Today we’d like to introduce you to Hieu Nguyen.
Hi Hieu, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My cousin Derrick was already selling Jade in high school while working at UPS making $13/hr. He would constantly work physically demanding overnight shifts from 12am-9am. At the time, I was freelancing as a videographer/ photographer but the consistency of my work slowed down a lot due to Covid-19. He came to me one day and asked if I could take some photos of his product for him. I posted a picture of Jade dragon pendant on my story and had like 10+ people respond to it saying how dope the product was. That was when I knew this was a winning product, my cousin just needed the right marketing behind it. I called him after the shoot and asked if we could go half on the business together, I would handle the marketing, Derrick would handle the inventory and jewelry manufacturing (Bails/Wraps/Diamond setting). We started the business in late September 2020, since then we’ve grown to nearly 3,000 followers on Instagram and roughly 8,500 on TikTok. Derrick was able to quit his job at UPS and began an apprenticeship with one of the best jewelers in the OC area. At this time, I was managing freelance work, the Jade business, and taking 15 units of classes at CSUDH. I barely had any time for myself, the pace the business was growing at had me prioritizing it before school. I eventually made the decision to drop out of school and bet on myself and this family business I had going with my cousin. As a small family business starting up, we are extremely blessed to be in the position we are today and we thank all of our supporters for that opportunity. We still have a lot of barriers we plan on breaking and levels we want to reach within the jewelry game. A big goal for us is to have more people wearing authentic Grade A Jade instead of the fake Jade that has been popularized through social media. Authentic Grade A Jade stone carries nourishing energy symbolizing serenity and purity.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
So far, it’s been great. There have been minor problems along the way but that’s to be expected with any business. We’re much happier now with the state of our lives now that the business has picked up and we’ve been able bless others with quality Jade pendants. While we were coming up our friend J would let us do business out of his shop, this allowed us to have a place to store inventory and manage orders. We would not be where we are today without his help and the help of many others.
As you know, we’re big fans of Jade Jewelers. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Based out of Los Angeles, California Jade Jewelers is a small family run business started by two cousins with a strong passion for Jade. We hope to share our love of Jade with as many people as we can. Jade carries a protecting energy and has a unique beauty we want to share with others. By shopping with us you are not only supporting a small family business but also getting an extravagant hand-carved authentic Jade piece. Here at Jade Jewelers we pride ourselves on ensuring quality A GRADE Jade for all our pieces. None of our Jade is dyed or colored and all our Jade comes from Burma.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
We get a lot of questions about custom orders. In order to inquire about a custom Jade Piece the best way is to DM us on Instagram (@thejadejewelers).
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: jadejewelers.co
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejadejewelers/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JadeJewelers
Image Credits:
All images shot by @hieuvinh
