071:From Pop-Ups to Partnerships: How Parker J Built a Thriving Permanent Jewelry & Charm Bar Brand
In this episode, we chat with Rachel and Jess from Parker J, a permanent jewelry and charm bar brand based in Huntington Beach, California. They share how their partnership began, what it’s like running a business together, and why staying rooted in integrity and realistic expectations has helped them grow their brand. The Parker J team will also be exhibiting at the Permanent Jewelry Expo (PJX), where they’ll be showcasing their custom charm bar, including starter kits and everything else you might need to get started!
We talk about how a pop-up event sparked new opportunities for their business and why showing up professionally at events matters just as much as the sales you make. Rachel and Jess share that pop-ups are about more than just revenue for the day, they’re about building relationships, creating connections with customers and vendors, and putting your brand out into the world.
The conversation also dives into adding a charm bar to expand their offerings, navigating charm quality and pricing, and understanding perceived value in your products. They share honest insights about customer service, adapting your communication style, and how your mindset and attitude can leave a lasting impression long after an event is over.
This episode is packed with real talk about growing a permanent jewelry business, managing pop-up events, and building a brand that stands for more than just jewelry, all while choosing faith over fear.
Links:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parkerj.pj/?hl=en
Fair: Park J jewelry and charm bar on Fair
Transcript
V2_Ep 71_ParkerJ_GLP_FINAL
===
Jen Thyrion: [:So if you're building a business that shines as bright as your stacks, you're in the right place. Let's link up and make some magic.
Jessica: Hey there. Did you know that we offer handmade permanent
Jen Thyrion: jewelry supplies? Go to goldie link supplies.com to view our beautiful chains, connectors, Bengals, and more, including our non-permanent stretchy bracelets that are available to you for wholesale. Everything is created by a tribe of mama makers.
r items come with signage on [:If you wanna level up your
Jessica: business with handmade supplies, not made by a machine, but made by hand with love, then check it out@goldielinksupplies.com. Now onto the show.
Jen Thyrion: On today's episode, I'm sitting down with Rachel and Jess from Parker J from Huntington Beach, California, and trust me, this one's a must.
Listen, these two powerhouses are bringing the magic to PJX. Well, they'll be exhibiting charms for charm bar and also talking about how to start a charm bar, or turn your charm bar into a true revenue driving customer loving asset for your business. We're talking all things charm, strategy and experience.
In this episode, we dive into partnerships. Shifting your perspective, setting realistic expectations, and one of my favorite parts, being truly honest with your customer in a way that builds trust and long-term loyalty. If you've been thinking about adding a charm bar, leveling up the one you have, or simply want a refreshing, real conversation about running a business with integrity, this one's for you.
Enjoy. All [:We're going on a little over a three years of business,
Jessica: two years with an actual physical location.
Jen Thyrion: Yes. Awesome. Yeah, we started off a little over a year and a half in popups, and then we got our location two years ago when we launched our charm bar. So we're really excited to be here and even more excited to share that instead of being just attendees at PJX this year we'll be joining as exhibitors to share our non-permanent option, which is our custom charm bar.
anna start Permanent jewelry.[: her sister on an airplane in:Jen Thyrion: Mm-hmm.
Jessica: I'm like, well yeah, some. She goes, you're to be best friends with my little sister. I'm like, okay. Um, fast forward, I'm fully adopted into the family. The kids call me auntie, like completely adopted into the family. There's no question asked. Anything happens. I could call any of them. They're there. I am at a trade show.
I get my third permanent jewelry piece and I'm sitting there going, Hmm, I can do that.
Jen Thyrion: I can do that. Well, meanwhile, I am in Nashville for my younger sister's bachelorette, so I'm the oldest of three. She met my middle sister, we're there for her bachelorette and permanent jewelry, just becoming a thing about four, I shouldn't say a thing, but bigger four years ago, catbird.
the girls were like, did you [:Only you guys can pop up anywhere, I guess, right? There's a group of seven of us. There was this long line, stop it, but I was just so blown away. I'm like, what is this mini little thing she's doing? Anyway, that sparked my interest. So when I came back home and I started researching it, talking to my sisters about it, I'm like, this would be so fun.
And, uh, fast forward a few weeks later, it's my sister's 30th, Jessica is there. We're all together. Permanent jewelry comes
Jessica: up,
Jen Thyrion: but permanent jewelry, because I had.
Jessica: I need a little bit more income. To be really honest with you, you cannot live in Southern California with a single income. It's just not possible.
Jen Thyrion: I always wonder that I have a friend that lives like in Hermosa Beach area, and when I go visit and I'm like, how do people do it? Like li like, you know, doing like minimum wage jobs and live here. Like, it's just so interesting to me.
Jessica: I don't really don't know. I mean, maybe roommates that houses
Jen Thyrion: seriously.
Exactly. Yeah.
Jessica: God, I, [:Jen Thyrion: or have you guys heard about this new trend?
Jessica: Well, I said, Hey, I think I wanna do this.
Jen Thyrion: Yeah.
Jessica: This company offered to do like a, a franchising type thing and they're like, wait, what? Are you kidding me? Like all of their mouths drop open and they're like, what? My sisters, we are doing it. You too. You're right there.
Jen Thyrion: No, but they were like, this is something that Rachel's been talking about. I feel like it was between you guys.
It was this, how we, we came together that, you know. Right. You're talking about,
Jessica: I'm like, she was right there. Yes. It was more of my sisters like Right pink colored bikini with a margarita in her hand having a blast. Yes. And she was like, what's going on? Um, yeah. And she's like, don't do it with anyone else.
Do it with us. So it was gonna be the three sisters together that we're gonna
Jen Thyrion: Ooh.
Jessica: Like a sister company. And they're like, well do it with us. 'cause you know, at this point I'm the fourth sister.
f course it seems like it if [:Jessica: So there was like, yeah, when I saw I fully adopted, like I'm pretty sure one of her brother-in-laws came over and changed a tire for me at one point.
Jen Thyrion: Yes.
Jessica: Love it. Longside the road stranded. But yeah. And then we're like, okay, let's do this. Fast forward, one gets married, one gets pregnant, and they're like. We're out. Yeah. And we see each other. I'm like, I'm in. And she's like, I'm in too. Love it.
Jen Thyrion: And it
Jessica: was really, that was it. There was no hesitations, questions, nothing after that.
It was like, let's go.
Jen Thyrion: That's amazing. So how did you know, I mean, you know each other pretty well prior, but if someone's thinking about going in with someone, whether it be a friend, like what would advice would you give and what makes you guys a good like team? You know, 'cause I'm sure one of you is stronger here and one's stronger here.
Like do you have like defined roles or do you kind of just make it work?
Jessica: I wouldn't say we have defined roles, but we have definitely have tasks that like if it's her strong, she like, I'm shit at Canberra. I'm not even gonna lie to. I'm like, Hey Rachel, we need a Canva for X, Y, Z. Here's the theme, here's the words.
Can you do it? And then [:I'm not doing it however.
Jen Thyrion: Love it.
Jessica: I write the entire content calendar, puts together our schedule and run creative direction to make sure that our, our content is filmed for an entire month in, in three hours.
Love
Jessica: that. She's very organized. She's also like the spreadsheet
Jen Thyrion: queen, so it's great When we map out like our annual like schedule when things come in, she can make a spreadsheet for anything.
I have um, A DHD, which is great for a lot of things when it comes to just like focused organization. I hear you. But when it comes to answering emails and event re requests, I'm up like all hours of the night. So, and
Jessica: customers on Instagram, she'll answer a customer on Instagram at one in the morning
Jen Thyrion: and so people will be like.
into this. So I value that, [:So yes, we each have our, our strengths and the things that we, we kind of take part in. And then there's the other things like we do, we do together in terms of giving advice to people starting, it's so hard because this was an unexpected partnership. She's very close with my sisters. And then we became close.
