April’s MUSE showcases freshman Chelsea Meng and her small business making custom jewelry and keychains. She takes commissions and designs her own pieces for her online shop, creating intricate jewelry and charms! – Ivy

If you are interested in Meng’s work, you can check out her Instagram here! 

Can you describe what services and products you offer?

I mainly make bracelets, but I’ll also make earrings, phone charms, keychains and occasionally necklaces; they just take a little bit longer. I’ll do both custom orders, which sometimes one of my friends will just DM me, and I’ll create something, and also just regular jewelry that I’ll post on my account. 

What is the process of completing an order? How long does it take?

It depends on if I have time. For smaller orders like bracelets and earrings, it takes around an hour or so, but for larger orders, like necklaces, it would take around three hours. I get my charms from Hobby Lobby, Michaels and other craft stores like that. And once they’re done, I’ll put them in little bags along with a couple of stickers for aesthetics. 

Why and how did you begin making jewelry?

My friend originally taught me how to make the products, and we had the idea to start a club beading bracelets. I’ve just gradually learned how to pair the charms and how to incorporate certain elements that I think look good. 

What’s your favorite part of running your own business?

I love that I can be really creative with my designs and create unique products for everyone according to what they want. I think the creative liberties that I get, even with custom orders too, make the whole experience really fun. 

What would you say the hardest part of running your business is?

I would say it’s trying not to procrastinate on orders while balancing schoolwork. I have a few orders right now that I just haven’t found the time to complete.

If you could give a piece of advice to fellow students who are interested in starting their own businesses, what would it be? 

I would say to start with something that you genuinely enjoy doing and care a lot about. I feel that a lot of people start their own small business from activities or products that they think are just kind of cool, but don’t fully enjoy making on a larger scale. And then you can gradually improve your craft, and it’s really rewarding!

On this blog, members of the Carmel High School chapter of the Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists (and the occasional guest writer) produce curations of all facets of popular culture, from TV shows to music to novels to technology. We hope our readers always leave with something new to muse over. Click here to read more from MUSE.