195: How this Jewelry Designer Side Hustled for Over 10 Years Before Becoming An Entrepreneur (Lorraine West Jewelry)
Side Hustle Pro
Nicaila Matthews Okome | Side Hustle Pro Media
4.8 • 1.8K Ratings
🗓️ 8 April 2020
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today in the Side Hustle Pro guest chair we welcome Lorraine West, the Founder of Lorraine West Jewelry.
Lorraine developed an affinity for creating and donning unique jewelry at a young age and says she’s been an artist since she was in the 1st grade. Her mother's love for ornate pieces was the inspiration for her to delve into jewelry design while studying Illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
After teaching herself how to manipulate various metals into beautiful original jewelry pieces, and with the increasing demand from family and friends to create custom designs, Lorraine West Jewelry was conceived. Understanding that she needed a steady income to support herself as she grew her business, she worked for 4 years as a full-time employee then another 6 years freelancing as an illustrator, as an assistant fashion and prop stylist on video shoots and through other part time gigs besides selling her own work on the side. She became a full-time entrepreneur in 2010.
Lorraine met Erykah Badu, early in her career, who attended the same poetry event as her. Lorraine’s work spoke for itself and she was commissioned to make pieces for Erykah Badu, Andre 3000, Common, among many other artists.
As a full-time entrepreneur, Lorraine started bringing in consistent income by selling her jewelry at the Brooklyn Flea from 2010-2014, launched her brand e-commerce website in 2015, launched the custom fine jewelry division in 2011 which grew the business exponentially since.
In episode 195 of Side Hustle Pro, Lorraine shares:
- What led her to start selling her jewelry
- How she came to design custom pieces for artists like Erykah Badu, Common, and more
- How she side hustled before she could work on her jewelry business full-time
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher & sidehustlepro.co/lorrainewestjewelry
This episode is brought to you by:
Go to causebox.com/hustlepro and use the code HUSTLEPRO to get your first box for 30% off
Go to blinkist.com/hustlepro to try it FREE for 7 days AND save 25% off your new subscription.
Links mentioned in this episode
- Lorraine West Jewelry
- Multiply Your Profits - Flourish & Thrive Academy
- Everything is Figureoutable: How One Simple Belief Can Help Us Overcome Any Obstacle and Create Unstoppable Success
Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss
Announcements
Join our Facebook Community
If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook
Send questions to “Ask Nicaila”
You can now send questions for the new “Ask Nicaila” segment that’s coming to Side Hustle Pro. Once I get a critical mass of questions, I can start rolling out this segment. Just email [email protected] and put hashtag #AskNicaila in the subject.
Social Media Info
Lorraine West Jewelry (Instagram) - @lorrainewestjewelry
Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I did a multitude of different things so prior to making that sale I had made |
| 0:09.6 | pieces and gave them away to friends and family. |
| 0:20.0 | You're listening to Side Hustle Pro, the podcast that teaches you to build and grow your side hustle from Passion Project to profitable business and I'm your host |
| 0:24.3 | Michaela Matthew Zocome. So let's get started. |
| 0:29.4 | Hey guys, before we get started I want to give a huge thanks to our sponsor |
| 0:34.7 | Cause Box. I just discovered Cause Box and I think it's about to be my new |
| 0:39.3 | favorite subscription. Cause Box is a quarterly, four times per year, subscription box curated by |
| 0:46.1 | women for women that is filled with all sorts of amazing products and brands that |
| 0:51.1 | are ethical, sustainable, and have a |
| 0:53.7 | have a positive mission to give back and make the world better. |
| 0:57.6 | Every Cause Box is limited edition and comes with six to eight full-size products. |
| 1:02.2 | That's right, full-size. You can get |
| 1:04.4 | everything from skincare and jewelry to homewares and accessories. I got my own |
| 1:10.2 | sample box and here are just a few of my favorite things that were in it. The Jade |
| 1:14.9 | Roller which is so clutch. I also love my new Bento Box for organizing my snacks and |
| 1:20.3 | making sure I eat during the day. Plus the duffel bag and portfolio are things I see |
| 1:25.0 | myself using forever, basically. |
| 1:27.8 | Each Causebox also comes with an exclusive magazine that tells the story and mission behind each |
| 1:34.2 | product in the box and a Side Hustle Pro podcast I just love that you know I love hearing |
| 1:39.4 | the backstory so one of the other really great parts is just getting the cause box in the mail. |
| 1:45.0 | They ship it to you for free and it feels like you're just opening up a huge bundle of gifts and this is a big part of adulting for me you can give yourself gifts whenever you want you don't have to wait for a holiday or for someone else to give you a gift all right and the best part is that of course Side Hustle Pro listeners get an exclusive discount. |
| 2:05.3 | Go to causebox.com slash hustle pro and use the code Hustle Pro to get your first box for 30% off. That's right, you can get your first box worth over $250 for less than $39. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Nicaila Matthews Okome | Side Hustle Pro Media, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Nicaila Matthews Okome | Side Hustle Pro Media and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.