And I feel like it might not work for everybody, but I think that we're, we're similar in ways that we're excited about pushing the, uh, business forward. Mm-hmm. But we're different enough where we are, we're able to like compliment each other. And do we bump a lot? Absolutely. But we have a lot of love for each other.
Like I said, we're a sister. So I think at the very basic level, because of that admiration for one another, that respect, if you will. We could have these moments where we're kind of butting heads, but then we're like, okay, wait a second. We're still on the same page. I hear you. I see you. How do we move forward?
that goes into relationships [:You think to yourself like, I could live with her and probably not with her. I love her, but I just know we wouldn't, we wouldn't live well together. Right? But also you have those friends where you know that you can just be really honest, even if you're not feeling it. But they, they get it and they're okay, and you guys can move on.
And there's certain friends you feel like you kind of little have to walk like on eggshells, and you're not sure if you, how honest you can be with them, and you have to approach it a different way. So I feel like you guys have that dynamic where I'm getting at, like that's what I'm getting is that like, you guys can be, you can, you can say how you feel and you can move on.
Jessica: Yeah, I would say even if we do get heated for a minute, it's like it happens and then it's over and then we move on. Anything we get heated over is always something that we're being passionate about.
Jen Thyrion: Oh, for sure.
Jessica: You know, one person's upset at some like little thing. It's more of, Hey, I really wanna do this.
d then like advocate side of [:It happens so quickly.
Jen Thyrion: Yes.
Jessica: Like we are very quick moving. We're very fast acting. For example, when we did start our charm bar, Rachel did some research on like Instagram and TikTok, and she's in all the Facebook groups. I haven't been on Facebook in years. I used to go on it. So she's all over that. That's another like one.
But yeah, so she's in all of that and she kept seeing this trend and everything. And then we decided to open the studio within a week. We made that decision. And it was two weeks test. Within two weeks we executed it and launched a full service. Like there's to say like, when we move quickly, we move. And I think that's one of the reasons too, that we, um, are doing as well as we are.
hings done. It's like, okay, [:How do we keep it elevated? How do we constantly updated it? It's our Google every week, right? Every week. Yeah. Rachel updates our Google page every week, and by doing that, it increases your visibility in your area.
Jen Thyrion: Of course. Yeah.
Jessica: We're important. We learned that on a, I don't know, a Tuesday by Friday, she was already implementing it.
Jen Thyrion: It got like really quick acting and constantly trying to better, that's the thing too, as you know, um, being a businesswoman is, you know, four years ago when all of this was, and some people could argue five years ago, but when things were first starting, I think it. Um, there weren't that many permanent jewelers around.
Now, I'm sure you might hear the term saturated. There's a bunch of people around, but I really do think it's how you do business and being willing to constantly adapt and which for some people can completely burn you out. It is exhausting, but we still have that fire. We're excited because we created something.
s, Ooh, okay. Step back, but [:Right. We're not ready to give up yet. What's the, what's the next step? And so
Jessica: to that too, and like, I can't even tell you how many times we failed. We have failed so many times, but it never stopped us. Yeah.
Jen Thyrion: Mm-hmm.
Jessica: We bought
Jen Thyrion: products that we thought were gonna fly off the shelf. Yep. A year and a half later, I still have them.
Yeah.
Jessica: And they're change. And the silver's changing colors at this point because they're just not even getting touched. Right. Like, we, but we tried it.
Jen Thyrion: I love that. I think that's what sets you apart. I think I just was thinking about a lot and saying this late a lot lately. It's really about perspective.
Like, one person who, like you said, has a failed product, can look at like, oh. Okay. Like, I, I don't even know how to shop for anything anymore. I'm not gonna buy anything new. Like they look at it like, okay, I'm done. Whereas like, you're like, okay, no, that just didn't work. So I love that you guys said that, and I feel like you guys have that vibe or that, you know, just, I can tell the type of entrepreneurs you are, it's like so much about perspective.
And I witnessed [:It's like you can look at that and let it take you down and be, and let it get to your head of like, okay, I don't even know how to purchase anything. I'm not gonna add new products. Like, you know, I wasted all this money or let it serve as like a learning experience and just getting, making you stronger.
It's like, okay, then what do my customers want? It's like you get curious and you're just constantly getting better versus letting that get you down. So I think you guys are obviously a very good example of that. No, it's, it's so true. And perspective is everything. I feel like in general when it comes to relationships, life.
You know, life is how we see it. It's our perception of it, and a lot of people are one unaware of that. I think I shared with you my background. I used to teach, I was a communication professor, but a big part of what I taught was our kind of communication with ourselves and how that impacts the way that we communicate to the world.
jority of how we communicate [:It's just their reality. It's really cool to understand, you know, there's things that happen and then there's how we see what happens. So either way, even though having a business is challenging, I think always coming back to that and even we get ahead of ourselves where we're getting excited, then we almost have to pull back.
Why not take things personal? Or realize, let's pivot here. I think one thing we're really good at, and one thing we're really grateful for starting, you know, we were one of the first in Orange County. Um, there was I think a couple other companies too, but starting our permanent jewelry, but we just, we put our, our foot to the, the pedal and just put ourselves into everything.
Okay.
Jessica: We didn't say no to anything.
ings that we wouldn't do now [:Hey,
Jessica: we got on Bravo twice.
Jen Thyrion: Oh, that's amazing. Shut up. I did not know that.
Jessica: Well, I guess I was on Bravo. We were on Bravo twice. We were on the, the very first episode of the Valley when the Valley launched. Mean neither of us watch Bravo, so like. I
Jen Thyrion: don't either, to be honest. I don't. Real wives.
Jessica: Then Night was on Real Housewives of Orange County for two episodes for Heather, one of Heather Dubrow parties.
Jen Thyrion: How funny. Now we have to look. I used to watch, I used to watch that show years ago, but no, I, I'm not So now I have to look. Yeah. So mind you, I'm
Jessica: saying yes to things got us on tv.
Jen Thyrion: Yes. However, I will say, and it was exciting 'cause Jess did it, but did that turn into sales for us? No. So not
Jessica: even followers.
nteresting how we've kind of [:So I think the bigger deal is that you're able. You are not so set in stone. Maybe you did something the year before, but you're like open to being flexible. I feel like there's so many ways to fail in business that if you're not flexible and open to understanding and I guess flowing, then I mean say goodbye.
Right. It's just, you know,
Jessica: and we have said goodbye to things we've paid for too.
Jen Thyrion: Yeah.
Jessica: Where it's like has just been something that we wouldn't be able to continue with that particular thing. And we've had to be like, thank you so much, but we can't move forward anymore.
Jen Thyrion: Well, yeah, and I think that is something to be said about the business, you know, entrepreneur journey, but really it's like, I get that.
I mean, same in the beginning. I didn't also, it's learning. It's like learning where you want to be, you know? If you didn't say yes to everything, how would you really. Kind of like niche down or know where you wanna land in this business, right? It's, I think it's part of the journey, right? It's just like throwing things and like at the wall, kind of see what sticks, see what you love, see what you don't love, and then let, let your business evolve.
then we're like, oh my God, [:Jessica: with that talking about perspective.
Jen Thyrion: Mm-hmm.
Jessica: If we, I mean, we don't, we don't ever really lose money for an event, but say that we don't make any, at the end of the day, how many business cards do we hand out?
How many people followed us? How many people saw how cute our setup is? How many people grabbed our event, our event cars, talk about all the different kinds of events we did, or found out that we had a local studio, or found out that a local studio, yeah, okay, maybe you didn't make any money that day and maybe you are feeling really discouraged.
Don't let it show. Don't blink. I. You got poker face on, keep their smile on your face. Make sure you're talking to all of the vendors around you, because a lot of times those vendors something else.
