One-on-One Coaching

Hello Jewelry Designer,

One-on-one coaching helps jewelry designers like you actually enjoy the creative process while designing your jewelry. I will help you achieve your imagined design results and have an awesome experience in less time, and while spending less money.

Who am I?

I’m Aleksander Chuly
Chuly is short for Chulyakov :). I’m a jewelry designer and mentor with an extensive knowledge and experience from many years as a jeweler, model-maker and designer… Continue Reading

Here are examples of some of the challenges I’ve helped my clients overcome:

• Finding the right mentor or consultant

Unfortunately, the jewelry and jewelry design industry doesn’t have a great deal of mentors or mentorship programs. It’s difficult to find someone who will give you the right knowledge and guidance through the step-by-step process – from designing your jewelry, making the first prototype, finding the right suppliers and services, producing your product, marketing it and finally making the first sales. Due to my lengthy experience with all of these stages, I will be able to guide you to a place where you will get your desired results while spending less time and money, all while enjoying building your creation or collection.

• I want to design jewelry, but am unfamiliar with the design process

I go through a detailed explanation of the step-by-step design and technical production process with designers, making sure they have all the sufficient knowledge for design.

• I don’t trust anyone with my design

Many designers try to do all the first steps by themselves, scared of letting designs or ideas get out of their control. One designer I know got stuck at a pivotal stage, but didn’t trust anyone else to handle it. I showed the designer a few industry ways to protect his designs and ideas, and we continued to work from there.

• Where do I get inspiration for new designs?

I gave a designer acquaintance more than a few different sources for inspiration and design ideas.

• They struggle with a design concept

I reviewed a designer’s jewelry collection that was all over the place conceptually. By tweaking and adding a few different elements, we gave the whole collection a unified concept and the feel of a cohesive style.

• Do I have enough pieces for my collection?

One designer had only seven designs in her collection, but wasn’t sure if that was enough. I explained to her that seven designs are more than enough to start selling. The most important thing is to make your first sales and receive customer feedback – you will make some money, and get the inspiration to create more!

• Everyone says it can’t be done, but I still feel it’s possible

After getting a few different opinions, a designer came to me with a great design idea for a jewelry collection. People had told her it wasn’t possible, but after spending some time brainstorming, we found the best way to achieve her vision with just a few tweaks and design alterations that still kept the spirit of the collection intact. The problem was that no one had wanted to spend time going over the different options that could actually make her dream a reality. Never take no for an answer!

• I don’t know how to draw jewelry, so I’m stuck with the jewelry design structure.

A designer came to our office with several interesting jewelry ideas, but didn’t know whether they could actually work due to a lack of experience. We committed all the design ideas to paper and went through each individual possibility together as I explained the structural needs.

• I’m struggling to find the right CAD designer

A designer went to more than a few CAD designers and after spending lots of money and time still couldn’t get the effect and proper CAD designs for his collection. Some CAD operators were cheap, some more costly – yet none of them were jewelers, and that was the real problem. We spent some time with the designer brainstorming the best way to get the desired effect and then we made it happen.

• My assumption is that many of the CAD design studios are too big for my small project.

When first starting out, many designers go to big jewelry production houses with enormous work flows and then feel their one design is too small for the company. Any production house can take you as a client. What will be different at the bigger production factories is their approach towards your project. The big clients with larger work quantities will typically receive the most attention. It’s subsequently helpful to find a company who has a one-on-one approach, with whom you will feel comfortable and confident.

• I’m struggling to find an all in-house jewelry shop (and tired of running around to different services and people)

A frustrated designer came to us asking if it’s a good idea to have her designs done in one place from start to finish and the pros and cons of this model. She was dejected at the prospect of continuing design while running around from one service to another, spending too much time to get one thing done. I was able to assist all her needs for design and prototyping here at the studio, and recommended a small production house where she did pay a little more, but got everything done under one roof.

• Don’t have the right suppliers – and don’t know how to find them

One of designers I was coaching started to create jewelry while working with some suppliers recommended by a friend. As time passed and she began making sales, she realized there was barely any profit because she was paying too much for the services and jewelry supplies, and the suppliers were taking too long to complete her order. After going over the collection and necessary services and supplies, I suggested some suppliers with better prices and timing.

• How do I price my jewelry?

