#46 The Art of Connection: Insights from Brianna Zenna

 Building Authentic Relationships and Business Integrity with Brianna Zenna

In this episode of The Jeweler's View, host Courtney Gray welcomes Brianna Zenna, a leader in the permanent jewelry industry and serial entrepreneur. They discuss Brianna's entrepreneurial journey from vacuum sales to owning multiple businesses, highlighting the value of collaboration over competition, and the importance of building meaningful relationships in business. The conversation dives deep into handling customer service with integrity, the challenges of managing staff, and the necessity of creating a systematic approach to ensure customer satisfaction. Brianna shares how stepping out of one's comfort zone and embracing discomfort can lead to greater opportunities and growth. Listeners are challenged to try something they wouldn't normally consider to shake up their routine and potentially find new avenues for success.

https://www.linkedlocalnj.com/

00:00 Introduction to The Jeweler's View
01:05 Meet Brianna Zenna: A Journey from Vacuum Sales to Permanent Jewelry
03:09 The Power of Collaboration Over Competition
04:25 Entrepreneurial Lessons and Personal Growth
07:00 Balancing Work and Emotions
10:21 Building a Business with Integrity and Protocols
12:30 Creative Collaborations and Community Building
25:21 Collaborating for Success
27:43 Training and Empowering Staff
32:05 Handling Difficult Customers
35:22 Balancing Professionalism and Personal Boundaries
38:05 The Importance of Patience and Perspective
43:39 Embracing Discomfort for Growth
44:36 Conclusion and Challenge for Makers 

Transcript

#46 The Art of Connection: Insights from Brianna Zenna

[00:00:00]

Welcome to The Jeweler's View. I'm Courtney Gray, metalsmith educator and creative business strategist. After 25 years in the jewelry industry, running one of the country's top metalsmithing schools, coaching artists, advising companies and organizations, and hosting interviews with some of the best in the craft.

I finally created the kind of support I wish I'd had from the start. This podcast is a part of that. Each week I share the lessons I had to learn the hard way so you can build a rhythm that supports your creative work, your values, and the life and business you actually want. Find tools, coaching and my transform course@courtneygrayarts.com and let's get to work.

Courtney Gray: Hey guys. Welcome back to the Jeweler's View. I'm really excited about today's conversation because I get to sit [00:01:00] down with someone whose approach to business feels super aligned with my own. I first met Brianna Zenna at PJX, the permanent jewelry Expo in San Antonio. Earlier this year, she was giving a talk on partnerships, collaborations, and I was completely captivated the way that she framed leadership, relationships, and integrity in business. Had me nodding and smiling ear to ear the whole time because it's exactly how I see this work too. Bri is not your average jewelry maker. She's actually a leader in the permanent jewelry industry, and she's also, I think we can classify ourselves at this point a serial entrepreneur. runs different types of businesses.

She sold some, she plans to sell more, and she's even dreaming about some new ones already. She's lived an entrepreneurial journey from every angle, starting all the way back in vacuum sales, [00:02:00] and now through her company, linked local nj. Her mantra is Connect, converse, cultivate. If you know me or you've been listening for a while, you know how deeply that resonates. What I love most is that she's not about competing or chasing numbers. She's about collaborating, it meaningful, and building relationships that create wins on both sides. So today we're diving into all of that, collaboration, confidence, relationship building, and leading with integrity. I wanna welcome you. I get to hang out with you. I'm so glad that you're here.

Brianna Zenna: Thank you so much for having me, and as always, it's a pleasure to chat with you.

Courtney Gray: This is a fun way to get to know each other too, on the, let's hit record and just share, because it's when all the groovy stuff comes out, .

Brianna Zenna: sure.

Courtney Gray: I'm happy to have you and I really mean what I said in the intro, I really resonated with your talk and immediately I think I came up [00:03:00] to you, I was like, okay, Brianna, we have to talk like this is so important to share with people and to help them stay empowered in this journey.

Brianna Zenna: Especially because there are so many people in this industry and it's growing so fast, it's easy to be intimidated by your competition. That's, I think why I focused more so on collaboration over competition, because I don't remember exactly who said it, but I heard the quote one time. You can go faster alone, but further together.

Are you familiar with that one?

Courtney Gray: but I love it. You

Brianna Zenna: Yeah.

Courtney Gray: these great one-liners. Yes,

Brianna Zenna: I like to read a lot and the, if it sticks out to me, I'll remember it. But I can't tell you what I need from the grocery store or what I need to do next in my business endeavors. Everything's a post-it. But it's really important that those, the one-liners stick out to me because it has like the basis of

what we're doing and why, like the meaning behind it. And [00:04:00] especially back tracking to having so much competition in the industry. We all have our own kind of spin to put on it and we all have our little magic to add. And I think. That's why it resonates so closely to me to collaborate and share what each other's lacking.

Courtney Gray: Okay. Wait, say the line again so we can let it sink in.

Brianna Zenna: You go faster alone, but further together

Courtney Gray: Yes. So faster. Yeah, faster alone, because you can do it your way,

Brianna Zenna: for sure.

Courtney Gray: telling you, Hey, let's do it this way, or pulling you, but further together. Yes. Oh my

Brianna Zenna: Yeah.

Courtney Gray: be anywhere without my world, without my orbit.

