Audrey McAlister: Sunrise Hill Boutique

Audrey McAlister is eighteen years old and started a polymer clay jewelry business when she was sixteen.  When she was ten, she would make food for her dolls out of clay.  When she was sixteen, she found some old polymer clay and wanted to express that same joy, passion, and creativity she had when she was younger.  When she looked on Etsy, she found people were making food out of clay and into jewelry pieces.  I met Audrey over the summer at a camp.  She has so many skills and is always trying to improve her business and connect with customers.

Audrey uses Instagram to promote and advertise her Etsy store.  She offers unique deals and offers.  For example, around her birthday she offers a “Birthday Sale,” where she offered eighteen percent off the week of her eighteenth birthday.  Audrey also works to connect to her customers.  Most of her demographic are Christians, so she would post a Bible verse on Sundays.

She is not driven by the profits, but rather the joy of making something beautiful and reliving the fun she had doing this once at ten years old.  Audrey’s efforts demonstrate her ability to empathize with her customers and the ability to adapt.  Her advertising is appealing to her demographic and helps to draw in sales.  

Her creativity is inspiring.  Each of her designs are unique and handcrafted; she pays attention to even the minuteness of details, and ensures her customers are receiving the best product she can produce.  I am not artistically talented like Audrey is, but I can empathize with my customers like she does.  I learned that the work can be primarily for the joy of it.  She loves making this jewelry and continues to do it because of this love.