A very talented designer who was doing a fantastic job of building his own collection got stuck on pricing his creations. He knew that the prices that he currently was selling the jewelry at were too low: he was only making a few dollars on each design, yet putting in many hours of labor. He was afraid of raising the prices and then losing sales. After appraising his jewelry and researching how much designers priced comparable products online, we were able to find a golden middle where the prices were still decent, he didn’t lose sales, and he was finally able to make more profit.

• I started working on a few designs, but couldn’t finish them due to a lack of knowledge and clarity on where I was going

“A genius without a road map will get lost in any country but an average person with a road map will find their way to any destination.”
Many designers come into my studio having started on lots of different projects all up until a certain point – they never finish them. Much of the time, the design weren’t completed simply due to a lack of knowledge and experience. Most importantly, the designers weren’t persistent, and got discouraged when they couldn’t find the right casting house or a good setter or a CAD designer, and it started to seem like a never-ending process. First, I make an outline of a design strategy with every designer I work with, and we steadily work on a particular design with my guidance until completion. It’s a very interesting fact: once a design is done, designers feel motivated again and eager to create more!

• I’m not sure if my designs are good enough to start selling

“Perfect is the enemy of good.”
Many designers desire perfection. Sometimes this involves multiple stops and starts, throwing everything out and starting from scratch again. Meanwhile, they’re not making any sales, and losing their inspiration. When working with designers, I always say: If your product is good enough, get it out there and try selling it. Get some customer feedback, and then you can make it better.

• Do I sell online, retail or wholesale?

A designer came to our studio with a great fashion-jewelry collection made out of brass, asking why – despite being in big retail stores – she barely has any sales, and is almost ready to quit. We ran a thorough product & market research, revised the selling strategy and advising the designer to sell the product on her website at lower prices than the big retail stores. She was finally able to sell her jewelry, and start adding new designs to her collection.

• What do I need before I launch my collection?

A designer thought that she couldn’t launch a collection without building up a big inventory, a fancy-looking website and all the branding materials such as boxes, brochures, etc. – yet she was already financially compromised, and wanted to quit. After we reviewed her collection together, the designer finally understood that things weren’t all that bad. She had already done all the most important things: create a collection, producing the first prototypes and taking some great photographs of her product. We found a good template for her Shopify platform website, and within one week she had all the inventory uploaded and was ready to begin promoting her product on Facebook and other social media platforms. By the end of the week, she had her first sale.

• I’m struggling with manufacturing my product in other countries

A few of the private designers I’ve worked with took their manufacturing to other countries where it initially seemed much cheaper to produce their jewelry collections. However, when they finally received their first shipment, the designers found some things weren’t completed exactly as planned, yet there was no way out because they needed to fulfill the inventory and start selling. After we went over the pricing, it was understood that for slightly more money, we can manufacture and produce in the U.S. That way, designers can be involved in every step of the process and achieve their dream product. This isn’t the case for all designers, of course: it all depends on the individual project, the quantities and the desired quality, as well as their project margins.

• I don’t have a website because it costs too much money

Two partners and designers I had worked with in the past came to our studio looking like it was the end of the world. They told me: “We have a finished collection and a great product, but our budget is too small to build a fancy website and start selling.” After we discussed their needs, I was able to recommend a perfect e-commerce platform where designers had an easy setup for less than $200, so they could start selling within a few weeks.

• I tried to market my product myself because advertisement agencies are too expensive, yet got no sales.

A very creative and talented designer with a great jewelry collection approached our studio with the question: “Is it true that the only effective way to market my product is to go to a professional advertisement agency?” After researching some important factors about his product (like: who were his dream customers? Where did they hangout? How much money did they make? What were their jobs? Hobbies?), we were able to create a powerful Facebook campaign with boosted ads that cost him $10 a day. He started making sales 5 days later.
P.S Agencies do work!!! As long as they are right for your budget.

How It Works

I conduct all coaching sessions for up to 50 minutes via phone, Skype audio or video.
And obviously, as it’s one-on-one, this is my “highest tier” solution.

I understand that before you are ready to start your one-on-one course with me, you may have many questions – for that reason, I’m offering an absolutely FREE 30 min Consultation. Call now at 212.575.2099 – or send an email to [email protected] and let’s get started.

1 x Session : $95