What Everybody Ought to Know About Lyra Durr and Jewels By Lyra
Meet Lyra, FSU junior and jewelry entrepreneur. Ever since high school Lyra has been designing handmade, trendy jewelry that everyone is dying to get their hands on. Her success has even led her to create her business, Jewelry by Lyra.
Strike Magazine (SM): How did you get into creating jewelry?
Lyra Durr (LD): When I was a junior in high school, I was shopping at boutiques around my house and noticing how simple jewelry was so expensive, and I was thinking well I can make this myself. My sister and I then went to hobby lobby and found the same types of beads and just started making stuff for us just for fun. Then I started to get more into it, and I began to give gifts to my family members and friends, and then they gave me the idea to start selling them.
SM: How did you turn it into a Jewelry By Lyra?
LD: I found out about Etsy. Etsy is really easy to manage because you just have to upload pictures of your items and tell them the price and description and Etsy formats everything for you. It makes it a lot easier for people to find my jewelry, because it’s a lot harder for someone having to search or happen to come across my own website. With Etsy, customers can just search gold necklace and my jewelry pops up instead of me having to advertise. I have thought about making my own website, but for now being a college student even though Etsy takes a portion of the profits, it is a lot easier to manage business on there.
SM: What type of jewelry do you make?
LD: I make necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings!
SM: What are your favorite materials to use?
LD: Beads are classic because you can make anything with them, but I’ve recently been into rosary chains and creating my own chains with different beads as well. This still lets me incorporate my love for beads but in a new way.
SM: Where all do you sell your jewelry?
LD: I sell online on Etsy, and I started selling at Market Wednesday my junior year. Sometimes Market Wednesdays are a hit or miss but it’s really fun and I can do my homework out there.
SM: Who is your main selling market?
LD: I would say most of the people I sell to are high school and college aged, and then I will get the Etsy customers that are all ages.
SM: How do you manage your time with your business and school?
LD: Usually during breaks like Winter break, summer or whenever I have free time, I stock up on beads and make jewelry. Usually when I’m just in bed watching TV, I will be like well I could be making something right now. It definitely catches up to me sometimes though, so I have to stay on top of it. When I don’t have jewelry already made, I have a notice up on Etsy saying it will take a week to ship just so I have time to get beads and make whatever they are asking for.
SM: What has been the single most important jewelry making skill you have learned thus far?
LD: I think trial and error has gotten me far with making jewelry, but if I had to pick the most important one, it would be learning how to use the different tools necessary for making jewelry whether it be attaching clasps or being able to bend and shape wire and metal.
SM: What’s your favorite piece of jewelry you’ve made before and why?
LD: My favorite piece of jewelry that I made was a custom necklace that someone ordered from me and helped me design. I love when people give me new ideas for an item or request a new design because it sparks creativity and I love collaborating with customers to create a special piece just for them.
SM: I saw you donate 20% of your profits to Polaris Project. What is that foundation and why is it important to you?
LD: So Etsy takes a small percentage of my profits, so I kind of made my prices a little bit higher, well they aren’t crazy or anything, but they definitely are a little bit higher. As an incentive to pay, I wanted to donate some money to make a difference, so I looked up different charities and different places where when you donate money it actually is used towards that cause. I had just taken a class on human trafficking and I had just learned how common it actually is, so that’s why I picked a charity that works with victims of human trafficking and brings awareness to the issue.
SM: Where do you see your business going in the future?
LD: In the future I see my business continuing to grow. Eventually, I see myself starting my own website and selling jewelry at different boutiques and stores.
Strike Out,
Writer: Natalie Pearson
Editor: Savannah Tindall
Tallahassee