Jen Thyrion: And don't be complaining to other vendors. Don't be talking smack to other vendors because everything is connected here.
u wanna come across? Because [:Jessica: Mm-hmm.
Jen Thyrion: You know, and I won't like be disrespected, but there's just so many little things that we always make it a point, even if we're struggling, we get the text from a worker, oh my gosh, it's dead.
Other girls are packing up. We're just like, stay strong. Until, unless the event coordinator comes up and says, you know what guys, let's call it and firm, we're not, it's almost like if everyone else is, you know, jumping off the cliff, are you doing it too? Like we literally important to be like what image?
Do we wanna create for our business? I
Jessica: mean, it's literally that if everyone else is jumping ship, we're not. Yes. You know? And recognizing that there are other successful markers to an event besides dollars.
Jen Thyrion: Exactly. And again, that goes with perspective. I love that you say that. I say that all the time.
I'm like, even if it's one person, like say you stayed open and everyone was shutting down, but there was that one person shopping who happened. 'cause you know how it goes. One person can spend like $500, you know what I mean? Or that one person can have a connection where you end up booking these parties.
ts. I probably end up making [:It's all about relationships. It's more than just the money you're bringing in at that moment. It's connection, and not only with the customers, but also like you said, vendors and like, really, I can't say too, like relationships I made with fellow vendors and they were doing something and they're like, oh, they actually need a permanent drawer there.
Cool. Like, meet people, meet people. It's all about connection and, and putting out what you wanna get back. I always say that because it's like, what do you wanna get back? Then? Put that out there. I understand that not everybody starts in the same place. I, I think it's important to say that, you know, Jessica and I, for the record, um, I, you know, I'm married, I have two kids.
Kay. Jessica's not married and, and she doesn't have any kids, um, right now. And so in our partnership, right. Um, and my kids are a little bit old.
Jessica: Oh, and I
Jen Thyrion: had a
Jessica: full-time job when we started. By the way,
Jen Thyrion: she did have a full
Jessica: time and she was still teaching.
Jen Thyrion: Yes. Oh my gosh. Yes. My woman saying this is, is, you know, having two of us, like some people have to do this in between their schedules, you know, can my husband be with the kids?
have childcare. I understand [:I'm not saying we all have the same cards, but it's just, if it's something that you want to continue doing, you know you're going to have to. And so it when it comes to, oh my gosh, I haven't seen my kids for the weekend, you're going to have to make that decision where, okay, I'm going to spend this with them next weekend.
So I just, I think it's important. 'cause sometimes I see in the groups, how do you do this and how do you start a business? But then, you know, balance a family and this, I mean, my first thing is you don't in the beginning, right? There's no such thing as balance.
Jessica: Meantime. I think part of the fact that we have partners is like her daughter, Ryan and I are very, very close.
t she can go pick her kid up [:How
Jen Thyrion: old is your daughter? She's
Jessica: 10. How old is she? And my, my son's 12.
Jen Thyrion: Okay, so I have two daughters, five and seven. And I love that you said that like I don't have a partner in business, but of course my partner, my husband, but also just leaning on people. 'cause yeah, if you wanna figure it out, I get it.
But it's like you have to kind of go outside the box and be like, okay, how can we make this happen? Whether you lean on a neighbor or family or whatever. And then also just communicating with your kids. I don't know about you, but I actually, when my girls even say, 'cause there'll be times where like you're going to a popup again tonight.
I'm like, you know what? But I love it you guys, and I want it. I want this to be something that, you know, whether I want you to see. 'cause not everybody loves their job and they don't understand that they're five and seven, right? They're like, oh, you have to work one day and make a living and make money.
that you can build something [:You know
Jessica: what's really, really cool is we actually have videos of Ryan on her little fake laptop with her little fake. Earpiece on talking to her business partner.
Jen Thyrion: Love it
Jessica: about how much chain they need, who's doing what event, what kind of charms we need to buy. It's cute. And now cut
from
Jen Thyrion: the same cloth for sure.
Jessica: Now, now this child has her own business, so she actually has her own business.
Jen Thyrion: Stop
Jessica: it. Start it a year and a half ago. So she was about eight and a half, nine or so, right? Yep. Yeah. And so she teaches slime classes to community art centers.
Jen Thyrion: Stop it.
Jessica: Her go together. It's fully branded. Everything has a name.
She, she loves doing it.
essica's really good at like [:So, but there's gonna be times where it's just like, we can't, we're doing all of this stuff. I, I guess I was just saying messaging to or message to anyone listening who's, whether it's starting it or these are hard or how do you do these events? There's more so about the events where it's like a flop.
You start to think, oh my gosh, I could have been home with the kids and this, your mind will get consumed with that. But again, when you think about, at the end of the day, I'm building a business, any shape or form there are, there's so many people who don't know about you. And like we said, those handing out business cards, these are things that you're still doing.
There's that you didn't fully like lose
Jessica: i I way.
Jen Thyrion: I love that you said that.
Jessica: Yeah. I'm also gonna add to that just from the flip side of someone who is not married and who does not have children, who you know is just now getting serious with someone. At 33, because there were three years, my life was completely on hold.
ly lucky because my friends. [:And mind you, I moved here with a mattress and a cat. I don't have anyone in California.
Jen Thyrion: Yeah,
Jessica: okay. Like this. This is my family. These are the people who keep me going and are, who are like my tribe basically. And so I wanna definitely highlight that because there are a lot of mom on entrepreneurs. But I did start a little bit differently.
I started with a full-time job and I kept hustling. There were, there were months, I think one summer I worked literally three months straight, three full months straight. And I, I left an event at two in the morning. I got up at 6:00 AM and I drove eight hours, Northern California for my junk. Like when we say we went full balls to the wall and like every full steam ahead like we really did.
And I want people to know like one. Your friends are gonna stick by you and they're gonna tell you that they're proud of you and they're gonna be so grateful and so excited just to see you. They're gonna reshare your stuff. They're gonna be that support system. They're not just gonna go away. You're not gonna lose them.
the end that like don't let [:Jen Thyrion: I love that. And it's just like checking and being real about expectations too. It's like, like you said, you're gonna have, like, you can't go into business thinking every day is gonna be a wonderful and lucrative and you know, you don't even, every event's gonna just be banging.
It just doesn't happen. Right. And there's gonna be times where it's really hard, whether you're single with no kids or whether you're married with kids. It's gonna be hard some days where you're like, oh, I'd rather be here and I have to miss this. It's hard to be away from my kids. And yes, this, this is crappy right now, in this moment, but how can, when I have moments like that, it's like, okay, then this event isn't what I thought.
Yes, I'm away from my kids. I can, I can choose to like hone, you know, really focus on that. Or I can choose to focus on how can I make this worth it? I need to get up and talk to vendors. I can, you know, try to engage more with people coming to my table. Like, how can I make this more worth it because I'm here anyway.
And you're like, you said, you're building, you're building. So that's just part of it. I was gonna say is I don't realize, I don't think that people realize like how much work goes into it. I think it's like, oh, permanent jewelry, everyone's
Jessica: gonna [:Jen Thyrion: this.
Jessica: Everybody wants, it's so fun. You
Jen Thyrion: know, you're owning your business comes with the cost.
There's so many perks, but there are a lot. It's just, again, that mentality. Are you ready to grind?
Jessica: Are you ready
Jen Thyrion: to grind?
Jessica: If not, you're gonna find out real quick that it's gonna sink through well, and then I was just gonna speak to time management. So on those slower events. When there's not a lot going on, I am sitting there working on next week's prep.
So I'm looking at the content calendar or the calendar or the content calendar, whatever my job is for that week or whatever events are on a calendar. And I'm going, okay, we need this many setups. We need this many X, Y, and Z for this particular event. We have to do X amount of bracelets, so we need X amount of feet.
