Changing My Mindset Changed My Business

Hi all! My name is Jessica Santander and I’m the founder and designer of my handmade jewelry business. I founded my business with a purpose to both help women and girls feel amazing about themselves as well as to inspire them to define their lives through moments where we choose to show up for ourselves. In other words, our handmade jewelry serves to help you identify and embrace what makes your confidence sparkle.

With two years in the making, it’s been quite adventurous launching and growing Project Moment Designs, yet, I wouldn’t have it any other way as I feel in my heart that this entrepreneurial journey has always been a part of my life. Prior to starting my business, I spent much of my teenage years trying to become an actress. I lived in Delaware at the time and spent evenings and weekends taking acting classes and going to auditions throughout the tri-state area. 

Even though my passion for acting kept growing, I decided to pursue my undergraduate degree in Marketing and International Business. Upon graduating, I still felt a blazing passion for acting, fashion, and women empowerment (major thanks to my internship in New York City for Kara Ross who opened up my world to the beauty of empowering and supporting women). Pair these 3 areas of interest in my life with my marketing projects for businesses around Tampa Bay, and a light bulb moment took place. Though I had an overall sense of how and what in life speaks to me, I let fear take hold and, once again, decided to put my ideas aside and began a career in Digital Marketing. 

Imagine yourself embarking on an entirely new career path after spending two years of job hunting to then feel incomplete. This every day and every night emotion of lack of self-fulfillment kept following me until the day I was driving to work and listened to the Podcast of She Did It Her Way where Amanda, the host, was sharing the story of an entrepreneur who recounted her journey of quitting her successful corporate career job to start her business. Something from this podcast episode fueled my itch to want to bring my passion for fashion, story-telling, and women empowerment into reality. I shared with my parents and husband that I would be launching my own business and I wanted it to be something that would allow me to create from my own heart. I initially aimed for a clothing line but knew I’d need to take classes on how to sew. Then my husband actually shouted out with excitement, “Why not jewelry?!? You always wear it and love it and it’s a part of the fashion world.” And there you have it, the ideas and product were born!

After confirming plans with my family, I 100% felt this was meant for me and that I was in my element. I absolutely love having the opportunity to not only apply my marketing skills every day but also test myself with creating a social impact brand and learning jewelry designs. Two years later, Project Moment Designs has fostered incredible connections with women and girls across the country and now, globally, as we partner up with the non-profit known for catalyzing courage and creating opportunities for women to step into their leadership roles: the InHerShoes Movement! All the excitement and small business happy dances couldn’t have come into existence without the lessons learned throughout my life, the experiences that tested me to identify and embrace what makes me my own unique soul, and the closed doors that only guided me towards the right direction. It’s been a full circle experience!

Starting the Business

In August 2018, I made it my goal to bring my small business into existence. I knew I had to balance my 9-5 job and daily work-out routine with my evenings and weekends to really get my game together and learn as much as I could. So, I made it my goal to have my business name, brand vision and mission, first collection, and e-commerce presence established in 3 months. Though I tend to be an over-thinker, the concept of creating my business’ name and mission/goals came rather naturally to me as I knew I wanted this brand to speak to me and from me. The name Project Moment Designs was chosen out of the reflection of my life thus far. The name to stands for how life can be seen as our project in the making that’s defined by moments where we choose to get up, stand up, and design every day with fearless self-love (and with a touch of fabulous fashion!). I also knew that my business name would serve as a seamless connection to our mission, which is to inspire women and girls to define life through moments where we allow our self-confidence to sparkle and shine on. 

The operational side of launching my business, though, didn’t come as easily as I had initially anticipated. I was my own biggest obstacle with was being picky on the setup and visual aesthetics of my website. From where to place certain sections to finding the perfect words to use on my homepage, this particular stage of starting a business demanded a lot of time and patience. Thankfully, with the help of my husband, who has the eye and experience of web design, and from my family’s reminder to be gentle with myself, I met my goal in getting my website active with our first collection within the 3 month deadline! Yes, there were many mistakes and, yes, I ended up re-editing our website’s theme many, many times in the first few months, but this start-up phase was truly so so exciting because I got to take a deep dive into my creative soul. A major lesson from all of this is to make it happen, even if it’s not perfect. If there’s an idea in your heart waiting to be shared with the world, find a way to make that idea come to life and you’ll have the chance to improve as you go along.

