My Small Jewellery Business has grown! Introducing: Mike

Today I have very exciting news to share about Louy Magroos. For almost 15 years Louy Magroos has been solely run be me. Laura. As with any small jewellery business owner, I do everything – sure my passion is to design and make jewellery, but I also do everything else that comes with it, from filing the tax returns to emptying the bins. Actually that isn't true, I rarely do either of those, but we shall gloss over that.

2022 marks the year that I have finally recruited my first ever employee, someone who can gladly take some of these tasks off my hands and leave me to focus more time on my passion – designing and making beautiful jewellery.

I am really excited to say that Mike (my spreadsheet nerd of a husband) has left his corporate job and joined the rollercoaster ride that is running a small creative business!

Mike has joined the business to take on more of the admin side of things, and to try and help Louy Magroos find even more wonderful customers, but I’m also going to get him stuck in at the workbench as my apprentice! We will share his progress with you.

Mike is definitely the head to my heart, he lets me explore my creativity but keeps me on track too.

More about Mike in a minute, but first - as exciting as it is to have Mike joining the business, the thing I am most thrilled about is the opportunity I am going to get to be more creative and push myself to develop an independent jewellery brand that I am ever more proud of! Expect more new products, more experimentation with my style and more opportunities for me to spend time ‘playing’ at the workbench. Now is a great time to join my newsletter or follow me on Instagram as I’m going to have exciting stuff to announce over the next few weeks!

So… about the new guy, I never actually interviewed him for the job, so now seems like a good time to find out more about his motives for joining Louy Magroos. 

What is most exciting about joining my small jewellery business?

"Hmmm… genuinely I’m hoping it will give me something to be truly passionate about. At first glance you probably wouldn’t see me as a ‘creative’ person. But actually I love creating things, this has previously come through in my hobbies – I love building things in the garden or the house, and have also embarked on many days with Laura where we have gone to learn a new skill."

What are you most worried about?

"I’m a logical person, I don’t normally follow my heart, but this is definitely a leap into the unknown. Who knows if it is going to work out, but we both decided we don't want to regret having never given it a shot. As scary as it is to take a leap of faith (I’ve always played things safe), we decided it was time to take a chance. Hopefully I will look back in a few years time and see that the extra grey hairs and the odd sleepless night were worth it for what we have achieved.

There’s an inspirational quote that I found really spoke to me and told me to stop worrying about trying to think of an ironclad plan for success and just take the leap, hopefully it will speak to you too if you are facing a similar decision"

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back.

Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.

A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.

Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it.

Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.

Begin it now

William Hutchinson Murray, 1951 

What will you bring to Louy Magroos?

"I’m an Excel whizz and am happy doing an admin task, which I think is what Laura is most excited about (and I think the main reason she married me), but hopefully I can bring some of my experience working in retail for the last 10 years to help make some good business decisions for Louy Magroos.

The number one thing I am hoping to do is share some of the ‘mental load’ that comes with running a small business. Frankly I don’t know how Laura does it, there’s so much to think/worry about when you run your own business, hopefully I can lighten that load for Laura and give her space to breath and design her beautiful jewellery."

So... that's Mike - I'm sure you will see lots more of him soon, we are excited to share our journey with you as it unfolds over the coming months!

-Laura