Lyndsey Gutierrez, a 23-year-old Hispanic-Filipino woman is the owner of her small business, Thirteen by Lyndsey since August 3rd, 2019. She currently has had over 500 sales over the last three years and is only growing more each day. I had the pleasure of holding a Q & interview with her and discovered that she is a young woman who accomplished a goal that initially started as a childhood dream and managed to turn it into a reality. Owning Thirteen by Lyndsey, a small jewelry business that is slowly expanding into a boutique has not been easy and has required sacrifices in every aspect. Although she had to face mockery and judgment by those who surrounded her for this goal she set herself to, Lyndsey never believed in the idea that her business wouldn’t take her anywhere in life. On the contrary, it’s because of this business that has shaped her into the woman she is now. She has learned what it truly means to be dedicated, confident, and responsible, including being able to show leadership behind owning a business and managing everything on her own.
Q: What motivated you to open up a small business?
A: When I was in elementary school I was that fat little girl who loved fashion. Every time I wore something, my friends would wear it the next week. I was always that girl saying, “I should have my own business, I should have my own boutique one day.” So that’s kinda where it started. I always knew I wanted a business, especially in elementary school. In college I figured it out, I have a job. I should invest my money and actually do something that I want to do, which is clothing. My ultimate goal is to do clothes but I figured clothes are kinda hard to do first so I wanted to do jewelry first and get the hang of it. I actually fell in love with it because I hand-make all my jewelry. I create all special connections with my customers cause everything is handmade for them. I just fell in love with that aspect of it.
Q: At what age did you discover your passion for jewelry?
A: Oh my god, I’ve actually worn jewelry my whole life. It’s so funny because I look at pictures of my younger self and I’m literally wearing necklaces and earrings. I’m Hispanic, so I got my ears pierced when I was a baby. So I’ve always worn jewelry. I think it’s funny now that that’s what I’m doing.
Q: At what moment was it that you had finally made up your mind to begin your journey towards opening up a business?
A: This was around the time when Instagram became really popular and then I would see other people have their business on there. It was always something that I wanted to try in high school. In college I kept following these influencers, these girls on youtube who have their own businesses. I just told myself that is something I can do. I figured it out for myself and I saved all my money from working at Baskin Robbins and I invested in my business. I just thought, “If they can do it. I can do it.” So that’s where it started.
Q: Was selling jewelry your initial thought of what you wanted to sell in your business?
A: I wanted a clothing line, but jewelry was definitely something I knew I could do easily. Since all my jewelry is handmade. I feel like that was an easy route for me cause I was also figuring out how to get wholesale items and where to get them. I would buy charms and earrings and just connect them together which is still what I do today. It’s definitely not what I thought I would start with but I’m so glad I did because even if I do start my own clothing boutique. I’m still going to do jewelry, I will still have both businesses. My business blew up so I will always keep Thirteen because it means so much to me just to give up jewelry.
Q: What is the inspiration behind the name Thirteen by Lyndsey?
A: It came from my boyfriend Kyle and I’s anniversary date because we started dating on October 13th. So that’s where the name came from. Since that day, that number has been so significant and it pops out everywhere. My number ends with thirteen. Randomly, thirteen was just a significant number ever since we started dating. What’s even funny is that thirteen is seen as a negative number. People think of the number thirteen and think “That’s such a negative number” or “That’s like a scary number”. But I like it because it’s a big part of my journey. I never really had a lot of good things in my life especially when I was younger I had a lot of struggles. I think the way I can make my struggles and turn them into something positive is really reflecting on my business. So I really like how my business is named Thirteen.
Q: When was your business officially opened?
A: I started my business on August 3rd, 2019, but it was ready to be opened around January or February. I was just so nervous to open it because, one I didn’t know what I was doing. Two, I was scared of my friends or people I knew making fun of me. Since I didn’t know what I was really doing and it was just an Instagram business. I didn’t want people to make fun of it and say, “Oh that’s not going to go anywhere.” I was super nervous about the backlash that I had all my products. I had everything ready to go and I was almost like, “Do I even want to do this?” It was a long time before I opened it, I had everything, I just needed to do it. If nothing happens with it then nothing happens. As long as I sell my jewelry and I get my money back I guess that’s all that matters. When I opened it, my friends were supportive and I didn’t listen to other haters or the negative people. It blew up because shortly after Covid happened and I got used to doing things with the flow and that’s how my business blew up.
Q: Did Covid affect your business in any way?
A: That’s actually really funny because people always ask me that, but it actually made it what it is today. It was when Tik Tok became big and I hopped on that trend early on. Not many people were making Tik Toks, they were watching it and figuring out what Tik Tok was. While I was already making Tik Toks. During quarantine, I was at home making Tik Toks every single day. My days would consist of waking up and getting ready to make Tik Toks. I was getting so many orders. It’s crazy cause I was just filming what I was doing it wasn’t like I was doing anything crazy. I would make my orders on Tik Tok during the day and then be done working for the day. Then I would get more orders and then I would say, “Oh my gosh I have so many orders coming in.” Not that I’m grateful for Covid, but it gave me so much time and freedom to pursue it.