Brianna Zenna: We're talking business friends. We're talking friend friends, we're talking colleagues. Every interaction that we have is. With anybody is either to teach us, to make us or to learn something. And I think it's really important [00:05:00] that we are like sponges and I think, even circling around to us both being coaches in different categories of life, that's what makes us wanna coach is having that.

Sponge love, I guess you can call it, of wanting to soak up everything

Courtney Gray: Yeah. I gained so much from my experience, like just sitting and

Brianna Zenna: I.

Courtney Gray: with my clients too. Like I learned so much from them. So I try to look at it like everybody that you touch, everybody that you meet. There's a potential there, right? For some sort of collaboration. Some seeds will grow and some won't or won't align, but you don't know until you open the door and have this, these conversations,

Brianna Zenna: Right back to that. What's meant to be will be

Courtney Gray: Yes.

Brianna Zenna: and watch it grow. And sometimes, I think about carrots and I have a big garden, so I love my garden. Sometimes you only see this little top green fluff and you're like, oh. What is growing under there, and then you pull it out and you have this [00:06:00] huge, beautiful carrot.

Other times it could be something like a, an herb where it's like growing huge and the roots are very small, so vice versa. Every seed is gonna give you something different that you need a different kind of nutrients.

Courtney Gray: Yeah, you don't know till you nurture, till you water, until you give it. And

Brianna Zenna: Yeah.

Courtney Gray: And weight. I would keep, I keep bringing this up because it comes up again and my son is planting things right now. Like anything he can propagate or, pull from this and put into the, and see if the roots, and he's all about oh mama root look, a roots growing.

And then we looked up like pineapples and

Brianna Zenna: Ugh.

Courtney Gray: take longer

Brianna Zenna: Two years. Yeah. Yep.

Courtney Gray: Over two, wasn't it like four? Okay, almost two

Brianna Zenna: I was gonna say two years to mature and then I think you get fruit after that. But nothing has taught me more than the $5 Home Depot aloe plant that I bought that was dying and now it is one of, I bought [00:07:00] about three years ago. It is one of my biggest plants that I have in my collection,

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Brianna Zenna: every two to three months, it gives me four or five new babies.

Courtney Gray: Wow.

Brianna Zenna: when I tell you this plant is humongous and it started from a discounted $5 half dying plant, nurture it and it grows.

Courtney Gray: And you never know. You never

Brianna Zenna: No.

Courtney Gray: You've had such a cool journey from what I know about you, Bri , and so I was excited to bring you on this platform and just. One of the things you brought up in one of your talks at PJX was from that you were in vacuum sales,

Brianna Zenna: Yeah.

Courtney Gray: thought, wait a second.

Vacuum sales to permanent jewelry to coaching. So what do you think ties all tell us a little bit about how this all tied together.

Brianna Zenna: My shortest tension span for sure. 

Courtney Gray: Yep.

Brianna Zenna: honest with you, I always knew I, I wasn't, the sit behind the desk kind of gal. But I didn't know what I wanted to do. I knew what I didn't wanna do and that was the biggest start. But I think [00:08:00] connecting with people and understanding how.

Sales tactic works and understanding what people are looking. You could sell a vacuum because it cleans, but when I show you how powerful it is, or all of the different knickknacks and add-ons that we can do and I'm not sure if any of the listeners are familiar with Kirby vacuums, but that was the vacuum sales that we had done for a long time.

And even prior after that I got into life insurance sales. I got into real estate, I got into cosmetology. Teaching. And I look back and I've worn a lot of hats but it has grown me and made me a successful. Entrepreneur at 25, 26 years old. And now almost 30, I look back and I'm like, with all that experience, talking to people, getting comfortable, being uncomfortable, not knowing what the heck I'm doing, and for a while my.

My mantra was, fake it till you make it. And as I [00:09:00] started to continue to do what I could to be successful, it was face it till you make it. Because we weren't faking it, we were doing it, we were committing ourselves to the uncomfortable. And it's been quite the journey when I think about all of the different.

Acts that I had,

because I never went to college, so trade school was my only thing. I'm lucky I passed high school because I just stopped showing up. I'd rather have been working and going out with friends than sitting and again, behind a desk. 

Courtney Gray: I can totally relate to that. That's probably what breeds the serial entrepreneur right there. It happens in high school, the ones who can't sit still

Brianna Zenna: Right?

Courtney Gray: are just bored and like the dreaming of the next thing already.

Brianna Zenna: Yeah. Senior year when you're like, all right, we learned all of this, now we're gonna sit in class and watch movies. That's wasting time. Let's get out and do [00:10:00] something. Let's learn.

Courtney Gray: And we wanted to make income like we saw, I don't know, adults doing that's where it's the, it's modeled for you.

Brianna Zenna: Especially going to starting my beauty school journey. Junior year of high school, by senior year we had our permits and we were ready to assist behind the chair.

It was like, why are we, yeah, why are we sitting in class? I'm not gonna show up today.

Courtney Gray: Like for us it was Texas history, which the book was like this, gigantic. And I'm like, really? I'm not gonna remember any of this stuff.

Brianna Zenna: And it's gonna change in 10 years anyway.

Courtney Gray: My son was the same way. And I have to, my oldest son, and I have to say I was the same.

I skipped a year in high school, skipped my senior year.

Even know which, which reunion to go to. I don't think they know which one to invite me to. But I was just antsy. I was like, wait a second. And the principal's look at your credits. You have enough credits, you need one more to graduate.