What are we buying? Where are we buying it from? What's our, our best price option? Have we already committ something specifically to that client that they're expecting and we need to buy it? Just that. Yeah, like, so on those down moments, do, does my head pop up when a customer comes? Yes, but am I sitting there making use of the time where I'm not doing anything?
demanding job. That was not [:When you have any little moment, you take that little moment, everything you can in it. Yeah. And then I think that on the flip side, when Rachel does not have her children and they are in school and we know we have three hours together, it is so much of here's our list of what we need to get done, get as much done as you possibly can.
And then at the end of that, it's like when she leaves to go pick up the kids, she's calling me on the way to go pick up the kids. And she's like, okay, we didn't figure out X, Y, and Z. When are we getting that done? Um, how are we splitting that up, et cetera.
Jen Thyrion: You make the time. It just, it's different. It's funny, like I started a business prior to having kids, so I have the experience of like, wasn't permanent jewelry, but I had a boutique business and I actually went in with a friend who had three children and her youngest was under one.
And, but it was like, so she [:We were partners for three months solid. And then she realized it wasn't the right time because it wasn't, like you said, if even if you're a mother or whether you're not a the mother, it's just, if it's not the right time and you're not ready to grind, like you said, then it's just not the right time. It doesn't matter whether you have kids or not.
And because I was scared when I had my first daughter, I'm like, oh my God, am I gonna love my business as much? And honestly, part of me got more passionate about my business. But yes, of course I had to move things around my life changed, there's no doubt. But I still made it work. You know what I mean? And I still just found different ways you're asking us about all of that,
Jessica: because it's just, yeah, it's, it's a grind all the time.
But we love it. I think it's also so addicting, right? Yes. Rachel's daughter started a another business and Rachel's helping her with that. What, four months ago I started, I started selling clothes. 'cause I,
Jen Thyrion: oh my gosh, love,
Jessica: like when you, when you're in it, you get addicted to it and you just keep doing it.
the biggest thing is it's a, [:I used to live right down the street and I would come get coffee every day and there's just cute little salon, but she always had these really cute clothing racks outside. And so I'm just kind of browsing them and it just looked super fun in Boho. And then again, going with our like grinding and hustling mentality, I always wanted to make sure I put Parker J in people's mind and in their mouth.
We're talking at their, at a restaurant. My server, she looks cute. She has a bracelet. Is that permanent by the way? We have a brand wherever I can. Right? I'm not embarrassed. It's like, okay, if you wanna, if you wanna grow a business and you want it to be successful, you're gonna have to get over what. What you think people are gonna think of you.
So anyway, I walked in here and I just said, Hey, by the way, we do permanent jewelry. Can we ever do a popup? He's like, I dunno what that is, but Sure. And so we did a small little popup. It was mostly just, um, hair and lashes here. Okay. Like all aesthetic stuff. Someone was doing eyebrows. I do a popup one night.
girl who's doing brows in a [:And so then it would make sense. And then within a couple weeks her and I are talking about it, the price was right and we're like, are we gonna do this permanent jewelry charm bar in this tiny room? And so we kind of pulled the trigger if we could find photos and you know, we'll have to send you some stuff.
But where it started in a tiny room and now we take up high space, we've modified so much, we carry different brands of clothing. There's um, the girl who helps us with our social media sell clothes here. Jessica started her online.
Jessica: We have a Parker J Line too. Yeah, that's actually named. So when I talk about our sweet baby angels, I say ars 'cause I've, I love them so much.
But why actually, why don't you tell 'em why our business is named Parker J first?
Jen Thyrion: Yes, I would love to hear that. Yeah. So I told you kind of an idea of how we were starting while I was talking with my sisters. And then we were bringing on Jess and we were talking about, you know, different names. We had so many names.
nd I remember, uh, my sister [:My son. So I have two kids. My oldest, Jackson, Jackson Parker is his name. Um, he was born with a rare genetic disorder. Luckily he's mild in terms of certain abilities, but he is kind of developmentally delayed. We have a lot of support and very lucky, but he has custom jeans and so it kind of inspired our custom jewelry line.
So that's when we went with Parker J and Jess being an auntie, but also, I'll never forget when she's like, I've always loved the name Parker. And so I had Parker and Grace on my, like I had a business list name and Parker and Grace was online. Oh my gosh. Serendipitous for sure. So that's kind of where that brand, um, was born.
And then we're really intentional about giving back. So every quarter we try to donate to rare chromo.org, um, which is a chromosome disorder foundation. And then Jess is also really passionate about, you know, um, youth who is hungry. So we do like, you know, I think it's Feeding america.org.
sica: Yeah. It's not feeding [:We try to do a little bit more local than that. I, I said Feeding America, which is, is a, um. It's an organization, but I meant like in a little sense of like feeding embarrasses. I grew up working in soup kitchens and playing with homeless children. Okay. And that thing that I did on a regular basis with my mom, um, and I also went to what's called a Title IX school, meaning that over 90% of the kids are on assisted lunch.
Oh wow. Yeah. So if they're not in school, they're not getting fed. And we just wanted, I mean, again, with how passionate we're about kids in Jackson and Ryan as well, the fact that I grew up doing that, we wanna make sure that when kids are on Thanksgiving break and Christmas break, they are still being fed.
Jen Thyrion: That's amazing. Yes. We've always been really passionate about them. We were just trying to find ways to kind of, you know, give back and really push forward that we're just more than a jewelry brand. And so going back to the clothing and the space, even though our brand is, you know, Parker J but yeah, I love that.
s from your past experience? [:Jessica: Yes, absolutely. That's why we donate to kind of what we do. The other thing is Ryan, she kind of got a little bit older. Her daughter kind of got a little bit older and she, you know, expressed to mom that she was really sad that the business was named after her brother and that nothing was named after her.
Jen Thyrion: Yes,
Jessica: she gets decked out in the
Jen Thyrion: jewelry. That's where she was. Of course she gets
Jessica: to go to events with mom and she gets paid now to go to events with mom and help work. Like she's love, she's very, very, very, very involved. But she is also very sensitive and you know, I, we totally get that. So when we decided to add clothes to the studio, we actually named it after her.
So that's amazing. Ryan. Nicole collection and she got to design the tags with mom. Love and um, we get shipments. Sometimes the timing works out really well, so she actually gets to help unpack the shipments and hang them up and like she's written the tags in her own handwriting before and stuff like that.
So it really was a way that we got to, one, expand the business, but also include our other child.
Jen Thyrion: Yes, [:It's not really like what you know our focus is, but because space, it's a salon, the jewelry store, and a boutique, which you can now see the boutique because you did. Yes, I know. It's awesome. Yes. We decided to add a little bit there, but we don't take our clothing to like popups. It's not on our website.
Okay. So it's just like here in the studio we kind of heard it's a studio perk. Yeah. I love that dress. You can usually find what we wear here. Yeah. Okay. Real talk for a second. Running a business can feel overwhelming. The content marketing, social media decisions, it's a lot. That's exactly why I created GoldLink Society.
It's a space where permanent jewelers can get real support, education and tools like quarterly photos and video done for you. Templates, trainings, weekly calls, support group, and access to expert trainings who understand this industry. If you are craving clarity, confidence, and community, Goldie Link Society is built for you.
You can [:Jessica: know you and your business. See you soon.
Jen Thyrion: Okay, so let's talk Charm bar because of course you're gonna be at PJX. And let's talk about the charm bar, incorporating that. Now that you said you had a brick and mortar, so that was able to, you know, studio space, you were able to offer that.
So what impact has that made on your business once you added that?
Jessica: It has been a night and day difference, and Rachel's really good about talking about why it's a non-permanent option that allows us to expand our customer base and has gotten us significantly more events because. We do actually work with a lot of, um, in our area we have, we're a really neighborhood area, so there's a ton of kids that play sports and can't have permanent, but they want something to participate with their mom too.