Q: What are some obstacles you have come across in your business?
A: Some obstacles I’ve come across are basically everything. Since I started this business on my own, I had to teach myself a lot of things. Especially in my first year of business. I was struggling with what website company do I go with. A lot of people go with Shopify which is what I have now, but I can also do an Etsy business. Or I can do Big Cartel or Wicks. It was a learning curve to decide which business I wanted to go with for my website. As well as a lot of financial stuff. I didn’t realize how much I had to learn. I had to learn to do taxes, finances, and budgeting. It’s not always what people think of when wanting to start a business. They think more about the product and how to sell it, not the tax part of it. Especially in the first year, I was struggling. With the finance part of it like how to do taxes, how to file business taxes, and how to become an LLC to be a legal business under the government. It’s something I had to learn on my own and ultimately I decided to take a class at Fullerton Junior College to help me teach those things. So that’s the biggest learning curve I had to learn in the first year of business.
Q: Did you ever come across moments where you wanted to give up or feared continuing your business?
A: Actually it was really tough because, during the hype of my business, I was at Cal State Fullerton as a new Transfer. So I was adjusting to a new school, a new way of college. I was getting my upper-division classes which were a lot harder than my lower-division classes. There was a time when I didn’t have time to do my business. I didn’t have pop-ups for a whole semester because I just didn’t have time. It was a big struggle for me to balance both things. There were times when I thought, “Do I wanna sell my business? Is this even what I want to do?” I’m going to school for Psychology not for Business. There was definitely a time when I wasn’t getting orders or doing pop-ups. So I wasn’t making any money with my jewelry and I wasting more money to have my website up. There was a time when I was thinking of not doing it, but ultimately after talking with a lot of people and my boyfriend. Everyone told me this is what I’m meant to do and I genuinely feel that way so I will never give up this business. It was just a bump on the road and I’m a lot better at time management and balancing school and business.
Q: What would you say is a memorable achievement you’ve had so far in your business?
A: My most memorable achievement is getting my business license and opening an LLC. Examples of LLCs are Apple, Microsoft, and big companies like that. I think it’s really cool that my small little business is also competing with those types of people because we’re all in the same business. It’s definitely my biggest accomplishment because I invested a lot of time and money. It was a big thing, I have a business license now. I have a seller’s permit. I can literally sell anything. If I want to do clothing, jewelry, shoes, or anything in retail I can do so it’s definitely my biggest accomplishment.
Q: What makes Thirteen by Lyndsey unique from other jewelry businesses?
A: What I think is super special about my jewelry compared to other businesses is every piece of jewelry means something. A lot of my stuff is named after my friends or meaningful things that happened in my life. Every piece has a connection with me. I think it’s very powerful that I get to share that with other people and my customers. Even the name necklaces have my customers’ names on them so it’s one way I can give a little piece of myself to them. I think my jewelry is very different from a lot of people’s just because I sell a lot of different things. I sell a lot of accessories now. I’m not just a jewelry business anymore. It’s very consumer based. I sell what my customers want. I customize everything for them and if they want something different, I’ll always do that for them. I think no matter how many businesses open up in my hometown that are similar to mine I will always be incredibly different from everybody else. I think there’s a piece for everyone. Whether you’re young or old. There’s always a piece of something for someone.
Q: How would you say this business shaped you as a person?
A: It shaped me in a lot of ways. It made me more of a problem solver and a people person. I would say before I was pretty shy and I had to learn to talk to people. Learn how to market me. My business definitely helped me come out of my shell and be proud of my accomplishments. It’s also something I had to learn that it’s okay to be proud of yourself. It’s okay to tell people about your accomplishments and share your story. Before I felt like if I talked about myself in a good way I was bragging more and it was annoying to people. I think that when I talk about myself and my business and how proud I am and accomplished it is. I feel like I inspire people so it helps me talk more about that. I know deep down that my business is so amazing and I worked really hard at it. This is my proudest accomplishment. I don’t think I’ll listen to that or take it to heart. It’s more on them than me. It’s more of a reflection of how they’re feeling inside.
Q: Do you have any words of advice for those who are planning to or currently opening up a small business?
A: I would definitely say, just go for it. I allowed myself to feel not confident in doing what I love doing now. I would just say if you want something, go after it. Make sure you work hard for it because it’s not going to happen overnight. It was something I had to learn. Even if I was selling my jewelry I had to work to market it, get new customers, and learn how to sell it.
This interview has been edited/condensed for clarity.