And I was like, get me out of here. I just did not

Brianna Zenna: Yep. I used.

Courtney Gray: wait to

Brianna Zenna: I, no, I used to go to beauty school before lunch, [00:11:00] and then by lunch you would get bused over to regular school. And by the time that we got on the bus, I would tell the bus driver drop me off two blocks before school and I would walk home. So I wouldn't go to regular school. I would just finish my beauty school.

Courtney Gray: And somehow we still graduated. I don't know,

Brianna Zenna: I got my diploma.

Courtney Gray: I have to tell the truth. I was pretty much, they were ready to kick me out of there because I just didn't go. I just didn't wanna go anymore. , It didn't serve me. And I got in a lot of trouble. I was a little bit of a wild child and they were like, you know what I mean?

That's how we looked at those credits, was like, let's take a look with this kid, 

Brianna Zenna: oh my God, that is so funny. I'm literally talking to myself in the mirror right now. 'cause the beginning of senior year, they sat me down and they were like, listen, there's an alternative program. Would you like to go to this alternative program? And I was like. Maybe, and it was like labeled as the delinquent school, where the bad kids went.

And it was just because I didn't like to [00:12:00] show up and I definitely was like, I don't wanna go to school and learn nothing.

Courtney Gray: Exactly.

Brianna Zenna: wanna go make money, I wanna go have a job. I wanna go and have my freedom of time.

Courtney Gray: Yeah. Watching my kids, like at this age on, in that place is so interesting. It's just really fascinating to see how they're choosing. And honestly am I one to say you have to go to school?

No I went to, I'm like, yes, graduate. Yes.

Brianna Zenna: Of course.

Courtney Gray: Graduate, but do you have to go to college? We're not that kind of parents

We say some of the most successful people that I know they went to the school of hard knocks and started their business as

Brianna Zenna: Right.

Courtney Gray: you. And so I think it just varies.

Probably depends on the person.

Brianna Zenna: And you're allowed to take your time. My husband is, he didn't go back to school until two years ago, three years ago at 34 years old, so he just finished his master's degree two weeks ago.

It's been very inspiring to watch him figure out what he wanted to [00:13:00] do, go back, commit and fully do it but also.

Body, mind, and soul. It wasn't something that he was wasting his parents' money or wasting his own time. I totally appreciate the way that you are going about it with your kids, because I think giving them that freedom to figure it out themselves you're gonna probably raise an entrepreneur.

Courtney Gray: I think we already have,

Brianna Zenna: Yep.

Courtney Gray: the house is full of businesses like. My, my youngest has a screen printing business already, and he's 15. He just turned 15. And so I'm like, oh, wait, now I'm helping with that business. Of course, 'cause

Brianna Zenna: Of course

Courtney Gray: somebody's

Brianna Zenna: You're gonna be the momager.

Courtney Gray: I'm the momager, it's official, I'm the momager. And then my other son get this, opened a business called Little Stinkers.

Brianna Zenna: Oh.

Courtney Gray: And they're doing junk removal. So I was like, whoa, honey. He bought like a big box truck from an auction. He is 19 years old and is with him and his, buff buddies from high [00:14:00] school.

They're driving around and picking up people's junk and they're getting paid well.

Brianna Zenna: And what a smart move because of the the stipulations with big box trucks and CDL trucks like that. They're completely right off ball now.

So great to know during tax season, so I have a lot of friends husbands who do like truck driving and stuff, so I've been sending them all this stuff like, buy your truck now you can write it off a hundred percent and start your, whether it be junk removal or moving furniture or things like that, driving cross country.

Great opportunity and that is.

So cool.

Courtney Gray: , And they're, they've got all these resources. Their dad and mom run businesses or entrepreneurs and

Work for ourselves.

And so it's

Brianna Zenna: And I'm sure some days he loves to sleep in and then he'll work all night long.

Courtney Gray: Yes. How did you know?

Brianna Zenna: because I like to do the same thing, I don't like.

Courtney Gray: that till my forties and then all of a sudden I'm getting up early, 

Brianna Zenna: oh man. Yeah.

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Brianna Zenna: I'll sleep until about 9 30, [00:15:00] 10 o'clock. Wake up, go play two or three hours of pickleball and then I'll get to work.

Courtney Gray: Nice.

Brianna Zenna: also like I'll work until 9 30, 10 o'clock at night, no problem. And I'll do that six days a week. I don't mind if I don't have a day off. 

Courtney Gray: Wow.

Brianna Zenna: I don't mind if I'm working every day, long hours, as long as I get to do it on my time.

Courtney Gray: . How do you not burn out with that schedule though?

Brianna Zenna: I think that it's very important to listen to your body and see when you need to take time. My biggest problem was wanting to please everybody at first, which came from a bigger issue because, wanting to please everybody was a bandaid that I was putting over a bigger issue, which that bigger issue was imposter syndrome.

Like who am I to run this permanent jewelry business? Who am I to create this big brand that's now, recognized nationally? Who am I to? Do this. Oh my God. A girl's bracelet just fell off that I put on a month and a half ago. My whole business is gonna come down and burn now. And I had to [00:16:00] get out of that.

Mindset. Where I started to say to myself, it doesn't matter what happens to me, it matters how I deal with it. So coming up with those protocols, coming up with taking my emotion out of things is how I stopped the burnout it's easier said than done.

Courtney Gray: Emotion is the drain? That is the drain and you just said it perfectly.

