Daily Inspiration: Meet Sarah Kelsey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Kelsey. 

Hi Sarah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
In the summer of 2014, fresh from a divorce and living with my parents, I was fairly strapped for cash but still wanted to make a statement on the weekends at the horse shows I was competing at. I had a rather nice barrel racing mare named Josie (East Bound Jet) who provided some residual income for me on the weekends by pulling checks, and I decided to use some of that money to start embellishing my own shirts with Swarovski stones at my mother’s kitchen table. Later that fall in October we were going to be competing at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress, which was a pretty big deal- it’s the largest single-breed horse show in the world. My mom had sewn me a custom shirt- red, complete with black fringe across the back and down the arms, and of course covered in Swarovski stones. While in the hotel room one night waiting for my boyfriend (now husband) to return from California, I decided I needed some accessories to match this awesome shirt- begin Rhinestone Lipgloss. I created a pair of earrings to match my outfit, and the next day I ran my pattern in them. Quite a few girls came up to me at the show and asked how I was running in earrings so big and heavy (never being a ‘Queen’ of any kind, I had no idea that heavy earrings were such an awful thing) I pulled them out and handed them over, commenting that they were not heavy at all- and they were shocked. A couple of them even asked to buy them right there! I said no, (I still have the very first pair I made lol) but that I would make them a pair. 

After returning home from Congress, I had done some thinking, and clearly there was a market for these- what cowgirl doesn’t like bling, and even better, COMFORTABLE bling?! So, with $85 leftover from a check that Josie had won for me, I began the paperwork needed to make RL official (NOTE: please pay attention to this part- $85. You do NOT need a business loan or a pile of money to finance your dream- I built this empire with $85; you can build yours too!). I had started a Facebook page a while earlier, but at that time, I thought that RL was going to be more of a ’boutique-style page, reselling accessories, clothing, etc. so it was full of that. We set up a booth at a small local rodeo, but the main item of intrigue was my earrings. I had also learned to tool leather, and we had some custom leather pieces available as well, but the earrings, week after week, were becoming more and more popular. 

An important piece of information here is that I have a degree in Mandarin Chinese- I graduated from The Ohio State University in 2011, and in the fall of 2014 when this whole adventure started, I was working as a translator in the Tool and Dye industry. My now-husband, after seeing how quickly this little hobby of mine had started to grow, watched me lose more and more of my sanity trying to keep up with Facebook orders and my 9-5. “You need to make a decision,” he encouraged. 

WHAT KIND OF PERSON WALKS AWAY FROM A 9-5 WITH BENEFITS, RETIREMENT, all of the things you need to be “adulting” to attach rhinestones to things? A crazy kind. A brave kind. A kind that knows if she doesn’t take the leap, right this very moment, that she will never ever know what might have been. 

So, after running some numbers, and seeing that we were just as busy after Christmas as we were before, I leapt. In February of 2015, just 6 months after making myself a pair of earrings to match the shirt my momma made me, I left my “big-girl job” that I had spent an entire college career preparing for, to do what I loved on a daily basis. Best. MOST TERRIFYING. Decision. Ever. 

Now it’s all ancient history. Was it scary? Absolutely. Were there times I thought “Holy Smokes- what did I just do?” Of course. Was it worth it? Times a MILLION. 

It’s important to be clear that I didn’t just do this on a whim- there were months of running numbers, exploring other market potentials, and being as sure as I could (nothing in life is guaranteed, right?!) that it would work. If you would have told me in 2014 that I would design jewelry that would ship all over the world- I would have laughed in your face. Fashion was NOT my forte however; I have learned to surround myself with people that I could learn from. Jewelry and accessories have become a second language (well, third, I still have the Chinese part lol!) to me- and I love it. I will still do custom leather pieces, especially belts (they are my favorite!) as a mental break from the earrings, but my clients have made it clear that the handmade, lightweight earrings are their main priority. 

Right now, it’s still just myself, my mom, and a couple other ladies handling everything; I answer messages, invoice, order inventory, and build every custom pair, they girls are incredibly helpful with website inventory, shipping, and keeping our financials in order. We are currently the owners of an 18k sq ft building in adorable and historic downtown Wapakoneta, which I am so grateful for, and I am SO excited to provide a place for our clients to EXPERIENCE our amazing brand. This company is my LIFE. I do not have children, and this is the closest thing to that I will ever have. RL is an obsession, a passion. 

I truly believe that you can make a living off of whatever sets your soul on fire. For me, it’s making things shiny with the best, most high-quality stones in the entire world. Here’s the secret- you can’t just like it. You have to LIVE it. Every single waking moment of every single day there is something in my head about one aspect or another of RL. I still ride, I’m a wife, a daughter, and a friend, but mostly, I’m an entrepreneur. RL is constantly changing. I don’t always know what the change is, but I’ve learned to listen to my clients and follow their lead. If I had made RL into what I wanted/thought it was going to be, I would still be working the same 9-5, setting up a little booth at horse shows and rodeos, making a little bit of extra money. But, because you (my clients) made it clear what you wanted from us, I have been able to mold this into a VERY successful company. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our biggest struggle came in November of 2020, when Swarovski, our iconic supplier of crystals and a company we have invested over $100,000 in with both product and licensing fees called to let us know that all house accounts would be closed in 30 days as they were no longer selling to the public. This came as a completely unexpected blow and needless to say we panicked- our ENTIRE company was built with these crystals. So, instead of running the risk of teaming up with another company only to have the same thing potentially happen in a few years, we decided to create our own line of crystals, with also allows us to sell to the public and other designers 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The word “bedazzle” makes my teeth itch, but it’s truly the most succinct way to describe what we do. We prefer the term “Custom Crystallization”. That being said, we quite literally crystallize anything you can think of. Of course, we have our earrings, which are INSANELY lightweight (like, the heaviest, largest pair weigh just under ONE OUNCE), but we also stone everything from Peterbuilt truck logos (yes, it gets power washed), we have fully crystallized two Kitchen Aid Mixers (which are fully functional and able to be cleaned with a mild spray cleaner and brush), clothing, shoes, stemware, we did a set of 5, 12 gauge shotgun shells for the National Pheasants Forever Banquet, Keurig coffee pots- the list is exceptionally long. However, if there is something that would not hold up to our standards that a client would like crystallized, we are sure to share that with them so they aren’t disappointed or our reputation isn’t compromised. As with our earrings, all stonework is guaranteed. 

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Every. Single. Crystal. Is. Set. By. Hand- Other than our crystals (because there are no factories in the states), ALL of our materials come from America. Even our bases are made here in Ohio 

Contact Info:

• Website: RhinestoneLipgloss.com
• Instagram: @RhinestoneLipgloss
• Facebook: @Rhinestone Lipgloss

Image Credits
Rick Martinez