Changing My Mindset

At the beginning of 2020, things were looking good with new markets opening up in Tampa and my sales were growing through in-person events. I had made it my goal to immerse myself in as many markets/trunk shows as possible in an effort to build up my brand awareness and gain immediate feedback from personal interactions. But, as soon we reached our best sales performance in February 2020, the markets, boutiques, shops, and storefront locations started closing their doors for the start of the 5 months of quarantine. My immediate reaction was total fear. I felt as if I was frozen, not knowing what or how to move forward with my business. Yet, there’s always a silver lining in disguise and, for me, mine was in the power of community (at least virtually for the time being)! 

It didn’t take long for me to tap into my Facebook groups and digital courses once again (as I used to do when I first started the business). Participating in conversations with fellow members of The Product Boss and Babe Crafted had opened up life-changing new open doors (ones that I truly feel saved my business and strengthened my mindset). After collaborating on Instagram Lives and listening to a few of her podcast episodes, Nikita Williams was that guiding light I knew I wanted and needed. I’ve always held the strong belief that there’s incredible power in a positive, abundant mindset. In May 2020, I felt that something within myself and for my business called for a radical change. Who was the first person that I turned to? Nikita. 

I shared my backstory, business mission, life goals, and current struggles with Nikita, and that led to an entire business makeover. Working with Nikita 1-1 was a total game-changer for me both personally and professionally as we took a deep dive with how my life-long goals play a part with my business and the trajectory I’m creating now. Yes, there were many moments where tears took place, but what’s so beautiful and special about working with my mindset coach was Nikita’s ability to help me see, define, and create a life and business that makes me happy on my own terms. Before working with Nikita, the Imposter Syndrome and comparison game were strong factors in my life. After months of enhancing my self-confidence and mindset, I now have a clear vision of how my jewelry brand has its own space in the jewelry market and deserves to shine. 

Along with a revamped mission statement, Nikita has helped me bring my A-game to my social media market strategy. These days, you can find me on Instagram where I’m showing up as who I am on Stories and building up a community where my customers feel this connection and trust. In fact, this entire experience of working with Nikita, re-shifting my mindset to operate from a space of gratitude, patience, and confidence, has attracted a special happy dance moment. At one of my very first markets in 2021, I challenged myself to just be in the moment with the utmost joy while meeting new potential customers, and that’s the day I surpassed my goal by over 3,000%! What made this possible? It’s no secret; the power lies in our mindset and how we choose to show up for our happiness and goals, along with the clear alignment of how my story and mission are instilled into each jewelry design I create!

What’s Next?

As I head into my 3rd year as a small business owner, I have major goals that I’m aspiring to achieve. One of which includes living out our social impact mission and having our customers be a part of it. Our brand partnership with InHerShoes Movement is a dream in the making. I researched for 2 years to find the right non-profit whose mission aligns with mine. As this partnership unfolds, I definitely look forward to having our brand be a part of its Catalyze Courage Summits and events and nurture young women who aspire to be a leader for their community. In lieu of our philanthropic efforts, it’s on my agenda to find a way to expand our give-back efforts to Brazil (where my mom is from) and help alleviate poverty-stricken areas by building more schools and safer commutes for children. I’m also set on expanding our product offering to include complementary personal accessories for my customers within the next 2 years that would tap into the beauty realm. There’s certainly a lot on the plate, but this all excites me and I know that anything is possible if I show up and go for it. 

Reflecting upon my journey and where I’m at today, there’s a purpose behind all the struggles I’ve had to face head-on and I’m grateful for learning and growing through them. It wasn’t easy to overcome nor will it ever be, but the personal sense of fulfillment with how I can help others in my journey outweighs the darkness. Mindset is truly everything, it’s what sets us all apart and can bring out the beautiful, ever-evolving soul within us all. My advice for other sellers who are looking to adjust their mindset as well and/or connect with their story is to go back to your “why.” Ask yourself why you started what you started in the first place and how did this craft, passion, or hobby speak to you. I go back to these questions, sometimes every day, just to align my to-do projects clearly with my mission. Reflecting on these questions will remind you just why you, too, deserve to shine your light. Your story, your origin, your experience behind your passion/talent will attract a beautiful tribe to you. Own your why and keep going!

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