So having the charm bar for that, they love. We actually are doing the opening of Huntington Beach Little League.
out to us for those things, [:And like I said, we started in a very small room and now we have kind of half this space. I do wanna share a couple things and why we're so excited to share at PGX and why we kind of decided to take the leap. Um, I told you in a bunch of groups on, on Facebook, and so a lot of girls are one adding charm bar to their permanent business and some are just starting with Charm bar in general.
We just like many other people, when we first started, there wasn't a lot of research out there. We were kind of doing the best we could. We were shopping on, on Amazon or, or, or, yeah, team. We weren't sure. We're like, oh, okay, we'll grab this stuff. We were just excited. We're like, all right,
Jessica: well, and there wasn't a lot of information either.
I'm like, what the actual quality was, and I think we've learned a about that.
itation, uh, mainly was just [:We didn't know how it would do, but we were really intentional with communicating that to the customer. We're we have so much pride in our business that we are very transparent. There's no, oh, this is, this is forever. Like for example, when I hear someone saying a gold filled piece is going to last forever, I think misleading your customer.
Instead tell them how to take care of it. You can tell them a 14 carat solid gold, one will, but it's just, it's so important that we're telling. 'cause I don't think it deters sales. I think it builds trust. Yeah. With that being said, we bring in the charm bar, these plated, you know, very cheap. Cheaply plated materials, things are turning quickly.
We're like, okay, I mean we're, we're pricing it low. And I was like, there has to be another way. We're seeing some things online. How do some of these bigger brands, how do they have these plated pieces that last and so enter in just hours of research and time and going to different shows. All of this to say we have completely transformed our charm bar.
ve had to learn too, kind of [:I mean, we, we see girls who come to the market, they're wearing maybe a, a, a piece they purchased from something else and they're like, we've never seen charms like this that are so, that are so cute. And so it's, it's definitely like validating. But we've had to change and find new suppliers. I mean, we've had to really like elevate the brand.
And so now that we are in this place where we have these products that are not only selling well for us, doing great at events, we still tell people how to take care of them. We're excited to put something together for fellow PJ artists. Say, Hey, if you wanna launch with like a charm bar, lux were your girls
Jessica: and double your business.
'cause they really did double our business.
Jen Thyrion: Yeah. And I, 'cause I wanna say that in terms of doubling business, when I say a charm bar can do that, I 100%. It matters on your quality. Yeah, because there's so many girls who are selling, I, I mean, you've seen people sell their permanent jewelry and whatnot, but I see so many people just sting their charm bar.
ot able to give it a chance. [:Jessica: one.
I think the other thing that we get compli on that she kind of dusted over is that we have a selection that people go crazy for. And that is, you know, very much attuned to Rachel being specific about like, okay, in the cross category, how many do we have in the mm-hmm. How many do we have? She'll go shop like, you know, research or whatever, and she'll find a charm.
But I'll be like, that is not gonna sell. No way. No. And no one's gonna buy a watermelon wedge. Absolutely not.
Jen Thyrion: No. It's
Jessica: hot. And strawberries. And these weren't, I mean, I can't even tell you how fruit cells and I'm just like, okay,
Jen Thyrion: fruit cells. Yeah.
Jessica: Um, a little bit more of the nitty gritty on that. We have learned what microns are and microns are related specifically to plating.
basically, uh, [:So in that line is, it's a minimum of 0.5. We go even up to 0.1 for some of our things so that they last. And anything that we get custom made, we go even higher to 0.1. So basically that's just saying it's a thicker level of plating. Yes, it's a higher quality of plating. Uh, we use an eco on all of our products too, so there is that extra layer of protection over the top of the plating.
And those are just like very high level reasons of why our charms are significantly higher quality than what you're gonna find out.
Jen Thyrion: I do wanna add to Jennifer that I think some people get so stuck on the idea of being like waterproof. Um, and again, we don't, our, you know, we've built our business a successful business on.
utiful designs. I don't even [:Jessica: Mm-hmm.
Jen Thyrion: Everyone was selling 'em. We were like, we're not gonna touch those. And then we thought, you know what? People are loving them. You might as well bring 'em in, put 'em at a lower price point and again, be fully transparent with the client. Yeah. Fair enough. We brought 'em in, fly off the wall. We didn't get people who were Oh, this tarnish because we were open about that stuff.
Jessica: We said, it's semi-permanent, it's going to last round this much time.
Jen Thyrion: Yes. And so my whole point is, is like sometimes people are afraid to be transparent because like, well, they're not gonna know, oh well we don't wanna, we don't wanna deter them. And I'm like, well, then again, you're gonna have distrust versus like, let's be honest.
And they can kind of make that choice all, and it's allowed us to really access a lower price point for large scale events where maybe they can buy 400 pieces and plated. Mm-hmm. We're letting them know and they're just looking to get, my whole point of saying this is, um, a lot of girls look in or trying to find these like water-proof charms.
d of water resistant here in [:Jessica: lot darker,
Jen Thyrion: you know, as you know, it's darker. And so for us, our lighter colored charms that still, they, they're, they're not meant for consistent water wear, but we let them know we have a permanent option and a non-permanent option.
And the fact that they, they're aware of this, they love the lighter color. And so I think sometimes girls are like, well, it's not waterproof, it's not marketed that way. And so it's more intentional about your marketing. You'll buy this. Gorian is a multimillion dollar company and they're fully based on their 18 karat plated.
We have the same level of that. What they don't do is they don't communicate how to take care of their pieces. They just say, when this tarnishes. We'll replace it. And so I just, I think transparency is really important. And so we're hoping to educate the gals who come see us at PJX and the goal is it let me sell waterproof jewelry, permanent is for that.
-year-old [:Jessica: one, and I.
I wanna also just say that it is not limited to the 10 to 16-year-old range. No, no birthday parties know.
Jen Thyrion: I know
Jessica: that makes a lot of sense. But I have to tell you, like our permanent jewelry customers are our charm bar customers. They get just as excited. People love to come in. They're like, I've got a new handbag.
Do you wanna help me decorate it? And I'm like, yes ma'am, I do.
Jen Thyrion: Yes. That's what's amazing. Charm bar is like, blows my mind. Like, it's like I had a boutique inside of a merchant market kind of deal, right? And I had a charm bar for actually, like, it would be about 11 years now if I still had it. I had a board with nails and I just had all these charms hanging from a board, right?
So I wasn't there to help them. It wasn't the same charm bar like we're doing, but um, there was still charms. They could just string on a delicate chain. It would, Hey, it's so crazy now getting into it. I was hesitant to start it when I saw, I saw it become trendy. I'm like, well, I've been doing that for a while.
g before, but also just what [:It's, it's well, and now
Jessica: people are coming because it's tread. The Louis Carter organized leather organizers and from Paris are trending, and so people are coming in to add charms to their Luis Carter.
Jen Thyrion: Love
Jessica: and like, you know, their organizational notebook things. And that's a huge
Jen Thyrion: thing. I love that.
Jessica: I did a market two nights, two days ago and someone was like, I just got a new journal.
Can you add two charms to the zipper here for me? I'm like, absolutely. Let's go. Whatever. Whatever you wanna put them on, we can put them on. As long as it hook for me to put the ring through. Girl. What? Good.
Jen Thyrion: Yes. Okay. So tell me, how do you guys charge for Charm Bar? I know you're in California, so keep that in mind.
I feel like there's pricing, it's gonna be different all across the country, but what do you guys charge? So, I do wanna share a couple things in general with charging. EST is so great at this. We, our margins are just, we're, we're really smart about everything that goes into our pricing, right? Our time, our materials, energy.
the beginning, which is why. [:We've gone back and forth. There's a lot of people who do like oh five charms for this price. We charge them per piece. Hertz charm. So they charge, they choose a bracelet base. It's all like a la carte, right? They charge, I think our cheapest charm bracelet is $15. Our most expensive charm bracelet is 25.