Not the work necessarily. The work can physically and mentally exhaust you, but I think all three systems get drained when your emotions get involved.

Brianna Zenna: Absolutely. And it's.

Courtney Gray: segregate that We're women? This is hard.

Brianna Zenna: Definitely, but protocol and procedure, wanting everybody to have that same ex experience, putting myself in the customer's shoes, how would I want the business to handle it if I was the one who had the bracelet fall off, right? Because there's a way that we can definitely handle it without being taken advantage of and pouring our entirety into it.

So [00:17:00] when I first started my company, my goal was to franchise. So everything was done very strategic in a way that if I didn't put policy and protocol, I want everybody to deal with it the same way, if I am. In studio, or if I'm not in studio I wanna train my staff the same way to handle it.

So understanding that, again, it doesn't matter what happens to us, it matters how we deal with it. And I'm sure you've seen some businesses handle things the wrong way via social media. There was some big thing going around about this. Boutique over on the beach on the Jersey shore. And this 3-year-old knocked a table, and it was like a $1,200 console table, instead of just saying, oh my God, I'm so happy the little girl is okay. The business kept the mother there. Called the insurance company, filed a claim, took her ID and took her credit card and wouldn't let her leave without paying. Yeah. So it's like you look at that [00:18:00] on social media and you're like, okay, if I was the business owner, how would I have handled that?

Courtney Gray: Not like that.

Brianna Zenna: If I was the business owner and I was the mother, I'm gonna handle it the same way. First and foremost, that little girl's safety is the biggest key. Making sure that the place that I operate is safe for everyone. So I think it's. Easy to get caught up in the emotions, but at the end of the day, your customer satisfaction, your safety and the protection of your business is the most important because my business is my baby and nobody is gonna protect my baby the way I'm gonna protect her.

So it's very important that I keep it professional, but I'm also doing things in the best interest of her.

Courtney Gray: Yeah. And with boundaries, right?

Brianna Zenna: Definitely.

Courtney Gray: of this. Yeah. I know you during, at the end of my course in Transform, we talk about this, right? We talk about what you said, first and foremost, building your business as if you were going to sell it, even if we're never going to [00:19:00] sell it. It may not be that's not the case at all, but building it in the fashion

Brianna Zenna: so everybody has the same experience, whether it's my face or whether it's another one of my employees faces. And just knowing that's the brand, that experience is the brand that we're building.

Most of my business started, with networking with other like-minded people, boutique owners, gym owners, different kinds of entrepreneurs, beauty I even worked with a lot of real estate agents, which was fabulous, and they opened me up to a whole different genre of entrepreneurs.

Courtney Gray: I remember in the talk you were talking about all these different collaborations that you've built and how they've just really been rippling out,

Brianna Zenna: Yes.

Courtney Gray: So tell me about that. How did that start for you?

Brianna Zenna: I think it was like, let's see how capable I am, let's see how big I can build this brand. It wasn't really how fast, but how [00:20:00] far we could go. And it was also like, you are a badass entrepreneur. I like you. All right, let's build something together.

Let's work together, meeting the next person and being like. There's a lot more people that are way more similar to us than I thought. A lot more people that have the same mind, that are facing the same traumas as me as far as wanting to be that. Perfect entrepreneur, facing the burnout, facing the energy crisis of wanting to deliver a great experience, making sure that we're having reputable products delivered and being proud of the brand and the name that we've created.

Courtney Gray: Yeah. And when you find someone that aligns with those values, is also rocking it, right? It's yeah, let's go. How can we play

Brianna Zenna: Yeah. I'm gonna cheer for you. You're gonna cheer for me, and then we're gonna go to the bar and grab some martinis.

Courtney Gray: Then we're gonna actually take some time off. So I think you would agree, I know that you agree with this, that [00:21:00] partnerships should usually begin with the other person, right? And how they can benefit from a collaboration.

Brianna Zenna: right.

Courtney Gray: can you help me expand on that a little bit

Brianna Zenna: I am gonna put it in the perspective of if there's ever, the in the perspective of other permanent jewelry artists. I started my business office, private parties and pop-up parties. We didn't have a brick and mortar, we didn't have a storefront, but I knew I had an awesome community that was following me.

A community full of entrepreneurs, a community full of young. Females predominantly that loved my product and my brand, and I knew that with that community I could invite other people in and create this great atmosphere, right? So I didn't have much to offer, but I knew I had this really cool foundation of community.

So when I was reaching out to people to collaborate, it wasn't, Hey, can I use your space and you can do this for me, it was what can we do for each other? Yes. Benefiting from using your space and hosting my popup and having my little [00:22:00] carry cart with all my jewelry and welder and display was major, but the community that I was building by bringing people into their business because we grew on social media very fast when we first started because we were doing popups.

So I would go into these. Random businesses from, again, smoothie shops to boutiques, to gyms, to you name it. I've even been in a dentist office because of the community that we had building that would follow us, it would invite all these other businesses in. And then it became like, there's several different groups that we're a part of, but one of the most major ones is, the single female entrepreneur, is that we all do vendor shops together. If there's a vendor party down in ocean County, we're all contacting one another. Hey, did you get in with this?

This person, just to let you know this, they have this vendor event. So it was creating the community with the customers as well as creating the community with other [00:23:00] entrepreneurs. So when we all showed up. We were like a force to be reckoned with.

Courtney Gray: And it benefits everybody

Yes.

