STACEY WILLEY & JACKIE BESSNER 12 SUMMER <strong>2020</strong> SUPERIORWOMAN.NET
LASER focused BY DALE HEMMILA Editor’s Note: The story below was filed just before the COVID 19 pandemic hit hard. Subsequently, the business involved has been impacted by the storefront closure, while online sales have continued. Although summer trade shows were canceled, wholesale orders have begun to pick up and they saw an uptick in sales after federal stimulus checks were distributed. <strong>Superior</strong> <strong>Woman</strong> wanted to present the original pre-pandemic story of how this business partnership began with the hope that more normal times will be in our future soon. Two women, a business, and a plan: that’s inspiration right there. So, it shouldn’t be a big surprise that their business is called Be Inspired UP. The women are Jackie Bessner and Stacey Willey, their shop is a small storefront in downtown Ishpeming, Michigan, but their business is much bigger than that. The shop is filled primarily with laser-cut jewelry. Most of those are Bessner’s designs and they feature images related to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, with an eye toward the natural beauty outdoor activities. The shop also features the books written by local authors that are part of Willey’s book publishing business. With some additional local art on sale, and a few other odds and ends related to the 906 area code, there is a lot to take in once you step inside. But that is not the only place to find their unique items. With a presence on Shopify and Etsy, they reach a much larger audience, and their own website features 24 pages of unique earrings, pendants, bracelets and a whole lot more. Recently <strong>Superior</strong> <strong>Woman</strong> met with Willey and Bessner to learn a little more about their inspiration: So, how did this business come about? SW: I opened the gift shop and I still run the book-publishing part, and I’m still pretty busy with that. This location has been open about two years. Jackie, a couple of years ago, started her own jewelry line business. So she approached me about helping her with this stainless steel line of Be Inspired jewelry. JB: I had my own little jewelry line and I would do a craft show here and there and some gift shops started reaching out asking can you make us some things, but it got to be too much. Getting up at 5 a.m. to package jewelry, making jewelry, working again after I got home from my regular 8 to 5 job, so I built a website, I did Etsy, I built a Shopify site, and realized this could be something, but I don’t have the time to dedicate. I needed help. You kind of found each other then? JB: Stacey did jewelry and I got to chit-chatting with her one day. I was at the point where I either needed to sell it or bring on a business partner who has a vested interest in it. SW: At one point, Jackie really broached it as looking for rental space. JB: I was looking for rental space to get it out of my house. I just knew Stacey sold jewelry and she filled the other piece from the graphic art point that I needed help with, as well. So I approached her and at first, she said, ‘Well, maybe I’ll help you a little bit,’ and I showed her what I was doing, and what the potential was, and she said, yeah, and here we are. And how is all of that going? SW: Organically, I think things have fallen into place. JB: This is a ‘labor of love,’ is a good way to put it, because the amount of hours it takes to get where we’re at, if someone would have told me how much labor I would put in without any monetary value, most people would say, no thanks. SW: Neither one of us is getting a salary at this point. JB: It’s dumbfounding how much work it is, but we’re at a pivoting point right now, and I think it could be a successful business. SUMMER <strong>2020</strong> SUPERIORWOMAN.NET 13
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