Our cheapest charm necklace is 25. Our most expensive charm necklace is 55. And then, um, we have these cute little like charm cards, Parker J and like, you know, you can kind of tally 'cause we have a really cute charm bar where you're kind of a grabbing and it kind of, you decide if you want a smaller charm at seven, a bigger charm at 15.
Then you tally that up. But yeah, so we have a range of charms starting at seven all the way up to 15. We've found that in our business when we have a lower entry starting point in someplace then, and if somebody sees that, 'cause they're always looking, and then we can go as high as we want with within that range.
r to entry when they see the [:Jen Thyrion: So then they can kind of come in and choose. And believe me, we, we didn't realize it either. But on top of that, I wanna say that we stand behind our product. Like people will come and pay for this because they see the quality of chains.
Now, if there's somebody similar trying to charge what we charge, but then they're, you know, using these, these team new charms or Amazon charms, they're wondering why they have upset customers when it turns on them in a couple days. Again, I think that that's like poor marketing. So if you're going, Hey, all power to you, if you wanna buy your charm bar of Amazon, then make sure that you're pricing it that way and that you're also explaining to them.
So we, we really do try to. Stand behind that quality. And so we want it to be an elevated experience that comes from displays, our signage, how we're talking to them, what the end product looks like. We want them to feel good about what they're going to purchase. Not like, oh, this was a cheap experience and you charge me $85 for this term bracelet.
small podunk town, a luxury [:Um, I think that we make a lot of excuses for our value and our worth. And sadly, if we're afraid to ask for it, we're not gonna get it. You know?
Jessica: But that's actually something that Rachel can tell you. I preached until the cows came home. We really had a lot of conversations of was perceived value.
Jen Thyrion: Yes, for
Jessica: sure.
So what is the price you're paying, but what is the perceived value for that? Uh, I, Rachel will tell you, I'm very particular on words because my mom is a speech therapist and she literally like kicked my butt if I did not say the right words. So I like that. Um, perceived value. So if you, if something you know costs you, so sometimes we have really big terms that they cost less, then some of the smaller terms 'cause they have less detail on them.
Yes. But that doesn't mean we're lowering them.
Jen Thyrion: Right.
Jessica: All of our big charms are in that $15 range. So just because that, that charm costs you the same as like maybe a $7 or $10 charm.
Jen Thyrion: Sure.
because it's still the same [:Jen Thyrion: Yeah.
Jessica: Yes,
Jen Thyrion: for sure. You
Jessica: know, we're, and, and we are very careful and very fair on like what our pricing was, um, and really, really intentional on what it was gonna be when we did our wholesale too and, and wanted to make sure it makes sense and that there are profit margin. And that there is to grow here.
Jen Thyrion: So are you guys gonna be actually offering charms to purchase at PJX or how are you guys? Okay, so you are,
Jessica: because when we
Jen Thyrion: came to PJX as vendors, I'll
Jessica: never
Jen Thyrion: forget 'cause
Jessica: I, I hunted you down that first time. I loved
Jen Thyrion: your stuff. Yeah.
Jessica: And I was like, we're going, we're going to want these things. Okay. So what we're really excited about, we're working on you guys are a few different things.
Thankfully because I do have a wholesale background and I did use to sell jewelry and wholesale, it kind of gave me some ideas of how to move forward with this. One of the things that is really great is to offer basically a starting package. Okay? So we're gonna put together, you know, our bestselling charms.
you can see what it it would [:We use our charm. Bar cards will be for sale. They'll be unbranded, but they'll be for sale. Okay? So you don't buy our menu cards. Our care card that tells you how to take care of the jewelry, again, will be unbranded, but it will be for sale. So you'll have those kind of things, and then we're gonna do our.
Little party card that explains like how a party works and to contact, again, will be for sale and unbranded. So you're gonna have all those options. You'll be able to purchase the digital version if you wanna purchase the digital version and then brand it for yourself. Um, you'll be able to set template.
So we wanna set you up not with just the actual charms, but with what it actually takes to start this.
Jen Thyrion: Love that.
Jessica: Yes. You know, and, uh, we actually are Amazon influencers, so you can buy directly from our link that we use for our business. So all of our Jacky that we use on there, all of our VAEs that we use on there, all of our trays that we get, which, you know, you can get them other places too.
up. So yes, we are gonna be [:You're not gonna go through the six months of trial and error that we went through to get to this point.
Jen Thyrion: Yes, I
Jessica: love that. You know, we're gonna bring you, here's the charms that actually sell. Here's what they sell at and people don't. Mm-hmm. Love that. And here's, you know, here's what you need to have that transparency.
Here's how you should be having those conversations and talking about it. Here's how your display should look. Oh, like here is your base so that you can literally take it, copy, paste, and go and put it out there. We wanna make sure that you are, you know, we set you up for success.
Jen Thyrion: Yes. I love that. So what would you say your percentage of what you bring in goes to charm bar versus permanent jewelry?
Jessica: So, charm Bar does have a significantly lower cost. I wanna say it's about a third of our budget.
Jen Thyrion: Okay.
more for a specific client, [:Jen Thyrion: Yeah.
Jessica: And have that option. There's a higher MOQ, it's, you know, a hundred piece minimum to do that. Yes. But we can do that. We have that ability, you know, it just kind of depends on what exactly is going on, what you're going forward. So I would say it's between a quarter and a third of our budget goes towards terms.
There are weeks where it's half of our budget because. We need more charms than we did permanent. I mean, we have, I think we have like three weeks there where we're 75% charm bar and 25% permanent at our studio, which was just like wild for us and very unusual. So we do have, um, you know, we do have that option.
Jen Thyrion: That's amazing. So are you still doing, now that you, you have your space, obviously you're still doing a lot of mobile events, correct?
Jessica: Oh my gosh. We did 131 events last year. Just popups, not private parties.
Jen Thyrion: That's amazing.
Actually, I'm sorry, that was: ally seen the business shift [:And the Charmer was a huge help for that. Like, we've gotten in with Club Pilates and we did an eighties themed, uh, eighties themed charm bar. So we had like roller skates and teddy bears and um, cassette tapes and like crazy glasses and you know, they're like, 'cause and that's the other thing, like, you can so adapt to the theme of whatever you're doing.
Mm-hmm. So true. Which is so nice. That's something that's really, really cool that Charm bar allows you to do. So it, it's an expansion on the business that to us was such a no brainer. And like we are so glad that we did it and we will always continue adapting. You know, that's just a, but Charm bar allows you to be so much more, it allows you to be so much more adaptive because there's so many more things that you can do with it.
erally double your business. [:Jen Thyrion: Yes,
Jessica: it's crazy. And I mean, it didn't double it right away. Uh, at first it was 30% charm and 70% permanent the first year we launched it, but by the end of the year it was 50 50 and it has stayed 50 50.
Jen Thyrion: Yes, I know. I just think it's like, yeah, like you said, it serves two different pers I think people, there's a couple different hesitations is that, is they're worried about the quality, right. And like having to, you know, educate the customer on that. But as long as you are merchandising 'em different, make it completely separate.
You're not putting your charm bar on the same table as your permanent jewelry. Right. Like you literally are merchandising it the correct way.
Jessica: Ours are on the same table all the time, Jennifer.
Jen Thyrion: Oh, are they?
Jessica: All the time. We just say class pieces don't get wet. Permanent pieces can get wet.
Jen Thyrion: Oh, that's amazing.
That's amazing.
Jessica: Like, not the basis, like that's, you know, if we're just saying like a one-liner, but usually we go in a little bit more detail from that and then, you know, we'll talk about like we've learned so much and, and I know you can really test this, but like your pH balance of your skin can change how you wear jewelry.