Brianna Zenna: And keeping that even keel.

'cause of course in the back of our mind it's like, all right, we're here to make money. But also we're here to make those relationships and we're here to make those partnerships because if I'm just taking from you, it's gonna get exhausting. You want your cup filled a little bit and building that community fills that cup while also bringing other people in benefits you by growing.

Courtney Gray: The win-win,

Brianna Zenna: Yes.

Courtney Gray: we love that. And this is there's creativity to this. How can we get creative how can we collaborate in a way that's. Unique and that lights people up that people are gonna resonate with.

A dentist office.

Brianna Zenna: yeah.

Courtney Gray: wait a second.

Brianna Zenna: Yeah.

Courtney Gray: they're already in the chair. You could go ahead And permanent jewelry

Brianna Zenna: And I was introduced to that through a medi spa. So it's one thing adds up to another. The biggest, it wasn't a contract, but one of the biggest [00:24:00] contracts that we got was in with a gym that's really popular around New Jersey. They're called Alpha Fitness.

And these ladies were so driven and. So inviting and so friendly. There's one woman her name is Colleen and she has been supporting my business since the start. When I tell you she's got bracelets, she's got necklaces, she's got ankles, and she is now like an acting manager for one of the fits, and she has introduced me to four out of the 10 or 15 throughout the state.

Even further, it's just like making those communities. I've been to her private parties. I've been to celebrate Valentine's Day with her and her friends.

Courtney Gray: Oh,

Brianna Zenna: just, yeah, as well as she invites me into the business practice that she's working at, it's just been exceptional.

Courtney Gray: . I love it. So I wanna make sure we're relating this too, or that you guys out there listening are thinking and getting creative with this because Bri's brilliant with, you have found ways to collaborate with. With your [00:25:00] community. And I

Brianna Zenna: Yeah.

Courtney Gray: huge because at the end of the day, how many art shows do we wanna do and show up for that where we, it's hit or miss, we

Brianna Zenna: Right.

Courtney Gray: And this is different. I think what you do is experiential. People get to come and they get to be a part of something, right? With the permanent

Brianna Zenna: Yeah.

Courtney Gray: walk away immediately with something that's unique and

Brianna Zenna: Memorable.

Courtney Gray: and

Brianna Zenna: Yeah.

Courtney Gray: But how can we recreate this for makers who may not have. The ability to do the art shows or have an online platform yet. I think one of the things I encourage a lot of my clients to do is go find people to collaborate

Brianna Zenna: For every 10 nos that you get, you'll only get one. Yes. And it's very important to remember that. So the way that I train all of the girls when I introduce them to permanent jewelry is you're really not going, again, not going to know what you wanna do until it's right in front of you.

So try it all and, and do it all. It's easier said than done. Don't be scared to do it. But I'd rather [00:26:00] know that I don't like something than wonder what if

Courtney Gray: I agree. Yeah. 'cause you never know, like you, and you can't get the yes till you get the no.

Brianna Zenna: No,

Courtney Gray: That rhymes.

Brianna Zenna: You can't get, no, you never know till 

Courtney Gray: I love

Brianna Zenna: Try it all, come outta your comfort zone because like I said, I didn't think that a gym would be popular for permanent jewelry, let alone lead me into all of these other directions of getting noticed. You don't really realize how many people are following or watching you until you do it.

Also with your piece of jewelry. Yes, your jewelry is something that you're gonna take away and remember, right? But the biggest thing that they're gonna take away is the way that you made them feel. So I always make sure that when I am training a new person involved in permanent jewelry, one of my students, to let them know your piece of jewelry is as memorable as the feeling that you get when you leave somebody you know if we wanna relate it back to the grocery store, how does your [00:27:00] cashier, if your cashier is flustered and making you rush, you are flustered and , rushing. If you're going to the gas station and you see someone in a bad mood, you might be like, Ugh, after that.

But if you go to this awesome place and you're like, she had some really good energy, it again, fills that cup, but it's also that experience that you might not remember the conversation that we have, but you will walk away with the feeling and the knowing of , how it felt.

Courtney Gray: You relate that so well, it's, let's make a meaningful experience,

Brianna Zenna: Yes.

Courtney Gray: Yeah. . Meaningful, not just memorable.

Brianna Zenna: Memorable. They'll hopefully remember if it's meaningful, they will remember it.

Courtney Gray: So they go hand in hand.

Brianna Zenna: yeah, for sure.

Courtney Gray: Yeah. I love hearing about all these partnerships that you've been able to build and and then how you trickle that down and train your staff to have that same energy. When they go out and they're talking with the public.

'Cause you can't be at all these gyms free.

Brianna Zenna: No,

Courtney Gray: how do you ensure that's a whole other piece of this puzzle, [00:28:00] I think is,

Brianna Zenna: I think the hardest part of entrepreneurship being a business owner has been my staff.

Is something that I, I overexert, and honestly, I think having staff is a bigger burnout than running two or three different companies. The reason that I would consider it a burnout is because I want to validate everybody's feelings.

I want to be there for people, but I have to separate my professional and my personal views, right? So as much as I want to understand and be that best employer, I also have to make sure that I'm protecting again, my business baby. So it's very hard to juggle sometimes with the staff. So being commutative, making sure that I have an open.

