Singing Success to Jewelry Brilliance: Dani Paquin on Creative Fulfillment, Community Building, and Two Decades of Agapantha Jewelry

Margo is joined by Jewelry Designer Dani Paquin. Dani founded Agapantha Jewelry in April of 2004 after 6+ years of living as a touring singer-songwriter. While it was an incredible, dream fulfilling time, people don't love paying for music and the hustle was unsustainable. Between tours, Dani started working for a couple of designers, assembling jewelry and found that it was fun, creative, she was good at it, and people were willing to pay for it. She did music and jewelry for a while, semi-retired from music, opened an adorable vintage shop in Brooklyn, and eventually found her way into the full time flow of entrepreneurship. In 2010 she moved back to her home state of California and Agapantha has been headquartered in Torrance (Los Angeles County) for the past 14 years. In that time, the style of jewelry has changed dramatically and landed where it is currently - delicate, modern, layering jewelry - handmade in her production studio using primarily sterling silver and 14k gold filled materials.

Margo and Dani discuss:

• Her  journey from music to crafting exquisite, delicate, and modern jewelry

• How she built a successful business through innovative strategies, combining wholesale, retail, and unique events

• Diversifying offerings so all the eggs aren't in one basket

• The future of her brand as she ventures into fine jewelry

• The intricacies of running a creative business

• The importance of customer interaction and the challenges of navigating tough economic times

• Hiring a team and the importance of finding people that are better than you

• The incredible community she's built through initiatives like "Flash Sale Friday" and the Agapantha VIP club

• And more

Agapantha is carried in boutiques all over the world, including the Agapantha showroom. Dani’s business model is fluid, allowing for change and flexibility, but combines wholesale, retail, online, and events including activities such as piercing, laser engraving, and forever jewelry.

Connect with Dani Paquin:

www.agapantha.com

www.instagram.com/agapanthajewelry

www.tiktok.com/@agapanthajewelry

Connect with Margo: 

www.windowsillchats.com

www.instagram.com/windowsillchats

www.patreon.com/inthewindowsill