Jen Thyrion: Oh, for sure.
Jessica: And like the products that you use can change how you wear jewelry?
eople are listening are just [:I had too much permanent jewelry. I couldn't fit two on, on the same table. So for me, I brought two tables. I would make the other one look different. The other one. So it did kind of separate a little bit. It was still on brand, but it was like. Slightly different looking. I think people hesitate with like knowing that, how can I do both at the same time too?
So you have to consider some things. I brought it to heart, like home parties where that, and I think people worry too. Like, oh, if I bring charm bar, it is a different price point. They're gonna go for that over permanent jewelry. And that's so not true. It's like, it's a totally different thing. And I have so many people that do both because of that, because they're different purposes or they'll gift the other one because you can gift charm bar obviously way easier than permanent.
Right. So yes, they serve different purposes. I, you know, even if you have a permanent piece, you're still gonna rock a a charm piece because it's not every day like a permanent piece. So.
Jessica: Exactly. You don't wear every, you're not gonna wanna sleep in it. Are you serious? Yes,
Jen Thyrion: exactly. Exactly.
ke, I'm sorry, I sleep on my [:I don't want that pressing into my chest.
Jen Thyrion: I hear you. Yeah,
Jessica: yeah. You know, and like, I'm not gonna go swimming with it because that is gonna be heavy and in my way.
Jen Thyrion: Yeah.
Jessica: So, yeah. You know, and it's, I love that and I kind of tell people that too. I'm like. You can't wear it in the water. You can't sleep in it, but like, do you wanna
Jen Thyrion: Exactly.
Right.
Jessica: Do you wanna have that on? I mean, I don't wanna be, I don't wanna tan line from that.
Jen Thyrion: No, no.
Jessica: I wanna be sitting there, you know, baking in the sun with this clunky thing on my wrist that's gonna make me feel suffocated.
Jen Thyrion: Exactly, yes, for sure. But, okay. Is there anything else that you would wanna share for somebody who's considering Charm Bar?
Like any, you know, any like, words of wisdom or advice until they get to beat you at PJX, but anything you'd like to share?
Jessica: I think don't be afraid of it.
Jen Thyrion: Yeah.
Jessica: You know, yes, it does take, okay. It really does take more time, but you just kind of have to get that nut mentality of, okay, we're gonna in, in our card that we are gonna be have for sale, it has a phone number and a name on it.
all their things. Say, okay, [:Yeah. We also, a lot of markets that are in food spaces, so it's like, oh, you're going to go have lunch. Great. It'll be ready for you when you're done with lunch.
Jen Thyrion: Exactly, yes.
Jessica: So there's a lot of different ways to kind of like have those conversations and just like I said, being super transparent with the customer and telling them how it is.
Because I was a sales rep for 10 years. The reason I was good at my job is because I would flat out not sell you something if I didn't think it was gonna work for you.
Jen Thyrion: No, I love, I love you said that. I say that a lot. Like when we, you guys were talking about that earlier with just transparency. Because again, that is like the, the trust factor is what you're gonna have that customer forever.
You know what I mean? If they know they can come to you and be like, is this going to last? And you just, you know, and you or you're gonna tell 'em the truth. They're gonna respect that way more than that. You just selling them a piece just because you wanna sell and them realize it's not worth, you know, what you sold it for.
room. But people ask all the [:Jessica: and it last about two weeks before your
Jen Thyrion: wedding.
Exactly. Exactly. And just like a thin chain. If someone wants a super thin chain as an inlet, I'm like, I'm gonna tell you what might happen to this, and it's up to you whether you wanna get it or not, but I'm not gonna just, it's different. I'm gonna do it if you want me to, but it's different if I say and give you warnings or if I just put it on you because I can just put it on you and not say a word.
Jessica: Like, we specifically have chains that we're like, sorry, that, that's, that's gonna stop on your ankle. We don't do that.
Jen Thyrion: I hear you. And I actually just did, did chat with someone who does the same. We don't, but I, I am very honest, so I'm like. Because at the same time, like, I'm not gonna tell you you can't do something because I feel like people have, some can, people can be defiant.
They're like, well, no, I want it. I'm like, okay, I will do it, but I'm telling you, if this breaks, just know that that's, that's what's gonna happen.
Jessica: Oh, ask people. Push back to a point where they're really not taking that note. Then I'm like, it's your body.
Jen Thyrion: Totally, totally.
Jessica: People wanna do,
Jen Thyrion: yeah.
Jessica: I just want you to have all the information so you're fully aware.
ecommend people to put their [:Jen Thyrion: Ah, good point.
Jessica: And we said all of our ankles above the ankle. Above the ankle on, because the below the ankle bone is more tension and and also more likely to snap.
Jen Thyrion: Well, yeah, it's the same thing when I put like a bracelet on somebody and they're always asking me like, which wrist? I'm always like, do you wear a watch? Because, and I'm always, I give my opinion all the time. I think people respect that. They're like, and if someone wants to put on the same side as their watch, and most likely it's an Apple watch, right?
And I'm like, okay, I don't advise that because it's probably just gonna get hidden under your watch. It's gonna annoy you. And again, if they want it and they're adamant sure, of course. But I'm like, I'm gonna tell you you're not gonna like it.
Jessica: Well, and here I tell people then this is act an actual fact.
tional metal base watch, but [:We're gonna tell you, Hey, you're gonna feel it. It's not gonna be comfortable. I totally understand that, that you don't really like to wear stuff on your other wrist, and if it's not right for you, I'm happy to still do it for you. But I will tell you of the three people who have actually not listened to me, every single one of them has come back and asked to move it to the other wrist.
You have that option. We guarantee our welds. So as long as you have the piece, we'll do whatever you want with it. Resize it will, we fit it. You wanna turn your ankle into a ring and a bracelet? Sure, no problem.
Jen Thyrion: And a lot of people come in like there's some people that are very particular and know exactly what they want, but it's rare.
Most people want direction. They actually want you to tell them what's best for them. Okay. And that's actually part of what we do. It's not like, I mean that's one of the favorite things I love about this actually, is someone's like stumped with chains even. I'm like, okay, which ones are you gravitating towards?
too close and they're gonna [:That's what's gonna happen. Because I could easily just do it and then walk away. I know they're gonna end up coming back and being disappointed anyway. I'd rather tell 'em the honest truth right now.
Jessica: Exactly. It's if you put a paperclip at a satellite together, they're gonna twist like no one's business.
I mean even, even this paperclip loves to twist with this, and I'm like, really?
Jen Thyrion: Yes. And so like, and a lot of people won't come back. Some people will just be like, oh, like I don't like this. And then they'll just take it off, never say a word and go somewhere else in the future and be like, oh, I had this one from this piece from before.
So this is the thing, you know, you're not always going to hear people's complaints either. So if you're gonna put two delicate chains on their wrist, they're same exact size and they're gonna twist and then they get annoyed by it, they might not always come back and tell you. And so that's a customer you lost anyway.
I love that you said that because Charm bar, yes, you wanna be transparent with anything. Of course. Honesty with all of it. That's what makes customers come back and you have a lifelong customer 'cause they can trust you. And that's huge.
Jessica: Our retention and our like, so we have a loyalty point system, which we highly recommend if you, if you use Square, if you use Shopify, like have your loyalty point system.
I'm sure you can [:Jen Thyrion: Ooh, that's a good one.
Jessica: Mm-hmm. That's great. That's, and that's all it is. And then, um, during your birthday month, you get 15% off your entire birthday month as many times as you wanna come in.
But the product is only for you. This is not for you to buy gifts with. It's not for you to buy somebody else. It's just for you that your whole birthday month spoil yourself as many times as you want. You get 15% off your whole month.
Jen Thyrion: That's amazing. I love that. I love
Jessica: those. And that's something like kind different.