Open door policy. If something's bothering you, contact me directly. Let's chat about it. You've got something going on at home. I'm still here for you. I'm still here to talk about it, but the biggest [00:29:00] thing that I've relayed is I am here to protect you as far as being. Respected by our customers.

Because in New Jersey there's a stipulation that if you're not comfortable servicing somebody, you don't need to.

There's no other excuse that you need to do other than, I'm not comfortable with this. So I think that's one of the biggest things that I drill in, is if somebody's rude or disrespectful, especially working in retail in a mall storefront, that you've got thousands of people walking into a week.

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Brianna Zenna: Yes, you deal with it accordingly, but you maintain your professionalism,

Courtney Gray: Right.

Brianna Zenna: And the same aspect of that knowing that I'm not here to bust my customer's chops. I'm here to kiss my customer's butts, I'm here to please, I'm in the business of satisfaction of making my customers happy because the best experience that they have, they're gonna go ahead and share with other people.

Courtney Gray: Right.

Brianna Zenna: So focusing and aligning my beliefs with [00:30:00] my staff's beliefs of customer satisfaction is first and foremost, making sure our customers respect us first and foremost but also maintaining professionalism at the end of the day.

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Brianna Zenna: So having the, those different morals. And it's been funny because, most of the ladies that I was working with were about the same age as me.

And then the further that you get into it, especially in retail you hire a little bit younger, so you're working with, 19, 20, 21 year olds that haven't had much experience with the conflict face to face or just. Being in a situation that is not comfortable. And going through these scenarios and having my 22 page long employee handbook, most of it, other than protocols and procedures is different scenarios or situations that you could face while on the clock, and I've listed those out, maybe there's about 15 or 20 of them that are just instances that [00:31:00] I've been in at the store that I train my staff on how to deal with those particular situations.

And again, not here to bust anybody's chops. It doesn't matter the issue that we're dealt with, it's how we handle that issue.

Courtney Gray: How you choose to react. And it is a choice. That's the part.

Brianna Zenna: Listen, we were

Courtney Gray: you have a choice.

Brianna Zenna: high school and I was back then.

Courtney Gray: Oh my gosh. Me too. Angry. Angry.

Brianna Zenna: That's the hormones.

Courtney Gray: Yeah. 

Brianna Zenna: No, I'm just gonna blame it on that.

Courtney Gray: That's right.

Brianna Zenna: but I think it, it's a lot of learning and a lot of growing and a lot of wanting to be that best version of yourself. Because it doesn't make me feel good to be reactive or explosive.

Courtney Gray: Right.

Brianna Zenna: doesn't make me feel good to be yelled at by somebody else either.

But what does feel good is controlling the situation, calming it down, and moving it forward in a professional manner that I'm proud of.

Courtney Gray: Yeah, absolutely. However they land at, really at the end of the day too, sometimes you have to say, Hey, I did the best I [00:32:00] could with this. I, 

Brianna Zenna: totally. I had.

Courtney Gray: according to my values 

Brianna Zenna: yeah, like the pro

Courtney Gray: have in place and, 

Brianna Zenna: protocols and policies, the one lady had her bracelet applied three years ago. She took a bracelet off for whatever reason, and she came back to have it reapplied. And we charge a $15 rewild fee if it's been over a certain amount of days. We're a business, whether you come from a different permanent jewelry store or from ours it's a $15 fee to have it reapplied.

This lady did. No I think it's very fair.

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Brianna Zenna: this lady didn't have a receipt. It had been over three years. She started to yell at my staff. I wasn't in the store, but the staff are directed that it is out of their authority. Here's my. Manager's number. So I jump on the phone with the lady and I can hear the lady getting aggressive.

And it's funny, I don't, some people will understand it, some people won't. She was like, I'm from North Jersey. You don't know what you're talking about. And the ladies of North no hate, but we're just loud, outspoken women.

Courtney Gray: [00:33:00] Feisty. I love

Brianna Zenna: oh, a little bit.

Courtney Gray: Love me some East Coast.

Brianna Zenna: I totally got where she was coming from.

I gave her the opportunity to even reel. She had a few bracelets to reel all of her bracelets for one fee, right? So she wasn't paying $15 each bracelet, she was paying the $15 for four different bracelets. She still wasn't happy with that. So I just turned around and said, I don't think that there's many things I can do for you that are gonna make you happy.

However, my shift starts in two hours. If you wanna come in when my shift starts, I'd be happy to take care of you. So she goes, you know what? I'm just gonna wait. I'm gonna go to lunch and I'll think about it and I'll call you back. So after she left, one of my employees called me and said, Brianna, I'm so sorry.

I'm not comfortable taking this customer. I said, your feelings are valid. I'm never gonna tell you to do something that's outside of your comfort zone, especially as an 19-year-old girl.

Courtney Gray: Right.

Brianna Zenna: said, and I don't want to complain, but she cursed at me. I said, oh, okay.

All I had to hear because once we get to throwing around F-bombs, whether it was at the [00:34:00] per she, the customer then said it was directed at the person that she was with, not at the customer.

I said, either way, you made my staff uncomfortable. So unfortunately, you are not allowed to have your bracelet applied by anybody but me. However, I'll be on my way right now and I'll come into my shift early. So it's a way of asserting that boundary, protecting my staff, knowing that I'm in their corner, but also not getting walked all over by somebody who is, not honoring my policy.

If you have a.

Courtney Gray: Yeah, you don't have to take

Brianna Zenna: No,

Courtney Gray: At the end of the day.

Brianna Zenna: If you are walking into a Foot Locker and you buy a pair of sneakers and you wear those sneakers for two weeks and then try to return them, they're not gonna take it back.

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Brianna Zenna: We have, and that's how I started to think about it. What would Walmart do? And it's you're thinking about Walmart.

All these crazy different thoughts. They're a multi-billion dollar company. They are a corporate company. I wanna run and align my values the same way somebody like that does, that protects their business and continue [00:35:00] to grow it. And we should be no different. Just because I'm a individual, single person who runs the show and does all of these different traits,

That doesn't mean anything, especially when we are.

A market to make money and to have a business that we want to protect and grow and keep furthering 

Courtney Gray: Yeah. Yeah. You're making me think of the times when in my business where I had to protect the girls, so to speak. And mostly everybody was lovely. Like we, we had 6,000 students coming through a year. was very community driven and the heart was there and everybody wanted to be there and had a good experience and treated each other well.

There

Things yes. That you have to deal with as a business owner when you have

Brianna Zenna: Part of the fun.

Courtney Gray: part of the fun. And I remember one of my assistants, my main assistant at the time, calling me. I was sleeping in Bri . I was totally doing what you were talking about. Yes. I was sleeping in, I was so tired.

Probably been up creating and doing stuff the night [00:36:00] before and parenting and all the things. It was like 10 o'clock. And she goes, Courtney, you have got to come in and deal with this person.

Brianna Zenna: Oh no.

Courtney Gray: cannot cannot deal with this. And we won't name 'em of course, but 

Brianna Zenna: him Billy Bob Joe.

Courtney Gray: Bob, Joe, that's it. Billy, Bob, Joe, Billy, Bob, Joe.

We are in Texas. We could probably do that. Billy Bob was was upset about the price of something that we had quoted him. It was all correct. We were doing casting for some of the students and he was appalled at this pricing and was yelling at her. And I came in and I asked her for the full story and. I just got on the phone with him. I don't even remember what I said to him, but it was very professional, right the whole way through, and at the end of it, he honestly just felt bad. Like he ended up just feeling very remorseful. He's I can't come in and take classes now. My life is over kind of situation.

I said, Hey, Billy Bob. It's not the end of the world. I can't say that name of the straight face. It's not. I have a bug flying around in here, Bri , can you see [00:37:00] it? Yeah. That's awesome.

Brianna Zenna: I thought it was my attention span.

Courtney Gray: No, it's like a big weird bug and I don't know

Brianna Zenna: No,

Courtney Gray: got in here. Okay,

Brianna Zenna: that's right. Let him live.

Courtney Gray: him out. He's part of the show

Brianna Zenna: Perfect guest star.

Courtney Gray: yes.

But yes, it's absolutely the professional tone with a lot of love and patience until they're, there's a boundary cross that's un there's, there has to be limits

that.

But I think at the end of it, he was like, what do I do? I wanna still take classes. He just felt bad.

Brianna Zenna: You messed up. It's okay.

Courtney Gray: It's cool man. Just, do you wanna apologize to her? That's a good start. And he goes, yeah, can you put her on the phone? So I handed her the phone and he apologized and she was just floored.

Brianna Zenna: Wow.

Courtney Gray: And then he brought roses and it was fine. And some people are just having a freaking bad day too, 

Brianna Zenna: absolutely.

Courtney Gray: it comes out wrong and gets misunderstood. So the more the calmer we can react. I love this. Re we get to choose how we react and stay within our values and our protocol. Have us have some idea of what [00:38:00] that looks like. You guys. 'cause things will come up and you'll have to, to 

Brianna Zenna: and it's so easy to be triggered. Even sometimes if I get an email, we get so many emails, right? We can get a hundred positive emails, but it's that one negative email that just eats us alive.

Courtney Gray: Right.

Brianna Zenna: don't have to answer right away. We live in a time and an age that everybody expects you to answer within 15 minutes of you sending them a message, right?

Know if it's urgent. This is beside the fact, but you don't owe your time to everybody immediately. You are allowed to step back and collect yourself. There's times where you disconnect from your phone, so there's times that you can say, lemme give myself 30 minutes.

Lemme go for a walk to calm myself. Let me take a shower, think about this, and then answer. It's okay to step away. It's okay to reevaluate. It's okay to take that time. And what I'm still trying to learn patience. I sing this beautiful song to myself when I play pickleball all the time.

And it's [00:39:00] patience. Patience. And it's so funny because, and we're talking about sports, it also relates to

Courtney Gray: Yeah.

Brianna Zenna: Not every action deserves a reaction, and not everything deserves an immediate response.

Courtney Gray: Yes. In fact, you'll be way more level thoughtful, conscious in your answer if you sleep on it. That's what they say, right? Just sleep on it. Let me sleep on it. Yes,

Brianna Zenna: If it's outta business hours, I'm waiting. If it's after 6:00 PM

Courtney Gray: There's no such thing as a permanent jewelry emergency or, 

Brianna Zenna: no.

Courtney Gray: typically, or in any business, unless you're a surgeon.

I think

No emergency here. And so taking the time, don't avoid it. 

Brianna Zenna: Absolutely.

Courtney Gray: Don't ignore it, but take the time to pause and reset.

Brianna Zenna: And I think,

Courtney Gray: how much 24 hours, like things can

Brianna Zenna: oh my God, you're not gimme two hours and an ice cream cone, and my whole mood changes.

Courtney Gray: An ice cream cone.

Brianna Zenna: But I think that's another thing that we can help [00:40:00] balance our emotions when it comes to business, is we are offering a luxury service. You do not need permanent jewelry to live. I could argue that in certain ways.

Courtney Gray: could.

Brianna Zenna: But yeah, with my wrist full of my permanent bracelets.

But you have to remind yourself this isn't an emergency. We, it is a luxury service, which when we're talking about that, that can lead into so many different categories and so many different avenues because it's a luxury service. Why are you pricing yourself short?

It's a luxury service. Why are you stressing yourself out over it? It's a luxury service. You should be proud of the products that you're bringing on board, even if they are a little bit, out of some. Person's budget. It's very important when we're talking about business. Let's talk about money.

That's the biggest thing that people get uncomfortable talking about. Stop spending other people's money as if it was your own wallet, right? A hundred dollars to you could be a lot of money. A hundred dollars to me could be a drop in the hat. So it's very [00:41:00] important to understand that as well.

Everybody's tastes and everybody's budget is a little bit different. So even, , when I first started my business, I only knew really beauty background. I would relate it to beauty background. Why am I selling myself short? The girl up the road does haircuts for $85.

We have the same training. Why am I doing a haircut for 60?

Courtney Gray: Right.

Brianna Zenna: Vice versa. If I have permanent jewelry and I am considered the cheap girl in town, people are going to me just because my prices are lower. I might wanna reevaluate that because of the clientele that I'm pulling in. Might want a clientele that further aligns with me that are buying the more expensive jewelry because they know I'm a reputable artist who only has the best of the best.

So it can lead into a lot of different avenues.

Courtney Gray: Yeah, this sets the tone for what I wanna talk to you, to Bree about next and, dig into this is a huge part of my course too, is [00:42:00] aligning with the right customers, right? And the biggest thing. With that is not thinking that you're your own customer.

So Michael Boyd said this he said, I can't afford my own work, and I, he is because I was like, oh, Michael, I really want that bracelet, but I don't know. And he is I totally get it, Courtney. I can't even afford my own work anymore. And it's just the way that it is.

But that being said, you don't know who you're talking to half the time.

been such a great conversation. Bri , of course, we had no idea we'd go back to high school together and I bet we would've hung out. We would've been like skipping school and doing the things, and they would've had us in the office together being like, all right, ladies, time for you to fly, right?

Like work. We've done what we can with you.

Brianna Zenna: then we'd be like, listen, let's talk about this and work out a plan. Have us come two days a week and we'll call it a day.

Courtney Gray: collaborate somehow here. There's a partnership just waiting to be built. Yeah, exactly. I love it. I knew when I heard your [00:43:00] talk at PGXI was like, okay, one of my new best people in the world is right here in front of me. I'm so glad I took the trip to go check it out and that I happened to be in the room when you were talking. 'Cause I could tell, I was like, oh my gosh. We share some of very similar values

Brianna Zenna: Definitely

Courtney Gray: this today just confirms it. So I want you back next week, we're gonna talk more, but before we wrap today. Let's send people off with a small challenge. How about that?

Brianna Zenna: awesome.

Courtney Gray: one thing they can do to shift their confidence or to step towards collaboration, because to some people, I think this doesn't quite click until you start seeing results.

Brianna Zenna: Right.

Courtney Gray: yes. So what do you wish every maker would do sooner?

Brianna Zenna: I wish they would be comfortable getting uncomfortable doing one thing that you're like, what the hell? That's never gonna work.

It's like going to the store and seeing that ugly dress and you're like, oh, I would never wear it. And then you go ahead and put it on and you're like, I, this is amazing.

I want you to do something that is completely backwards of [00:44:00] how you regularly think.

Courtney Gray: Okay. There you go. That's your challenge for the week. And think of it like, yeah, keep it simple but , shake things up if things aren't working for

Brianna Zenna: Start a conversation with a random person at the coffee store. Ask the, receptionist at your local beauty store, what they're doing this weekend, and seeing if you can find a new event, vendor market, farmer's market, anything like that.

Courtney Gray: Put yourself out there. Step into the discomfort. I love it. We can do this. We can do hard things, right?

Brianna Zenna: Yes, we can. And it's the way that we talk to ourselves.

Courtney Gray: Yes. Every day. . What a training. . For anyone listening who wants to connect with Bri , you can find her@linkedlocalnj.com. Of course, it'll be in the show notes for you too, you can email her directly.

Is that okay

Brianna Zenna: Oh,

Courtney Gray: them

Brianna Zenna: absolutely.

Courtney Gray: info@linkedlocalnj.com? Bri , what a rockstar. Thanks for joining me. I

Brianna Zenna: Always a pleasure.

Courtney Gray: where all of this takes you because as is. We'll find out next week. This is only [00:45:00] the beginning for

Brianna Zenna: This is only the beginning. Thank you so much, Courtney. You're awesome.

 Thanks for listening to The Jeweler's View. If today's episode gave you something to think about, consider sending it to a friend or share it on social and tag me at Courtney Gray Arts. You'll find tools, coaching resources, and the transform course@courtneygrayarts.com. And if no one's told you this lately, remember you're not behind.

You're becoming exactly the kind of maker your business needs and that kind of depth. It takes time. I'll be back next week, same time, same tough love, onward and upward. I. [00:46:00]