Melinda Wittstock:

Beautiful.

Beverly Price:

That was our dream. And I built a custom home, which was another dream that I had had. So, we’re kind of living the dream right now, just enjoying being where we are. And I’m enjoying my businesses and the new podcast and coaching business I’m starting, is just a very exciting time in my life.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, that’s wonderful. So yes, we must talk about your podcast because it sounds like you have a similar mission to why I started this one, Wings, all about encouraging women to lift as we climb and help each other. And this, in this case, is the podcast that I wish had existed when I was coming up as an entrepreneur. So, tell me about yours and your mission.

Beverly Price:

Well, the mission is really to aid women on their journey from self-expression to self-empowerment, realizing that you need to combine a transformation on the outside with a transformation on the inside of a woman to create that empowered experience. And it’s for all women, not just working women. So you could be retired, you could be just not working outside the home. You could be an entrepreneur, you could be a corporate employee. It just really doesn’t… We don’t differentiate. We want it to be for all women. It’s probably a little more tailored to a woman, let’s say, 40 and up, but we have a lot of members that are in their 20s. We’ve grown exponentially, in just a little while. So, it’s pretty exciting. And we have people from all parts of the world that have joined us.

So, I created that podcast and we’re going to bring in phenomenal speakers who can give advice and takeaways as to what women can do in their particular area of expertise to further their journey. Whether it be something relating to beauty and fashion or body image on the outside, or whether it be getting rid of negative tapes, ending toxic relationships, building confidence on the inside. And so, we want to present that. And then I created a woman’s Facebook group called, Her Self Expression Sisterhood, where women can go to find the support and the knowledge and the skills to take that journey.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, I love it. How wonderful. And of course, invite you to get your podcast featured on Podopolo. We-

Beverly Price:

Okay.

Melinda Wittstock:

Podopolo has more than 5 million podcasts, so your podcast is already there. But if you download the app and sign up and you click the, get featured, it means that you get into hyper promotion on that app, and more people can discover you. And there’s much more besides, but also, I’d like to invite you, Beverly, too, because we can continue this conversation over on the Wings podcast on Podopolo, because it’s an interactive app. And so, I can-

Beverly Price:

Absolutely.

Melinda Wittstock:

… add you as a guest and we can keep the conversation going, long past this episode. But I want to make sure that people know how to find your beautiful jewelry and your Facebook group and your podcast and much more. What’s the best way?

Beverly Price:

Well, you can find the jewelry at www.nastavajewelry.com. That’s N-A-S-T-A-V-A Jewelry. That was named after my two daughters and my mother, so it’s nastavajewelry.com. You can find my podcast website at www.her-self-expression.com and the Facebook group is called, Her Self Expression Sisterhood.

Melinda Wittstock:

Oh, beautiful. Well, thank you so much, Beverly, for putting on your wings and flying with us today.

Beverly Price:

Thank you for letting me fly with you, Melinda.