And it works for us. People come in five six and, and some people are like, oh, that's kind of a high discount. Like, I don't have that built in my margins. Well, you should. Let's, let's swap right there and talk about margins. Yeah, for sure. Second, and like, and like Rachel said, you know, I'm, I'm the queen of building stuff in.
You need to have repairs built into your margins. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You need to have a, I think it's a 10% loss rate is the average that they taught us in retail math.
Jen Thyrion: Yeah. Yeah.
rate cal, like calculated in [:Exactly. And that's built in, you know, like, oh, you need to repair, you need to resize. You need to refit. Yes. That's gonna take time.
Jen Thyrion: Mm-hmm.
Jessica: But we're here for you for that reason. So while your piece is permanent, you can come in whenever you need for resizes, refits, whatever you bought the chain. As long as you have it, we're gonna do what you want.
Jen Thyrion: I love that you do have to, and that's also coming back to expectations to a business. Like, 'cause I hear, I see some chatter too where I've had, you know, trained other girls that, you know, they just hesitate so bad. Or someone comes in and something like someone lost a bracelet. Or maybe two, maybe it's a little over a year period where you say you'd replace for free kind of thing, but you're like hesitant to do it.
That should be built in. I mean, there's, you should be some instances where you break your own rules to keep a customer happy, because in the end, I always am a case by case basis. If someone has spent a thousand dollars with me before and have brought in groups of girls and they come to me and they lost a bracelet or broke, I'm gonna replace it for free.
I'm like, I'm sorry, but I'm [:Jessica: here's the other thing, like yes, there are gonna be times where some of your best customers it happens to, but it's also, there's gonna be times where it's a first time customer.
Jen Thyrion: Totally. Yeah.
Jessica: And tho that first time customer. Might even matter more than that customer that you have. That's a loyalty because the loyalty customer is gonna give you a little grace. That first time customer isn't gonna have a problem, leaving a negative review isn't gonna have a problem talking, her friends don't go there.
So, you know, you kind of have to just gauge the way, and this is why Rachel is so good at what she does is she'll gauge the way that someone's communicating and make an educated decision of how she needs to handle that customer. And what,
Jen Thyrion: well, and I love that, I wanted to say that like her, her both your guys' history obviously and your past, you know, experience has played into what makes you so strong now.
. Because so much of this is [:I think that you guys are really good about that. And I could se, I can sense that in her as well is like communicating with their customer and I think that's like, I have a natural, I think. Like ability to do that as well, because I feel like I can explain to customers like, sorry, I'm not gonna replace that, but I can say it in a really nice way to explain that.
Where they understand, they walk away, they're like, oh my gosh, okay, cool. I'll just pay for it. And like, okay. You know, versus I could be like, Nope, sorry. Like, you know, you know, I just like, I don't know. I'd just be rude about it. Right.
Jessica: Exactly. You know?
Jen Thyrion: So it just, it's really how you communicate.
Jessica: Yeah. Ex Exactly.
And we always tell 'em, Hey, permanent roof's on invincible, you can't go catch it in the door handle on the way to the, to the laundry room.
Jen Thyrion: No.
Jessica: And it, and we tell people if they wanna fit it really loose, we're like, okay, well I'm happy to fit this loose for you, but it does risk your chance of it breaky.
u. It's back to that honesty [:It's not indestructible, it's not gonna break. So someone came back four months later and the chain broke. They were like so irritated. Well, I didn't communicate in at the beginning, like my, I have tears, you know, and it's, it is really by make and wait is what I say, right? Because. And I'm like this tier, just so you know, and it also plays into a durability.
And that's how I explain it. So that way it plants the seed of like, okay, if I'm gonna get this smaller chain than chain, obviously it's not as durable as the thick chain, right? So I communicate the chains differently as well now where it's not like this is permanent jewelry, here you go. Like here's the, here's the tier and don't explain anything.
ustomer know what to expect. [:Jessica: Exactly. So I think just I recap a lot of the, we've talked about is your mindset and the way that you carry yourself really matters whether an event does well or an event doesn't do well.
The way that you react and act in those moments are how people are gonna remember you. And so make sure you are always putting your best forward no matter what the situation is. Make sure your mindset's also there. Viewing the fact that, hey, maybe I didn't make sales, but how many business cards did I give away?
How many people did I get follows with? How many people are interested in having a party? How many people are like, oh, I do this. Can you do this for me? You know, et cetera. So taking that into account. And then two, don't be afraid of Charm Bar. It's super exciting. It will double your business. It is a great non-prem option.
It does take a little bit more time. You do have to be transparent with your customer, but. You know what? It's so worth it. And, and using any of those excuses not to try it is really hurting you more than anybody else. So it's those, those faith over fear tattoos that everybody loves to get. Right, right.
You gotta, you gotta try something and
Jen Thyrion: I love that
Jessica: you gotta go there. [:And knowing how to communicate. This is going to wear, we don't say tarnish, we say where that is something the hail learned a long time ago. In my, in my career, we don't say tarnish war. It's gonna wear, if you wear it, if you put wear and tear on it, it's going to wear. So on our credit card, which we will be selling unbranded for everyone at PGX, it shares dope.
Shower in it, don't in it, don't sweat in it, they store in a cold, dry place, et cetera. So that's gonna be available for you and we're super, super excited about that. Um, we are gonna be open for packages and questions and whatever anybody has, um. You know, we are have more than, obviously we like to talk 'cause I'm still talking here.
ou get access to us when you [:Jen Thyrion: I love that.
So last question. Are you debuting things at PJX or people can currently shop charms with you? Right now,
Jessica: people can currently shop charms with us on fair.com. That's where we're at the moment. Okay. However, by the middle of March we will have our own charm bar website. Uh, wholesale website launched.
Jen Thyrion: Awesome.
Jessica: So you'll be able to purchase from us on wholesale that is separate from fair. So you will not need a fair account in order to get to us and you, and you actually won't need a resale number to purchase from us either, because a lot of these people that are coming and starting this don't really have all the documents yet.
So we're gonna make sure that that barrier to purchase is gonna be removed. No sales, you know, no sales permit will mean you have to pay tax. That's just kind of how that goes. We have to put the tax more or you know.
Jen Thyrion: Sure.
Jessica: Bid the IS. Comes knocking on your door.
Jen Thyrion: Exactly.
Jessica: So that's, we already be removing that Barrier 10 Tree.
It'll be a very easy system. [:We've got you. It's already the groundwork's there. We can still, we can stop you. We will text you, FaceTime you.
Jen Thyrion: There you go.
Jessica: Go and tell us where you are. Tell us who your customer base is. We'll tailor something for you.
Jen Thyrion: I love it. Well, thank you so much. So last thing, where, so then where can we find you?
So where are the places we can find you either shop and stock you online or in your Instagram or whatnot. Let let us know all the things. All of
Jessica: our social handles are gonna be, uh, Parker, j dot pj, so that'll be in TikTok and Instagram. I believe our Facebook is just Parker j. Permanent jewelry. It's a Facebook and then we will be starting a wholesale group on Facebook, so TV on that we'll be posting so you'll be able to see it for current wholesale.
y it's Parker J. Jewelry and [:So
Jen Thyrion: yes,
Jessica: that's shown me over the years. Um, so message, call us, text us our inform, let us know what you need. We're really good at, at what we do, and we'd love to help you be good at it too.
Jen Thyrion: That's amazing. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Of course. Alright, we'll talk. I'll see you at PJX, so I'll see you in a few months.
Well, how do you feel? I hope you found value in today's episode and you walk away feeling inspired. I would love to hear from you. Let's link up. You can find me on Instagram at Goldie Link Society. You can find out more about our permanent jewelry membership@goldielinksociety.com, our handmade permanent jewelry, supplies of connectors, chain, and more@goldielinksupplies.com.
you next time. Have a golden [: