There are many moments throughout the year that are dedicated to celebrating small businesses. From Mom and Pop Business Owners Day to Small Business Saturday, we are incredibly grateful for holidays that are dedicated to shopping small.
However, it's important to support small businesses year-round. Small businesses are the backbone of the US economy!
According to a Forbes report, small businesses accounted for 62% of new jobs created from 1995-2020. Historically, small businesses have also always employed more people than big corporations. They stimulate local economies through paychecks and taxes, and challenge the status quo. Small businesses are highly sought after by large corporations because of their ability to innovate and rethink the way an industry operates.
When you're getting ready to make new purchases, consider supporting your favorite local and online small businesses instead of shopping from large corporations!
One of the greatest parts of being a small business ourselves is building a community that we are able to support. In addition to sharing who we are, we also wanted to share how we celebrate and uplift the small business community.
The Beginnings of CONQUERing: A Small Fidget Jewelry Business
If you're a new CONQUERing shopper, you might not know the story behind our small jewelry business. Tammy Nelson has been an innovator her entire life. She started Be Sunny Gifts, LLC in 2011 and started selling various inspirational products to her local Cincinnati community. Things really began to take off in 2020 when she, and her son Jake Nelson, put out fidget rings that changed the world. Thus, CONQUERing was born.
Since its inception, CONQUERing has grown beyond our wildest dreams from simple fidget rings. Our product offerings have expanded, our community has grown, and we've had so many amazing opportunities that have put our brand on a global stage. From the Nelson siblings attending Milan Fashion Week, to an NYC pop-up, and walking the runway at Paris Fashion Week, this small business has blossomed into something truly special.
Our team is small yet mighty. Content creators, fulfillment specialists, and more all come from Tammy's local community. Most of us have known each other for years and continue to support each other as we grow and as the business grows!
The heart of CONQUERing, besides empowerment, is innovation. The brand is constantly coming up with new designs, new partnerships, and setting new trends. There's a reason that the brand spent three consecutive years being recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing businesses in America.
How We Support and Uplift Other Small Businesses
CONQUERing's mission is empowerment. One of the ways we are able to achieve that mission is by empowering our community. Since we are primarily driven by ecommerce, we are in a unique position where we've built both an online community and a local community.
We feel it's important to support small online businesses we love and empower our local Cincinnati community.
Supporting Online Small Businesses and Causes
We are uniquely positioned as a small business because we operate primarily through ecommerce. That means our community isn't limited to our physical location. We've been able to give back to the online community in a couple of ways.
First, our CONQUERCares program allows us to give back to charities that matter to our brand. These are a mix of nation-wide charities and local charities. Our online community allowed us to expand our local community reach beyond the Cincinnati area. We are able to donate profits to organizations like Girls for a Change that empowers girls of color in the Central Virginia area and Bernie's Book Bank that distributes children's books to underserved babies, toddlers, and elementary-aged children in Chicagoland.
Second, we've created an online CONQUERing community that helps with our product development. As a small business, it's important to us that we're creating products that our customers actually want. Through a TikTok livestream, we were able to connect with Ashley Eisenmenger, a blind member of the CONQUERing community that helped us develop our Braille fidget jewelry.
As a brand, we love being able to connect with our consumers online. Through the CONQUERing Collective Facebook group, CONQUERing fans have been able to connect with each other, forming genuine connections and life-long friendships. We also were able to launch a Vessel Collection of amazing fidget jewelry created by two SuperFans that we found from the Facebook group.
Supporting Our Local Cincinnati Community
As a Cincinnati-Native myself, I would be remiss not to mention the work CONQUERing does to support the local Cincinnati community.
As I mentioned earlier, the people who work to make CONQUERing what it is all come from the local community! Beyond those of us that work directly for the brand, Tammy also sources models for lifestyle shots from the Cincinnati area and uses a local Cincinnati photographer.
Through the CONQUERCares program, we also directly support local charities. There's the Women's Fund of Greater Cincinnati that works tirelessly to make long-term systemic change for working women who are striving to be self-sufficient. We also support Dress for Success Cincinnati that supplies women with appropriate clothing to wear to job interviews and provides a safe space for them to reclaim their lives. We also want to call out Transform Cincy that curates new wardrobes for transgender and non-gender conforming youth at no cost. These are just a few of the amazing organizations we're able to support to make our community better.
Tammy also speaks at local universities to inspire students with entrepreneurial spirits. When I was a student at Miami University, I was a member of Women in Business and Tammy came and spoke to us about her career and how she got to where she is. To this day, it is one of the presentations that stood out to me. It was dynamic, interesting, and provided incredibly helpful tips on entrepreneurship.
How We Support Small Businesses
The small business community is truly something special—we all look out for each other and work to uplift one another. As our brand has grown into what it is today, we've been able to grow our community through collaborations with other small businesses:
- Lion Latch® Collaboration. One of the first collaborations we did with a small business was our "Love at First Click" Lion Latch®. Lion Latch® was founded by Lerin, a mom of two who created the brand after accidentally destroying her engagement ring. She grew her brand after a feature on Shark Tank and inspires us to innovate every single day.
- Resin Rockers® Collaboration. Another small business collaboration that has turned out to be very success is our partnership with Resin Rockers®. They are a family-owned resin company that ensures crafters are getting the highest quality products for their projects. Many of our CONQUERing customers have gotten creative and made personalized fidget jewelry with our Crafting Essentials Kit.
- Complementary Shop Vessel Collections. We also work with artists to create beautiful Vessel Collections that continue to be wildly popular among our customers. Chelsey Drake, the creator of Complementary Shop, is one of the artists we've collaborated with the most and has quickly become a fan favorite. Check out her most recent creation, the Victorian Element Set.
We also sell our rings in various small businesses across the country. Close to us in Cincinnati, we sell our rings at Sara's House in Hamilton, OH! If you want to see what other stores carry our rings, check out our store locator to see if there's a small business local to you to support.
Beyond product collaborations, we've also been able to partner with various small businesses to offer giveaways too our products. If you can't tell, we truly want to see other small businesses succeed and thrive.
Commit to Supporting and Shopping Small Businesses
Today, and every day, consider supporting a small business. Try out that new coffee shop that opened down the street or buy a bouquet from your local florist. Get a fidget ring for a friend or reach out to that person on TikTok whose embroidered sweatshirts you just adore.
We hope this post has convinced you to not only shop at our small business, but at other small businesses from this day forward. We thank you for your continued support and for helping us become the brand we are today.
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