Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa and Joel Copen.
Lisa has been drawn to creative work, from writing to doing retail boutique store window displays. But it was working with people who were hurting where she felt most called. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 1993, her plans transitioned to beginning a faith-based nonprofit for those with chronic conditions. Joel followed his career plans in music and sound design for video games. They were parents enjoying a normal crazy but comfortable life. In 2015, Joel was laid off his job of 2 decades, however, shaking up their comfort zone.
Lisa was making jewelry for volunteer gifts at the kitchen table and with the high costs of health insurance, they decided to put Lisa’s jewelry designs on the handmade platform, Etsy. Joel and Lisa read a dozen books on all things jewelry to marketing and applied the skills Lisa had built during 20 years of online nonprofit coordination. Then Amazon Handmade launched, and after a year of selling on Amazon, Gutsy Goodness was invited to Seattle for Amazon’s first Handmade Round Table event with a dozen other companies.
Since then Gutsy Goodness has continued to expand, moving our business out of our home to nearby offices and this year, we received our trademark. We continue to increase our team, now being blessed with 6 employees, including a full-time office coordinator. We have launched our own website and weekly newsletter “Glimpses” to get to build a stronger relationship with our customers that is not always possible when selling on other platforms. Partnering with subscription box owners, event coordinators, and branching out into wholesale are some of the areas we plan to continue to expand on in 2020.
We love the jewelry life and when circumstances don’t always go as planned, we have dozens of quotes on our own jewelry that remind us to keep on moving forward. “Don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done” is part of our work ethic.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
We have always been a couple who has taken the challenges head-on, enjoying the rush it provides when overcoming a situation that may slow others down. During our four years of business, Lisa has had both her feet restructured, a wrist bone removed, and tendons transferred on her right hand. Fortunately, she loves a good challenge and having “work that needs done” keeps her focused on the end goal and not the temporary delays. If she knows she is going to need to be resting and healing, that is the time she allocates to learning a new online marketing technique or planning long-term goals from her iPad.
Our first big holiday season, however, came with a surprising challenge. We had a pipe leak in our home in October 2016 and within 12 hours they were telling us we had 15 minutes to pack up our personal necessities for six weeks as they gutted half our home. Little did we know, we’d be living and working out of a 1-room hotel for nearly three months. Even the hotel was undergoing renovations. So, we moved from hotel to hotel as rooms were available.
We packed both our cars with our entire business and unpacked it at hotels 5 times in those 12 weeks. Our workers picked up work from wherever we were staying, Joel used luggage carts to roll our shipments out the car and we tried to laugh at lot. We focused on the benefits, like not having to cook meals or spend time putting up Christmas lights. It allowed us to solely focus on our business and hang on for the ride.
The next year, we had an office… which was a relief when we had another home pipe leak on Thanksgiving evening and we moved into a hotel again! Due to faulty workmanship the previous year, they pulled out the flooring they had just installed and started knocking out chunks of walls again. We have learned to keep our sense of humor, eating a granola bar for Thanksgiving dinner and picking out flooring and kitchen cupboards in between packing orders and making shipments during the busiest season of the year.
As a family, it’s been good for us to have these chaotic moments and get through them. To learn how to laugh at the situation and then get back to work. As a married couple who are business partners, we learned how to have our own SCRUM meeting over a continental breakfast each day and break down the must-do lists for both the business and the unexpected renovations we were doing simultaneously. It truly was a launching pad forcing us to create good habits and better communication.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Gutsy Goodness – what should we know?
Gutsy Goodness is a family-owned USA company that loves to inspire and encourage people through written quotations on vintage style bronze and glass jewelry, handmade one piece at a time by us or a member of our team.
Many of Gutsy Goodness purchases are given as gifts. It could be a thinking-of-you gift, a special sentiment following a miscarriage, a congratulations to one celebrating a personal accomplishment, or wedding bouquet charm in honor of someone who has passed away. We all have days when we need to be reminded of our own strength–whether it is through faith or sheer determination. Finding the perfect quote that makes you feel invigorated when you put it on in the morning can give your day a boost.
The quick answer to what we do? “We help you find the perfect gift that makes someone you care about cry for all the right reasons.” Each piece is personally handcrafted and packaged with care. You will find your jewelry in a sealed bag, in a decorative bag, placed a gift box with a unique quotation card that shares the words you are looking for. We love being able to give encouragement in a box for under $20, personally handmade and delivered in less than a week.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
We couldn’t have built our business without the dedicated team of women and men who have assisted us with handcrafting each piece and preparing it for delivery. We have had moms, students, and others work for us, providing thousands of hours meticulously making sure every jewelry gift is special for the recipient.
Pricing:
- Most necklaces and keychains retail for under $20
Contact Info:
- Address: 14260 Garden Rd, Ste B13
- Website: https://gutsygoodness.com
- Phone: (213) 493-1281
- Email: gutsygoodnessshop@gmail.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/gutsygoodness
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/gutsygoodness
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/gutsygoodness
Image Credit:
Joel & Lisa Copen
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